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Shareware Overload Trio 2
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GOREADME.TXT
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1994-07-13
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GOREADME.TXT
This is a brief explanation of how to set up your computer to run the
StuSoft GO utility. If you want basic info on what GO does and how it
works, read the file GO.TXT.
To set up a computer to run GO, you need an environmental variable called
GODIR (defined using the SET command). The string should contain the
default directory for GO and be back-filled with forward slashes (/) to
allow enough room for your deepest nested path -- more about that later.
EXAMPLE:
SET GODIR=./////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
You can type this line from the DOS prompt and GO will work. The program
GOSETUP.BAT will automatically set the GODIR variable to the above default
value. But the best way is to include a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to
SET the variable GODIR. If you know how to use EDIT, EDLIN, or another
editor to change AUTOEXEC, you can just add the example line (above) to your
AUTOEXEC and you should have no problems with GO!
IMPORTANT!!!!!
Before you change the file AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS, you
should make a backup copy. It is best to do this on a
bootable floppy disk (so you can restore them if a problem
develops). Here's the quick 'n' dirty directions for that:
1) put a disk in drive A:, and type: FORMAT A:/S
2) switch to drive A:, by typing: A:
3) create a backup directory; type: MD BACKUP
4) change the backup directory: CD BACKUP
5) copy the files to A: COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS
Once you have made a bootable floppy, restoring the original
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files is easy:
1) put the bootable disk in drive A: and restart the computer
2) type: COPY A:\BACKUP\*.* C:\
If you do add a SET statement for GODIR in your AUTOEXEC, you could include
a default drive/directory for GO. You might do something like this:
SET GODIR=D:\UTILS\STUSOFT//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Then GO would change to the directory D:\UTILS\STUSOFT the first time you
typed: GO
If you set GODIR as the first example shows (and as GOSETUP does) typing
GO with no arguments will get you the message:
Nowhere to go! (go)
Another NOTE: You will get the same message if you type: GO .
This is because . (a period) is a xxDOS alias for
the current directory. Go traps this, since there
is no real reason to GO to and store the path for
the current directory.
O.K., what is this nested subdirectory stuff?
As you know, xxDOS keeps files in directories. A disk may have many
directories, with the root directory (\) always being the top. Directories
*below* that are called subdirectories. These subdirectories may also have
subdirectories within them. This box-in-a-box method of storing files is
referred to as NESTING. The limit to nesting is xxDOS's limit of 63
characters for a path name. GO's default limit for pathname length is
66 characters *including* the drive letter, the separating colon (:),
and the separating slashes (\). The program GOSETUP sets the GODIR variable
as big as xxDOS will ever use. GO's arbitrary limit for a pathname is 117
characters (because of xxDOS's 128 character limit on command lines).
This shouldn't be a problem since xxDOS won't let you create a path that
big enough to fill the default setting for GODIR.
NOTE: Your environment MUST be large enough to hold the string you
enter as GODIR. You can change your environment size in the
file CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive. It should have a statement
something like the following:
SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS\ /E:512 /P
/E:512 sets the environment size to 512 bytes. You can adjust
this number up to allow more room for the GODIR variable, but
the bigger you make GODIR (and the environment) the less memory
you will have free for running programs.
It should be noted that the upper limit for the size of the GODIR
variable is nominally 128 bytes (all you can type on a command line)
and that 128 bytes in not much memory at all!