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Text File | 1987-08-04 | 24.9 KB | 538 lines

Welcome to state of the art BASIC programming! This file is broken down into the following sections: 1. Introduction 2. How to start DIALER.EXE 3. How to use DIALER.EXE 4. Information about the MicroHelp products used to create this program. 5. Ordering and shipping information for MicroHelp products (be sure to check out the special prices on MicroHelp products in this area). 1. Introduction DIALER.EXE allows you to have a "memory-resident" telephone dialing program that takes as little as 7K of DOS memory! The program requires an IBM or compatible computer with DOS 2.0 or later and uses either 7K or 117K of DOS memory (explained below). In addition, a 300 baud (or faster) modem that uses Hayes compatible commands, together with a phone line that accepts "tone dialing", is needed in order to dial the phone. If you don't have a modem, you can still use this program to pop up any text file you want! You may have multiple copies of this program in memory at one time, but make sure each copy of the program has its own unique "hot key". Note that this program will pop up over most any program that is running in text mode or CGA compatible graphics mode (16K memory used). It is not programmed to pop up over EGA graphics (it beeps at you), but Mach 2's routines can be used to do so - you just need more memory! Along with DIALER.EXE, you should have received DIALER.BAS (the source code for DIALER.EXE), DIALER.DIR (starter dialing directory) and DIALER.DOC (this file). If you did not receive the source code, and you are interested in looking at it, you might want to check with the person/BBS/time sharing system where you obtained these files and find out why they did not include the source code. Note that the source code cannot be recompiled without two of MicroHelp's products. It is included so that you can get an idea of how our software works. The program is yours to use absolutely free of charge. This is not "shareware" and no contribution is expected. Why? Simple - this program demonstrates two programmer's utility packages available from MicroHelp. The packages are Mach 2 (assembler subroutine library) and Stay-Res (lets you make compiled BASIC programs memory-resident). In order for this program to use only 7K of DOS memory, you must have DOS 3.0 or later and one of the following: a. Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory available for use b. Any memory beyond 640k that you use as a RAM disk c. A hard disk (a floppy is OK, but results in very slow popping up and popping down). If you have unused LIM Expanded memory (and DOS 3+), this program will use only 7K of memory without any action on your part. Using a RAM or hard disk for program storage is discussed in paragraph 2.e below. (Without the above, the program requires about 117K.) 2. How to start DIALER.EXE In order to start DIALER, simply invoke its name from the DOS prompt, just like any other program. Because you do not have a configuration file (a file with the name DIALER.CNF), the configuration menu will be displayed on the screen. If you did not get DIALER.DIR (starter dialing directory) or you have not yet prepared a file with the names and phone numbers of the people you want to call, you should press 'Esc' at this point, since the program will not become memory-resident without such a file. The program needs to know the following information: a. Snow checking (toggle ON and OFF with the space bar) True Blue IBM Color Graphics Adapters generate "snow" on the screen when programs write directly to video memory. The routines used in DIALER (taken from Mach 2) write directly to video memory, but are capable of suppressing the snow. So, if you have an IBM Color Graphics Adapter you should set this to ON. If you are using a monochrome monitor, or any other type of color adapater that does not need snow suppression, set this to OFF. b. Monitor to use (toggle between DEFAULT, MONO and COLOR with space bar) This feature allows you to set the monitor on which DIALER will pop up. Unless you have two monitors attached to your system, set this to DEFAULT. If you have two monitors (monochrome and color), you may choose the one on which DIALER will pop up or you may set it to DEFAULT. If you set it to DEFAULT, DIALER will pop up on the currently active monitor. Setting this feature to COLOR or MONO will tell DIALER to pop up on the appropriate monitor. This is handy when you want to have your dialing directory pop up on the INACTIVE monitor while viewing other information on the ACTIVE monitor. c. Phone directory file name Enter the name, which can include a disk drive and path. Note that you have full use of the editing keys, since this input is entered using Mach 2's input routine - you cannot use Ctrl-Break or Ctrl-C to get out of this routine! You may use the right and left arrow keys, Ins (to toggle the insert status), Home, End, Ctrl-End (delete from cursor to end of line) keys. These keys all behave the same way they do in most word processors and the BASIC interpreter. Examples: C:\PHONE.DIR C:\PHONE\DIRECTORY.DTB B:NOTES PHONENUM The normal DOS filename restrictions apply here. In other words, it must be a valid DOS file name, without wildcards of '*' and '?'. The file name that you choose must be a TEXT file (created with a text editor) with one entry per line and each line terminated with a carriage return/line feed. That's CHR$(13)+CHR$(10). Most text editors, including EDLIN, create that kind of file. You may also use Wordstar (non-document mode) or SideKick's note pad. Even the QuickBASIC 2 and 3 editors create this kind of file! Each entry (up to 200) can be as long as you like, but only the first 76 characters will be used by DIALER. The phone numbers that you want DIALER to dial for you must begin in column 56 (or higher) of the entry. Any entry that has nothing but spaces in it from column 56 onward will not be dialed. The data in your file might look like this: MicroHelp order line (outside of Georgia) 1-800-922-3383 MicroHelp tech support line (and orders in Georgia) 1-404-973-9272 Microsoft Customer Service 1-206-882-8088 (upgrades, tech support, etc.) Microsoft Tech support - on Compuserve, type GO MSOFT Compuserve customer service 1-800-848-8990 Tall tree Tech support (JRAM boards) 1 (415) 424-8324 Softcraft Inc. (Btrieve) BBS 1-512-346-8385 Note that the phone numbers begin in column 56 and that spaces, hyphens and parenthesis are OK to use - your modem will ignore those characters. Whenever you pop up this program, your telephone directory file is checked for the time and date. If you have changed the file, DIALER will reload it for you automatically. d. Press your hot key You can select the "hot key" that you want to pop up your program. (This is a standard feature in Stay-Res. In addition, Stay-Res lets you pop up your programs with a POKE!) You will be able to pop up over most any program running in text mode or CGA compatible graphics mode. With Mach 2's routines, you can write programs that pop up over EGA graphics too! For this demonstration, you must hold one or more of the CTRL, ALT and SHIFT keys and then press another key (Stay-Res does not require this, but since the "general public" is using this program, it prevents them from accidentally assigning their hot key to a "normal" key.) If we wanted to be fancy (and make the program take more memory), we would display the actual key that you press. But in order to save memory, we only show you the "scan code" and "shift status" of your hot key. Example hot keys are: SHIFT-F10 ALT-F3 CTRL-ESC SHIFT-ALT-F10 Once you have chosen your hot key, you may press F1 to save your configuration file and become memory-resident if you do not need to set the other two items (below). e. Drive/path for swapping If you have DOS 3.0 or later, plus either a RAM or hard disk, you may use the "disk swapping" facility that is included in the EMS/Disk module available as an "add-on" for Stay-Res. What you do is to enter a disk drive letter (and optional subdirectory) that Stay-Res can use for file storage. Do NOT enter a file name. Examples of what you should enter: C:\DIALER C:\ E:\RAM\WORK What happens with Disk swapping? When DIALER becomes memory-resident, it saves a binary "image" of your program to a disk file on the drive and path you specify. It creates another empty file at the same time. When you press your hot key, Stay-Res checks to make sure that it is safe to use DOS (if you are in the middle of doing disk I/O it is NOT safe - almost any other time is safe). If it is NOT safe to use DOS, DIALER will BEEP at you and will NOT pop up (SideKick performs a similar check and "squeaks" at you if it's not safe to pop up.) If it is safe to use DOS functions, Stay-Res will save a binary "image" of the data that is in the memory locations it needs to use, then it will reload the binary image of DIALER into memory, take a "snapshot" of the screen and transfer control to DIALER. When you put the program "back to sleep", waiting for the next press of the "hot key", the reverse takes place - the screen is restored, DIALER is saved to disk and the original program (or DOS) is given control again. When you use the disk swapping capabilities of Stay-Res, two files will be created on the drive and path you specify. Normally these files are named "SR00" and "SR01". However, if those file names are in use, you will see files "SR02" and "SR03" or any other pair up to "SR99". DO NOT DELETE these files while DIALER is memory-resident! f. Communications port Use the space bar to toggle between COM1 and COM2. After you have entered all of the necessary configuration data, press the F1 key to save your configuration and become memory-resident. Once you have saved your configuration, it will automatically be loaded next time you invoke DIALER (note that the configuration file, DIALER.CNF must be present in the current directory on the default disk drive when you invoke DIALER.) If you need to change your configuration, simply start DIALER like this: DIALER/C The /C tells DIALER that you want to change your configuration. 3. How to use DIALER.EXE When the program pops up, the data from your telephone directory (a maximum of 200 entries) will be available to you. DIALER will display up to 20 entries at once on the screen, with one entry being highlighted. a. Select someone to call You may move through your entries using the following keys: Up arrow moves upward on the current screen. If you press the up arrow key while at the first entry on the screen, you will move to the last entry on the screen. Down arrow moves downward on the current screen. If you press the down arrow key while on the bottom entry of the screen, you will move to the first entry on the screen. Use the PgUp key to move BACKWARD one screen and the PgDn key to move FORWARD one screen. Both of these keys will "wrap" around. In other words, if you press the PgDn key while the end of your telephone directory is on the screen, the next screen displayed will be the FIRST screen of your file. b. Dial a number In order to dial the number of the highlighted entry, simply press the Enter key (also called Return). After you dial a number, what happens next is up to you: Press the 'R' key to redial the number. Do this if the line is busy or you get the "busy circuit" signal (fast repeats of the busy tone). Press the Enter key again to "hang up" and return to the main menu prompt. Note that if you wish to speak to the person that answers the phone, you must pick up your telephone handset (or turn on your speaker phone) BEFORE you press Enter! c. Go back to sleep Press the 'Esc' key to put DIALER back to sleep, waiting for the next press of your hot key. d. Disappear from memory WARNING - you must not do this if any other program is running or if you have loaded any other memory-resident programs AFTER you loaded DIALER! Selecting this option will remove DIALER from memory, returning all memory used by DIALER back to DOS. Since it is dangerous to do this at the wrong time, DIALER will ask you to confirm that you want to release memory before doing so. e. Search phone directory. Press the 'F3' to search your phone directory for any characters you want. You may enter up to 50 characters. Note that the search will ignore the case of characters. That means that if you enter 'abc' as the characters to search for, all of the following would be found: ABC Television abc Movie aBc Tape 4. Information about the MicroHelp products used to create this program. MicroHelp products are not copy protected and there are no royalties when you use MicroHelp products in your compiled programs. To order any products, or to receive more detailed information about MicroHelp products, call 1-800-922-3383. In Georgia, or to receive answers to technical questions by phone, call 404-973-9272. All MicroHelp products come with a 30 day money-back performance guarantee - if our software doesn't do what we say, and we don't fix it, you get your money back. All products come with a manual in a three ring binder and include sample programs on the accompanying disk(s). The prices shown below do not include shipping and handling (see the end of this file). a. Stay-Res Allows you to make your compiled BASIC programs memory-resident, just like this program. You select the "hot key" to use (or call up your programs with a POKE) and Stay-Res does the rest. The suggested retail price is only $69. The EMS/Disk module (allowing your programs to use only 7K of DOS memory) is $30 if purchased with Stay-Res. If you purchase it later, the cost is $50. See the end of this file for ordering info. Stay-Res is compatible with Microsoft QuickBASIC (all versions) but programs compiled with QuickBASIC 2+ require DOS 3.x to run. In addition, Stay-Res works with IBM BASCOM 1.0 and 2.0 as well as Microsoft's "generic" compiler version 5.36. Stay-Res comes in the form of an .obj module that you LINK on to the front of your program. Inside your program, you have one or more CALL statements that reference Stay-Res. You must have the BASIC source code for any program you want to become memory-resident. In addition, the program must be compiled as a "standalone" program (using the /O switch) and cannot use the /d, /v and /w switches. There is no limit on your program size with QuickBASIC and BASCOM 2.0. Stay-Res is compatible with and can be popped up over SideKick, Superkey, Microsoft Word, Lotus 1-2-3, the BASIC interpreter, QuickBASIC (except version 2.01) and any other program that does not "steal" the keyboard interrupt (INT 9H). The only reported incompatibility we've had with Stay-Res is DesqView - the reason is simple - both programs are trying to accomplish the same thing and do it in a similar fashion. Stay-Res includes the following features: 1. Automatic screen save (when you pop up) and restore (when you pop back down) for text and 16K graphics modes. Mach 2 can save EGA graphics images if you need to pop up over EGA graphics screens. 2. Screen images can be saved inside BASIC's string space (if you have room) or outside of BASIC's data area if not. 3. Selectable hot key, including shift status. 4. "Snow checking" during screen save and restore can be on or off. 5. Programs can be popped up with a POKE from another program. 6. Change the video mode independent of BASIC. 7. True SHELL facility (before or instead of becoming resident). Allows use of SHELL with all the compatible compilers shown above, including SHELL'ing other BASIC programs (compiled or interpreted). 8. Ability to remove the resident program from memory, returning all used memory back to DOS. 9. Multiple Stay-Res assisted programs can be in memory at the same time (but each one must have a unique hot key). The EMS/disk module (DOS 3+) provides these additional features: 1. Use Lotus/Intel/Microsoft expanded memory for program storage - your program takes only 7K of DOS memory. EMS memory, if present, will automatically be used for program storage but you can tell Stay-Res NOT to use it if you wish. 2. Allows use of RAM or hard disk for program storage - your program takes only 7K of DOS memory. 3. Determine if sufficient EMS memory is available before becoming resident. b. Mach 2 - Performance package for the BASIC programmer This library of assembler subroutines is MicroHelp's most popular product. No knowledge of assembly language is needed, nor is an assembler program required in order to use Mach 2. There are over two dozen specialized subroutines in the package including support for string data beyond the 64K limit in compilers and interpreters. Mach 2 even lets you use LIM Expanded Memory for data storage! The suggested retail price is only $69.00. See the end of this file for ordering info. In addition to being compatible with the same compilers as Stay-Res, Mach 2 is compatible with Microsoft Business BASIC. Versions are also available (at the same price) for Turbo Basic and Turbo Pascal. All of the video related routines allow you to select the monitor to use (including Multilink video segments) and you can specify if snow checking is necessary on a color monitor. All file and directory related routines return true DOS error codes without your having to use ON ERROR. The routines included in Mach 2 are: Video and Input Routines ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mhscr - Instant screen display (when compiled) - about 4 times faster in interpreted BASIC. When we say "instant", we mean that you can display an entire screen in 0.1 to 0.2 seconds when compiled. Mhwindow - the Window manager - pop 'em up, pull 'em down or do them like Lotus 1-2-3. This routine saves and restores any portion (or all) of the screen and draws boxes (single or double line) automatically. Mhscrol - scrolls data on the screen in all four directions Mhchars - displays characters 5 lines tall by 4 columns wide Mhpusing - similar to BASIC's PRINT USING for numbers, but more flexible and up to 6 times faster Mhrscr - reads characters from the screen into a BASIC string up to 150 times faster than BASIC's SCREEN(x,y) function. Mhscatt - changes screen attributes (colors) without disturbing the text on the screen - instantly. * * * Both of the following routines return the scan code, ASCII code and shift status (SHIFT/CTRL/ALT) of the last key pressed. Mhinput - the controlled input routine used in DIALER for getting your phone directory name and disk swapping information. Allows full use of standard editing keys and ignores Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break. Mhkclr - clears the keyboard before returning a single key press Beyond the BASIC 64K data limit (Use all available DOS and LIM Expanded Memory) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mhems - manages LIM Expanded Memory for data storage Mhstore - stores and retrieves data in memory outside of BASIC's data areas Mhmove - copies memory from any location to any RAM location Mhmsort - sorts string arrays stored outside of BASIC's string space Mhorder - maintains sorted arrays outside of BASIC's string space. Lets you find, insert and delete strings automatically. Mhsrch - search any part of the computer's memory for a string File & Directory Services ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mhenvir - searches the DOS "path" for a given file name Mhfdate - get or set a file's date and time Mhattr - get or set a file's attributes (read-only, hidden, system, archive) Mhdir - get/set current drive/directory. Create/remove and change directories Mhfile - opens files and devices for I/O Mhfind - searches any drive/directory for matching file names, including wild card searches Mhfsize - get's a file's size Mhrwsub - reads and writes files as fast as DOS - do it up to 65535 bytes in one operation Copyfile - ready to run subroutine for copying files as fast as DOS String Handling ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mhucase - converts strings to uppercase Mulcase - converts strings to lowercase Mhsndx - lets you compare strings by their SOUND - yes we said SOUND Mhstrip - replaces unwanted characters in a string Miscellaneous ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mhdos2 - DOS/BIOS function calls and interrupts Mhdver - returns the DOS version number Mhround - rounds numbers to the desired number of decimal places 5. Ordering and shipping information To order any of MicroHelp's products, call 1-800-922-3383. In Georgia, or for technical questions, call 404-973-9272. We welcome VISA, MasterCard and COD orders (COD in USA only - $3 charge). Our current products and their prices are shown below. Please add shipping and handling (shown after the price info) and if you live in Georgia, please add sales tax for your county. Retail Price ------ Mach 2 for IBM/Microsoft BASIC $69.00 Stay-Res 69.00 Stay-Res with EMS/Disk Module 99.00 EMS/Disk module purchased separately 50.00 Mach 2 for Turbo Pascal 69.00 Mach 2 for Turbo Basic 69.00 Screen Machine 79.00 Peeks 'n Pokes 30.00 The Inside Track 45.00 Shipping & Handling Charges: USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UPS ground shipping $3.00 per order (any number of software packages) UPS Blue label $5.00 for one software package. Call for prices on more items in the same order. UPS Red label $14.00 for one software package. Call for prices on more items in the same order. Canada (Shipped via Air mail) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- $5.00 for one or two software packages. $2.00 each additional package. Other countries (Shipped via Air mail) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- $18.00 for one or two software packages. $7.00 each additional package.