ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 Shareware Freeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)

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Text File | 1991-04-27 | 35.8 KB | 837 lines

ReadIt Text File Viewer Version 1.5 Copyright (c) 1990, 1991 DLJ Software Welcome to ReadIt--the text file viewer created for those with sight and those who use speech access programs and synthesizers. We assume that you are using ReadIt to read this documentation. Press the help key (F1) to find out how to move around this file. ReadIt has help screens available from almost every part of the program, making this manual almost unnecessary. But taking a few moments now to look over this file will make ReadIt that much easier to use. CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. RUNNING READIT 2.1. LOADING A FILE 3. VIEWING A FILE 3.1. THE SCREEN LAYOUT 3.2. TEXT DISPLAY METHODS 3.3. MOVING AROUND THE TEXT FILE 3.4. CONTINUOUS SCROLL MODE 3.5. USING THE TEXT SEARCH FEATURES 3.6. SETTING AND RETURNING TO BOOKMARKS 4. EXECUTING DOS COMMANDS FROM WITHIN READIT 5. THE HELP SYSTEM 6. THE READIT CUSTOMIZING PROGRAM (RIC.EXE) 6.1. CHANGING COLORS 6.2. ADD/EDIT FILE EXTENSIONS 7. SOME LEGAL STUFF 8. REGISTRATION 1. INTRODUCTION --------------- This is a shareware software package. That means you are granted a limited license to use this software for the purpose of evaluating it's usefulness to you. What could be simpler? If you don't use it don't pay for it. On the other hand, if you find that this software is useful to you and you continue to use it, become a legitimate user by sending in the registration form with your registration fee. With that said, let's get down to what this software is and what it has to offer you. ReadIt is an ASCII text file display (reading) program. It was written by a blind computer programmer/user who uses a text-to-speech software package to access computers. Our goal was to create a file reader that was easy to use for both sighted people and persons using speech software and synthesizers. Some of ReadIt's features are listed below. Those that might be particularly useful to persons using speech software are followed by an S within parenthesis (S). - Requires only 150k bytes of free memory. - Allows you to read large files even if the entire file can not be loaded into memory. Readit loads up as much as it can in available memory and accesses the rest as needed. - Will read up to approximately 460k bytes into memory to reduce disk accesses and speed up searches. - Lets you specify file to be read from the DOS command line or from the file entry window. - Provides a file pick list that enables you to move through your hard drives directories and select a file to be read. - Has an automatic "smart" line wrap feature which breaks long lines so that all text is on the screen. There is no need to scroll the text when reading a file containing very long lines. Lines are not broken in the middle of words. (S) - Lets you search file for specific text. - Remembers up to five (5) text strings that you enter from the find panel. You can scroll through this list to select a string to be searched for. - Remembers up to five (5) filenames and/or drive specifications entered in the filename entry panel. You can scroll through these to select a file to be read or a drive and or directory to display in the pick list. - Has a variable speed, continuous scroll mode for hands free reading of a text file. - Has switchable display modes (direct or bios). (S) - Displays a status panel to let you know where you are and what switches are set. The method for updating this panel can be set to Bios (except for line numbers) or direct. (S) - Enables you to execute DOS commands from the text display window (if enough memory is free). - Remembers up to five (5) DOS commands and lets you scroll back through them to pick one to execute. - Displays a 2-line help panel that shows some of the available commands. - Always displays error messages at the same place on the screen accompanied by an error tone. No silent error boxes that might pop up anywhere. (S) - Has help panels that can be pulled down from anywhere in the program. These help panels are full-screen width and always start at the top of the screen. (S) - Lets you set a "bookmark" in each file that you read. You can set a bookmark, go somewhere else in the file, and then return to the bookmark. - Automatically saves a set bookmark when you leave a file and automatically takes you to the bookmark the next time you enter that file. Now lets talk about some of the features that were included for those who use speech--some that have already been mentioned and some that have not. For the most part, if your speech program will speak text sent to the screen through BIOS, and can follow the cursor, ReadIt will be easy to use. - You can set up ReadIt so that text going to the status panel is sent directly or through bios. Line number updates are always sent directly. Most speech software will "see" text sent through bios and will in turn send it to your speech synthesizer. - Separately from above, you can set ReadIt up to use direct or bios screen routines to display the text file, prompts, error messages, and a few other things. - A mixture of direct and bios routines were used to display the file picklist entries. Also, the cursor, although hidden, always follows the highlight bar. - When ReadIt is set up to display file text using bios routines, the cursor can be moved to any part of the text display area. There are a number of key commands to make this easy. The extra commands available in "slow" mode are: character left character right word left word right beginning of line end of line top of screen bottom of screen The keys used to execute these commands are listed later in this file and are available from the help panel. - A number of tones have also been added for audible feedback. Some of these will be discussed later but you can get an example of an error tone by pressing the ENTER key now. Now that you have an idea of the features that ReadIt has to offer, lets talk about how you use them. We will begin with how to start ReadIt and how to load a file from the command line or by using the file picklist. We'll then move on to using the commands available in the reading mode--from navigation through searching and executing DOS commands from within ReadIt. After this we will talk about the ReadIt customization program (RIC.EXE) which lets you change a number of things to suit your needs and preferances. Finally, we'll take care of some legal stuff and finish off with how to register the programs and how to get in touch with the author of ReadIt. 2. RUNNING READIT ------------------ 2.1. LOADING A FILE Run ReadIt by typing one of the following at the DOS prompt: C>READIT [drive] [path] filename.ext or C>READIT [drive] [path] filespec or C>READIT Those items enclosed in square brackets [] are optional. In the first example, filename.ext refers to a specific file. ReadIt will attempt to find and load that file. In the second example, filespec refers to a group of files specified using the DOS wildcards "*" and/or "?" such as *.doc or ch?.txt. The third example is the same as typing C>READIT *.* In both the second and third examples ReadIt will display a picklist of files that match your specification. If you specified *.DOC, all files with the extension "DOC" within the current or specified drive and path would be displayed. Using the third example above, all files and sub-directories within the current directory would be displayed. Displayed directory names are followed by a slash (/). When a picklist is displayed, you move the highlight bar to the file you wish to read and then press the ENTER key to select that file for viewing. You can use the UP and DOWN arrow keys, the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys, and the HOME and END keys to move the highlight bar through the picklist. You can instruct ReadIt to search the picklist for a file by pressing the key corresponding to the first character of the filename. repeatedly pressing the same key will bring up successive matches. When the highlight bar is on a sub-directory, you can change to that directory by simply pressing the ENTER key. ReadIt will then present you with another picklist. 3. VIEWING A FILE ------------------ 3.1. THE SCREEN LAYOUT ReadIt's screen is divided into three (3) panels or windows. The top window is the status panel which displays information about where you are and what switches are set. The status panel is one ( 1) line high. The next panel is the text display window. This is where the text files are displayed. The text display is 22 lines high. At the bottom of the screen is the help/command panel. This window is used to display a list of key commands currently available. Also, all prompts and error messages are displayed here. The help/command panel is two (2) lines high. You can change the colors and positions of these panels using the ReadIt Customizer (RIC.EXE) program. Also, once you are familiar with ReadIt, you can use RIC to remove the help panels. 3.2. TEXT DISPLAY METHODS ReadIt can use either of two display methods to write text to the computers screen. The "slow" method writes text to the screen using BIOS routines. Most screen reading software depends on this display method in order to "capture" text going to the screen. While this method is useful for the visually impaired, many people like the computer's screen to be updated more quickly. This is where the direct display routines come in. While you are viewing a text file you can change between "fast" and "slow" display modes by using the display mode switch (F8) key. This is a toggle--meaning that it is used to switch from either mode to the other. The current display mode is shown on the status panel as either "fast" or "slow". Also, whenever you tap the F8 key a tone will sound to let you know what mode you are switching to--a high tone for fast and a low tone for slow. 3.3. MOVING AROUND THE TEXT FILE The following key commands are available to help you move around within a text file. UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW key - Move up or down one line at a time. When the screen display is set to "slow" the cursor must be move to the top or bottom of the text window before the text begins to scroll. PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN key - Move up or down one screen (page). CTRL-PAGE UP or CTRL-PAGE DOWN key - Go to the beginning or the end of the file. In addition to the above key commands, the following commands are available when text display is in the "slow" mode. LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW key - Move the cursor left or right one character. CTRL-LEFT ARROW or CTRL-RIGHT ARROW key - Move the cursor left or right one word. HOME or END key - Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a text line. CTRL-HOME or CTRL-END key - Move the cursor to the top or bottom of the text display window. 3.4. CONTINUOUS SCROLL MODE ReadIt has a continuous scroll mode to allow you to read any portion or the whole of a text file "Hands-free". Instead of continuously pressing the DOWN ARROW key or the PAGE DOWN key to read a large file you can tell ReadIt to scroll through the file until you tell it to do something else. The following commands are available in continuous scroll mode. SPACE BAR - Start continuous scrolling. f - Scroll faster. s - Scroll slower. Any other key will stop the scrolling and if that key is a valid ReadIt command it will instantly perform it's duty. Because of this, it is NOT a good idea to use the ESCAPE key to leave the continuous scroll mode as the ESCAPE key will take you out of the current text file. 3.5. USING THE TEXT SEARCH FEATURES Besides simply being able to read a text file, sometimes we want to find instances of certain words or phrases. You do this in ReadIt by using the FIND commands. The three (3) key commands for searching for text are: F2 - Search for text. F3 - Repeat search using text previously entered with F2. F4 - Mark text to be used in search. If you press F2, You will be prompted with "Find:". At this point you type in the characters you wish to search for and press ENTER to continue. You can also press ESCAPE to return to text reading without carrying out a search. After you've typed in text to search for and pressed ENTER ReadIt will prompt you for options to control the search. The options available are: C - Case sensitive search. The case (upper or lower) of every letter in the entered "Find" string must match the found string. B - Backwards search. Search the file backwards from the current line. G - Global search. Perform a search starting at the top of the file and proceeding forward. F - First item on line. A match is displayed ONLY if it is the first non-blank entry on the line in the file. If you want to use any one or any combination of these options, simply type it's letter. The order and case of the letters is not important. If you specify both G (global) and B (backwards), the backwards option will be ignored. Once you have typed in any options you wish to use, a press of the ENTER key will begin the search. If a match is found, the line will be printed. If no match is found an error message will be printed and you will be prompted to press any key to continue. When you then press a key, a low tone will be sounded--verifying that you have been returned to text viewing. The F3 key is pressed to perform a search using the last text and options entered after pressing F2. Finally, when you have the display set to "slow", you can mark text on the screen to be used in a search. Below are the steps you take to perform a "mark and search". 1 - Move the cursor to the beginning of the text you wish to mark. 2. Press the F4 key to mark the beginning. 3. Place the cursor to the right of the end of the text you wish to mark and press ENTER After that it is the same as if you had pressed the F2 key with the exception that you will not have to type any text. Two things to remember when using the "mark and search" feature: 1 - Text to be marked must reside on the same line. 2 - Once the beginning of the text has been marked, only the keys that move the cursor left or right should be used. Any other key except the ENTER key will unmark the beginning of the text. 3.6. SETTING AND RETURNING TO BOOKMARKS Sometimes when we are reading a book we want to temporarily flip to another section or even close the book and later come back to the place we'd left. The same can hold true when we are reading a text file (shareware documentation or computerized book). With the printed book, we use a physical bookmark (a piece of paper, a card, etc) to save our place. In ReadIt, we use an electronic bookmark. While there is only one bookmark available, you can move it to wherever you need. To set a bookmark or to move a previously set bookmark press the F5 key. Instead of automatically setting the bookmark, ReadIt will prompt you to press ENTER to set new bookmark or ESCAPE to exit back to text reading. This was done so that if you accidentally pressed F5 you have an "out". To return to a bookmark press the F6 key. If a bookmark has not been set you will hear an error tone. Otherwise, ReadIt will prompt you to either press ENTER to goto bookmark or ESCAPE to exit back to reading mode. Again, this was done so that you have an " out". When you exit a file, if a bookmark has been set it will automatically be saved to a ReadIt bookmark file (READIT.BMK). The next time ReadIt loads this file it will automatically take you back to the bookmark. A bookmark file is created in the same directory that contains the files that you read. Since the files that you read may be on crowded floppy diskettes or in several directories on your hard drive, you can instruct ReadIt to save all bookmarks in the same file by using RIC.EXE. 4. EXECUTING DOS COMMANDS FROM WITHIN READIT -------------------------------------------- You can execute DOS commands from within ReadIt by pressing the F10 key. ReadIt will prompt you to enter a DOS command, press ENTER on a blank line to go to DOS, or press ESCAPE to exit. If you press ESCAPE, you will be returned to the point in ReadIt from which you had pressed F10. If you decide to execute a DOS command or go to DOS, ReadIt will check to see if there is enough memory. If so, it will execute your command or take you to DOS. When you go to DOS, you can perform any function or run any program for which there is enough memory. When you are done, type "EXIT" to return to ReadIt. If you tell ReadIt to perform a DOS command and there is enough memory, ReadIt will execute the command, freeze the screen, and prompt you to press any key to continue. After you press a key, you will be returned to the point in ReadIt from which you had pressed F10. 5. THE HELP SYSTEM ------------------ From anywhere in ReadIt (except error messages) you can pull down a help screen that is relevant to where you are in the program. All help screens are full-width and begin at the first line of your computer's display. The text is printed directly or through Bios depending on how you have the display mode set. When you leave a help screen a short low tone is sounded to signal that the help screen has been removed. 6. THE READIT CUSTOMIZING PROGRAM (RIC.EXE) ------------------------------------------- We have included the ReadIt Customizer program (RIC.EXE) to enable you to change some of ReadIt's attributes. Following is a list of the things you can do with RIC.EXE. - Change the colors of status panel, the text display area, and the command/help panel. Also the picklist. - Change the positions of these three panels. - Turn off the two line help panels. This leaves more room for displaying text on the screen. - Change the default display mode for the status window. Default refers to the settings in effect when the program is first run. - Change the default display mode for everything else. - Set the length of all of ReadIt's prompts. - Select a drive and path for ReadIt to put the READIT.BMK file. If you do this, all bookmarks will be saved in the same file on the specified drive and path. The default is for ReadIt to save bookmarks to a file in the same directory containing the file you are viewing. - Add file extensions for ReadIt to skip when displaying a picklist. ReadIt already skips files with extensions of "EXE", "COM", and "ARC". When you run the ReadIt Customizer program (RIC) you will be prompted for the filename (and path if necessary) for ReadIt. RIC doesn't mind if you've renamed READIT.EXE as long as you tell it the new name and where to find it. After you have entered the name and pressed ENTER, you will be taken to RIC's main menu. NOTE: (1) You only need to type in the drive and directory path if READIT.EXE is not on the drive/path from which you are running RIC.EXE. (2) The filename AND extension must be entered. For example, typing "READIT" would not be accepted, ".EXE" must also be entered ("READIT.EXE"--the default). RIC is mostly menu driven. Simply move the highlight bar to your choice and press the ENTER key to select it. RIC tries to anticipate your next menu choice and highlight it for you in an attempt to reduce the number of keystrokes necessary to set up ReadIt to suit your needs and preferences. Consequently, we will restrict our discussion of RIC to a few areas. 6.1. CHANGING COLORS Once you have selected a screen/panel you wish to change the colors of, RIC will display the current colors of that selection in the text display area. The status line will display what color can be changed (foreground/background) and the help panel will tell you what your options are. Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to change the colors and the LEFT, RIGHT arrow keys or the SPACE BAR to switch between foreground and background. Once you've decided on a color combination that pleases you, press the ENTER key to select it. Or press the ESCAPE key to return to the "Change colors" menu without making any changes. Another place in RIC where you don't simply highlight a menu item is the "Add/edit file extensions" choice from the "Changes" menu. 6.2. ADD/EDIT FILE EXTENSIONS Using RIC, you can add or change the file extensions that ReadIt skips when displaying a file picklist. ReadIt automatically skips files with extensions of "EXE", "COM", and "ARC" because these are file types likely to be on most computer users' hard drives. ReadIt is a "text" file reader so it skips these files. If you wish to add the extensions of non-text files that reside on your hard drive, select this choice from the "Changes" menu. RIC will display a list of any previously entered user selected file extensions. Up to twelve (12) user extensions may be added. Move the highlight bar to an extension you wish to change or to a blank line to enter a new extension and press ENTER. A small box will pop up and you will be able to: edit a previously entered extension using the BACKSPACE key; delete a previously entered extension by pressing the SPACE BAR followed by the ENTER key; or add a new extension. You can add new extensions one after the other until: 1 - You press ENTER on a blank entry. 2 - You press the ESCAPE key. If you press the ESCAPE key after typing an extension and before pressing ENTER that extension will not be added to the list. 3 - You have added the limit. Up to twelve extensions may be added. Once you have added and/or changed all the extensions you wanted to, press the ESCAPE key to return to the "Changes" menu. 6.3. CLOSING REMARKS ABOUT RIC We have attempted to make RIC quick and easy to use. Because of this we have written very little here about it and have included very little help in RIC (other than the help panels). We believe that once you are familiar enough with ReadIt that you want to make changes in it you will find RIC very easy to use. 7. SOME LEGAL STUFF ------------------- ReadIt and RIC are the copyrighted work of DLJ Software. All rights under U.S. copyright law are reserved. DLJ Software hereby grants to the reader of this documentation a limited license to use READIT.EXE and RIC.EXE for the purpose of evaluating their usefulness The evaluation period should not exceed thirty (30) calendar days after the receipt of the software. To continue to use the software legally after the evaluation period, fill out and return the registration form that came with this software. A copy of the registration form is at the end of this file and in a separate file called "REGISTER.FRM". DLJ Software also grants the right for persons to copy and distribute this software package, through personal exchange or uploading to BBS's and other electronic services, under the following conditions. 1 - The programs and accompanying files should not be modified. 2. The following files must be distributed as a package. READIT.EXE RIC.EXE REGISTER.FRM SURVEY.FRM 3. Only fees reflecting the cost of distribution, such as disk copying and mailing or connect time in the case of BBS's and electronic services that cater to SHAREWARE, may be accepted from receivers of this software without the express written permission of DLJ Software. This program is provided on an as is basis. The user assumes all risk as to the performance, quality, or reliability of the product. No warranties, implied or otherwise, are made, including, but not limited to, any "implied" warranties of merchantability, fitness, or suitability for any particular purpose or design. A user waives ALL other claims, and DLJ Software becomes free from responsibility of ALL liabilities or damages, including, but not limited to, lost revenues or profits, unsuitability of performance for a user's particular needs, any other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this program, even if DLJ Software has been informed of such damages or the potential for damages. The bulk of these programs was written using Turbo Pascal. A few routines were written using the Turbo Assembler. Both Turbo Pascal and Turbo Assembler are products of Borland International. ReadIt and it's accompanying files were compressed into a self-extracting archive using LHarc version 1.13c Copyright (c) Haruyasu Yoshizaki, 1988-89 8. REGISTRATION --------------- ReadIt is NOT free. It is "SHAREWARE". This means that you are granted a LIMITED license to try it out to make sure that it suits your needs before you pay for it. If you like ReadIt and continue to use it, fill out and send in the registration form along with your registration fee of $15.00 (U.S. currency). Registration is easy. Simply fill out the form below or in the file "REGISTER.FRM" (they are the same) and send it along with your check or money order (payable in U.S. currency) to: DLJ Software 182 Maplewood Circle Urbana, OH 43078 We would also appreciate your filling out the survey form that follows the registration form. This is not a necessary step for registration, but we would like to know more about those who use our software. All information is kept confidential and is only used so that we might better serve our customers. If you wish to contact the author of ReadIt and RIC, send letters to the above address with "ATTN: Dave" on the bottom left hand corner of the envelope. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DLJ Software 182 Maplewood Circle Urbana, OH 43078 ReadIt Registration NAME: _______________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ CITY: ________________________________________________________ STATE: _______________________________________________________ ZIP: ________________________________________________________ Please choose one of the following: ____ I wish to be registered as a single user.....$ 15.00 or Please register me as a guarantor of a site license. ____ 2 - 5 copies...........................$ 12.00 ea. ____ 6 - 15 copies..........................$ 10.00 ea. ____ 16 - 25 copies.........................$ 10.00 ea. ____ over 25 copies.........................$ 7.00 ea. Number of copies................................. __________ Price per copy (see above)....................... $__________ Amount enclosed.................................. $__________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DLJ Software 182 Maplewood Circle Urbana, OH 43078 READIT USER SURVEY Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey. The information is used only by DLJ Software so that we might have a better idea of who our customers are and how we can better serve them. 1.Where did you get your copy of ReadIt? ____ A. A friend. ____ B. A local BBS. Name: _____________________________________ ____ C. An electronic information service. Name: _______________________________________________________ 2. Are you ____ a student ____ a professional person ____ a home body ____ retired ____ other 3. What type(s) of computer(s) do you use. Please specify as much or as little information as you want. Please answer the following question if you are visually impaired. Otherwise, go to question 5. 4. What type of special computer access do you use? ____ Large monitor. ____ screen display enlarger. ____ A. Magnifier attached to screen. ____ B. Text-only hardware display output. ____ C. Graphics hardware display output. ____ D. Text-only software display enlarger. ____ E. Graphics software display enlarger. ____ Braille output. ____ Speech software and synthesizer. 5. No question. Simply room for your comments, suggestions, criticisms...