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Text File | 1992-09-18 | 18.5 KB | 402 lines

*** ANSIPLUS VERSION 2.04 RELEASE NOTES *** Shareware Package Thank you for evaluating ANSIPLUS. This file briefly describes ANSIPLUS, lists the files included in the ANSIPLUS Shareware package, gives quick installation instructions, and describes recent changes made to ANSIPLUS. What is ANSIPLUS? ---- -- --------- The ANSIPLUS console device driver integrates major console elements missing from DOS and the personal computer BIOS into a single compact device driver that can easily be controlled and personalized. With ANSIPLUS installed: * User interaction with the DOS command shell and many applications will be significantly improved. * Screen output will be faster than with DOS's ANSI and non-ANSI drivers. * The user will have complete control over colors and VGA/EGA capabilities. * Users of Windows 3 will have access to ANSIPLUS features in all windowed and full screen DOS sessions. * The user will also benefit from all the other display and keyboard features provided by ANSIPLUS. The ANSIPLUS enhanced DOS console device driver is tailored to take advantage of VGA and EGA display capabilities: * It automatically adapts to VGA or EGA screen modes, both text and graphics, including extended modes with large numbers of lines and/or columns. The driver also automatically compensates for older video controllers with very limited numbers of colors or shades (eg. CGA or monochrome boards). * In text and in 16-color VGA/EGA graphics display modes, the driver bypasses the BIOS and writes directly to the video RAM, so it can operate much faster than either the original DOS console driver or the DOS ANSI driver. * ANSIPLUS gives the user control over VGA/EGA palette registers and VGA DAC registers to select and maintain colors using the video controller's full capabilities. * Text character height can be selected in any VGA/EGA display mode, extending user control to the number of lines per display page. * Smooth scrolling is provided as an option (requires a faster computer, eg. 80386 with 16-bit VGA). The ANSIPLUS driver efficiently integrates several useful console functions that in the past had to be provided by separate TSR programs or device drivers: * Keyboard buffer size is increased and configurable. * Undesired repeat keys are suppressed and several other key processing options are provided. * A screen saver monitors display, keyboard and mouse activity. * Scroll-back lets the user examine lines that have scrolled off the top of the screen. * Fast screen output can be frozen and released with the Scroll Lock key. * A timer-controlled beep tone generator allows user customizable tones. Other ANSIPLUS features include: * Menu driven utilities give the user full control over selected colors, color palettes, border colors, video modes, text height, key reassignment, beep tone definition, driver table sizes, and all other configurable features. * Special loading options for XMS upper memory blocks or DOS 5.0 high memory area reduce low memory requirements to below 4K. * Highlighting of user-typed keys when they are displayed by DOS on the screen gives a clear visual separation of typed entries from computer output. * All DOS ANSI.sys escape sequences are supported, plus additional ANSI/VT-100 escape sequences for clearing the screen, erasing lines, inserting and deleting lines, and inserting and deleting characters. * And much, much more. See "Features Summary" in the ANSIPLUS documentation for more information about ANSIPLUS features. ANSIPLUS Packing List -------- ------- ---- File Description ---- ----------- ANSIPLUS.sys ANSIPLUS console device driver ANSIPLUS.doc ANSIPLUS Shareware documentation SETCOLOR.exe Color control utility program SETAPLUS.exe Driver features control utility program ANSICOM.exe ANSI escape sequence editor NEWAPLUS.exe ANSIPLUS bootup configuration program APLUSLIB.exe Execution library for the utility programs SETCOLOR.sch Color schemes file for SETCOLOR.exe CONSETUP.com Sample escape sequence program PUSHVID.com Save current video mode, video page and colors POPVID.com Restore saved video mode, page and colors INSTALL.exe Installation program INSTALL.inf Installation control file REGISTER.pls ANSIPLUS registration form README.pls Release notes, this file The documentation file, ANSIPLUS.doc, is a complete and up to date copy of the ANSIPLUS Shareware manual, except for the section on ANSIPLUS Escape Sequences, which are covered in detail only in the printed version. The file is formatted for 80 characters per line and 60 lines per page, and uses no special characters or other printer control other than form feeds. Quick Installation Instructions ----- ------------ ------------ Before installing ANSIPLUS, or any other new device driver, be sure you have a bootable floppy disk as insurance against trouble getting your system to run after the device driver is installed. The ANSIPLUS package includes an installation and configuration program called INSTALL.exe, which should properly handle most installations. Context sensitive help (via the F1 key) is provided for all entries. The following three examples illustrate using INSTALL to install ANSIPLUS: * If you received ANSIPLUS on a floppy disk and want to install it on your hard disk, use the following installation procedure: (1) Set the default directory to the hard disk (ie. get a C> prompt). (2) Insert the ANSIPLUS diskette in drive A: (or other floppy drive). (3) Enter the following command: A:INSTALL * If you received ANSIPLUS as a ZIP file, use the following procedure: (1) Create a subdirectory on the hard disk to contain the unzipped ANSIPLUS files. Move ANSIPLUS.zip to this directory and make it be the default directory. (2) Unzip the files into the directory with the command: PKUNZIP ANSIPLUS (3) Then enter the command: INSTALL * To install ANSIPLUS on bootable disk B:, from hard disk directory C:\APLUS, enter the command: C:\APLUS\INSTALL B: See "Installing ANSIPLUS" in the documentation for more information about ANSIPLUS installation. Recent ANSIPLUS Changes ------ -------- ------- 9/18/92 Version 2.04 released. 9/17/92 Revised installation program (NEWAPLUS.exe) to be more tolerant of and informative about missing or unreadable files during installation. Versions of ANSIPLUS on some BBS's seem to be missing files (usually SETCOLOR.sch, which is a minor supporting file), and this has prevented potential users from evaluating ANSIPLUS. 9/04/92 When Scroll-Lock is used to freeze the screen during rapid output, and then the screen is released by Page-Down, Tab, Down arrow, or a shift key until the next input prompt is made by the computer, the driver can now recognize the input request and will automatically release the scroll freeze condition after a key is typed. 9/04/92 Under Windows and OS/2, the driver now yields the CPU for the remainder of a time slice whenever it is in a tight key input/testing loop. 9/03/92 Under Windows, whenever the scroll-back storage area is initialized, a RAM search is now made to see if the video RAM is a full 32k. If less is available, the scroll-back storage is reduced accordingly, and smooth scrolling, which uses the top of the 32k video RAM, is disabled. This should work around problems with 256-color Windows drivers that do not provide a full 32k of text mode video RAM in certain situations. 9/02/92 Under Windows, in a virtual 8086 DOS session running in a window, scroll-back appeared to be inoperative because Windows 3.1 failed to update the windowed screen as it was scrolled backward or forward. If the same DOS session was run full screen, scroll back would perform correctly. The driver is now able to cause the windowed screen to be updated in most cases (such as when DOS keyboard input is requested), so scroll-back should work in a window most of the time. However, it is still not possible to scroll the screen backward in a window while it has been frozen by Scroll-Lock during rapid screen output. 8/31/92 Version 2.03 released. 8/22/92 Bug fix: made VGA screen saver less likely to interfere with running programs by disabling interrupts while the screen is being blanked or unblanked and by restoring the sequencer index after the operation. 8/22/92 Bug fix: push/pop mismatch in VESA set mode processing. Symptom was inability to start Windows. 8/22/92 Now use Int 15h keyboard intercept rather than direct port access to get key scan codes for repeated-key detection and other key processing. 8/21/92 Version 2.02 released. 8/14/92 Added mouse reset to Windows exit processing. Windows 3.1 leaves some mice (for example, Logitech C7) in an undefined state at termination, so the mouse could not unblank the screen until the next DOS mouse- using program had been executed. 8/12/92 Bug fix: still intermittent trouble with keyboard under Windows 3.1. Made all of Int 09h handler uninterruptible. Recent ANSIPLUS Changes (continued) ------ -------- ------- ----------- 7/22/92 Version 2.01 released. 7/21/92 Extended repeated key suppression to the Scroll Lock key. Now, when Scroll Lock is held down for a long time, the scroll lock or smooth scroll toggles will not change repeatedly. 7/17/92 Bug fix: 16-color to monochrome text attribute adjustments for EGA monochrome now show low intensity as well as high intensity for both foreground and background. VGA, CGA, MDA and color EGA are unaffected. 7/16/92 Minor changes to INSTALL/NEWAPLUS target drive and file path selection. 7/16/92 Minor changes to scroll freeze when smooth scrolling is active. 7/16/92 Bug fix: Scroll back storage is reorganized whenever a previously unused display page is selected. In several display modes, including 25x80 text, a bug caused the scroll-back data to be scrambled when reorganization was required. 7/15/92 Bug fix: On certain PC/XT compatible computers, all keystrokes were erroneously recognized as repeat keys, causing all digit keys to be ignored. Repeated key suppression is now disabled on XT's. 7/15/92 Bug fix: Repeated keys entered to QuickBasic programs such as DOS 5.0 EDIT.com caused pointer errors when keys were transferred between BIOS and extended key buffers. Symptom was strange jumps in cursor position or "phantom" keystrokes while holding down an arrow key. Fixed by making the key shuffling subroutine uninterruptible. 6/09/92 Version 2.00 released. 5/28/92 Bug fix: Made 16-color graphics mode pseudo-cursor XOR operations to screen uninterruptible to prevent "mouse droppings" following mouse movement in IBM DOS 4.0 shell or other programs that draw to the screen during an interrupt and assume normal EGA/VGA graphics write mode is in force. 5/26/92 Took over VGA/EGA BIOS text mode custom character generator load function to speed it up and to prevent BIOS's restoration of OEM palette when only one or a few character codes are changed. 5/18/92 Added Generic IOCTL and Int 2Fh functions that are also provided by the DOS 4.0 and 5.0 ANSI.sys drivers. A few programs may rely on these functions for information about the screen after they determine that an ANSI driver is running. Recent ANSIPLUS Changes (continued) ------ -------- ------- ----------- 5/08/92 Screen scroll-back completed. Between video display mode sets, the driver now captures all lines scrolled off the top of the screen and places them in unused portions of display RAM. To view the saved lines, hit the Scroll-Lock key at any time. When Scroll-Lock is on (as indicated by the light on enhanced keyboards), normal key input is disabled and the following keys apply: Home Go to the top of the saved lines PageUp Scroll up one page Shift tab Scroll up one-half page Up arrow Scroll up one line End Go to the bottom (ie. the original screen display) PageDn Scroll down one page Tab Scroll down one-half page Down arrow Scroll down one line Insert Save the current screen page for later scroll-back Left arrow View a lower numbered display page Right arrow View a higher numbered display page Escape Cancel scroll lock, return to normal key processing Scroll lock Cancel scroll lock, return to normal key processing When you try to exceed the limit of travel up, down, left or right, a short low pitched tone will sound. If you enter any key other than those above, you will hear a short warbling sound, Scroll Lock will be canceled, the screen will return to its normal display, and the key will be passed back to the running program. 5/04/92 ANSIPLUS can now load itself to upper memory under DOS 5.0 with EMM386 and the CONFIG.sys DOS=UMB command active. The DEVICE=ANSIPLUS.sys /U command should work correctly under EMM386, 386MAX and QEMM, with or without DOS=UMB. 5/02/92 The ANSIPLUS installation and configuration program, NEWAPLUS.exe, has been completed. The program analyzes the runtime environment and CONFIG.sys of the target drive, locates the source files, copies ANSIPLUS to the target drive (or any directories of the user's choice), and updates CONFIG.sys for a new install. The configuration section lets the user set the startup (boot) driver table sizes, colors and feature settings, as well as high memory loading options in CONFIG.sys. Context sensitive help is provided for all entries. See Installing ANSIPLUS in the documentation for instructions on using NEWAPLUS. 4/24/92 Version 2 of the ANSICOM utility has been completed. The program is now more user friendly, with colors and context sensitive help. 4/15/92 Repeated key suppression has been extended to the numeric keys (0-9). This makes it impossible to key in an inaccurate number just because a numeric key is held down too long. Recent ANSIPLUS Changes (continued) ------ -------- ------- ----------- 4/14/92 To prevent escape sequence conflicts with programs written for other ANSI terminal emulators or when displaying data downloaded from systems configured for terminals such as the DEC VT-100, the six non-standard (ie. added) ANSIPLUS escape commands have been changed to require a "!" after the left bracket. The following table shows the affected escape sequences: Obsolete Revised Sequence Sequence Description -------- -------- ----------- Esc [v Esc [!v Select video page Esc [t Esc [!t Set text height Esc [e Esc [!e Set text treatments Esc [c Esc [!c Define colors, palette, etc. Esc [d Esc [!d Set driver features Esc [g Esc [!g Define beep tone Any escape sequences using these ANSIPLUS commands but without the "!" will be ignored. If the "!" appears in any escape sequence that doesn't need it, the escape command will execute correctly anyway. Also in the name of compatibility, the Esc [K command (Erase Line) has been corrected. To erase from the cursor to the end of line, you must output Esc [K or Esc [0K. ANSIPLUS's extended parameters to limit the character count and set the fill character are now the second and third parameters instead of first and second. ANSI and DEC VT-100 emulation have been enhanced by adding support for the following escape sequences: Esc [0J Clear from cursor to end of screen Esc [1J Clear from start of screen to cursor Esc [1K Clear from start of line to cursor Esc [2K Clear entire line 4/10/92 ANSIPLUS can now load itself into either XMS upper memory blocks or into the high memory area used by DOS 5.0. The option is selected at load time with DEVICE=ANSIPLUS.sys /U or /H. See Installing ANSIPLUS in the documentation for details. 4/06/92 SETAPLUS can now list all key reassignments currently in force. Just enter SETAPLUS LISTKEYS. 3/31/92 Added black outline text treatment for 16-color VGA/EGA graphics modes. 3/28/92 Improved handling of monochrome and CGA display modes. ANSIPLUS should now give reasonable and readable displays in all modes, including those with a very limited number of colors or shades. Programs written in terms of 16 colors will be executable on machines with simpler video capabilities, if ANSIPLUS is running on that machine. Recent ANSIPLUS Changes (continued) ------ -------- ------- ----------- 3/19/92 Interrupts are now enabled as much as possible in all ANSIPLUS interrupt service routines, minimizing any impact on communications or other time sensitive processes. 3/18/92 Version 2 of the SETCOLOR and SETAPLUS utilities have been completed. They now are menu driven, with context sensitive help, and should be much easier to use. The command line interface for these utilities is also still supported.