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READER.EXE v3.13 (SWAG packet READER) (c) GDSOFT May 1996 INTRODUCTION ------------ SWAG (SourceWare Archival Group) is a collection of source code and program examples for the PASCAL programming language. The material has been donated by various PASCAL programmers from around the world, who desire to contribute to the advancement of one of the greatest programming languages there is. MANY THANKS to all who have contributed. As such, NO CHARGE OF ANY KIND IS PERMITTED FOR THIS WORK. The material has been collected from various network conferences worldwide, and organized according to subject. New material is added quarterly, and new SWAG packets are available from various BBS sources on a FIRST call basis. See BBS.TXT for current support sites and how your BBS can join. GETTING STARTED ---------------- The program READER.EXE is a executable program that will allow you to read, extract or print the contents of SWAG packets. These packets are organized according to subject, with each one containing a number of PASCAL "snipets" on that subject. In the rest of this document, I'll refer to the program as "READER". The SWAG packets should be placed ALL together in a directory on your disk. It is recommended that you create a single directory named '\SWAG'. You can use the DOS command : mkdir c:\swag Unpack the distribution archives and place all of the files with the extension of "*.SWG" in this directory along with READER.EXE. USING THE READER ---------------- Using the reader is really very simple. Just execute it, and you will be presented with a directory of all of the .SWG files in the directory that READER is located in. If you have .SWG files elsewhere on your disk, or for that matter, any disk on your system, you can move around the disk to find them by selecting the ".." file which will take you to the PARENT directory. Use the HOME, END and the arrow keys to maneuver around. ALSO, The directory window is search key sensitive. This means that if you have .SWG files or directories listed in the directory box, you can just type the name of the file you want. For example, pressing 'A' will place you at the first entry starting with 'A'. Press 'N', and you will jump the the entry with 'AN...' if you have one. If NOT, you will jump the first file starting with the letter 'N'. At the bottom of the screen you will notice a menu indicating some cursor and function keys : F2 - GREP F5 - Toggle STATS <ENTER> - GO ESC - QUIT F2 calls the GREP (search) function. This is a VERY POWERFUL and useful function, but in order to use this function, you MUST have at least ONE .SWG file in the directory box, and it MUST be highlighted !! Place the cursor any one of the .SWG files, and press F2. You will be presented with a prompt window : SWAG Message Base Reader 3.0 ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▓▓┌ D:\SWAG\FILES\ ▓▓┌──────────── SOURCEWARE ARCHIVAL GROUP ───────────┐▓▓ ▓▓│ [A:\] │▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓│ [B:\] ▓▓▓│ Your SWAG Support Team : │▓▓ ▓▓│ [C:\] │▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓│ [E:\] │▓▓│ Gayle Davis Goshen, Indiana 46526 │▓▓ ▓▓│ ..\ │▓▓│ Kerry Sokalsky North York, Ontario M2P 1L2 │▓▓ ▓▓│ ANSI.SWG │▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓│ ARCHIVES.SWG │▓▓│ About SWAG : │▓▓ ▓▓│ CHARS.SWG │▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓│ CMDLINE.SWG │▓▓│ SWAG is a collection of source code and program │▓▓ ▓▓│ COLOR.SWG │▓▓│ examples for the PASCAL program language. The │▓▓ ▓▓│ COM┌────────────────────── GREP SWAG Files ───────────────────────┐L │▓▓ ▓▓│ COP│ Search For: CURSOR&CRT|ANSI&FILE │n │▓▓ ▓▓│ CRC└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘t │▓▓ ▓▓│ CRT.SWG │▓▓│ programming platforms available today. │▓▓ ▓▓│ CURSOR.SWG │▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓│ DATATYPE.SWG │▓▓│ MUCH THANKS AND GRATITUDE TO ALL CONTRIBUTORS !! │▓▓ ▓▓│ DATETIME.SWG │▓▓│ NO Charge of ANY kind is permitted for this work │▓▓ ▓▓└────────────────▓▓│ │▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓└──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘▓▓ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ Enter a string to search for. You may search for a multiple occurrence of substrings using BOOLEAN operators AND (&) OR (|). For example, a search for THIS&THAT|THEM&THOSE would return all snipets containing both ORed phrases THIS&THAT OR THEM&THOSE. In BOOLEAN Algebra, the AND operator takes precedence over the OR operator (except when using parentheses). This is NOT the case with the GREP function. You can use the PARENTHESES () to dictate which portion of the search string is to be processed first. If multiple levels of parentheses are used, the order is RIGHT to LEFT, starting with the innermost set of parentheses, wherever they occur. As an example, in the phrase ((this|that)&(them&those)), (them&those) would be processed before (this|that)) innermost to outermost. In other words, all snipets will be returned containing THIS or THAT AND they also will contain (THEM and THOSE). Within a set of parentheses, order will be left to right. Construction of the search string itself requires combining the desired substrings together with the desired BOOLEAN operators. Without the parentheses, the search string will be processed logically. THIS|THAT&THEM&THOSE will return all of the snipets that contain THIS plus the ones that contain THAT & THEM & THOSE. You can see that this is totally different than what you'll get by using the parentheses. Additionally, you can also include a date in the format MM/DD/YY, and ONLY records AFTER this date will be included. If you enter JUST the date, ALL SWAG snipets AFTER this date will be included. For example, entering CURSOR|ANSI&CRT|05/08/93 would search the SWAG packets for matches for CURSOR OR (ANSI AND CRT) occurring AFTER 05/08/93. Entering JUST 05/08/93 at the prompt would bring back ALL snipets AFTER 05/08/93 REGARDLESS of the subject. Enter an empty string as the search string, and READER will return all snipets since the LAST SWAG release. READER will search ALL of the SWAG packet HEADERS in the CURRENT directory for matches based on your criteria. A processing box will appear, and all occurrences of your search string(s) or date matches will be written to a NEW SWAG file. Initially, this file is named GREPSWAG.SWG, and will be in the current directory. Upon completion of this GREP process, you will be asked for the file name. Enter any name AND directory you choose, and the file will be RENAMED and moved to that directory. Pressing ESCAPE WILL NOT save a file at all. This process allows you to create SWAG files containing ANY combination of material that you please. You can ALSO search the ENTIRE SWAG snipet buffer for data. Just enter a tilde (~) character as the FIRST character on the search line. For instance to find all snipets containing CRT, you would enter ~CRT on the search line. ONLY the header of snipets is searched for matches. This a way you can look at all snipets by a certain contributor. You can also use multiple search criteria here. For instance, ~GAYLE DAVIS|GUY MCLOUGHLIN|JOE BLOW would bring back everything for each of these persons. This search method is VERY fast as on the headers have to be read. By the way, the same rules about AND/OR searching apply when search just the headers. Beginning with version 3.0, we added KEYS to the SWAG header. This makes the searching function work MUCH faster, and you can use EDIT HEADER (CTRL [H]) function to edit these keys. OTHER FUNCTION KEYS IN THE MAIN SCREEN -------------------------------------- ALT[R] lets you rename any of the .SWG files that you have. [DEL] allow you to DELETE any of the .SWG files. BE CAREFUL HERE !! [F5] toggles the STATS function. In order for this to work, you MUST have at least ONE .SWG file in the directory box, and it MUST be highlighted !! Place the cursor any one of the .SWG files, and press F5. You will be presented with an EXPANDED directory list showing the description of each .SWG file and the number of snipets in each. VIEWING, EXTRACTING, PRINTING SWAG SNIPETS ------------------------------------------ Once you have some .SWG files in the directory box, press <ENTER> and the package will be read and you be able to manage the SWAG snipets. You will be presented with a list of all of the snipets contained in the package with descriptions for each. At the bottom of the screen, will be the following menu. ▀ F1-Help ▀ F3-Options ▀ AltFind ▀ ┘- Read ▀ F4-DoTags ▀ ESC-Quit ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ F1 - provides some "quick" ALT keys. ┌──────────── READER : HELP ───────────┐ │ Alt F Find Text │ │ Alt S Sort Index │ │ Alt T Tag ALL │ │ Alt U UnTag ALL │ │ Ctl S SHELL to DOS │ │ Spacebar Tag Current │ │ <ENTER> Read Item │ │ │ │ F1 Help │ │ F3 Program Options │ │ F4 Process Tagged Items │ │ ESC Quit Program │ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ F3 - brings up the OPTIONS menu. ┌──────────────────────┐ │ About │ │ Sort - (ALT S) │ │ Spacebar Tag - ON │ │ Colors │ │ Dos Shell │ │ Screen Lines - 25 │ └──────────────────────┘ AltF - Find function <CR> - read the snipet F4 - Process TAGGED items ESC - Quit 43/50 LINE VIDEO ---------------- You will have the capability of using 43/50 line screens if you have EGA or better. The option can be found in the OPTIONS menu (F3). It is automatically disabled if the user doesn't have the capability. Select SCREENLINES, and if you have an EGA/VGA, you'll get 43/50 line mode. COLORS ------ To be quite honest, the whole business of allowing users to change colors is quite a problem. It adds a lot of code to the program, and more often than not, it is used only once by the user. Therefore, the color selection if VERY limited. There are four color group choices available. LIGHTGRAY, BLUE, CYAN, RED, GREEN and MAGENTA. Select one that you find pleasing. This will be disabled on monochrome monitors. DOS SHELL --------- You can shell out to DOS from within the READER. This ability is here on the OPTIONS menu. You can ALSO do this at ANYTIME by using CTRL[S] key sequence. SORTING ------- ALT S on the main selection window brings up the SORT box. The snipets can be sorted by : ┌────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Select Sort Field : │ │ │ │ N - NUMBER │ │ F - FROM │ │ S - SUBJECT │ │ D - DATE │ │ │ └────────────────────────────┘ TAGGING ITEMS ------------- Snipets can be tagged by using the SPACEBAR. SPACEBAR tag can be turned OFF in the OPTIONS menu. ALL items can be tagged with ALT T and untagged with ALT U. Tagged items can be process using F4. Tag some files, and Press F4. You'll be given a choice of Zapping the tagged items, or extracting them to a directory on your disk. FINDING TEXT IN THE MAIN SNIPET WINDOW ( SPEED SEARCH) ------------------------------------------------------ You can use the ALT[F] key sequence to find any text in the main snipet window. Alternately, you can use the SPEED SEARCH feature by just type letters or numbers, and the cursor will automatically be moved to the item that matches what you are typing. The search string will be displayed at the bottom left corner of the snipet window, and the cursor will automatically move to the matching item. Numbers are permitted too. Try entering '19', and you will be moved to the 19th item in the window assuming there is one. READING SNIPETS --------------- Pressing <ENTER> on any of the snipets allows it to be reviewed. You'll be presented with the "snipet" screen and you can use the menu at the bottom of the screen : ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ▀ Next(+) ▀ preV(-) ▀ Mark ▀ Find ▀ Extract ▀ Kill ▀ Print ▀ ESC-Quit │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ To accommodate many of the QWK reader users out there, you can use the PLUS(+) and MINUS(-) keys to display the NEXT or PREVIOUS snipet OR the SPACEBAR key will display the NEXT snipet. Also, you can use TAB for NEXT, and SHIFT+TAB for PREVIOUS. You can Mark, Find, Extract, Kill or Print snipets. If you have a mouse, you can select any of these functions by using the LEFT button on any item. EXTRACTING SNIPETS ------------------ Snipets can be extract to an ASCII file by selecting and pressing the 'E' key. Enter the filename, and the data with be written out. If the file selected is already on your disk, you will be asked if you want to APPEND or OVERWRITE. You can bring up a directory selection screen by using the DOWN arrow key while the selection box is on screen. Select the directory of your choice. If you do not enter a valid path and file name, you will receive an error message. KILLING SNIPETS --------------- Starting with version 2.9, you are able to delete (KILL) snipets that you do not want for some reason. BE CAREFUL HERE !!! Once deleted, they are gone forever. Upon exit from the file, the entire .SWG file will be rebuilt to eliminate the killed snipet. EXTRA MENU - CTRL KEYS ---------------------- Pressing the CTRL key brings up the EXTRA menu : ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ▀ Next(+) ▀ preV(-) ▀ Move ▀ Copy ▀ Extract ▀ Header ▀ ESC-Quit │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ .. The HEADER function lets you edit the CONTRIBUTOR, SUBJECT and the KEYS. .. The MOVE function lets you move snipets to another .SWG file. The original snipet will deleted from the current file. .. The COPY function lets you copy snipets to another .SWG file. The original snipet will remain unchanged. PROCESSING TAGGED SNIPETS ------------------------- Once you have tagged a group of snipets, you can process them using F4. There are two functions available. ZAP all tagged items, and EXTRACT all tagged items to a directory on your disk. FINDING TEXT IN SNIPETS ----------------------- You can use the (F)ind command to find text located within the SWAG snipets. This works JUST LIKE the BORLAND PASCAL IDE. You can ALSO use the ^Q^F key sequence to activate this function. Just as with the IDE, ^L displays the NEXT find. SWAG SNIPETS MARKED WITH CHECKMARK ---------------------------------- If you see snipets with a CHECKMARK (#251) beside them, this indicates a NEW item added since the LAST update. The READER.EXE keeps track of this and marks these automatically. The checkmark is only there for your reference. THE READER INI FILE ------------------- The READER program keeps several of its program defaults in an INI file (simple ASCII) in the same directory as READER.EXE. Contained in this file are several items that you can change to affect the way the program works. The lines in this file have the format LABEL=VALUE. The file looks like this : COLOR=LIGHTGRAY (LIGHTGRAY,BLUE,CYAN,RED,GREEN,MAGENTA) 43/50=NO (YES or NO) SORT=n (nUMBER,fROM,tO,sUBJECT,cONFERENCE) TEXTEXT=PAS (default extension for extracted files) EXTRACTDIR=D:\TEMP\ (default directory for extraction) PRINTER=LPT1 (printer port [LPT1,LPT2,LPT3,LPT4]) SWAGDIR=\SWAG\FILES\ (Wherever you keep them) (NOTE : This WILL be overridden by the SWAG= environment variable !! ) SWAGADDS=YES (Display those BBS adds at the top (YES/NO) SWAGSTATS=NO (Start reader in STAT mode or FILES mode) You can change this file using any word processor. I think that you'll get the idea. THE SWAG ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE ----------------------------- Some users reported a considerable delay while SWAG programs looked for the .SWG files on their disks. This problem has been eliminated by adding the environment varible SWAG to allow total override of the SWAGDIR= switch in the READER.INI. Use the command : SET SWAG=yourpath at the DOS prompt to set this. This then become the ABSOLUTE location that READER and other programs use to as the beginning path for SWAG files and WILL OVERRIDE you setting in the READER.INI file. COMMAND LINE USAGE ------------------ Starting with this version of the READER, individual SWAG packets can be read from the DOS command line. Simple type READER swagfilename. For example, you can look at all of the snipets in ANSI.SWG by typing : READER ANSI.SWG <ENTER> You don't really need to enter the extension, as the READER will append it for you. If the .SWG files are not in the current directory READER will look for them somewhere on your current PATH. XX3402 ENCODED FILES -------------------- Many of the SWAG snipets contain code that has been encoded using Guy Mcloughlin's XX3402 encoder. This has been done due to the necessity to include OBJ code in the snipet, and this allows us a way to do it. What this fine program does is to create an ASCII encoded file containing the BINARY data. You need to "CUT" these items from the snipet, giving it a unique name, and decode it using XX3402. It's really an easy thing to do. Once you cut your file out, just execute from the DOS command line : XX3402 d yourfilename Magically, the file needed to compile the snipet will appear !! It's just that easy. See the file included with the SWAG distribution XX3402.ZIP for complete instructions, and the COMPLETE SOURCE CODE to this fine program. Thanks GUY for letting us use XX3402 for SWAG. We hope that you find the READER easy to use, and the SWAG material valuable in development of your PASCAL programs. ENJOY !!!!! and GOOD PROGRAMMING !!! Gayle Davis, Kerry Sokalsky and Jeff Fanjoy SWAG Support Team