PC Media 2/PC MEDIA CD02.iso/share/udos/masdir54/sdlsetup.doc

Text File | 1991-03-17 | 10.1 KB | 194 lines

     SDLSETUP.BAT - DOCUMENTATION - Copyright 1987-1991 Bob Stephan
     * * *
     You will be able to browse through the SDLSETUP documentation at
     your own pace.  Just use the keys on the cursor pad to turn the
     pages as you read.  Note the reminder at the top of the screen,
     and remember that you can exit at any time by pressing Esc.
     * * *
     SDLSETUP will not modify any of your original files.  Only
     SDL.COM will be affected.  In particular, your CONFIG.SYS and
     AUTOEXEC.BAT will not be touched.
     * * *
     NOTE:  A menu facility and more options have been added to
     SDLSETUP.  This makes it more "user-friendly" and self-
     documenting. Therefore this documentation has been reduced in
     size to cover just a few essential points.  Now that many
     defaults can be more conveniently set with the DOS SET command,
     future versions of SDLSETUP may have a reduced number of options.

          (Press the PgDn key to continue)


     Documentation for SDLSETUP.BAT for SDL Version 5, March 1991
     Copyright 1987-1991 Bob Stephan and MOBY DISK.

     SDLSETUP is a handy program to customize many of the options of
     SDL.COM, the Sorted Directory and disk Label printing program.
     It requires only that you answer a series of questions with
     single keystroke responses and, if desired, input new titles to
     appear in the top two lines of the directory display.

     The easiest way to run SDLSETUP is to establish a working disk or
     directory (a RAM disk will be fastest, a directory on a hard disk
     next, and a floppy can be quite slow).  Enter the following
     command to copy the necessary files from the MASDIR diskette to
     your working area.  Assume that the MASDIR diskette is in drive
     B: and that your RAM disk is drive D:.  Then just enter

         COPY B:SDL*.* D:

     Remember to adjust the drive letters for your system.  You can
     add the path after D: if you so desire, or just issue this
     command after changing to the working disk or directory.  You can
     use INSTALL to help you do this if you like.  Enter INSTALL at
     the DOS prompt for your MASDIR working disk and follow the
     instructions.

     The questions in SDLSETUP are self-explanatory and should cause
     no confusion.  A few of them are explained in a little more
     detail here.  If you have any questions, read on, and then if you
     still have questions after running SDLSETUP please contact me.
     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
     After establishing your working disk or directory, enter the
     command:
                               -2-


     SDLSETUP
     * * *
     The first thing SDLSETUP does is check system resources. At this
     point SDLSETUP is looking for the DOS DEBUG external command file
     DEBUG.COM.  If it is not found you will see the message "Bad
     command or file name".  This will be followed by a beep and an
     explanatory message.  SDLSETUP cannot work without DEBUG, or in
     the case of DR DOS, SID.COM. It must be in the current directory
     or in one of the directories on your path.  At this point your
     PATH will be displayed so you can see what is included, and
     SDLSETUP will exit back to the DOS prompt.

     If DEBUG is found, SDLSETUP will check for the presence of other
     necesary files.  Depending on what is found you may see some
     explanatory messages.  If you don't see them, then all is well.

     (REM: One user reported a problem during this portion of the
     setup program, and it turned out that he was running a RAM
     resident program (TSR) named DOSEDIT.  This appeared to interfere
     with the redirected input to DEBUG.  The solution was just to
     boot the computer without DOSEDIT temporarily while running
     SDLSETUP.)

     Next the DOS version will be checked.  If it is found to be
     version 2.x you will see a message.  Please see the note at the
     end of this DOC file if you are using an early version of DOS.
     * * *
     Remember, you can exit from SDLSETUP at any time by pressing
     Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Break.
     * * *
     SDLSETUP has two sets of menus from which you can choose which
     features you want to customize.  At each menu, if you make no
     selection by just pressing Esc or Enter, you will proceed on to
     the next menu.  Some selections will lead to related options, so
     if you don't see exactly what you want, select the closest item
     and see if it will lead you to where you want to go.

     In Version 5 the defaults for the selections on the first
     SDLSETUP menu can simply be set with the DOS SET command.  This
     makes it convenient to set options "on the fly" without going
     through all the details of SDLSETUP.  If the option is a "command
     line" option (indicated by the / switch character), it can be set
     directly from DOS.  Read the documentation for more information
     on setting defaults in this manner.  Please let me know if you
     like this feature and if you would prefer to reduce the number of
     items in SDLSETUP to just those that cannot be set with the SET
     command.

     There are a few defaults that can only be modified in SDLSETUP.
     These are on the second menu, so you can just press Enter for the
     first menu if that is all you want to change.  Registered users
                               -3-

     can also customize the first two header lines of the directory
     display to include personal or business identification.  These
     two lines plus a third line can be used for describing the files
     on a disk with the E(ntitle) option when runing SDL.  The best
     procedure is to make a quick run through SDLSETUP to see for
     yourself which items are on the menus so you can decide whether
     you want or need to run SDLSETUP.  If you are satisfied with the
     way SDL displays your directories and prints, and with setting
     your defaults with SET, then you probably don't need to run
     SDLSETUP at all.

     If you are evaluating the shareware version of MASDIR, you will
     want to run SDLSETUP to eliminate the moving line of text
     containing the information about registration.  SDLSETUP will
     adjust SDL.COM to turn off the moving message for a 30 day
     evaluation period.  After that time it will reappear to remind
     you that you are using an evaluation copy.  There is nothing to
     prevent you from running SDLSETUP as many times as you want to
     suppress this reminder message, but if you find that you like
     SDL.COM that well, you should obtain a registered copy from the
     author.  Your support of shareware authors will enable the
     continued development of this kind of quality, low cost software.

     If everything completes normally you will see the message...

     SDL.COM has been modified.
     Don't forget to COPY your new version of SDL.COM
     to the disk and/or directory with your other DOS
     commands and utilities.
     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
     That's all there is to it, so enjoy using SDL with your own
     configuration.

     SDLSETUP creates one or two working files named SDLSETUP.TXT and
     SDLTITLE.TXT.  These files will be erased when SDLSETUP is
     finished with its work.

     NOTE:  If you run into a problem running SDLSETUP under DOS 2.1
     read this section.  Generally it works fine, and I can detect no
     problems under DOS 3 or later, but if you see either of the
     messages "EXEC failure" or "File creation error" please let me
     know.  You might try increasing the "FILES=" value in your
     CONFIG.SYS file and reboot.  A remote possibility is that the
     directory is full, so you might try running it on a different
     drive or in a different directory.  You can also run CHKDSK to
     see if there are any other conditions that might cause the error.
     This seems to be caused by a problem with DOS 2.1 in the number
     of open files it thinks it has.  One method that some have used
     successfully to work around this is to make only one or two
     changes to the defaults on each invocation of SDLSETUP.  If this
     works, you will have to reboot your computer before you can run
     SDLSETUP again. This may be tedious, but it is one way to use
                               -4-

     SDLSETUP with DOS 2.1. Be sure to use the Esc key to skip the
     sections in which you are not making changes.

     This problem is apparently caused by a bug or deficiency in DOS
     2.1, but I have included a work-around for it.  If you see either
     of the above messages, AND if SDLSETUP has finished all of its
     questions through the ones about changing the titles, then reboot
     with Ctrl-Alt-Del and get back to the drive and directory in
     which you were running SDLSETUP.  (If you are working on a RAM
     disk, copy your work to a permanent disk first.) One or two of
     the .TXT files named above should be in that directory (2 if you
     changed titles, otherwise only the first one).  If you see
     SDLSETUP.TXT you can run SDLDEBUG, the last batch file in the
     series.  This should install your changes and clean up after
     itself.  See the CAUTION above about other types of problems.  I
     apologize for any inconvenience, but it is a problem beyond my
     control.

     (CAUTION: Do NOT run SDLDEBUG if there has been any other error
     or interruption.  In that case it is safer to start over again.
     SDLDEBUG uses redirection and if the input file SDLSETUP.TXT has
     not been completed, it can cause a hangup that will require a
     reboot.)

     As a last resort, run SDLSETUP on a machine that is running DOS
     3.0 or later.  Then copy the resulting SDL.COM to your machine.
     Good luck!

          Now, if you want to exit, remember to press Esc.