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- FIVE SIMPLE PROGRAMS FOR PCjr.
-
- The five programs printed here will greatly improve your control
- over your PCjr. However, in order for any of them to work, you
- must have the statement "DEVICE=ANSI.SYS" in your CONFIG.SYS file
- on your boot disk. All five programs use ANSI, so if it's not
- there they won't work.
-
- The first program in the library is COL1.BAT. You can use it to
- set foreground color, background color, and mode one at a time by
- typing COL1 and then the number of the color or mode. The numbers
- to use are:
-
- Number Type Mode
-
- 0 White characters on black background
-
- 1 High Intensity
-
- 4 Monochrome underline
-
- 5 Blink
-
- 7 Reverse Video
-
- 8 Invisible text
-
-
- Color Foreground Background
-
- Black 30 40
-
- Red 31 41
-
- Green 32 42
-
- Yellow 33 43
-
- Blue 34 44
-
- Magenta 35 45
-
- Cyan 36 46
-
- White 37 47
-
- For instance to change the foreground (character) color to red,
- type "COL1 31". To change to blinking text, type "COL1 5". Ther
- are obviously many combinations.
-
- The next program is COL2.BAT. It lets you change both the
- foreground and background color at the same time, or either color
- in combination with a mode by typing "COL2" and any combination of
- the numbers in the tables above WITH NO PUNCTUATION IN BETWEEN THE
- NUMBERS!!! For instance, my personal favorite is black characters
- on a magenta background (this is a lot easier to read than the
- usual white on black). I have the statement "COL2 30 45" in my
- AUTOEXEC.BAT file so my Junior always comes up in that mode.
-
- The next file is CHAR.BAT. You can use it to redefine any of the
- character keys on your keyboard. All you do is type "CHAR" and
- then the number of the key you want changed, and the number of the
- character you want it changed to. By number of the key, I mean
- the ASCII value of the key. See appendix G of your BASIC manual
- for all of the ASCII values. For instance, to change the close
- bracket key (]) to a star (*), type "CHAR 93 42" (notice no
- punctuation between the numbers). This particular command will
- give you a star in lower case, which any self-respecting DOS
- machine should have.
-
- The fourth program REDEF.BAT, lets you assign any character or
- function with an ASCII value of greater then 32 to any key on the
- keyboard that has an EXTENDED ASCII code. You can find the
- extended ASCII codes at the END of appendix G in the BASIC manual.
-
- Finally, REDEFS.BAT lets you assign your own function keys. The
- codes for the function keys are:
-
- Function Key Code
-
- 1 59
-
- 2 60
-
- 3 61
-
- 4 62
-
- 5 63
-
- 6 64
-
- 7 65
-
- 8 66
-
- 9 67
-
- 10 68
-
- For instance, to make F1 copy an entire disk, type "REDEFS 59
- DISKCOPY". The big drawback to REDEFS is that you can't use any
- commands that contain spaces in your redefinition. In other
- words, things like COPY CON: or CHKDSK A: won't work. But there
- are plenty of other commands that don't have spaces that will
- work. You can also put your function key redefinitions in your
- AUTOEXEC.BAT file so the computer will always come up in that
- mode.
-
- The important thing to remember when you are using these programs
- is that they only work when your machine is under the control of
- DOS. When you call a program be ready for boring old white on
- black and possibly a redefinition (by the program ) of the
- function keys. However, when the program returns control to DOS,
- everything will be put back the way you defined it.
-
- The source code for all of these programs can be found in Paul
- Somersons READER TO READER column in the September 1984 edition of
- PCjr. magazine. Paul also explains them much better than I do, so
- you might want to read his column too to learn more of the finer
- points of the programs.
-
- ENJOY!!
-
-