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- DOCUMENTATION FOR PROGRAM AIDE
- by Lynn Canning
-
- Credits:
- Program Aide utilizes a number of modules that were written
- by several people and then placed in the public domain. Please note
- the copyright and use information at the beginning of the modules.
-
- STAYRES.332 is a skeleton program from which the memory resident version
- of Program Aide was created. It was written by Lane Ferris, 4268 26th St,
- San Francisco, Ca 94131.
-
- StayXit.320 was written by Lane Ferris.
-
- WINDO.INC was originally written by Michael A. Covington, address unknown.
- It was modified by Lane Ferris for use in the STAYRES demo program. It
- was further modified by Lynn Canning to add additional features. It can
- now be included in any application requiring windows.
- (See the documentation at the beginning of the module).
-
- SC.INC and PGM-AIDE.COM were written by Lynn Canning, 9107 Grandview,
- Overland Park, Ks. 66212
- 913-649-7334.
-
- EP.INC was written by Lynn Canning and Karson W. Morrison
- RD 1, Box 531
- Ringoes, NJ 08551
-
- This program was distributed in a library type file which should have
- included the following modules:
-
- PGM-AIDE.COM - The memory resident version of Program Aide.
- PGM-AIDE.PAS - Turbo Pascal source code for the above.
- PGM-AIDE.DVR - Include file for the PGM_AIDE driver.
- SC.INC - Include file for Screen Counter.
- WINDO.INC - Include file for window routines.
- EP.INC - Include file for Epson Printer.
- PGM_AIDE.DOC - Documentation file for the above.
- STAYXIT.320 - Include file to remove memory resident program.
-
- Installation:
-
- Program Aide can be executed from DOS and will become memory resident.
- It can then be popped up when executing most programs. Problems may
- result if other memory resident programs have previously been called.
- It is therefore suggested that Program Aide be called before other
- memory resident programs. This seems to eliminate the problem. I have
- popped up a memory resident program and then popped Program Aide right
- over the top of it with no problems. Program Aide is popped up by
- typing Alt-F1 after it is installed.
-
- SC.INC is the include module for SCREEN COUNTER. A stand alone version
- of SCREEN COUNTER can be compiled from SC.INC by changing the last (end;)
- in the source to (end.) and inserting the line {$I WINDO.INC } on the
- first line. The constant MaxWin = 1 must be inserted into the constant
- section. Rename SC.INC to SC.PAS.
-
-
- EP.INC is the include module for EPSON PRINTER. A stand alone version
- of EPSON PRINTER can be compiled from EP.INC by changing the last (end;)
- in the source to (end.) and inserting the line {$I WINDO.INC } on the
- first line. The constant MaxWin = 3 must be inserted into the constant
- section. Rename EP.INC to EP.PAS.
-
-
-
- Program Documentation:
-
- I am not particularly familiar with the code in the resident module or
- StayXit.320. I therefore refer you to the documentation included in the
- modules source code. This was written by the original author and will have
- to stand on its own.
-
- Program Documentation for SC.INC:
-
- Screen Counter was written to count screen positions. When Screen Counter
- is activated you will notice four counters on the last line of the screen.
- The line counter obviously tells you what line you are on and correspondingly
- the column counter gives you the column or your position on the line. The
- trip counters is used to determine the horizontal and vertical distance
- between two points on the screen. Note that the column and line counters
- correspond to the X and Y screen coordinates respectively. These counters can
- therefore be used to determine the screen coordinates when needed in a program
- such as dBaseII or when writing window programs.
-
- To use the trip counters, place the cursor on the leftmost point of
- where you wish to begin counting. Hit the F2 key to reset the counters to 1.
- Move the cursor to the rightmost point. The htrip counter now contains the
- horizontal distance between the two points including the starting and ending
- positions. The vtrip counter can be used to count lines or vertical distance.
-
- There are of course limitations on the use of the trip counters. The
- counters reset to the value of the column and line counters if you attempt to
- drive them to a negative value by moving left or up. The counters count
- from left to right and top to bottom. If you overshoot your target position,
- you can move the cursor to the right or up and the counters will decrement.
-
- Cursor movement is controlled by the number pad keys. For details, see the
- on-screen help menu by pressing the F1 key when in the program. The cursor
- will screen wrap except when attempting to go left at line 1 column 1 or
- right at line 24 column 80.
-
- Program Documentation for EP.INC:
-
- This program is mostly self explanatory. Various print options for an
- Epson printer are turned on an off through the use of a menu. When the
- program is called, the printer is reset to its power up state. Various
- options can then be set by hitting the corresponding number or letter.
- Options previouly set can be turned off by hitting the number or letter
- key again. Some options are incompatible with other options (see the
- printer manual for Elite mode). After the options are set, you can see
- the results by printing a test pattern. This pattern also specifies the
- options set. Try option "K" for printing program listings.
-
- Program Documentation for WINDO.INC:
-
- This program creates windows by utilizing user specified parameters. The
- options include setting foreground and background colors and the type of
- borders desired. Complete documentation for this program is included in
- the module. This module is completely transportable and can be utilizied
- in other programs requiring windows. A time delay procedure is included
- which will suspend program operation for a specified number of seconds.
- Use of this routine instead of the Turbo delay command will allow your
- program to be transportable between systems with different clock speeds
- while still maintaining the same delay interval.
-
-
- Misc Documemtation:
-
- The resident program will work with a color graphics card or a
- momochrome monitor. If you are using a composite monochrome monitor
- such as is found on the Compac and IBM portables or you are not using
- a color monitor with a color graphics card it may be necessary to change
- the color combinations within the source code to the monochrome values
- in order to see things better.
-
- Additional utilities can be included by modifying PGM-AIDE.DVR as
- appropriate and including the module in PGM-AIDE.PAS. It is suggested
- that the additional module be tested as stand-alone then made it into an
- include file when it is completed. This approach will speed testing
- considerably. Keep in mind that include files cannot be nested.
-