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SKIP'S COMPUTER MISCELLANEA #6 (C) Copyright 1988 by C. F. "Skip" Mowery, Jr. Colonel, USAF (Ret.) 406 Van Reed Manor Drive Brandon FL 33511 813-689-4212 "Skip's Computer Miscellanea" is copyrighted material and remains the property of the author, who reserves all rights to its publication, reproduction and distribution, with the following single exception: it may be freely copied and distributed electronically via computer for personal non-commercial use, provided that the content is not modified, that it is not copied to or distributed on any form of print media and that it is not copied or distributed by or for any type of business endeavor without the prior written permission of the author. ********** Your comments about this material and questions about any aspect of computing are welcome. This material originates on the Computer Archives BBS in Tampa, Florida, at 813-968-6220. ********** Updates to Issue #5 No Sysop Apoplexy Reference issue #5 and the comparison of the Boyan and Procomm Plus modem communications programs, there've been a few new developments. First, the sysop who was so wedded to Boyan didn't have apoplexy after all over my preference for Procomm Plus but rather, in an astounding display of open-mindedness and objectivity, actually expressed some favorable comments about Procomm Plus. He was hard-pressed to defend Boyan's lack of a Host mode and found Procomm's Host mode to be excellent. (I didn't test the Host mode and am indebted to him for mentioning it.) Nevertheless, I suspect he will stick with Boyan, which is, after all, a fine comm program. As I said, the important thing is to find a program that you are comfortable with. The problem arises (and I am one of the worst offenders in this regard) when we become so accustomed to a program that we not only refuse to try anything else but also kid ourselves (and frequently try to persuade others) into believing that our favorite is better than anyone else's. Witness the fact that I continue to use an outdated and sparcely-featured file manager while recommending other file managers to my readers. Telix Since writing #5, I took a very quick look at another popular comm program with avid supporters: Telix. It appears to be as full- featured as the others and to work generally in the same way. If you're not quite comfortable with either Boyan or Procomm, you might want to take a look at Telix. I wasn't as comfortable with its look and feel as I am with Procomm Plus (which I'm still testing). I noted that Telix does not have context-sensitive on-screen help -- only a single help screen that is primarily a command summary. I also noted that configuration changes do not take effect until you exit the program and run it again. By the way, if you search the BBS directories for files pertaining to Telix, you'll find several references to a version 5. I'm assured by a sysop that version 2.12A is the latest and he can't explain those references to a version 5. (Maybe I'm misinterpreting the file descriptions on the board.) Screen Speedups Also in issue #5, I mentioned the fact that BBS graphics displays take a long time to finish (at least on my system); so I looked for a program that would speed up screen displays. Recommended to me were ZANSI and NANSI and ZENO13.ARC. (I can't find my notes with the exact file names for the first two, but you can find them with the Zippy directory search using those two words.) The first two are replacements for the normal ANSI.SYS driver and I discarded them because I don't use ANSI.SYS and the comm programs mentioned can all simulate an ANSI terminal. ZENO13's results were ambiguous. The archive includes a test program that displays patterns in regular and inverse video and then gives you a rating -- the lower the rating, the faster the screen. I got a rating of 88 when I ran the test without ZENO13 and a rating of 36 after ZENO13 was loaded (it's memory-resident, of course, but only about 9K bytes). The faster speed was obvious not only from the rating but also when viewing the display. I also noted a perceptable dif- ference (not great, but perceptable) in other screen displays. However, I couldn't see any difference in the speed of graphics displays on BBS's. Also, I timed the execution of the DIR command on my very large \BIN directory and found no time difference with and without ZENO13 loaded. Finally, ZENO13 interfered with the display in BASIC (no function-key list at the bottom; no Microsoft copyright statement at the top; the "Ok" prompt was just "k"; and program listings and other screen printouts were garbled). That problem and any similar ones, however, could be avoided by loading Basic via a batch file that first removes ZENO13 from memory (with ZENO13/K), then loads Basic (and, if desired, a program name with the %1 batch file option), and finally re-loads ZENO13 after exiting Basic. New Version of Zmodem Finally as to Issue #5, there's a new version of Zmodem available that sysop says appears to be without the bugs he'd noted in the earlier version. Download DSZ0406.ARC. ********** RIP Here lay several paragraphs of what was undoubtedly pulitzer prize material but which I decided to kill in deference to those who read this material on-line. (The real reason is that I was afraid you'd get bored and not read the really good stuff coming up.) ********** Coming Up (The "Up" being superfluous, of course.) I've been promising myself and the sysops that I would discuss some of the programs that everyone ought to have, but I keep getting side- tracked (RIP above was a good example). So, to place an unconscionable burden of responsibility on myself, one that I could not long endure (sound familiar?), I decided to promise you also: I promise that, in this and one or more upcoming issues, I will discuss -- especially for those of you who are new to computing -- some of the programs that you really ought to have. But first, a little rabble rousing .... (Oh no, not again!) ********** Some Things You Don't Need I don't think anyone really needs a desktop organizer. I'm referring to software such as Sidekick, Righthand Man, Genie, Perks-PC, etc. These are the programs that bundle together several utilities, inclu- ding items such as a calendar, alarm clock, calculator, ASCII table, note pad, card file, screen blanker, modem communications program, cut and paste functions, etc. You may think you need a desktop organizer, but don't be too sure. First of all, no one of them has all the functions that all have collectively. That means that you will probably want other TSR's for the functions that are missing from your favorite desktop organizer. And that means that there's a good chance that one or more of the addi- tional TSR's will conflict with the desktop organizer. As one who has reviewed about 400 downloaded files in the past year, let me advise you that Sidekick, while it appears to be the most popular desktop organi- zer, is also the one most often mentioned as being in conflict with other TSR's. (XYWrite is usually mentioned in the same sentence with Sidekick as a likely source of conflict with other programs.) Second, even if your desktop organizer allows you to select certain modules to load, you may find that the basic program and selected modules take up more memory than would be required if you used smaller individual utilities to accomplish the same tasks. And you also are likely to find that the individual utilities require less disk storage space than the desktop organizer. Finally, with rare exceptions, you will probably find that you seldom if ever use many of those functions that seemed like such a good idea when you decided to use the desktop organizer. That's one of the primary problems in deciding which programs to keep/use: it's diffi- cult to distinguish between what seems like a great idea at the time and what will actually prove to be valuable after some hands-on experience. I'll discuss some alternatives to desktop organizers later but, for the moment, let's consider another category of program that you probably don't need: a menu-driven program manager. I'm referring here to a program that allows you to run all your other applications (and usually many of the DOS functions) from a menu, instead of having to remember proper command combinations. This type of program can be a good idea for someone not comfortable with DOS. Most of the good ones also allow password protection so that a novice user can't get into certain parts of your files and/or can't take certain actions (such as deleting files). The main problem with program managers, however, is that it takes a reasonably intelligent person, familiar with your system, the applica- tions available and DOS, to get the program manager set up to work properly. My point is that, if you can get the program set up proper- ly, you don't need it, and it would be easier just to use some batch files to make it easier to execute some applications. The only exceptions to this conclusion are the cases of families and businesses that have users of varying degrees of ability and varying levels of access to the system. (Another exception might be an individual unfamiliar with his or her computer who convinces an outsider to set up the program manager.) But even in these cases, I've never seen a program manager that would prevent a user from somehow getting to the DOS level and wreaking havoc. Another thing you don't need is an on-screen clock, unless you can easily move it around the screen when it covers some part of the display that you need to see. I look forward to a chorus of disagreement on any of the above. After all, that's what rabble-rousing is all about. And now, without further digression, ado, or whatever .... ********** What You Should Have (1) At the top of the list -- the absolutely essential piece of software for anyone with more than one file on a disk -- is a good file manager, preferably a file and directory manager. There are many excellent shareware file managers to choose from. We're talking about a program (preferably not memory-resident) that enables you easily to move through your drives and directories to see which files are in them and easily to sort, tag, copy, move, delete and rename the files. Icing on the cake includes items such as the ability to run programs from the file manager, to create, remove and rename directories, and to display more than one directory at a time. I suggest you try several file managers but then eventually stick with just one and use it until it becomes second-nature to you. Don't confuse file or directory managers with directory sorting or tree utilities. (Despite all my good intentions, here come 3 paragraphs of semi-digression.) Sorting/tree utilities only show varying degress of information about the directories and files that you have on a disk, but you can't do anything with the files, such as copy, delete, rename, etc. I've never been able to convince myself that I have a need for a sorting or tree utility, even though there are some good ones out there. Also don't confuse file managers with archive-file managers. The latter are designed to facilitate your work with archives. Here again, even though I deal with a lot of archives when reviewing files, I've seldom found it convenient to use an archive-file manager. However, if you want to try some, take a look at ATVER2.ARC, AR221.ARC and NARC13.ARC. The first is the simplest and easiest to learn and use; the second is probably the most full-featured but also the most complicated; and the third is my personal favorite and occupies the middle ground in terms of features and ease of use. Finally, don't confuse file managers with disk/directory cataloging utilities. The latter are useful for floppy-based systems to maintain an inventory of which files are located on which disks, but they don't permit moving, deleting, renaming, etc. EOD. (End of Digression) I've listed below some of the file managers that I've tried and that I recommend for your consideration. Some are powerful and rather complicated, while others are quite easy to learn and use, and just perform the functions expected of a basic file manager. Some are memory-resident and some require large amounts of memory. I suggest you give each of them a test before deciding to keep one. My personal preferences would be one of the first three or one of the last three, the first being full-featured and the last being functional yet simple (but don't ignore the others -- they also have merit). DS310.ARC DCOM.ARC SCOUT.ARC DM.ARC QDISK325.ARC QF23E.ARC FILEMGR.EXE CO.COM (PC Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 21) RN.COM (PC magazine, Vol. 6, No. 16 -- requires DR.COM below) DR.COM (PC Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 14) DC103D.ARC (An enhanced combination of CO.COM and DR.COM.) In the next issue (or soon, he says with typical equivocation), I'll review each of those programs. ********************