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-
- SPAWN 1.0
-
- by Gary Chanson
- (C) 1991
-
-
- SPAWN is Copyright 1991 by Gary Chanson and Starquest
- Systems. No restrictions are placed on the non-commercial
- use of this program. This program and its documentation
- may be copied and re-distributed provided that they are
- not changed and no fee is charged for them. An exception
- is granted to not-for-profit user's groups, which are
- authorized to charge a nominal fee for materials and
- handling. Another exception is granted specifically for
- Compuserve.
-
-
- Description:
-
- SPAWN is a DESQview (tm) specific utility which invokes
- DESQview tasks from a command line. DESQview tasks are
- defined in Program Information Files which normally have
- ".DVP" as their extension. SPAWN loads the DVP file into
- memory and can optionally modify it before passing it to
- DESQview for execution. Once the modified DVP data structure
- has been passed to DESQview, SPAWN terminates and returns
- control to the batch file or command processor which called
- it. The spawned program continues to run as a new task under
- DESQview's multitasking.
-
-
- Usage:
-
- SPAWN [options] filename[.ext] [options] [-Ccmnd] [[@]tail]
-
- (parameters in brackets are not required)
-
- The only required parameter is the name of a Program
- Information File. The default extension is `.DVP'. Options
- must be preceded by either `/' or `-' and may be in any order
- with the exception of the -C option. All options following -C
- are assumed to be part of the command tale and to be options
- for the spawned program. The first blank delimited string
- after the DVP filename which is not an option is assumed to be
- the start of the command tail. Any options following it will
- also be passed to the spawned program.
-
- Since several long strings may be required as part of the
- SPAWN command line, a temporary file may be used to pass part
- of the command tail. The DVP filename must be passed as part
- of the command line. The command tail for the spawned program
- may be passed as part of the command line or in a temporary
- file, but may not be split between both. Options may be
- passed in both the command line and a temporary file provided
- that the -C option is not passed on the command line. The
- temporary filename must be the last parameter on the command
- line and be prefaced by `@'.
-
- SPAWN recognizes three pseudo-drives for all filename
- inputs. SPAWN will substitute the appropriate string for each
- pseudo-drive and use it in modifying the DVP data structure.
- Pseudo-drives can also be used in specifying the DVP file.
-
- @: current default path
- *: path of SPAWN.COM
- $: path from environment variable `TEMP='
-
-
- Options:
-
- -B
- Start task in background.
-
- -C<command>
- Command to be executed.
-
- -H
- Run task hidden. This task cannot be made visible.
-
- -K<xx>
- Open menu (and script) key. This two character code is
- used to find any linked script files.
-
- -M<n>
- Required memory in kilobytes. If this amount of memory is
- not available, DESQview will display an error message and
- refuse to spawn the task.
-
- -O<y or n>
- Use own colors.
-
- -P<path>
- Startup path.
-
- -R<n>
- Requested maximum memory in kilobytes. DESQview will
- allocate as much memory to this task as it can up to this
- amount.
-
- -T<string>
- Window title. Spaces may be embedded in the title string
- by replacing them with `\S'.
-
- -W<x,y,wide,long>
- Window starting size and position.
-
- -X<y a or n>
- Close on exit.
-
- -?
- Help!
-
-
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Please forward all comments and bug reports to:
-
- Gary Chanson
-
- 360 Waltham Street
- West Newton, MA USA 02165-1732
-
- Voice: 617-527-7206
-
- Email: BCS-IBM BBS - 617-332-5584
-