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AHDM V3.00 Documentation 1990-1992 by Scott Meek AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 Before you Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Copyright Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 What you will need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How to install AHDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Files needed by AHDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Operation of AHDM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Use of the CONTROL gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ADD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SCRIPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 EDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 DELETE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CURRENT PAGE SORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 MOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SWAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 REPLACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CONFIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 OFFSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Greenwich Mean Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ZONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 12/24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 TITLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ICON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 RMB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 12/24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 BACKDRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 GMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SECURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Top Lvl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Encrypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Remaining Eight Gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 ABOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 close window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 EXIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Enter Access Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Shrink Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 custom window position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Debugging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Bug Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Where to send Bug Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 What to include . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 Before you Begin Copyright Notice: AHDM V3.00a is copyrighted. However, you are free to distribute it in an un-modified fashion so long as this notice and all files are distributed together, and in an unchanged form. This release (V3.00a) is a limited working version of the original program. A full working version may be obtained be sending $20 U.S. to: AHDM V3.00 c/o Scott Meek P.O. Box 16 Trenton, MI 48183 Disclaimer: Due to the nature of AHDM V3.00a, I cannot, in any way be held liable for for direct, indirect, or incidental damages resulting from from the use or mis-use of this program. Enough said. Getting Started What you will need: 1. AHDM - the program file 2. AHDM3.DATA - the DATA file 3. AHDM3.CONFIG - AHDMs Configuration file. 4. A Bootable Disk (It is suggested that if this is your first experience with AHDM, that you first install it to a Bootable Floppy. By doing this, you can avoid any unpleasant encounters. Also, see the Tutorial Section) How to install AHDM: Installation is very simple, just copy AHDM to any directory on your disk. If you desire a fresh menu setup (a blank menu with default settings) you needn't copy the other files (I have provided them for demonstration purposes only). After the files are copied, edit your bootable disk's startup-sequence by adding the following line: RUN >NIL: (path)AHDM The "RUN >NIL:" MUST be present in order to allow the initial CLI window to close properly. Also, AHDM requires no additional Command- Line parameters, and none should be included. 3 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 AHDM can be run from any directory, but it is suggested that prior to running AHDM, a CD SYS: be executed in order to properly place AHDM3.DATA. Files needed by AHDM: Your bootable disk should contain the following files: C:RUN C:EXECUTE Any other DIRECT commands or SCRIPT files that you will want AHDM to run during operation. AHDM will create the following files: AHDM3.DATA AHDM3.CONFIG Operation of AHDM Startup: When AHDM opens, you will be presented with three columns of gadgest, from right to left, these gadgets are refered to as: ACTION gadgets - where your Command/Script descriptions will appear. CONTROL gadgets - used to control the operations of AHDM PAGE gadgets - where the description of each page will appear. Use of the CONTROL gadgets: ADD - Click on this gadget to add an ACTION to the Current Page. A window will be opened to edit the New Action. Description - Enter the English description of the action to be executed. Command - Enter the AmigaDOS command or script file to be executed. Access - enter the Security Access Code for this particular action. (See Security section for more.) SCRIPT - Select this gadget if this action is to take it's commands from an AmigaDOS script file. (the script file must be located in the directory defined in the CONFIG window. (see CONFIG section for more on this.) EDIT - clicking on this gadget will allow you to select an ACTION or PAGE to edit. Click on a CONTROL gadget to cancel. 4 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 DELETE - Clicking on this gadget will allow you to select an ACTION or PAGE to delete. Click on a CONTROL gadget to cancel. SORT - Click on this gadget to SORT the AHDM DataBase. A number of requesters will appear asking how you want the DataBase sorted. FULL MENU SORT - Accept this requester to do a Full Sort of the DataBase. Cancel to sort the Current page only. CURRENT PAGE SORT - Accept this requester to Sort only the ACTIONs on the Current Page. Cancel to abort the sort function. Sorting takes a little time. When the Menu Clock begins to run again, the sort is complete. MOVE - Click on this action to move an ACTION or PAGE to another location on the menu. You will then be asked to click on the action or page to move, and to click on the location to move it to. If you select a currently occupied location, you will also be asked if you want to SWAP locations. Accepting will swap the two, Cancelling will REPLACE the destination action or page. It is possible to move actions between two pages. PAGE - Click on this action to create a new PAGE on the menu. The Edit window will appear, and you can then edit the data associated with the new page. Description - The description of what appears on this page. (I.E. Utilities, Games, Productivity or anything else you can dream up.) Access - The Security Access Code for this particular page. (See Security Section for more.) CONFIG - Click on this window to open the Configuration window. PAGE - Defines the page to open AHDM to. (defaults to page 0) By entering a number here from 0 to 15 AHDM will optionally open to this page upon startup. Pages are numbered from top to bottom, starting with page 0. (NOTE: If you open to a secured page [i.e. a page with an ACCESS code] AHDM will not open until you enter the proper access code for that page. So, you will have to remember the code for the page. This cannot be by- passed!!) 5 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 OFFSET - This is the Offset from Greenwich Mean Time. There are a number of ways that this can be utilized. By entering a number from +23 to -23, you can set the offset from system time for AHDM's clock display. If you use GMT as a system time, subtract the GMT from the time in your time zone, and enter the number in this display. If you use Normal Zone time and want to display GMT in AHDM's clock, subtract your zone time from GMT and enter this number in the display. Example: you live in the Eastern United States, and use GMT as a system time, but you want AHDM to display current local time. It's 5:00pm locally. Subtract GMT (12:00 GMT) from EST/EDT (17:00) and enter the result (+5) in the display. (NOTE: This offset will not go into effect unless you select the GMT gadget on the bottom of the CONFIG window.) This function is (accidently) complex and flexible. During the primary coding stages I noticed a few quirks about this function that I decided to leave intact, due to the flexible nature that they presented. They are not bugs in the programming, and should not present a problem. I am sure that I have not found every quirk associated with this offset, but if you should stumble upon other ways in which to use it, please feel free to write me concerning them. ZONE - Enter the Local Time Zone Indentifier here. This will display your time zone when the 12/24 hour gadget is selected. (i.e. EST). TITLE - Enter a 78 char String to appear above the Clock in the main menu display. PATH - Enter the full AmigaDOS path to all script files used by AHDM. Pathname MUST end with a ':' or a '/'. ICON - Selecting this gadget will cause AHDM to open in the iconified state. It will appear as a simple clock/memory monitor on the Workbench Screen. To resize the Menu Window, click once on the clock/memory monitor and then press the RMB (Right Mouse Button). Pressing the RMB again will iconify AHDM. 12/24 - Selecting this gadget will cause AHDM's clock display to switch from standard 24 hour mode to 12 hour mode and replace the Local Time Zone name with ap/pm. 6 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 BACKDRP - Not currently defined. GMT - Selecting this gadget will cause AHDM to utilize the GMT offset entered in the Offset field. When this gadget is not selected, AHDM ignores the Offset. SECURE - This gadget will open the AHDM Menu Security window. The Information entered in this window will affect only the CONTROL gadgets in the Main Display. Top Lvl - This sets the security code for the CONTROL Gadgets. To set the Security Code, enter any text into this field, and select the COMMAND gadgets below to lock out. The 'SECURE' COMMAND gadget (the one you pressed to get this window) is automatically locked out when you enter an Access code into the 'Top Lvl' field. NOTE:Remember the number that you enter into this field, as you must enter it to get back into the Secure Window!!! Encrypt - Enter any 4 char printable string into this field to encode the AHDM3.DATA file in such a way as it cannot be examined by an editor. Remaining Eight Gadgets - Select one or more of these gadgets to Secure. By selecting them, you will then be asked to enter the 'Top Lvl' Access code each time you select the corresponding CONTROL gadget in the Main Window. ABOUT - Presents a window stating version number of program, who the program is registered to, and other info. Click on this info to close window. EXIT - Exits AHDM. 7 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 Security AHDM provides a comprehensive security system to lock out unauthorized use of your computer. It has a main password which will lock out the modification of your menu, as well as multiple passwords to lock out a single action or groups of actions. As a result, it is imperitive that you remember your passwords, as they cannot be retrieved from any other source. Each password consists of a 7 char string. This string can be numbers, letters or sybols, or a combination of the three. Every time a function, action or page is selected which has a password associated with it, you will be presented with an "Enter Access Code" Requester. Type the access code for that particular action, and you can continue. If the password is wrong, AHDM will not respond to your demands. If you choose to open AHDM to a Secured Page (See CONFIG above), You will be prompted for the correct password before the Menu data is displayed on the menu. This makes it possible to lock out your Hard Drive to any un-authorized user. (NOTE: If your startup- sequence still contains the 'LoadWB' command, this function will be rendered useless. It is best to place the LoadWB in AHDM in this instance.) "Misc Features" Explanations of all (?) those little goodies that AHDM does, but are not associated with a gadget or menu item. Shrink Window - To shrink AHDM's window to nothing more that one of those annoying little clock/memory monitors that sits on top of the WorkBench Screen, just activate AHDM's window, and press the Right Mouse Button (RMB). You can re-define the default position of the iconified window, and the main window, by following these steps: 1) Move the Main Menu Window to the position on the screen that you would normally like it to appear. (Non-Interlace Users aren't given a whole lot of area to choose form) 2) Press the RMB button to iconify AHDM. 3) Move the iconified window to the desired position. 4) Press the RMB again. 8 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 5) Select either the 'CONFIG' or 'SECURE' gadget and then select 'ACCEPT'. AHDM will now remember the custom window position, even after re-boot. Debugging Previous releases of AHDM opened a 1 pixel by 1 pixel window in the upper left-hand corner of the workbench screen. This window no longer exisists. Managing this debugging window was more trouble than it was worth, and apparently WorkBench 2.0 will not allow a 1x1 window on the screen. As a result, debugging a Command is a little more involved, now. To debug a Command, you can do one of three things: 1) Type the Command into a CLI window, (If it's a script file, don't forget the path to the script files) and observe what happens. 2) Change the 'RUN >NIL: AHDM' to 'RUN AHDM' in your startup- sequence and re-boot. (This method will not allow the initial CLI window to close, so you should change the startup-sequence back when you are finished) 3) Open a new CLI and type 'AHDM'. This will run a second copy of AHDM. Use this second copy only to find out what the problem is. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE SECOND COPY OF AHDM. If you do change something, it may or may not go into effect, depending on what you do in the first copy. Bug Reports Where to send Bug Reports: AHDM-BUG REPORT c/o Scott Meek P.O. Box 16 Trenton, MI 48183 What to include: When sending a bug report, make sure to write down all information about your system that you can. Include type of hard drive, hard drive controller, Processor used (68000, 68020, 68030, etc.), Math CoProcessor, amount of CHIP and FAST RAM, KickStart, WorkBench, and ARP versions, what you were doing when you found the bug, and the first 8 digits of the GURU number (if applicable). To get the 9 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 Kickstart, WorkBench and ARP Versions of your system, enter 'VERSION' in the CLI. Be as complete as possible with your information. The more info I have about the problem, the faster I can fix it, and send you a revision. Tutorial This is a short tutorial on the use of AHDM. While it is not a complete guide to AHDM, it will get you started. I have provided 10 sample actions and their script files (if any) to aquaint you with AHDM and it use. I suggest you look these over. (you can see the sample actions by flipping to page 2 on the menu and using the CHANGE gadget to see what each action contains. Click on 'OK' when finished with each selection.) For ease of recognition, I have placed a '.bat' extension on each script file. 'TYPE' these out to read them. While some commands can be executed directly from AHDM, like LoadWB or any task that does not require user intervention, others need the benefit of an open cli window. These tasks include formatting a disk or copying disks. Executing a format directly from AHDM will immediatly begin to format the disk in the drive without waiting for you to change disks, press [RETURN] or click a continue gadget. For this reason, PLEASE: EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN ADDING A NEW FUNCTION TO THE MENU!! If in doubt use the script file. Better safe than sorry!!!! Example: Here is an example that loads the workbench from the menu. It is done first by direct command, then by script file. Select 'ADD' and enter Description: Load Amiga Workbench Command: SYS:C/LOADWB or C:LOADWB or just LOADWB It's as simple as that. To format a disk from the menu, Select 'ADD' and enter New Entry: Format Drive DF0: Command: NewCLI FROM FormatDF0.bat 10 AHDM-III 1990-1992 by Scott Meek Amiga Hard Disk Menu V3.00 Now, create an ASCII file named FormatDF0.bat containing the following lines. FORMAT DRIVE DF0: NAME <name> ENDCLI Complete Volume/Pathnames can be used in the command field. This will allow you to keep all of your script files in one directory. Some programs I have started from AHDM did not function properly at first. This was due to the fact that I launched them directly from AHDM without going thru a script file. They were therefore run from the incorrect directory and could not locate the files they needed to function properly. This was remedied by using a script file to CD to the correct directory before running them. So far, I have not found a program that would not run from AHDM, other than certain heavily protected games. So, if you can't run a program from the menu, try a new approach. Experiment. 11