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[Note: If your printer does not print IBM graphics characters, you can use the supplied NOIBMPRN.EXE program] PALRUN Documentation, Version 2.0 Copyright (c) 1990 All Rights Reserved PAL Software NY 51 Cedar Lane Ossining, NY 10562 BBS: (914) 762-8055 ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ │ │ │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ ├─┘ Shareware └───┤ o │ Professionals │ │ ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER PALRUN is a trademark of PAL Software NY ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ TABLE OF CONTENTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 CHAPTER 1: BASIC TERMS AND PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.1 Basic Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.2 Palrun as a Transient Program . . . . . . . . 7 1.3 Palrun as a Permanent Shell . . . . . . . . . 8 1.4 The Palhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.5 The Palrun Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.6 The Commandline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 1.7 The Commandline Separator . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.8 Pointing to a new Palhouse . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.9 Alter Egos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.10 Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 1.11 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.1 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 2.2 The Benefits of Expanded Memory . . . . . . . 17 2.3 Required Palrun Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 2.4 Required Compression/Extraction Programs . . . 18 2.5 Optional Editing and Viewing Programs . . . . 19 2.6 Optional Timed Events With Pal and Palarm . . 20 CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.1 Basic Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.2 Advanced Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 3.3 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 CHAPTER 4: THE LINE EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 CHAPTER 5: SELECTING FROM PICK LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 5.1 Choosing With the Cursor Keys . . . . . . . . 29 5.2 Choosing With Name Search . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.3 Exiting the Pick List . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.4 Using a Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 5.5 Activating Your Selection . . . . . . . . . . 31 5.5.1 PCKHOUSE Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . 31 5.5.2 PCKDIR Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.5.3 Archive Pointer Pick Lists . . . . . . . 33 5.5.4 PCKALIAS Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.5.5 QUEUE Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.5.6 Custom Menu Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . 34 5.5.7 Setup's Aliases and Menus Pick Lists . . 34 5.5.8 CHDIR Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 CHAPTER 6: OBTAINING A DIRECTORY (PCKHOUSE & PCKDIR) . . . . 35 CHAPTER 7: "RUNNING" A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 7.1 Running Files From an Archive . . . . . . . . 38 7.2 Running Files From a Subdirectory . . . . . . 40 7.2.1 Selecting Executable Files . . . . . . . 41 7.2.2 Selecting Archives . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.3 Selecting Directories . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.2.4 Selecting Other Files . . . . . . . . . . 42 CHAPTER 8: EDITING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 8.1 Editing Files From an Archive . . . . . . . . 43 8.2 Editing Files From a Subdirectory . . . . . . 44 CHAPTER 9: VIEWING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 9.1 Viewing a File From Within an Archive . . . . 46 9.2 Viewing a Target File From a Subdirectory . . 47 CHAPTER 10: DELETING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 10.1 Deleting a File From an Archive . . . . . . . 49 10.2 Deleting a File From a Subdirectory . . . . . 49 10.2.1 Deleting a Directory Entry . . . . . . . 50 10.2.2 Deleting Protected Files . . . . . . . . 50 10.2.3 Deleting Other Files . . . . . . . . . . 50 CHAPTER 11: SORT AND DISPLAY CONTROL FOR FILE PICK LISTS . . 51 11.1 Changing the Sort Order . . . . . . . . . . . 51 11.2 Changing the Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . 52 11.3 Changing the Filemask . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 CHAPTER 12: RETRIEVING A PRIOR COMMAND . . . . . . . . . . . 54 12.1 Using the Cursor Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 12.2 Choosing From a Pick List . . . . . . . . . . 54 12.3 Searching With <AltQ> . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 CHAPTER 13: POINTING TO A NEW ARCHIVE . . . . . . . . . . . 56 13.1 Specific Pointing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 13.2 Nonspecific Pointing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 13.3 Resolving a Potential Ambiguity . . . . . . . 59 CHAPTER 14: ALTER EGOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CHAPTER 15: ALIASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 15.1 Introduction to Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . 64 15.2 Creating Your First Alias . . . . . . . . . . 64 15.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.4 Batch-type Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 15.5 Nesting and Chaining Aliases . . . . . . . . . 66 15.6 The PCKALIAS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 15.7 Selecting an Alias Name . . . . . . . . . . . 67 iii CHAPTER 16: CREATING AND USING CUSTOM MENUS . . . . . . . . 68 16.1 Selecting From a Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 16.2 Creating Your First Menu Entry . . . . . . . . 69 16.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Menu Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 16.4 Additional Customization of Menus . . . . . . 72 16.5 Supplying a Header for the Menu Window . . . . 72 16.6 Showing Palrun Internals . . . . . . . . . . . 73 16.7 Saving Your Customized Changes . . . . . . . . 73 CHAPTER 17: CUSTOMIZING PALRUN: SETUP . . . . . . . . . . . 74 17.1 Introduction to the Setup procedure . . . . . 74 17.2 Aliases and Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 17.3 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 17.3.1 Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 17.3.2 Message Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 17.3.3 Palrun Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 17.3.4 Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 17.3.5 Standard Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 79 17.3.6 Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 17.4 Extractor Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 17.4.1 Output Path for Extraction . . . . . . . 81 17.4.2 Customize Parameters for Extraction Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 17.4.2.1 Extraction Parameters . . . . . . . 83 17.4.2.2 Compression Parameters . . . . . . . 84 17.4.3 Extraction Program to Use With ARC Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 17.4.4 Extraction Program to Use With ZIP Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 17.5 Miscellaneous Information . . . . . . . . . . 87 17.5.1 Character Substitutions . . . . . . . . . 88 17.5.1.1 DOS Redirection Characters . . . . . 88 17.5.1.2 Commandline Separator Character . . 89 17.5.2 Toggle Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 17.5.2.1 Use EMS for Swapping? . . . . . . . 89 17.5.2.2 Use EMS for Overlays? . . . . . . . 90 17.5.2.3 Quiet Down the Comments? . . . . . . 90 17.5.2.4 Force pause before return? . . . . . 90 17.5.2.5 Keep tree info on disk? . . . . . . 91 17.5.2.6 Storage Directory for Tree Info . . 92 17.5.3 Directory Sort and Display Control . . . 92 17.5.3.1 Sort Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 17.5.3.2 Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . 93 17.5.4 3-Button Mouse Definitions . . . . . . . 93 17.6 Palhouse Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 17.6.1 Name of File for Palhouse . . . . . . . . 94 17.6.2 Path Where Palhouse is Located . . . . . 94 17.6.3 Search DOS Before Palhouse? . . . . . . . 95 17.7 Viewer Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 17.7.1 Name of File Viewing Program . . . . . . 96 17.7.2 Prefix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 iv 17.7.3 Suffix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 17.7.4 Minimum RAM Required . . . . . . . . . . 96 17.8 Wordprocessor Information . . . . . . . . . . 98 17.8.1 Name of Wordprocessing Program . . . . . 98 17.8.2 Prefix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 17.8.3 Suffix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 17.8.4 Backup Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 17.8.5 Minimum RAM Required . . . . . . . . . . 99 17.9 File Save and Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 17.9.1 Load Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 101 17.9.2 Save Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 101 17.10 Save Changes Into Palrun & Exit . . . . . 102 17.11 This Session Only . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 CHAPTER 18: DOS ENHANCEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 18.1 CHDIR / CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 18.1.1 Changing Drive and Directory Simultaneously . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 18.1.2 Picking From a List of Subdirectories on a Single Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . 105 18.1.3 "Super" CHDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 18.2 ERASE / DEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 18.3 DIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 CHAPTER 19: DOS REDIRECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 CHAPTER 20: SWAP FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 CHAPTER 21: ON-LINE HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 21.1 The Help Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 21.2 Context-Sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 21.3 Cursor Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 21.4 Redisplaying Previous Topics . . . . . . . . . 117 21.5 Mouse Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 CHAPTER 22: SUMMARY OF INTERNAL COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . 119 CHAPTER 23: GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 CHAPTER 24: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 CHAPTER 25: REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 CHAPTER 26: LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 CHAPTER 27: USER SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 CHAPTER 28: ASP OMBUDSMAN PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 v ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ FEATURES: Palrun is a multi-purpose program. Among other things, it permits you to: ∙ Run executable files from within archives or from a subdirectory ∙ Edit or view files from within archives or subdirectories using your favorite editor and file viewer ∙ Delete files from an archive or subdirectory ∙ Inspect the contents of archives and subdirectories ∙ Save many megs of space on your hard disk by placing your programs into a "Palhouse," which is a designated archive from which Palrun can run them ∙ Recall and edit previously executed commands either from a visible pick list, or by typing a few keystrokes and asking Palrun to fill in the rest from a prior command ∙ Issue several commands with a single stroke of the <Enter> key, thereby creating a kind of on the fly batch file ∙ Change drives and directories quickly and easily, letting Palrun help you guess at the entire directory name after you supply just a few keystrokes ∙ Create a customized menu for executing common tasks ∙ Initiate a complex series of commands with a few keystrokes using the Alias capability 1 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ∙ Use a mouse to help you make selections (with special support for 3-button mice) FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE TO READ DOCUMENTATION: It's easy to get started quickly with Palrun, even without reading through all the documentation. This section of the introduction shows you how to do it. For more detailed instructions, glance at the Summary of Documentation below. Copy PALRUN.EXE, PALRUN.OVR and PALRUN.HLP to a subdirectory that is named in your DOS Path statement. If you now issue the command PALRUN from the DOS prompt, you will enter Palrun's context-sensitive, cross-referenced, on-line help. You'll see a highlight bar centered over the topic entitled "Help on Help." To read that topic, so that you can find your way around the help system, just tap the <Enter> key. Then, for an overview, take a look at all of the first set of topics that precede the double bar. You may also find it useful to browse through the Glossary (Chapter 23 starting at page 126) and the Summary of Internal Commands (Chapter 22, page 119). Once you've satisfied yourself with the preliminary look at the help system, you can try actually using Palrun. ARCHIVES: An archive is a file which is itself comprised of one or more subsidiary files which have been stored within the archive in compressed form by an archiving program. The archiving program sets up the archive with its own form of internal table of contents so that the individual components of the archive can be identified and retrieved. The virtue of creating archives is that one can assemble closely related files into a single package, while at the same 2 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ time substantially decreasing the amount of required disk space as the archiving program compresses the component files. The main disadvantage of archives is that in order to access the individual components within an archive, one must invoke the archiving program to extract the component before it is possible to do anything with it. An archive is, by its nature, opaque. Its components are not accessible for viewing or editing, and a program residing within an archive may not be executed until it is first extracted. Palrun makes archives more transparent. Palrun will handle archives created by all the most popular, commonly available compression programs. If an archive comes with the extension of ARC, DWC, LZH, PAK, ZIP or ZOO, then Palrun can handle it. Palrun's magic is performed by using the appropriate extraction program to extract from the archive the program you want to run or the file you want to view or edit. Once the operation is completed, the extracted file is deleted from your disk. In the case where you call on Palrun to assist you in editing a component file, the archive will be freshened with the edited file. PALRUN AS A TRANSIENT PROGRAM: To use Palrun just to run an executable program from within an archive and then return to DOS, you would issue the command: PALRUN @ARCHIVENAME COMMANDLINE "ArchiveName" (don't forget to add the "@" before the name of the archive, no spaces between them) is the name of the archive in which the executable file resides. Remember to include the extension of the archive. If you do not specify an ArchiveName, then Palrun will look for a designated archive which we refer to as the Palhouse. "Commandline" is the full command you would have given to DOS if you were executing the program from the DOS prompt. For instance, if your WP.EXE file is in a WPSTUFF.ARC archive, you can have Palrun extract and run it with the command: PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP 3 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you want to feed to WP the name of a file you want to edit, you could have issued the command: PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP MYFILE You may execute almost any executable file (having an EXE, COM or BAT extension) from within any archive. The only exception is programs which terminate and stay resident, such as SideKick. Make sure that the extraction program that you would normally need in order to extract a file from the archive is located in a subdirectory in your DOS path. Remember that your programs must have access to all data and overlay files, so those files cannot remain inside an archive. PALRUN AS A PERMANENT SHELL: To get to the Palrun Prompt, from which you can operate Palrun as a permanent shell, issue the command: PALRUN /P You may optionally add a Commandline for Palrun to execute before it comes to rest at the Palrun Prompt, and may designate a particular archive: PALRUN /P @ARCHIVENAME COMMANDLINE The meanings of ArchiveName and Commandline are set forth above in the discussion on using Palrun as a transient program. While using Palrun as a permanent shell program, you can summon the on-line help at just about any time by tapping <F1> or by simultaneously clicking the <Left&Right> buttons of your mouse. This quick guide to using Palrun as a permanent shell does not begin to scratch the surface of the features that are available in this mode. For that, you'll just have to read this documentation, or else browse through the on-line help. 4 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ SUMMARY OF DOCUMENTATION: Here's a synopsis of the contents of this documentation. Chapter 1 (page 7) describes the basic syntax for using Palrun and some of the common terms used throughout this documentation. Chapter 2 (page 16) describes the hardware and software requirements for using Palrun. Chapter 3 (page 21) gives you simple installation instructions for Palrun. Chapter 4 (page 25) tells you how to use Palrun's line editor when giving a command at the Palrun Prompt or when providing input in other areas. Chapter 5 (page 28) gives details on how to make a selection from a pick list or a menu. Chapter 6 (page 35) explains how to get a listing of files in an archive or subdirectory so that you can pick from the list in order to "run," edit, view or delete an entry. Chapter 7 (page 38) tells you how to "run" a file from within an archive or subdirectory. Chapter 8 (page 43) tells you how to edit a file from within an archive or subdirectory. Chapter 9 (page 46) tells you how to view a file from within an archive or subdirectory. Chapter 10 (page 49) describes how to delete a file from within an archive or subdirectory. Chapter 11 (page 51) outlines how you can change the sort order and level of display in the pick lists that you can get of your archive contents and your subdirectory contents. Chapter 12 (page 54) tells you how to recall a prior Commandline for editing and re-execution. Chapter 13 (page 56) describes how to point to a new archive. 5 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Chapter 14 (page 61) describes Alter Egos, small programs which substitute for a larger program which has been compressed into your default Palhouse. Chapter 15 (page 64) describes Palrun's Aliases, which are like mini-batch files that you make Palrun memorize. Chapter 16 (page 68) tells you how to create your own custom menu with Palrun. Chapter 17 (page 74) provides details on how to customize Palrun's behavior. Chapter 18 (page 104) describes the enhancements that Palrun has made to the DOS commands of ERASE / DEL and CHDIR / CD. Chapter 19 (page 110) tells you how to deal with DOS redirection when using Palrun as a transient program. Chapter 20 (page 113) describes how Palrun manages the hidden Swap Files that Palrun sometimes uses. Chapter 21 (page 116) tells you how to navigate the on-line, context-sensitive help system. Chapter 22 (page 119) summarizes all of the commands that Palrun recognizes internally. Chapter 23 (page 126) is a glossary of frequently used terms. Chapter 24 (page 131) contains common questions and answers in operating Palrun. Chapter 25 (page 138) describes how to register, and the benefits thereof. Chapter 26 (page 139) indicates the complete terms of your license to use Palrun. Chapter 27 (page 141) tells you how to obtain user support. Chapter 28 (page 142) describes the Ombudsman procedures of the Association of Shareware Professionals. 6 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 1: BASIC TERMS AND PURPOSE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The main purpose of Palrun is to provide a simple user interface through which you can navigate through your computer usage, making archives almost as transparent as an ordinary subdirectory. You can run a program or batch file located within an archive or subdirectory. You can also view or edit a file within an archive or subdirectory, using your favorite file viewer or word processing program. Palrun will work with every archive format in common usage. By placing most of your commonly used programs and batch files into an archive that you designate as your Palhouse (see Section 17.6.1 at page 94), you can save huge amounts of space on your hard disk at the cost of only a minor speed penalty when the programs are invoked for execution. Palrun provides a sophisticated shell which sits on top of DOS, providing you with many enhancements to the DOS interface. 1.1 Basic Syntax The basic syntax for using Palrun as a transient program is: PALRUN [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE The basic syntax for using Palrun as a shell program is: PALRUN /P [@ARCHIVENAME] [COMMANDLINE] In both syntax descriptions above, the terms which are surrounded by square brackets are optional. Do not type in the brackets. 1.2 Palrun as a Transient Program Running Palrun as a transient program is as simple as: PALRUN [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE 7 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ "ArchiveName" (don't forget to add the "@" before the name of the archive, no spaces between them) is the name of the archive in which the executable file resides. Remember to include the extension of the archive. The brackets above indicate that specifying the archive is optional; don't type the brackets when giving the command. "Commandline" is the full command you would have given to DOS if the executable file had been directly available to DOS. For instance, if your WP.EXE file is in a WPSTUFF.ARC archive, you can have Palrun extract and run it with the command: PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP If you want to feed to WP the name of a file you want to edit, you could issue the command: PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP MYFILE Here's what happens after you give the command. Palrun will search the designated archive -- or, if you do not specify an archive, then Palrun will search the Palhouse archive that you have previously designated in the Setup procedure. If Palrun finds in the archive the program you want to execute, it will extract the program and run it with the parameters that you specified on the Commandline. If Palrun cannot find the program in the archive, then it will search your DOS path. You can use the Setup procedure to tell Palrun to look in your DOS path before looking in any archives. At the completion of execution, Palrun will return you to the DOS prompt after having deleted the program that it temporarily extracted from the archive. 1.3 Palrun as a Permanent Shell A more sophisticated method of using Palrun is to invoke it so that you call up Palrun's very own command line interface with the command: PALRUN /P 8 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ This brings you to what we call the Palrun Prompt. The "P" is a mnemonic for Prompt. An alternative to the above syntax is: PALRUN /P [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE which will first run your Commandline before returning you to the Palrun Prompt. The terms ArchiveName and Commandline have the same meaning as described in section 1.2 above. To get back to DOS from the Palrun Prompt, just type QUIT and tap the <Enter> key. It is from the Palrun Prompt that you will be able not only to run a program from within an archive but also to view, edit or delete a component file of an archive. In addition to making archives transparent in this way, Palrun provides you with a host of DOS enhancements. These include, for instance: ∙ Easy editing of your Commandline ∙ Up to several commands on a Commandline ∙ Recall any of your 20 most recent Commandlines to edit and/or invoke once again ∙ Simple navigation through your subdirectories, including point and shoot operation ∙ Memorize a series of commands for playback at a later date with Palrun's Alias facility ∙ Create your own custom menu of up to 50 entries ∙ Use an enhanced version of the ERASE / DEL command ∙ Use an enhanced version of the CHDIR / CD command 9 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1.4 The Palhouse The term "Palhouse" refers to an archive that Palrun will look into to determine whether it can find a program that you want to run. You specify a default Palhouse in the Setup procedure, as described in section 17.6.1 on page 94. You may change your Palhouse at any time, as outlined in section 1.8 below. 1.5 The Palrun Prompt The Palrun Prompt consists of two lines -- (1) a status line (2) an entry line Here's a picture of what you might see: ┌────────┬───────────────────┬──────────────────────────┬───────┐ │ PALRUN │ E:\WP │ E:\UTIL\PALHOUSE.ZIP │ 12:17 │ >▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ The status line is divided into four boxes. The first box displays the program name. The second box displays your current drive and subdirectory. The third box displays the name of your Palhouse, which is the currently active archive. Lastly, the fourth box displays the current time, which continues to be updated while Palrun awaits your input on the entry line. The entry line begins with the ">" character, our old friend from the DOS prompt. The rest of the line is a work area for you to enter and edit your Commandline. You may enter as many as 255 characters for your Commandline. The text of your Commandline will shift as the visible portion (79 characters) gets filled up and more characters are typed. Palrun provides you with a powerful line editor. The commands for the line editor should be self-evident for anyone familiar with either WordStar or WordPerfect commands. See 10 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Chapter 4 starting on page 25 for details about the Palrun Line Editor. The Palrun Prompt will always present you with the Commandline that you most recently executed (with DOS, you would have had to hit <F3> to get your prior command). From the Palrun Prompt, you have a few simple choices: 1. Entering a New Commandline Just start typing your new Commandline. Hitting any normal character key (other than the space bar) will cause the old Commandline to disappear and to be replaced by what you choose to type. As you prepare your new Commandline, you may edit it with the line editor. 2. Editing the Most Recently Executed Commandline You can edit the Commandline that Palrun shows you. This is done by means of the line editor that Palrun provides for your convenience. 3. Recalling Prior Commandlines Palrun remembers your 20 most recently executed Commandlines. These prior Commandlines are held in what we refer to as the Commandline Queue. For details on how to recall the Commandline Queue, see Chapter 12 starting at page 54. Once you have recalled a prior Commandline, you may then edit it and re- execute. 1.6 The Commandline The term Commandline refers to any normal command that you could execute at the DOS system prompt. But Palrun provides a tremendous enhancement beyond DOS's meager capabilities, in that you can pass several commands at a time, each separated by a Commandline Separator. This is described in greater detail in section 1.7 at page 12. With each command on your Commandline, Palrun goes through the following sequence of tests, and initiates action based on whichever test is first satisfied: 1. Is this an Alias that the user has created? 11 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 2. Is this one of Palrun's internal commands? 3. Is this a DOS command? 4. Is this an executable file found within the Palhouse? 5. Is this an executable file found on the DOS path? Steps #4 and #5 can be reversed with a customizable parameter available in the Setup procedure (See section 17.6.3 at page 95). HINT: The fact that Palrun checks for internal Aliases before anything else provides you with a convenient mechanism for overriding DOS commands and Palrun's internal commands. For instance, Palrun uses "F" as an abbreviation for its FRESHEN command, but you may prefer to use "F" to mean something else. You can do this by creating a new Alias with that name and define it to initiate the series of steps that you desire. Similarly, you can create an Alias by the name of "DIR" which will invoke a program or initiate a series of commands quite different from what DOS would do. 1.7 The Commandline Separator One very special improvement that Palrun offers compared to DOS is that your Commandline may consist of many subcommands, joined together by a '^' character. We refer to the '^' as the Commandline Separator. How many subcommands can you pass in a single Commandline? As many as you can fit in the space allotted. When editing a Commandline at the Palrun Prompt, you have 255 characters to play with, which means that you can have well over a hundred commands. Commandlines issued from the DOS prompt have a bit less than half the capacity of Commandlines issued from the Palrun Prompt. Each instance of the Commandline Separator acts as if you have hit the <Enter> key and sends the previous command off for execution while the remaining commands wait their turn. 12 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ This feature allows you to issue several commands at once from the DOS prompt, initiating all of the commands with a single press of the <Enter> key. For instance, you could issue the command PALRUN CD \ ^ DEL *.BAK ^ CD \COMM and Palrun will complete three operations for you in quick succession without your intervention. This is a convenient method for you to create an on-the-fly batch file. Each and every command on a Commandline can use the "@" pointer operator to point Palrun to a new Palhouse. Thus, the following would be a legal Commandline: @THISSTUF.ARC DOTHIS ^ @THATSTUF.ZIP DOTHAT ^ FRESHEN If you need to use the "^" character for other purposes which conflict with its employment as the Commandline Separator, you may designate a different character for this purpose in the Setup procedure. 1.8 Pointing to a new Palhouse The term ArchiveName, as used in the syntax diagrams in this chapter, refers to an archive to which you may explicitly point using the "@" character. The method of describing a pointer to an archive is to use the "@" character (think: pointing "at") followed by the specification of some archive or archives. The archive to which you point will become your new Palhouse until you point to another archive or until you use the FRESHEN command. This is described in greater detail in Chapter 13 at page 56. If you do not specify an ArchiveName, then Palrun will use the default Palhouse which you have specified in the Setup procedure (see section 17.6 at page 94). 13 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1.9 Alter Egos An Alter Ego is a small program that substitutes for a larger program that you have placed into your default Palhouse. We supply you with the program PALTER.EXE for this purpose. If you move a program (e.g., HELPER.EXE) into your Palhouse and then copy PALTER.EXE to a new file named the same as that program, the renamed PALTER.EXE will serve as an alter ego for HELPER.EXE. If you now invoke HELPER from the DOS prompt, it will in turn summon Palrun in its transient mode to extract the real HELPER.EXE out of your default Palhouse and then run it. Alter Egos are helpful in at least two situations. First, if you find yourself rarely using Palrun in its permanent shell mode and would like to utilize its transient features simply by typing the name of the program to be executed, then Alter Egos are for you. Second, many applications delegate some of their tasks by calling on other programs. An Alter Ego will hide from the application program the fact that its helper program resides in compressed form in your Palhouse. For details on working with Alter Egos, see Chapter 14 below at page 61. 1.10 Aliases An Alias is a Commandline which you make Palrun memorize and which may be invoked with a short name of not more than 8 letters. Aliases are described in detail in Chapter 15 at page 64. 14 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 1.11 Examples PALRUN WP MYFILE -- Executes WordPerfect, with WordPerfect retrieving MYFILE from your disk to edit, then Palrun returns to the DOS prompt. If WordPerfect had been found in your Palhouse, Palrun would have extracted it and run it from there; otherwise, Palrun would have looked in your DOS path for WordPerfect. PALRUN /P WP MYFILE -- Same as the foregoing, except that Palrun comes to rest at the Palrun Prompt for continued operation. PALRUN /P -- Palrun loads and stops at the Palrun Prompt, without executing any program. PALRUN @\WP\WPFILES.LZH WP MYFILE -- Same as the first example, except that instead of looking in your Palhouse, Palrun looks in the archive with the specification of \WP\WPFILES.LZH. PALRUN WP MYFILE ^ DEL *.BK! -- Palrun looks in your Palhouse or DOS to execute WordPerfect to edit MYFILE. Then, after you leave WordPerfect, Palrun will delete your backup files and return to DOS. PALRUN MYALIAS FIRSTPARAMETER SECONDPARAMETER -- Assuming that MYALIAS is one of your Aliases, Palrun will run the commands in MYALIAS, passing FIRSTPARAMETER and SECONDPARAMETER to those places in your definition in which you inserted "%1" and "%2," then returning to DOS. 15 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ One requirement which you should observe immediately is to look among your distribution files for one which is named PALRREAD.ME. This file will include any changes to this documentation that may require your attention. 2.1 Hardware Requirements Any IBM-PC or compatible computer running DOS 2.0 or higher will work fine with Palrun. If you want to use Alter Egos (see Chapter 14 below at page 61) you will need DOS 3.0 or higher. The amount of RAM in your computer is not ordinarily a consideration, since Palrun requires less memory to load itself than most application programs. Palrun needs about 215K of free RAM in order to load. When running another program from Palrun, Palrun swaps most of itself out of memory, leaving only a small kernel behind, so Palrun takes up only a few kilobytes at that time. If you're thinking about loading Palrun into a window of multitasking or task-switching software, the size of your window ought to be (1) the largest size requirement of any program that you intend to run from Palrun, plus (2) about 4K for the kernel that Palrun leaves behind, plus (3) whatever overhead your multitasking software needs to do its own work. A hard disk is very highly recommended. Even though using Palrun on a floppy-only system is possible, it is very impractical given Palrun's temporary disk space requirements. For instance, whenever Palrun performs an operation to extract from an archive or to run any program, it requires about 170K of free disk space for its swap file on the current drive, unless you have EMS and have instructed Palrun to swap itself to EMS. If you do not have sufficient free disk space on the current drive, Palrun will warn you that it cannot proceed. 16 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 2.2 The Benefits of Expanded Memory Expanded memory (EMS) is not required, but if your system does contain EMS, Palrun can take advantage of it in three ways. First, when Palrun executes a program, it removes most of itself from memory to free up RAM. If EMS is available, Palrun will automatically swap itself to EMS. Otherwise, the swap will go to a swap file on your disk. Using EMS will substantially speed the process. A customizable parameter in the Setup procedure (see section 17.5.2 at page 89) permits you to instruct Palrun NOT to use EMS for swapping if you want to retain the greatest amount of EMS for other programs. At this writing, swapping to EMS will take up about 180K of EMS, while swapping to disk will create a swap file of about 170K. Second, much of Palrun's activity requires extraction of files so that you can run them, edit them or view them. Another customizable parameter (see section 17.4.1 at page 81) is the ability to specify an output path for the extraction process. If you create a RAM-disk of sufficient size to accommodate the largest file that you might extract, then operations will proceed much faster than if the extractions are made directly to your hard disk. To create a RAM-disk, you need either EMS or extended memory and appropriate software (not furnished with Palrun). Third, in order to reduce Palrun's memory requirements and the amount of code which needs to be swapped to disk or EMS, we have compiled Palrun with a separate overlay file. Palrun dips into the overlay file from time to time as it picks up portions of code that it needs in different circumstances. If you have EMS, the entire overlay file will be brought into EMS so that fetching the overlaid code does not require any disk access at all. At this writing, the overlay code will take up about 213K of EMS. Another customizable parameter in the Setup procedure (see section 17.5.2 at page 89) allows you to disable loading the overlay code into EMS if you desire to reserve EMS for other purposes. 2.3 Required Palrun Files Palrun comes distributed with the following files: PALRUN.EXE The program file 17 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ PALRUN.OVR The overlay file PALRUN.HLP The help file PALRUN.DOC This documentation PALRREAD.ME Updates PALRUN.DOC PALWP.BAT Sample BAT file referred to in Chapter 7 ORDER.FRM Order form to register Palrun and to order Pal and Palarm VENDOR.DOC Disk vendors must read this file SYSOP.DOC Special offer to BBS Sysops PAL21.INF Info file on PAL version 2.1 PALRUN20.INF Info file on Palrun version 2.0 PALTER.EXE Program to create Alter Egos NOIBMPRN.EXE Program to print documentation w/o IBM graphics characters Only the EXE, OVR and HLP files are needed to use all the capabilities of Palrun. Place them in a subdirectory which resides in your DOS path. It is not absolutely necessary to use the HLP file, but in its absence you will not be able to access the on-line, context-sensitive help. 2.4 Required Compression/Extraction Programs Palrun does not accomplish the extraction of files from archives all by itself. Instead, it relies on the original extraction and compression programs which pertain to the type of archive with which you are dealing. Thus, in order to work effectively with a particular type of archive, you will need the original extraction program that is designed for that archive. For instance, if you want to run, view, edit or delete a file from inside a ZOO archive, then you must have ZOO.EXE available on your system. Make sure that the compression/extraction programs that you will be using are located in a subdirectory which resides in your DOS path. Palrun will do all the rest of the work. It is important to note that there is no requirement that you have access to ALL the archiving programs referred to here. You only need the archiving program or programs that work with the type of archive or archives that you intend to use. 18 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The programs for which Palrun is preconfigured to extract from archives include the following: ┌─────────────┬──────────────┬───────────────────────────────┐ │ │Normal │ │ │Program │Archive │ │ │Name │Extension │Author │ ├─────────────┼──────────────┼───────────────────────────────┤ │ARC │ARC │Systems Enhancement Associates │ │ARCE │ARC │Vern Buerg │ │DWC │DWC │Dean W. Cooper │ │LHARC │LZH │Haruyasu Yoshizaki │ │PAK │PAK,ARC,ZIP │NoGate Consulting │ │PKUNPAK/PKPAK│ARC │PKWare │ │PKUNZIP/PKZIP│ZIP │PKWare │ │ZOO │ZOO │Rahul Dhesi │ └─────────────┴──────────────┴───────────────────────────────┘ Since a number of different programs can extract from ARC- type archives, you may specify any of four different extraction programs for this purpose. They are ARC.EXE (the original ARC- type compression program), ARCE.EXE, PAK.EXE and PKUNPAK.EXE. Palrun's Setup procedure permits you to choose any of these four to handle ARC archives (see section 17.4.3 at page 87). Although PKWare ceased marketing PKPAK and PKUNPAK in January, 1989, pursuant to an agreement with the authors of ARC, many users may still own these programs. PAK, from NoGate Consulting, will handle ZIP archives starting with PAK version 2.5. Therefore, we give you the option of using either PKZIP or PAK (See section 17.4.4 at page 87) for ZIP archives. ARCE.COM is a bit of an anomaly in that its normal companion compression program, ARCA.COM, is not suitable for everyday use to freshen an existing archive. Thus, you will have to select one of the three other ARC compression programs if you select ARCE.COM as your extractor of choice. This selection is made in the Setup procedure (see section 17.4.2.2 at page 84). 2.5 Optional Editing and Viewing Programs Palrun gives you the chance to edit or view files from within an archive using your favorite word processor and/or file viewing programs. 19 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you want to activate Palrun's ability to edit or view a file from within an archive, you must use the Setup procedure to designate each program that you want to use for those two purposes. See section 17.7 at page 95 for information on setting your file viewing program. See section 17.8 at page 98 for guidance on specifying your editor. In addition to specifying the name of the word processor and/or file viewer within the Setup procedure, you must make sure that the designated program resides in a subdirectory in your DOS path. 2.6 Optional Timed Events With Pal and Palarm PAL (the Personal Appointment Locator) in conjunction with its companion resident program Palarm allows you to create an infinite variety of alarms, and these alarms may be created for a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence or to repeat in a pattern of your design. Each alarm has the ability to set in motion an event on your computer. In particular, if your computer is resting at the Palrun Prompt (or the DOS prompt) you can issue a command with an alarm. Furthermore, if your computer is resting within an application program at the time of the alarm, Palarm can test whether conditions are right for the event to commence. In all cases, you can have keystrokes issued as if you were sitting right there at the keyboard, even though you may be continents away at that moment. This timed event capability is available only with PAL and Palarm versions 2.1 and above. PAL and Palarm are products of PAL Software NY. You may order them by printing out the ORDER.FRM file which is included with the distribution files of Palrun. For more details about PAL, see the file PAL21.INF included with the distribution files. 20 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 3.1 Basic Installation Installation of Palrun is extremely simple. Take the following three files: PALRUN.EXE PALRUN.OVR PALRUN.HLP and copy them to a subdirectory in your DOS path. Next, if you intend to utilize a Palhouse (see section 1.4 at page 10, above) so that Palrun can automatically run programs that have been compressed into an archive, you must specify your default Palhouse. If you choose not to utilize a Palhouse, you can still use the other features of Palrun, but you will be missing out on one of the features that makes Palrun so powerful. To set up a Palhouse, the first thing you need to do is create an archive for this purpose in a subdirectory in your DOS path. For instance, on distribution Palrun assumes that the name of your Palhouse is PALHOUSE.ZIP. Use your favorite compression program to create such an archive. You might wind up with MYHOUSE.ARC or ARCHIVE.LZH depending on what program you use and what your whims tell you to call the base name of the archive. The actual process of creating an archive with your program is beyond the scope of this documentation; please consult the documentation of your compression program if you are unsure of the process. Now that you have created an archive, you need to tell Palrun its name and where to find it. For this purpose, you will need to enter the Setup procedure. From the DOS prompt, issue the command: PALRUN SETUP 21 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun will load and bring you to the main Setup menu, which will look like this: ╒════════════ Palrun Setup ═════════════╕ │Aliases and Menu │ │Colors │ │Extractor information │ │Miscellaneous information │ │Palhouse information │ │Viewer information │ │Wordprocessor information │ │ │ │File Save and Load │ │Restore distribution defaults │ │Save changes into Palrun & exit │ │This session only │ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════╛ Use the cursor keys to highlight the entry that says "Palhouse information" and then strike the <Enter> key. You will be presented with a new menu similar to the following: ╒═════════════ Palhouse Information ══════════════╕ │Name of file for Palhouse: │ │PALHOUSE.ZIP │ │ │ │Path where Palhouse is located: │ │Anywhere in the DOS path │ │ │ │Search DOS before Palhouse?: │ │NO │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ If the archive that you created to act as your Palhouse is named other than PALHOUSE.ZIP, then make sure the phrase "Name of file for Palhouse:" is highlighted and then press <Enter>. You may then provide the name of the archive that you created, Press <Enter> for your input to be accepted. You will return to the above menu and see that the name has changed. You may also change the second entry on the menu to indicate a specific location of your Palhouse. This is not necessary so long as your Palhouse is in the DOS path, but specifying a particular directory will increase the speed of Palrun's operation by a fraction of a second. 22 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ For now, leave the third entry on the menu as it is. When you have completed your changes to the "Palhouse Information" menu, press <Esc> to exit back to the main Setup menu. Move the highlight bar to the entry on the menu that reads "Save changes into Palrun & exit" and press <Enter> once again. You will be asked whether you want to save to a file of a different name -- just strike the <Enter> key once more to bypass the question. The PALRUN.EXE file will now be physically changed to include the information that you supplied. The very last step in your basic installation is to make sure that the compression and extraction programs that you need (see section 2.4 at page 18, above) can also be found in your DOS path. 3.2 Advanced Installation Section 3.1 describes all you need to do for basic operation of Palrun, but if you want to be able to edit or view a file from a PCKHOUSE or PCKDIR pick list, you will have to enter the Setup procedure to specify the editor and/or file viewer that you prefer to use. See section 17.7 at page 95 for information on setting your file viewing program. See section 17.8 at page 98 for guidance on specifying your editor. To utilize the "Super" CHDIR feature, Palrun needs to have stored all your subdirectory information to disk. If you would like to initialize that information, see the hint at page 108. Other than that, there's no additional installation for you to utilize all of Palrun's features. You may wish to browse through the Setup Chapter (Chapter 17 beginning at page 74) to see the extensive possibilities for customization, but no other changes are required. 3.3 Colors A note about color -- on distribution of Palrun, you will witness that colors are set in basic black and white. Although this is clearly the most boring choice, it is also the safest, 23 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ particularly for persons with laptop computers that do not produce color distinctions well. You may change the colors in the Colors section of Setup. If you happen to have reset the colors to something that makes your screen difficult to read, you can always return the colors to black and white in the Colors section, or you can use the Restore command from the Setup menu to return everything to its state upon original program distribution. HINT: If you have received this program for evaluation from another user, and the colors set by the prior user are so unreadable on your machine that you cannot even understand how to make it through the Setup procedure to restore the original black and white colors, here's the sequence that you need to follow from the DOS prompt (Don't type the "<Enter>" -- that just means to press the "Enter" key, which might be described on your keyboard as the "Return" key): PALRUN S<Enter> R<Enter> S<Enter> <Enter> 24 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 4: THE LINE EDITOR ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun's line editor permits you to enter and edit commands easily at the Palrun Prompt as well as to provide input in creating Aliases, menus and answering questions posed to you in the Setup procedure. Ordinarily the line editor will present you with text that it has guessed that you want to start with. For instance, at the Palrun Prompt you will usually be presented with the most recently executed Commandline. For text entry in the Setup procedure, the line editor will present you with the choice which had previously been selected for that parameter. You will see the cursor resting at the end of the line of text that the line editor shows you. If what you want to do is add to what has been presented to you, then press <End> or <Spacebar> to add the characters. If you want to type in something entirely new, then touching any normal character key (other than <Spacebar>) will erase the guessed-at text and permit you to enter your new information. If you want to retain much of the guessed-at text but want to make modifications, then the line editor gives you a very flexible means to do this, as described below. You can get by very well with the line editor without reading this Chapter simply by relying on the cursor keys, <Ins>, <Del> and <Bksp>. The line editor behaves just as you intuitively would expect. However, if you want to make use of more flexible editing commands, read on. All the possible editing commands are shown in the table below. Many of the commands in the line editor have more than one possible way to execute them. When this is the case, the alternatives in the table are separated by a comma. Some keys need to be pressed in combination with the <Ctrl> key. For instance, the indication of <CtrlT> means that you must first press the <Ctrl> key, and then, while still holding the <Ctrl> key down, you must also press the <T> key. A very few commands require not only a control key combination, but also a third key. For instance, the indication 25 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ of <CtrlQ><L> means that you must press the <Ctrl> key plus <Q> combination, and then press the <L> key. TABLE OF LINE EDITOR COMMANDS ----------------------------- Accept the line -- <Enter>, or, if using a mouse, you may click the <Left> button. Quit without changing line -- <Esc>, <CtrlBreak>, or if using a mouse, you may click the <Right> button. Cursor Movement -- Left: <Left>, <CtrlS> Right: <Right>, <CtrlD> Left One Word: <CtrlLeft>, <CtrlA> Right One Word: <CtrlRight>, <CtrlF> Start of Line: <Home>, <CtrlQ><S> End of Line: <End>, <CtrlQ><D> Insert vs. Overwrite -- The line editor almost always starts in overwrite mode (For the one case in which the line editor starts in insert mode, see Section 5.5.2 at page 32). If you move the cursor to a position already occupied by a character, any new key that you type will overwrite the pre-existing character. If you would like to insert a character or characters, then you can change from overwrite mode to insert mode by striking the <Ins> key. Your cursor will change to a large block cursor to signify that you have entered insert mode. Now, any key that you type will be inserted at the position of the cursor, without overwriting the existing character. You may toggle back and forth between overwrite mode and insert mode with successive presses of the <Ins> key. You can always tell which mode you are in by looking at the cursor. A fat block cursor signifies insert mode, while a 26 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ thin line cursor below the characters signifies overwrite mode. Deletions -- Delete Char at Cursor: <Del>, <CtrlG> Delete Char before Cursor: <Bksp>, <CtrlH>, <CtrlBksp> Delete Word: <CtrlT> Delete to end of line: <CtrlEnd>, <CtrlQ><Y> Delete entire line: <CtrlX>, <CtrlY>, <CtrlHome> Restore original contents of line -- <CtrlR>, <CtrlQ><L> Pop up on-line, context-sensitive help -- <F1>, or, if using a mouse, click the <Left&Right> buttons simultaneously. Summary of mouse control -- <Left> Accept Entry -- same as <Enter> <Right> Make No Change -- same as <Esc> <Left&Right> Help -- same as <F1> In general, throughout Palrun, the <Left> button on your mouse will be the equivalent of <Enter>, while the <Right> button is equivalent to <Esc>, and <Left&Right> is equivalent to <F1>. For 3-button mice, the following commands are initially defined for the additional button combinations. You may change these definitions in the Setup procedure. <Center> MENU <AllThree> QUEUE <Center&Left> PCKDIR <Center&Right> PCKHOUSE 27 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 5: SELECTING FROM PICK LISTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ There are several circumstances in which Palrun will present you with the opportunity to select from a group of choices set forth in a pop-up window. These circumstances include: 1. Selecting a target file from within an archive for running, editing, viewing or deleting (the PCKHOUSE or PH commands). See Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 2. Selecting a target file from a subdirectory for running, editing, viewing or deleting (the PCKDIR or PD commands). See Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 3. Selecting a previously executed Commandline from your Commandline Queue (the QUEUE or Q commands). See Chapter 12. 4. Selecting among a group of archives to choose one to be your current Palhouse after having used a nonspecific pointer on your Commandline, such as "@\COMM\DOWN\*". See Chapter 13. 5. Selecting an Alias to be placed on your Commandline (the PCKALIAS or PA commands). See Chapter 15. 6. Selecting an action from your custom menu. See Chapter 16. 7. Selecting an Alias to edit within Setup. See Chapter 15. 8. Selecting a menu item to edit within Setup. See Chapter 16. 9. Selecting a subdirectory to change to when using the CHDIR / CD command in a nonspecific way or when using "Super" CHDIR. See Section 18.1 at page 104. In all the pick lists, you use the same methods for placing the highlight bar over your selection. Striking <Enter> will initiate a default action in each instance. In some circumstances, the window header will set forth function key definitions for additional actions that may be taken. 28 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When the pick list pops up, you will be presented with a sequence of choices. In all but one of the possible pick lists, Palrun is set up to display your choices in alphabetical order; you can change the sort order in your PCKDIR and PCKHOUSE pick lists. When examining the Commandline Queue, your choices will always be presented in the order in which your Commandlines were previously executed. If there are more choices available than can comfortably fit in the current window, then the window will let you know. You have three methods of making a selection from a pick list. One is using the cursor keys. The second is using a name search technique. If you have a mouse, then you have a third method of selecting, as described in Section 5.4 at the end of this Chapter. 5.1 Choosing With the Cursor Keys One of the choices will be highlighted when the pick list pops up. The highlight bar will move around the window as you press any cursor key. When the highlight bar is resting on the entry that you would like to select, you are ready to initiate the action, usually with the <Enter> key. 5.2 Choosing With Name Search Besides using the cursor keys to move through the list, you can also move the highlight bar to a specific choice by using your keyboard to begin typing the name of the choice. Usually, you will move the highlight bar to your choice with a minimum of keystrokes in this fashion. When the first alphabetic character is entered, the highlight bar moves to the next item which starts with that character. Another alpha character moves the highlight bar to the next item that starts with the two characters entered, and so on. As you type, a record of your keystrokes will be displayed at the lower left corner of the window. 29 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Character matching is not case sensitive, and searching is performed in a circular fashion -- if no item beyond the current one matches, the search continues at the start of the list. When the highlight bar is placed on the item that you want, you can then initiate your action, usually by pressing <Enter>. 5.3 Exiting the Pick List You can always exit the pick list, without making any choice, by pressing <Esc>. 5.4 Using a Mouse If you use a mouse, selecting a file takes two clicks. First, you move the highlight bar by placing the mouse cursor over a choice and pressing <Left>. Once the highlight bar has moved to the position of the mouse cursor, to activate the choice hit <Left> a second time. When function keys other than <F1> are set forth at the top of the pick list window (e.g. <F2> through <F5>), you may select those functions by moving the mouse cursor to the "chicklet" corresponding to that function at the top of the window, then clicking with the <Left> button. Alternatively, if you have a three-button mouse, the following button combinations are the equivalent of <F2> through <F5>: <F2> <Center> <F3> <Center&Left> <F4> <Center&Right> <F5> <AllThree> The <Right> is used as the equivalent of <Esc>. It will drop you out of the pick list without making any selection. Hitting the <Left&Right> buttons simultaneously is the equivalent of <F1>, which calls up the on-line, context-sensitive help. 30 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If there are more items available for selection than can fit in the window, a scroll bar will appear within the right hand frame of the window. The scroll bar has several capabilities. At the upper and lower corners of the frame, vertical arrows are displayed. The list will scroll by one row whenever the mouse cursor has been positioned over one of these arrows and <Left> is pressed. The scroll bar will also display a block character within the vertical frame to indicate the approximate position of the current item within the overall list. If you place the mouse cursor at a different position within the scroll bar and press <Left> then Palrun will display a different set of items corresponding to the range at which you placed the mouse cursor. 5.5 Activating Your Selection Once you have placed the highlight bar on the selection of your choice, you may activate the selection, usually by pressing <Enter>. The effect of making a selection will vary depending on the particular pick list: 5.5.1 PCKHOUSE Pick Lists When you select a target file from within an archive for running (using the PCKHOUSE or PH commands) the name of that file will be placed at the Palrun Prompt. You can execute that program immediately with a second strike of <Enter>, or you may wish to add some parameters with the line editor before executing. You have three additional actions that may be taken with a selected file. <F2> will permit you to edit the file, <F3> will permit you to view it, and <F4> will permit you to delete it. Striking <F5> permits you to control the sort order and level of detail of the pick list display and also change the filemask. With editing and viewing, the action is initiated as soon as you press those keys. There is no interim placement of the 31 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ target file onto the Commandline as there is when you select a program or batch file for execution. With the delete function, you are requested for confirmation before deletion is accomplished. 5.5.2 PCKDIR Pick Lists When you select a target file from within a subdirectory pick list (the PCKDIR or PD commands), what happens with that file will depend on its nature. If the file is an executable file (COM, EXE or BAT extension), then the name of that file will be placed at the Palrun Prompt. You can execute that program immediately with a second strike of <Enter>, or you may wish to add some parameters with the line editor before executing. If the file is a subdirectory name, then Palrun will present you with a new pick list displaying the contents of that subdirectory. If the file is an archive, its name will be brought to the Palrun Prompt, preceded by the "@" character, so that one more press of the <Enter> key will make that archive your current Palhouse. If the selection is any other type of file, Palrun assumes you want to DO something to that file, so its name is brought to the Palrun Prompt, with the cursor at the beginning of the line in insert mode. You have three additional actions that may be taken with a selected file. <F2> will permit you to edit the file, <F3> will permit you to view it, and <F4> will permit you to delete it. Striking <F5> permits you to control the sort order and level of detail of the pick list display and change the filemask. With editing and viewing, the action is initiated as soon as you press those keys. There is no interim placement of the target file onto the Commandline as there is when you select a program or batch file for execution. With the delete function, you are requested for confirmation before deletion is accomplished. If the selected entry is a 32 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ subdirectory, it will be removed if it is vacant. If the selected file is a protected file, you will be warned that the file is protected, but Palrun will also give you the option to go ahead and delete the file if you really want to. 5.5.3 Archive Pointer Pick Lists If you use the "@" pointing operation to select from among a group of archives, making the selection will immediately make that archive active, and Palrun will read a list of its contents into memory. When you return to the Palrun Prompt, the command PCKHOUSE will already have been placed there for you, so that with a second strike of <Enter> you can quickly get another pick list of the contents of that active archive. 5.5.4 PCKALIAS Pick Lists When you select an Alias with the PCKALIAS or PA commands, your Alias will be placed on the Palrun Prompt. You can add parameters, if desired, prior to execution with a second strike of <Enter>. 5.5.5 QUEUE Pick Lists When you select a previously executed Commandline from your Commandline Queue (with the QUEUE or Q commands), the selected Commandline will be placed on the Palrun Prompt so that you can edit and/or re-execute. 33 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 5.5.6 Custom Menu Pick Lists When you select an action from your custom menu, the command associated with that menu item will be executed immediately. If your command anticipates the possibility that you might want to add parameters (i.e., it is an Alias which contains "%1" and/or "%2" etc. or you specified the need to pause when you created the menu entry), it will pause to give you an opportunity to supply additional parameters. 5.5.7 Setup's Aliases and Menus Pick Lists In the Setup procedure under "Aliases and Menus" you will be using pick lists to add, edit, delete and rename Aliases and menu items. Actions are initiated with the function keys as set forth at the top of the pick list window. 5.5.8 CHDIR Pick Lists When using a pick list to select a subdirectory with the CHDIR / CD command, accepting a subdirectory will result in an immediate change to the drive and subdirectory of your choice. You can use the <F2> key to change drives, and you can hit <F3> to force Palrun to rebuild its directory tree information. 34 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 6: OBTAINING A DIRECTORY (PCKHOUSE & PCKDIR) ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun provides a common user interface for examining the contents of an archive or a subdirectory. Using this interface, your archive contents will not seem very much different from the contents of a subdirectory. PCKHOUSE (which may be abbreviated to PH) is the internal command to summon a pick list of your current Palhouse. PCKDIR (which may be abbreviated to PD) is the internal command to summon a pick list of a subdirectory. The syntax for using both commands is identical: PCKHOUSE [filemask] [/sortoptions] PCKDIR [filemask] [/sortoptions] The items in brackets refer to optional parameters. "Filemask" refers to the wildcard specification to describe the files you would like to show. If you do not provide a filemask, then PCKHOUSE will show all files in the current Palhouse and PCKDIR will show all files in the current subdirectory. The "Filemask" for PCKDIR may begin with a drive and subdirectory designation. "Sortoptions" refers to the manner in which files are sorted and the level of detail provided. You specify these options by typing the "/" character, followed by a character for the sort order and/or a character for the level of detail. The applicable characters are: N - Sort by name E - Sort by extension D - Sort by date S - Sort by size B - Brief detail R - Regular detail L - Lengthy detail If you specify more than one sort order or more than one detail level, then only the last-specified one will take effect. 35 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you do not specify any sort options, then those which are specified in the Setup procedure will be used. Once you specify sort options with a PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE command, or by using <F5> from within a directory or archive pick list, these options will hold throughout the remainder of your current Palrun session or until the next time you make a modification. Examples: PCKDIR -- Provides a pick list of all files in the current subdirectory. PCKHOUSE -- Provides a pick list of all files in the current Palhouse. PH *.EXE /d -- Shows only EXE files in the Palhouse, sorted by date. PD c:\dos /nl -- Shows the entire contents of C:\DOS, sorted by name, showing lengthy detail. PH /nelb -- Shows all files in your Palhouse, sorted by extension and showing brief detail. The "n" and "l" sort instructions are overridden by the later "e" and "b" instructions. PD B?.* -- Shows files in the current subdirectory whose name starts with "B" and is followed by one additional character. It may or may not have an extension. 36 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Once you obtain your pick list, you have the following options: <Enter> Select a file for "running" <F1> Summon on-line help <F2> Edit the file <F3> View the file <F4> Delete the file <F5> Change sort order, detail or filemask <Esc> Leave the pick list "Running" files is covered in Chapter 7 at page 38. Editing files is covered in Chapter 8 at page 43. Viewing files is covered in Chapter 9 at page 46. Deleting files is covered in Chapter 10 at page 49. Changing the sort order or level of detail is covered in Chapter 11 at page 51. 37 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 7: "RUNNING" A TARGET FILE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can "run" a file from a pick list of the contents of your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do any of the following: *<Enter> Select a file for "running" <F1> Summon on-line help <F2> Edit the file <F3> View the file <F4> Delete the file <F5> Change sort order, detail or filemask <Esc> Leave the pick list To choose a file for "running," use the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over the entry of your choice. Then tap the <Enter> key. As used in this chapter, the term "to run" means many things. When selecting a file from an archive pick list with the PCKHOUSE or PH command, the sole purpose is to extract an executable file (EXE, COM or BAT extension) automatically in order to execute it. When selecting a file from a subdirectory pick list, the action taken depends on the nature of that file. 7.1 Running Files From an Archive There are two ways to run a file from within an archive. One uses Palrun as a transient program and the other uses Palrun as a permanent shell program. These methods are described in detail in Chapter 1 at page 7. The purpose of this section is to provide further details and guidance. Once you get the hang of using Palrun, you may be tempted to throw every single EXE, COM and BAT file into your Palhouse. Don't. Some files are simply inappropriate for inclusion in a Palhouse. Here's a listing of what we think you ought to keep outside: (1) files that you will need available just to run Palrun, (2) programs that install themselves as resident programs, (3) programs which are called by other programs, (4) 38 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ programs which you use all the time and for which you do not want to pay a speed penalty, and (5) programs whose setup routines permanently modify the program file. Here's a discussion of each of these types of files: 1. Files that you will need available just to run Palrun: PALRUN.EXE, PALRUN.OVR, PALRUN.HLP Your compression/extraction programs Your editor and viewer configured in Setup procedure 2. Programs that install themselves as resident programs, for instance: SK.COM SideKick PALARM.EXE Resident alarm handler for PAL CAUTION: Do not load a resident program from Palrun. Your system has a good chance of locking up. 3. Programs which are called by other programs. We'll refer to this type of program as a helper program. For instance, your compression/extraction programs are helper programs for Palrun. Similarly, DSZ.EXE (a widely used communications protocol program) could be considered a helper program for your communications program. Any program which will be invoked by one of your application programs should be considered a helper program. If a helper program were to reside within a Palhouse, then the main application program would not be able to find it. Hint: Helper programs may be placed into your default archive if you create Alter Egos for them. See Chapter 14 below at page 61. An Alter Ego hides from your application program the fact that the program it needs to invoke is compressed within an archive. 4. Programs which you use all the time. Notwithstanding our use of WordPerfect as an example in our sample batch file PALWP.BAT, you may be a heavy WordPerfect user, going in and out of WordPerfect several times a day. Each time you invoke PALWP.BAT with Palrun, you might become impatient at 39 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ the repetitive extraction of WordPerfect. The time penalty may not be worth the disk savings. Only you can balance that decision. 5. Programs whose setup routines modify the programs themselves, as Palrun does. Examples of this type of self-modifying programs include Vern Buerg's LIST, and PAL Software's PAL, both of which permit you to clone new versions of the program to include changes that you have made to start-up defaults and information. Since the very last thing that Palrun does after executing such a program is to delete that program from your disk, any changes which have been made to that program will be lost. This may not be a major problem with LIST, since you may not change it often, but for a program like PAL, which you may modify daily to change the appointments records contained internally, this could be a real hassle. HINT: One way of getting around this problem with self- modifying programs while still obtaining the benefits of compression is simply not to store them within your Palhouse. Instead, store them in a separate archive and summon the program from a batch file that IS stored in your Palhouse. The batch file itself would handle the task of issuing commands to extract the program, etc. Then when you have finished executing the program, have the batch file use the switches that your compression program needs to move a changed file back into the archive. See the included sample batch file PALWP.BAT for an example. 7.2 Running Files From a Subdirectory You can always run an executable file from the Palrun Prompt merely by typing its name at the Palrun Prompt and striking <Enter>. So long as the program or batch file can be found in the current subdirectory or in your DOS path, Palrun will find and run the file. What Palrun does to enhance this capability is give you the ultimate flexibility of the PCKDIR command. Remember that you can use PD as an abbreviation. When using the PCKDIR command, the term "run" takes on new meaning. 40 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it and striking <Enter>, what happens with that file depends on its nature. 7.2.1 Selecting Executable Files If your selection is an executable file (with extension of EXE, COM or BAT), its name will be brought to the Palrun Prompt for adding additional parameters or editing if you like. One more tap of the <Enter> key will execute it. 7.2.2 Selecting Archives If your selection is an archive, then its name will be brought to the Palrun Prompt, preceded by the "@" character. This signifies the pointing operation. If you want Palrun to use that archive as its currently active Palhouse, then all you need to do is strike <Enter> a second time. Palrun will update its internal table of contents of your Palhouse, and the status line will reflect the selected archive as your new Palhouse. You will find yourself at the Palrun Prompt with the word "PCKHOUSE" as the assumed command. If you would like to view the contents of your newly selected Palhouse, then all it takes is a third press of the <Enter> key. Palrun will present you with a pick list of the contents of your new Palhouse, from which you can accomplish any activity that is available in an archive pick list. HINT: If you want to choose an archive from a subdirectory pick list and move to a pick list of that archive's contents, all you need to do is place the highlight bar on the archive name, then press <Enter> three times in succession. 7.2.3 Selecting Directories If your selection is a subdirectory, then Palrun will bring up another pick list showing all the files in that subdirectory. 41 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ HINT: If you sort your pick list by size, you will find that all your subdirectories will bubble to the top of the list, since they have zero size. This makes it easy for you to navigate through pick lists of all the subdirectories on your disk by using the technique of highlighting a subdirectory entry and tapping the <Enter> key. You will notice that in all but the root directory of your disk the display will show as your first entry ".. (Parent)" -- which, you guessed it, refers to the parent subdirectory of the one you are presently viewing. If you highlight the ".. (Parent)" entry and press <Enter> you will be taken to a new pick list of the parent subdirectory which will be headed up with all the subdirectories that lie beneath it. 7.2.4 Selecting Other Files If your selection is anything other than an executable file, an archive or a subdirectory, Palrun assumes that you want to use that file as the object of some operation. Thus, when the Palrun Prompt appears, the name of the file will appear there, but you will find the cursor at the beginning of the line in insert mode, ready to accept the name of a command to which you may desire to feed the selected file as a parameter. 42 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 8: EDITING A TARGET FILE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can edit a file from a pick list of the contents of your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do any of the following: <Enter> Select a file for "running" <F1> Summon on-line help *<F2> Edit the file <F3> View the file <F4> Delete the file <F5> Change sort order, detail or filemask <Esc> Leave the pick list To choose a file for editing, use the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over the entry of your choice. Then tap the <F2> key. To edit a file from within an archive or subdirectory pick list, you need first to make sure that you set up Palrun to use your favorite editor or word processing program. This you need to do only once. For details on how to do this, see section 17.8 at page 98. 8.1 Editing Files From an Archive Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to edit, then touch the <F2> key. Palrun will now extract the target file from the archive, then run your word processing program in order to edit the file. Once the editing is completed, Palrun will move the changed file back into the archive, supplanting the original version. If you want Palrun to delete any backup files that your word processor creates, then be sure to designate in the Setup procedure the extension that the program uses for backups. 43 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When Palrun runs your editor, it does so with the following command: EDITPROGRAM [PREFIXPARAMS] EXTRACTEDFILE [SUFFIXPARAMS] where EditProgram is the name of the editor you specified in Setup, ExtractedFile is the name of the file on which you placed the highlight bar, and PrefixParams and SuffixParams are the optional prefix and suffix information, if any, that you may have specified in the Setup procedure. HINT: Just because the <F2> key is associated with the word "Edit," that doesn't mean that you have to use it for an editing program. You can designate any other type of program that you want. For instance, if you develop software, instead of filling in the name of a word processor in Setup, you could provide the name of a debugging program. Then, when you place the highlight bar over a file inside an archive and press <F2>, Palrun will run your debugger instead of a word processor. As a further example, if you do want to edit a program but want to do several operations that you have set up in a batch file, you can feed Setup the name of your batch file instead of the word processor. Naturally, you would want the batch file itself to call the word processor. In setting up your batch file, be aware of the order in which parameters will be passed by Palrun, as set forth in the syntax just above. 8.2 Editing Files From a Subdirectory Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the subdirectory of your choice. When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it and striking <F2>, the editor or word processor that you specified in the Setup procedure will be summoned to edit that file. The action taken is quite similar to that which happens when you strike <F2> when selecting a file from within an archive pick list. The major difference is that Palrun does not automatically delete the backup file when you are editing from within a subdirectory. The decision whether to get rid of a backup file is left to your manual discretion in this situation. 44 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You cannot edit a file whose attributes mark it as a directory entry, a volume label or read-only, and most editors and word processors will not be able to detect the presence of a system or hidden file, even though the file may appear in Palrun's subdirectory pick list. 45 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 9: VIEWING A TARGET FILE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can view a file from a pick list of the contents of your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do any of the following: <Enter> Select a file for "running" <F1> Summon on-line help <F2> Edit the file *<F3> View the file <F4> Delete the file <F5> Change sort order, detail or filemask <Esc> Leave the pick list To choose a file for viewing, use the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over the entry of your choice. Then tap the <F3> key. To view a file from within an archive or subdirectory pick list, you need first to make sure that you set up Palrun to use your favorite viewing program. This you need to do only once. For details on how to do this, see section 17.7 at page 95. 9.1 Viewing a File From Within an Archive Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to view, then touch the <F3> key. Palrun will now extract the target file from the archive, then run your file viewing program in order to browse the file. Once the viewing is completed, Palrun will delete the extracted file from your disk. SUGGESTION: One very useful application for the ability to view files from an archive is that you might want to move all your *.DOC and *.TXT files into a single archive. If you make that archive the current Palhouse by pointing to it, you can get a listing of its contents with the PCKHOUSE command, center the highlight bar on the documentation file of your choice, and then press <F3> to view the documentation. 46 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ HINT: If you are looking to do some housecleaning of your archives, you will find that the ability to view a file from the pick list fits together nicely with the ability to delete a file (see Chapter 10 at page 49, immediately below). Once you have finished viewing the file, you will see that the highlight bar remains on that target. If you want to delete it, just strike the <F4> key. When Palrun runs your file viewer, it does so with the following command: VIEWPROGRAM [PREFIXPARAMS] EXTRACTEDFILE [SUFFIXPARAMS] where ViewProgram is the name of the file viewer you specified in Setup, ExtractedFile is the name of the file on which you placed the highlight bar, and PrefixParams and SuffixParams are the optional prefix and suffix information, if any, that you may have specified in the Setup procedure. HINT: Just because the <F3> key is associated with the word "View," that doesn't mean that you have to use it for a file viewing program. You can designate any other type of program that you want. For instance, if you develop software, instead of filling in the name of a file viewing program in Setup, you could provide the name of a debugging program. Then, when you place the highlight bar over a program inside an archive and press <F3>, Palrun will run your debugger instead of a file viewing program. As a further example, if you do want to view a program but want to do several operations that you have set up in a batch file, you can feed Setup the name of your batch file instead of the file viewing program; naturally, you would want the batch file itself to call the viewer. In setting up your batch file, be aware of the order in which parameters will be passed by Palrun, as set forth in the syntax just above. 9.2 Viewing a Target File From a Subdirectory Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the subdirectory of your choice. When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it and striking <F3>, the file viewer that you specified in the Setup procedure will be summoned to view that file. 47 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The action taken is quite similar to that which happens when you strike <F3> when selecting a file from within an archive pick list. You cannot view a file whose attributes mark it as a directory entry or volume label, and most file viewing programs will not be able to detect the presence of a system or hidden file, even though the file may appear in Palrun's subdirectory pick list. 48 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 10: DELETING A TARGET FILE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can delete a file from a pick list of the contents of your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do any of the following: <Enter> Select a file for "running" <F1> Summon on-line help <F2> Edit the file <F3> View the file *<F4> Delete the file <F5> Change sort order, detail or filemask <Esc> Leave the pick list To choose a file for deletion, use the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over the entry of your choice. Then tap the <F4> key. 10.1 Deleting a File From an Archive Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to delete, then touch the <F4> key. Palrun will ask you to confirm that you want to delete the file. Strike the <Y> key to go ahead, or hit the <N> key to return to the pick list. 10.2 Deleting a File From a Subdirectory Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the subdirectory of your choice. When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it and striking <F4>, the action taken depends on the nature of the file you selected. 49 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 10.2.1 Deleting a Directory Entry If your selection is itself a directory, then it will be removed if it is empty. If the subdirectory you specified for deletion cannot be removed because it contains files of its own, then the subdirectory will not be removed. HINT: If you want to inspect the contents of that subdirectory, just tap the <Enter> key once to get a pick list of the files that reside therein. 10.2.2 Deleting Protected Files If the file you selected has an attribute of system, hidden, volume label or read-only, it is considered by Palrun to be protected. The DEL or ERASE command of DOS would not be able to delete the file. When you ask Palrun to delete such a file, you will be warned that it is a protected file, but will be asked if you want to delete it anyway. If you answer "Y"es, Palrun will go ahead and change the file's attributes and proceed to delete it. Answering "N"o, or just hitting the <Enter> key, will avoid deleting the protected file. CAUTION: Use this capability with great care, since a file is usually, though not always, protected for a good reason. 10.2.3 Deleting Other Files If you select for deletion any file other than a subdirectory or a protected file, then Palrun will request you to confirm your decision by answering "Y"es. Answering "N"o, or just hitting the <Enter> key, will avoid deleting the file. 50 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 11: SORT AND DISPLAY CONTROL FOR FILE PICK LISTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can control the filemask, the sorting order and the amount of information displayed in a pick list of the files in your current Palhouse or subdirectory. As distributed, Palrun sorts your files alphabetically by name and gives an intermediate level of detail. You can sort in any of four ways and provide three levels of detail. You may make these changes temporarily within the pick list, or you can make the changes more permanent in the Setup procedure. While in a PCKHOUSE or PCKDIR pick list, striking the <F5> key, which is designated as "Show" at the menu situated at the top of the pick list window, will bring up a menu for controlling the display. From this menu, you can choose to change the order in which the files are sorted, the length and detail of the file description, or the filemask. When you escape from this menu, if you have changed either parameter from its setting before you entered the menu, then Palrun will immediately put the changes into effect. Your selections for the sort order and level of detail will last until you exit Palrun. If you would like to change the default parameters permanently so that Palrun comes up with those assumptions whenever it is loaded, you may do so in the Setup procedure, where you can bring up a similar menu from the "Miscellaneous Information" section. 11.1 Changing the Sort Order You have four possibilities for the sort order, each of which may come in handy for different situations. You can sort by file name, by extension, by size and by date. A sort of your archive components by size will key on the uncompressed size of the file, not the smaller size it has while residing in the archive. Sorting by name is the most natural way of looking at your files in the broadest circumstances, but sorting by the other methods can be extremely useful. 51 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ HINT: For instance, sorting by size will bring all your subdirectories to the top of the list, since they have zero size. A volume ID will also bubble up to the top. This makes it easy for you to navigate through pick lists of all the subdirectories on your disk by using the technique of highlighting a subdirectory entry and tapping the <Enter> key. You will notice that in all but the root directory of your disk the display will show as your first entry ".. (Parent)" -- which, you guessed it, refers to the parent subdirectory of the one you are presently viewing. If you highlight the ".. (Parent)" entry and press <Enter> you will be taken to a new pick list of the parent subdirectory which will be headed up with all the subdirectories that lie beneath it. HINT: If you're looking to save space on your disk, you might want to sort by size and then tap the <End> key to see what files are taking the greatest amount of space so that you can examine likely candidates for deletion. HINT: Sorting by extension will bring all your COM files together, all your EXE files together, all your BAK files together, all your ZIP files together, and so forth. Use this, for instance, to find that EXE or COM file whose name you have forgotten. Or you can successively highlight all your *.BAK files so that you can view them with <F3> and then delete them with <F4>. 11.2 Changing the Level of Detail There are three levels of detail that you can request from Palrun in any PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE pick list. As distributed, Palrun provides you with a "Regular" level of detail. You can also request "Brief" or "Lengthy" detail. "Regular" detail provides you with two columns of file entries, with an intermediate level of information. The "Brief" level provides you with 5 columns of file names, with no information other than the names of the files. The "Lengthy" level gives you one file per line, with extensive detail. Experiment with the various levels of detail so that you can become acquainted with the benefits and disadvantages of each. In this way, you will know which level is appropriate for your specific needs at any moment. 52 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 11.3 Changing the Filemask This part of the menu that appears when you tap <F5> permits you to change the wildcard specifications for Palrun to match in the pick list. When viewing an archive, you may specify any valid filemask, utilizing the normal DOS wildcard characters. When viewing a directory, your new filemask may include a directory specification, so that you can view files in an entirely different directory. 53 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 12: RETRIEVING A PRIOR COMMAND ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun remembers 20 of your most recently executed Commandlines and lets you easily recall any of them for editing and re-execution. This facility is in addition to the feature that your last executed Commandline will ordinarily be left at the Palrun Prompt for you to edit and re-execute. Although the queue has a maximum of 20 slots, it can refer back to more than 20 Commandlines. This is because Palrun is designed not to add to the queue any Commandline which is already in the queue, nor will Palrun add the QUEUE or Q commands themselves to the queue. The Commandline Queue should be thought of not as a chronological history of your prior activity but as a repository of previously executed commands. Your most recently executed command will be situated at the end of the queue, but if it was also executed earlier, it will not appear in the queue more than once. There are three methods for recalling prior Commandlines. Both methods place a previously executed Commandline onto the Palrun Prompt so that you may re-execute it, editing it first if you so desire. 12.1 Using the Cursor Keys Use the up and down cursor keys for running back up through previously issued Commandlines. The up arrow key will take you back one Commandline at a time. The down arrow key will bring you down to the present moment, one Commandline at a time. 12.2 Choosing From a Pick List Issue the command QUEUE or Q from the Palrun Prompt. You will be presented with a pick list containing your most recently executed Commandlines. Select one of the Commandlines using the normal methods of selecting from a pick list. This will place 54 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ your selected Commandline onto the Palrun Prompt for editing and execution. 12.3 Searching With <AltQ> This method of retrieving a prior command may be the fastest and most convenient for you. At the Palrun Prompt, type in the first letter of a Commandline that you previously executed and then strike <AltQ>. Palrun will search the Commandline Queue to see if there are any stored Commandlines that match. If Palrun finds one (and only one) Commandline whose first letter matches the letter you typed, the old Commandline will magically pop onto the Palrun Prompt. If Palrun finds no matches, it will beep at you once. If Palrun finds multiple matches, it will show you the most recently executed match, and will beep at you for the number of times that it has found matches in the queue. If the match that Palrun shows you is not the one you want, then just keep hitting <AltQ> to cycle through the matches until you find the right one. 55 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 13: POINTING TO A NEW ARCHIVE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When Palrun starts up, it uses the Palhouse that you specify in Setup. The "@" character may be used at the beginning of any command to point to a new archive to act as your Palhouse. You may target a specific archive on the Palrun Prompt as follows: @MYARCHIV.ARC COMMANDLINE Palrun will use MYARCHIV.ARC as your Palhouse in executing the remainder of your Commandline. MYARCHIV.ARC will remain as your current Palhouse until you point to another archive with the "@" symbol, or until you use the FRESHEN or F command to restore your default Palhouse. You may use the pointing operation at the beginning of any command on your Commandline. Remember that you can have several commands on a single Commandline, each separated by the Commandline Separator. For example: PALRUN @THISARCHIVE DOTHIS ^ @THATARCHIVE DOTHAT ^ FRESHEN is an example of a Commandline containing three separate commands. The first two commands utilize two different archives, and the third command points Palrun back to your default Palhouse. The pointing operation may be used in a specific or nonspecific way. By specific, we mean that the pointer operation is seeking a single archive. The term nonspecific means that you are asking Palrun to display a pick list of all archives which match the wildcard specification you provide. 13.1 Specific Pointing Specific pointing is used when you know the name of the archive that you want to use as your Palhouse. In the following examples, the term "Archivespec" refers to the name of the archive, without the extension. 56 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ @ARCHIVESPEC -- When you point to an archive without including its extension, Palrun will automatically append the extension which is used by your default Palhouse in the Setup procedure. Palrun will look in your DOS path for the specified archive and immediately make it your Palhouse if found. @ARCHIVESPEC.EXT -- As an alternative to the first example, you may explicitly state the extension of the archive. If found in the DOS path, the archive will become your Palhouse. @\DIRECTORYSPEC\ARCHIVESPEC -- When you start with a directory specification, Palrun will look only in that directory for the archive. In this particular case, Palrun will add the default extension for the archive. If the file exists, it will become your Palhouse. @ARCHIVESPEC DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS -- Same as the first example, except that Palrun will not only make ARCHIVESPEC your Palhouse, it will also immediately proceed to execute the program "DOTHIS," passing to it the parameters "WITH THESE PARAMETERS." If your pointer operation does not include a Commandline as does the last example, then Palrun will drop to the Palrun Prompt after having made the archive your Palhouse. You will see that Palrun has placed the word PCKHOUSE on the Palrun Prompt so that you can examine the archive's contents with a single stroke of the <Enter> key. On the other hand, if you do place additional instructions after the pointer operation, Palrun will immediately try to execute those instructions, using the new Palhouse that you specified. Following that, Palrun will place the PCKHOUSE command on the Palrun Prompt for your convenience. 57 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 13.2 Nonspecific Pointing Nonspecific pointing is used when you do not know or do not recall the name of the archive that you want. When pointing in a nonspecific manner, Palrun will show you a pick list of all the archives that match the wildcard specification you provide. Once you select an archive from the pick list, it will become your current Palhouse immediately. If you do not want to change your Palhouse, just <Esc> from the pick list. If your pointer operation is not followed by an optional Commandline, then when you exit the pick list you will find that the word "PCKHOUSE" is resting at the Palrun Prompt, so that you can examine the contents of your new Palhouse with a single stroke of the <Enter> key. If you do append an optional Commandline after the pointing operation, then Palrun will attempt to execute that Commandline after you have selected an archive from the pick list. Following completion of the command, you will see the word "PCKHOUSE" resting at the Palrun Prompt. Some examples will help to clarify nonspecific pointing: @*.* -- This will provide you with a pick list of all archives residing in the current subdirectory. All normal archive extensions (ARC, DWC, LZH, PAK, ZIP, ZOO) will be recognized as archives and displayed in your pick list. @ -- Same as the first example. @\DIRECTORYSPEC\*.* -- This is the same as the first example, except you will be provided with the names of all archives in the directory that you specify. 58 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ @\DIRECTORYSPEC -- Same as the preceding example. @\DIRECTORYSPEC\* -- Same as the preceding example, except that Palrun will append the extension of your default Palhouse, so that instead of showing all archives Palrun will show only those archives of the same type as your default Palhouse. @*.DWC -- Shows all DWC archives in the current subdirectory. @B*.* -- Shows all archives in the current subdirectory beginning with the letter "B." @B* -- Shows all archives in the current subdirectory beginning with the letter "B" and which are the same type of archive as your default Palhouse. @ DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS -- Same as the first example, except after you exit the pick list, Palrun will attempt to execute the Commandline "DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS." 13.3 Resolving a Potential Ambiguity Please observe that a pointer operation could result in an ambiguity if you have an archive with the same name (sans extension) as a subdirectory. 59 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ For instance, suppose that in your \COMM subdirectory you have an archive by the name of DOWN.EXT, where "EXT" is the same extension as your default Palhouse. Suppose, further, that you also have a subdirectory below the \COMM subdirectory which has the name of DOWN, so that the complete specification of that subdirectory is \COMM\DOWN. In the foregoing circumstance, what is meant by the following pointer operation? @\COMM\DOWN The "@ARCHIVESPEC" construct ought to catch your DOWN.EXT archive, but the "@\DIRECTORYSPEC" construct would seem to require Palrun to give you a pick list of the contents of the \COMM\DOWN subdirectory. The way that Palrun resolves this ambiguity is that it will treat your command as a nonspecific request for all the archives in the "\COMM\DOWN" subdirectory. If you want to make sure that you are pointing at the specific archive known as "\COMM\DOWN.EXT," then you must explicitly include the file extension in your command. 60 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 14: ALTER EGOS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ We have provided you with a small program by the name of PALTER.EXE. Its sole purpose is for you to create copies of it and rename the copies to the same name as a program that you have compressed into your default Palhouse. When you invoke the copy of the program from the DOS prompt, it will determine its own name (as you have changed it) and then invoke Palrun in transient mode to extract the real program from your default Palhouse and run it. For this feature to work properly, you need to be using DOS 3.0 or higher. For example, suppose your communication program is Procomm Plus. It has a number of auxiliary programs for setting up its configuration, for changing keyboard emulations, and so forth. If you were to compress all of the auxiliary programs into your Palhouse, no trace would be left of their existence, and Procomm Plus would not be able to find its helper programs when it needed them. You would be forced to leave these seldom-used programs on your hard disk, in an uncompressed state, wasting precious space. Enter PALTER.EXE. Using the example of Procomm Plus's setup program PCSETUP.EXE, you would first move it into your default Palhouse. Once that has been accomplished, issue the following command: COPY PALTER.EXE PCSETUP.EXE You will now have a file by the name of PCSETUP.EXE in your DOS subdirectory, and you will have another within your Palhouse. The real one is in the Palhouse, and the Alter Ego is in your DOS subdirectory. The next time that Procomm Plus seeks to invoke PCSETUP.EXE, it will go ahead and invoke what is really the Alter Ego. Procomm Plus won't know the difference. The Alter Ego that it launches will itself shell to DOS and issue the command: PALRUN PCSETUP [parameters] You don't have to type in the above command. The Alter Ego does this by itself. The "[parameters]" referred to above are 61 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ whatever additional parameters the calling program has passed to the Alter Ego. They will in turn be passed to the real program by Palrun. By the way, this procedure works equally well for .COM files. There are four things we ask you to think about when dealing with Alter Egos: 1. It is not appropriate to use Alter Egos for programs that write configuration information to their own .EXE files, such as LIST.COM, PALRUN.EXE and PAL.EXE. Since the Alter Ego is not an exact replica of the real program, any attempts at configuration will end in failure. 2. Do not use Alter Egos for programs that stay resident, such as SideKick or PALARM. You are sure to lock up your computer if you execute a resident program from Palrun. 3. Some programs just will not work as Alter Egos. For instance, the main application program might require access to certain information contained in the EXE file or might need to communicate with its helper in some other way which the Alter Ego cannot handle. If you find that your application program and helper program behave in an erratic fashion or your computer locks up after creating an Alter Ego, simply replace the Alter Ego with the original file out of your Palhouse and then delete the original file from your Palhouse. It was worth a try, wasn't it? 4. Consider your memory requirements. The Alter Ego, when it shells to DOS, leaves about 2K of itself in RAM, followed by 3K-6K of DOS (depending on your version). When Palrun is invoked, it needs a minimum amount of memory just to load, as indicated above at page 16. Once loaded, Palrun swaps most of itself out, leaving a 4K kernel, followed by another 3K-6K for another portion of DOS. Consequently, assuming that Palrun has enough free RAM to load when called by the Alter Ego, the total RAM available in the shell procedure for your helper program will be reduced by 12K - 18K. 5. Don't let your Alter Ego get stomped on by the real program when Palrun extracts it from your Palhouse. If the Extraction Information portion of the Setup procedure shows that extraction is to be made to the current subdirectory and your Alter Ego is situated in the current subdirectory when you call it, then the real program will overwrite the Alter Ego; when the 62 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ real program is finished executing, Palrun erases it from your hard disk -- in effect, your Alter Ego will disappear. The second time you try to run the Alter Ego, DOS (or your application program) won't be able to find it. The cure for this situation is either to place all your Alter Egos in a separate subdirectory in your DOS path or to change the Extraction Information to require extraction of the real program to a separate subdirectory. 63 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 15: ALIASES ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 15.1 Introduction to Aliases An Alias is a shorthand name (not more than 8 characters) given to an entire Commandline, so that by typing just a few keystrokes you can initiate a complex series of events. You can define up to 50 Aliases. Any Alias can be summoned on any Commandline, whether you are using Palrun as a transient program or as a permanent shell. Aliases are internal to Palrun, so that, while they may seem like mini-batch files, they are faster and take up no disk space because they're already in memory, and they can invoke any of Palrun's own internal commands. One special quality of Palrun's Aliases is that Palrun first tests every command on every Commandline to see whether it is an Alias before executing that command in any other way. In that way, you can create your own Alias named "DIR" that will initiate the action that you desire instead of going to DOS's version of DIR, or you could create an "F" Alias that will do whatever you want instead of being interpreted as Palrun's internal abbreviation for the FRESHEN command. 15.2 Creating Your First Alias Aliases are created in the Setup procedure by choosing the "Aliases and Menu" selection from the main Setup menu, and then selecting the "Aliases" choice. When you first enter the "Aliases" choice, assuming that you have not yet created any Aliases, you will be immediately offered the possibility of creating an Alias. This is a simple two-step process. First, you choose a name of 8 characters or fewer. Strike <Enter> to register your choice. 64 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Then you are asked to type in the Commandline that you wish to associate with that name. Palrun's line editor is at your service for this purpose. 15.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Aliases Now that you have created your first Alias, the next time that you enter the "Aliases" section of the Setup procedure, you will be provided with a pick list showing all of your defined Aliases. To edit an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your choice and press <Enter> or <F2>. To add a new Alias, press <F3>. You will go through the same procedure as that which is outlined above. When either adding or editing an Alias, you may copy from another existing Alias by hitting the <AltC> combination while on the edit line. This will bring up a pick list of all your existing Aliases. If you select one, the contents of its Commandline will be brought onto the edit line. This feature simplifies the creation of Aliases which perform similar functions and whose Commandlines must be very much alike, but which require minor differences. To delete an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your choice and press <F4>. You will be asked to confirm the deletion. To rename an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your choice and press <F5>. 15.4 Batch-type Behavior In creating a Commandline for your Alias, there are two facilities which we have transplanted from the way DOS batch files are created. One is the PAUSE command. If you insert PAUSE as one of the commands on your Commandline, when that command is encountered Palrun will stop processing and wait for you to strike a key. 65 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The other transplant is the ability for you to use the "%" character, followed by a number, to indicate that this spot in the Commandline should be occupied by a parameter that is specified by the user when the Alias is invoked. For instance, if you create an Alias by the name of "MyAlias" and assign to it the following Commandline DOTHIS %1 ^ DEL %1.BAK ^ PAUSE ^ DOTHAT %2 %3 then you can issue the Commandline MYALIAS ONE TWO THREE and Palrun will do four separate commands in the following order: 1. Dothis one 2. Del one.bak 3. Pause 4. Dothat two three 15.5 Nesting and Chaining Aliases Since any Commandline may include an Alias as one of its commands, one of the most powerful aspects of Palrun's Aliases is their ability to nest within one another or call one another. The only limitation on nesting and chaining Aliases is that each call to another Alias requires Palrun to use a portion of memory in order to keep track of how to find its way back to the initial Commandline that set everything in motion. When Palrun detects that it is executing an Alias (and assuming that you have not used the Setup procedure to turn off Palrun's verbose reporting), Palrun will preface the execution of each command with a report of what level of nesting you are at. For instance, an Alias called from your initial Commandline will always be reported as "Level 1." If it calls another Alias, then when the second Alias is called, Palrun reports that you are at "Level 2," and so forth. 66 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 15.6 The PCKALIAS Command If you issue the PCKALIAS command from the Palrun Prompt, you will be presented with a pick list of all your currently defined Aliases. If you place the highlight bar over any Alias in the list and strike <Enter>, the name of that Alias will be placed on the Palrun Prompt so that you may edit or add parameters. You may then execute the Alias with another tap of the <Enter> key. You may use the abbreviation PA in place of the PCKALIAS command. 15.7 Selecting an Alias Name In selecting the name for your Alias and in designing the Commandline, be aware that Palrun will not permit you to have an Alias name which is identical to one of the commands that you include on the Commandline attached to it. Otherwise, the Alias would wind up calling itself in an endless loop. 67 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 16: CREATING AND USING CUSTOM MENUS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You can create a customized menu containing as many as 50 menu entries. Each entry is attached to a command of 8 or fewer characters. That command may be one of your custom-designed Aliases, or you may attach the menu entry to any Palrun internal command, a program or a batch file. Let's take a gander at what a menu looks like. From the Palrun Prompt, issue the command MENU or if you want to go directly from the DOS prompt into the menu then issue the command PALRUN /P MENU from the DOS prompt. Assuming that you have not yet made any changes to the distribution version of Palrun, a menu will pop up for you, looking something like this: ╒═════ Your Custom Menu ══════╕ │Change Directory │ │Change Palhouse │ │Choose an Alias │ │Directory Contents │ │Edit This Menu │ │Freshen Palhouse │ │Help │ │Palhouse Contents │ │Palrun prompt │ │Quit to DOS │ │Setup │ ╘══ 5/11/90 3:44 ════════════╛ These are the menu items that Palrun provides you as it is distributed. You can turn off these menu entries with the Setup procedure (See section 16.6 below at page 73). You may also add your own menu items (See section 16.2 below at page 69). 68 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ All of the items that you find on the above menu provide a method for accessing Palrun's internal commands. Where appropriate, Palrun will pause after you initiate the selection in order to provide you with an opportunity to feed additional parameters to the internal command. Notice that the bottom left corner of the menu window provides you with the current date and time. Your current subdirectory and Palhouse will be indicated at the top of the screen. 16.1 Selecting From a Menu To make a selection from a menu, treat it just like any other pick list available in Palrun. That is, using the cursor keys, your mouse, or the name search technique, move the highlight bar to your choice. Then press <Enter> or click the <Left> button on your mouse. When you make your selection, Palrun will go right ahead and execute the Alias that you have connected to your choice. Suggestion: Since your menu will pop up again immediately following execution of the sequence described in your Alias, you may want to place a PAUSE command at the end of your Alias if you want to view information that would otherwise disappear. If you designed your menu entry to pause for additional parameters, or if your menu entry is connected to an Alias and that Alias contains a "%" character, Palrun will pause to permit you to specify additional parameters. While in a menu, if you want to get back to the Palrun Prompt, just press <Esc> or the <Right> button on your mouse. 16.2 Creating Your First Menu Entry Let's go through the steps of creating a menu entry. To create a menu entry, you'll need to get into the Setup procedure. There are several methods of getting to the menu editing section of Setup. 69 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ∙ First, from the Palrun Prompt you can go directly to the section of the Setup procedure that you need by issuing the command MENUSET ∙ Second, you can get into the Setup procedure by issuing the command SETUP then selecting "Aliases and Menu," then "Menu" then "Edit." ∙ Third, if you call up "Menu" and the screen shown at the beginning of this Chapter appears, you can select the "Edit This Menu" choice. Palrun will ask you the name you want to use for your menu entry. Type in the way you would like the menu entry to appear in your menu. Let's say that you want to add a line in your menu for "Word Processing." Go ahead and type those words in, then hit <Enter> for your entry to be registered. Next, Palrun will ask you the name of the command that you want to attach to the menu entry. Here you can supply the name of a previously defined Alias, a Palrun internal command, or any program or batch file. Lastly, if the command you are attaching in not an Alias, Palrun will inquire whether you want the menu entry to pause for additional input whenever the menu item is selected. If you answer "YES" Palrun will always give you the opportunity to add parameters to the attached command before it is executed. If you have attached an Alias to the menu entry, Palrun will determine whether to pause for additional input simply by checking whether the Alias contains a "%" character. To complete the process, you have to make sure that your changes are saved. After all of your previous input has been registered, press <Esc> until you come back to the main Setup menu. Move the highlight bar to the entry that allows you to save your results into PALRUN.EXE, or you can save the results just for the current computing session if you prefer. The process of saving your changes is discussed in greater detail in the Setup Chapter, commencing on page 102. 70 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ That's all you have to do to add a menu entry. To test out what you've done, return to the Palrun Prompt and issue the command MENU Your menu should pop up, and there will be a new menu entry that you just recorded. If you select that entry, then the command that you attached to that entry will be executed. 16.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Menu Entries The discussion on creating a menu entry in section 16.2 assumed that you had not previously created any menu entries. Once you already have menu entries, when you choose to edit a menu within Setup, Palrun will provide you with a pick list of your existing entries. If you want to edit an existing entry, center the highlight bar on your choice, then strike <F2> or <Enter>. Palrun will permit you to change the way your menu entry appears and will allow you to change the command to which it is attached. If you want to add a new entry, then hit <F3>, and Palrun will take you through the same procedure outlined earlier for creating an entry. If you want to delete an existing entry, center the highlight bar on your choice and strike <F4>. You will be asked to confirm your decision to delete the menu entry. To rename an existing menu entry, center the highlight bar on your choice and strike <F5>. 71 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 16.4 Additional Customization of Menus There are two additional modifications that you can make to your menu from the Setup procedure. When you make the "Aliases and Menu" selection, you will get the following mini-menu: ╒═════ Aliases and Menu ══════╕ │Aliases │ │Menu │ ╘═════════════════════════════╛ Select "Menu," and you will be presented with the following: ╒═════════════════════ Menus ═════════════════════╕ │Edit menus │ │ │ │Header for menu │ │Your Custom Menu │ │ │ │Show Palrun internal menu items? │ │YES │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The first choice permits you to edit your menu, a topic which was thoroughly explored above. A discussion of the other two choices follows. 16.5 Supplying a Header for the Menu Window With this parameter, you can give your menu a heading of your choice to supplant the "Your Custom Menu" description with which Palrun initially heads up the menu window. Instead of reading "Your Custom Menu" at the top of the window, you could change it to "John Q. Public." 72 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 16.6 Showing Palrun Internals This parameter is a toggle switch. Say "Y"es if you want to include in your menu the internal commands that are reflected in the menu shown at the beginning of this Chapter. Say "N"o if you want your menu to include only the entries that you yourself design. 16.7 Saving Your Customized Changes All the changes that you have made in your menu system must be saved from the main Setup window. Hit <Esc> from any place within the Setup procedure, and eventually you will wind up back at the main Setup menu. From there, you can either "Save" the changes permanently into the PALRUN.EXE file, or you may save it for "This session" only. If you do not save your changes, then Palrun will not remember them. 73 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 17: CUSTOMIZING PALRUN: SETUP ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.1 Introduction to the Setup procedure Palrun's Setup procedure provides you with the opportunity to customize the program to your own patterns of usage. To reach the Setup procedure, issue the command SETUP from the Palrun Prompt. Alternatively, you may invoke the Setup procedure directly from the DOS command line with the command PALRUN /P SETUP The SETUP command may be abbreviated as S. Please note that the changes you make in the Setup procedure will not be made permanent unless you save them. You can either save them permanently to the program file itself, or you can save them for the current computing session only. You can also save your parameters to a disk file. If you prefer to exit the Setup area without saving your changes into Palrun, you may do so by tapping the <ESC> key. If you try to escape from the Setup main menu even though you have made changes, Palrun will ask you to confirm that decision. To remind you of the areas in which you have made changes during a session in the Setup procedure, Palrun will provide you with status information on the right side of your screen to indicate to you which areas have changed. If you were to have made changes in all possible areas, then the status box would appear as follows: You have made changes in: Aliases and Menu Colors Configuration File Names Extractor Information Miscellaneous Information Palhouse Information Viewer Information Wordprocessor Information 74 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When you call up the Setup procedure, you will be presented with the following main menu: ╒════════════ Palrun Setup ═════════════╕ │Aliases and Menu │ │Colors │ │Extractor information │ │Miscellaneous information │ │Palhouse information │ │Viewer information │ │Wordprocessor information │ │ │ │File Save and Load │ │Restore distribution defaults │ │Save changes into Palrun & exit │ │This session only │ ╘═══════════════════════════════════════╛ The main menu operates just like all the pick lists used in Palrun. That is, you can place the highlight bar on the selection of your choice by using the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse, then activate the selection by pressing <Enter> or clicking the <Left> button of your mouse. Note that there are two basic sections in the main menu. The top section consists of seven basic areas in which changes can be made. The bottom section provides you with the means of leaving the Setup procedure. 17.2 Aliases and Menu The first selection from the Setup main menu is for "Aliases and Menu." Making this selection presents you with the following submenu: ╒═════ Aliases and Menu ══════╕ │Aliases │ │Menu │ ╘═════════════════════════════╛ Aliases are covered in detail in Chapter 15 at page 64. Menu creation is covered in detail in Chapter 16 at page 68. 75 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.3 Colors Although Palrun is distributed in a basic black and white color combination, you may readily customize the colors to your liking. In many areas of color customization, you may select extremely vivid background colors that are ordinarily not available to you in most other application programs. When you request the Colors choice from the main Setup menu, you are presented with the following submenu: ╒════ Color Customization ════╕ │Help System │ │Message Boxes │ │Palrun Prompt │ │Pick Lists │ │Standard Operations │ │Border │ ╘═════════════════════════════╛ When you select any of the five choices from the colors menu, you will then be presented with a sample of the type of situation that you might encounter and for which you may now design the color combinations. Color choices are made from a color bar presented near the top left of your screen. When choosing background colors, the color bar will contain up to sixteen colors, labeled "A" through "P." With the Palrun Prompt, message boxes and standard operations, you will have only eight choices of background color, while you can choose up to sixteen background colors for your help system and your pick lists. Try out the additional vivid background colors in the help system and pick lists, for you may find them very pleasing. When choosing a foreground color, the color bar will consist of one long bar on which characters are written to show you the appearance of sixteen possible foreground colors against your chosen background color. Each of the sixteen combinations is labeled with a unique letter from "A" to "P." Since a foreground choice will be very much affected by your background choice, you may find it most efficient to make your background choice first. 76 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ To make a selection of either a background or a foreground color, just tap the alphabetic key which corresponds to your choice as it appears on the color bar and then hit <Enter> to register your selection. To leave a color bar without changing the selection, just tap the <Esc> key. As you make color selections, the on-screen example will change so that you can see the effects of your manipulations. Remember that color changes will not take permanent effect until you save your changes from the main Setup menu. 17.3.1 Help System For the help system, you may designate seven color combinations -- normal colors, frame colors, header colors, referenced colors, selected colors and accent colors. Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window will appear. Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window. Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of the window will appear. Referenced colors describe the appearance of text which denotes an additional help topic to which you can move the highlight bar. Make sure that this color set contrasts with your normal colors. You might like to try the same background as your normal colors, but with a contrasting foreground. Selected colors display the highlight bar for your help system. Make sure that this color set contrasts well with your normal colors and with your referenced colors. You might like to try a color set which uses an entirely different background color. The accent colors refer to the appearance of certain text which is set off in the help system to attract your attention, such as "EXAMPLE:" or "SEE ALSO:." 77 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.3.2 Message Boxes Message boxes are those little pieces of information that Palrun pops up with in order to inform you of an error or some other condition. There are three areas you need to set for message boxes -- normal, frame and header colors. Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window will appear. Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window. Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of the window will appear. 17.3.3 Palrun Prompt When choosing colors for the Palrun Prompt, you choose colors separately for the status line and for the line editor. Whatever colors you select for the Palrun Prompt will also be used in the Setup procedure whenever you are asked to provide input. With the status line, you may separately indicate the colors for the current colors, the border colors and the program name colors. We recommend that you use the same background color with all three of these selections on the status line. The "current" colors refer to the information displaying your current subdirectory, your current Palhouse and the current time. The "border" colors are the colors for the graphic lines which separate the current information boxes. The "program name" colors describe how the program name will appear in the leftmost box on the status line. For the edit line, you choose a single background color and a single foreground color. 78 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.3.4 Pick Lists Pick lists are found throughout Palrun. The colors you select here will affect all of the following: Setup menus Your customized menu (MENU) The commandline queue (QUEUE or Q) Picking from within an archive (PCKHOUSE or PH) Picking an Alias (PCKALIAS or PA) Picking from a list of archives (@) Picking from a list of subdirectories (CHDIR or CD) Picking from a list of files in a directory (PCKDIR or PD) There are four areas you need to set for pick lists -- normal, frame, header and selected colors. Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window will appear. Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window. Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of the window will appear. Selected colors display the highlight bar for your pick list. Make sure that this color set contrasts well with your normal colors. 17.3.5 Standard Operations "Standard Operations" refers to the colors in which your screen will appear whenever commands are being executed. This effect occurs only when Palrun is used as a permanent shell program. When using Palrun as a transient program, your normal DOS colors will remain. You need to make just two color selections for your standard operations colors -- a background color and a foreground color. Whatever color you choose for the background will also be used as the border around the perimeter of your screen if you allow Palrun to control the screen border color (see 17.3.6, immediately below). 79 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.3.6 Border If you allow Palrun to control your screen border colors, then Palrun will extend the background color of the standard operations through the border of your monitor. This works most noticeably on a CGA monitor, with a less spectacular effect on VGA monitors, and hardly any effect at all on an EGA monitor. After having set the colors, you will notice that whenever Palrun is in the process of executing a program the border will shrink. The border will then grow again when control is returned to Palrun. What is happening here is that Palrun is restoring the border to the condition in which it was found when Palrun first loaded, usually black. In this way, you can be assured that the border color that you choose for Palrun does not linger, and possibly clash, with the colors for another program that Palrun executes. 17.4 Extractor Information When you select the "Extractor Information" choice from the main Setup menu, you are presented with the following submenu: ╒═════════════ Extractor Information ═════════════╕ │Output path for extraction │ │Current subdirectory │ │ │ │Customize parameters for extraction programs │ │ │ │Extraction program to use with *.ARC archives │ │ARC │ │ │ │Extraction program to use with *.ZIP archives │ │PKUNZIP │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ On distribution, Palrun provides that the output path for extraction is your current subdirectory, and this is so noted 80 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ below the output path menu selection. Similarly, on distribution Palrun is set to use ARC as the program for use with *.ARC archives and PKUNZIP to use with *.ZIP archives. These default parameters are also revealed right within the menu. If you make changes to any of these three parameters, the changes which you make will be shown here. 17.4.1 Output Path for Extraction On distribution, Palrun is set up so that the files which are temporarily extracted from your archive are extracted to the subdirectory in which you are presently active at the time the extraction takes place, overwriting any instance of that file that is already located in the present subdirectory. The extracted file is then erased at the completion of the process. You may wish to designate a different directory for the temporary extraction by using this facet of the Setup procedure. There are at least two possible reasons for designating a special output path for extraction: (a) You want to make sure that you do not overwrite any existing instances of the files that you extract from your archive. In particular, if you intend to use Alter Egos (see Chapter 14 above at page 61), you would not want your Alter Egos to disappear after being overwritten by the real program coming out of the Palhouse. An alternative method of protecting your Alter Egos would be to place them in a separate subdirectory in your DOS path which is unlikely ever to be the current subdirectory when an Alter Ego is called. (b) You want to have the extraction made to a fast RAM- disk. If you want to restore Palrun's default behavior of extracting to the current subdirectory, then instead of entering a drive and directory specification, leave the edit line blank before tapping <Enter>. 81 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.4.2 Customize Parameters for Extraction Programs Palrun, as distributed, is already set up to handle all of the commonly available shareware compression programs. This section of the Setup procedure permits you to alter those parameters. Caution: The prefix information should not be changed unless you are confident that you know the effects of the change. When you make the "Customize Parameters" selection, you will be presented with the following submenu: ╒═════ Customize Standard Extractor Programs ═════╕ │ARC - Systems Enhancement Associates │ │ARCE - Vern Buerg │ │DWC - Dean W. Cooper │ │LHARC - Haruyasu Yoshizaki │ │PAK - Nogate Consulting │ │PKUNPAK - PKWare │ │PKUNZIP - PKWare │ │ZOO - Rahul Dhesi │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Once you select one of the programs for customization, you will be presented with a simple submenu which permits only two choices. For instance, here is what you see if you select "ARC" for customization: ╒═══════════ Customize ARC Parameters ════════════╕ │Extraction parameters │ │Compression parameters │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ Details on dealing with extraction parameters and compression parameters are described separately below. 82 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.4.2.1 Extraction Parameters On selecting extraction parameters for customization, you will be presented with the following menu. Although the information that you see below the choices may differ for each program, the class of items that may be changed will be identical for all of the programs: ╒══════ Customize ARC Extraction Parameters ══════╕ │Extraction program name: │ │ARC.EXE │ │ │ │Path where extraction program is located: │ │Anywhere in the DOS path │ │ │ │Prefix: │ │eo │ │ │ │Suffix: │ │> nul │ │ │ │Minimum RAM Required: │ │128K │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The ability to change the extraction program name is there so that you can change the name of your program if you so desire. The path parameter is set forth so that you can make Palrun save some time by going directly to the subdirectory rather than searching through the DOS path. The prefix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your extraction program BEFORE giving it the name of the file to extract. This information is different for every program, and you should not change it unless you are confident that you know the effects of the change. The information provided with Palrun as it is distributed sets up the extraction program to overwrite existing files of the same name without requesting the user's intervention. Note: If you have made changes to the prefix information and want to find out what Palrun thinks is the correct information, you can take a gander by using the "Restore" choice from the Setup menu. To make sure that the restore operation 83 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ does not overwrite all your prior changes, either save your original information to a configuration file before using the "Restore" selection, or else simply <Esc> from the Setup menu after having used the "Restore" selection. The suffix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your extraction program AFTER giving it the name of the file to extract. On distribution, Palrun uses the text ">nul" which has the effect of silencing the status information that your extraction program would otherwise write to your screen. If you want to see the status information, then leave the suffix parameter blank. The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to do a quick shell operation when using the extraction program. A "quick shell" invokes the extraction program in a speedier fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your extraction program with at least the amount of RAM that you specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of itself behind in RAM. 17.4.2.2 Compression Parameters On selecting compression parameters for customization, you will be presented with the following menu. Although the information that you see below the choices may differ for each program, the class of items that may be changed will be identical for all of the programs, with just one exception. The exception is that ARCE's normal companion program, ARCA, is not suitable for use by Palrun, since its usage can lead to multiple files of the same name residing within an archive. Consequently, instead of customizing compression parameters for 84 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ARCE's companion, you are instead prompted to select a companion program with the following submenu: ╒══ To Recompress with ARCE ══╕ │ ARC │ │ PAK │ │ PKPAK │ ╘═════════════════════════════╛ The remainder of the discussion in this subsection applies to all programs other than ARCE. When you choose to modify the compression parameters, you are presented with the following submenu: ╒═════ Customize ARC Compression Parameters ══════╕ │Compression program name: │ │ARC.EXE │ │ │ │Path where compression program is located: │ │Anywhere in the DOS path │ │ │ │Compression prefix: │ │fm │ │ │ │Compression suffix: │ │> nul │ │ │ │Deletion prefix: │ │d │ │ │ │Deletion suffix: │ │ │ │ │ │Minimum RAM Required: │ │128K │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ The ability to change the compression program name is there so that you can change the name of your program if you so desire. The path parameter is set forth so that you can make Palrun save some time by going directly to the subdirectory rather than searching through the DOS path. The compression prefix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your compression program BEFORE giving it the name of 85 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ the file to compress. This information is different for every program, and you should not change it unless you are confident that you know the effects of the change. The compression suffix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your compression program AFTER giving it the name of the file to compress. On distribution, Palrun uses the text ">nul" which has the effect of silencing the status information that your compression program would otherwise write to your screen. If you want to see the status information, then leave the suffix parameter blank. The deletion prefix and suffix parameters are used when you delete a file out of a PCKHOUSE pick list with the <F4> key. The deletion prefix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your compression program BEFORE giving it the name of the file to delete. This information is different for every program, and you should not change it unless you are confident that you know the effects of the change. The deletion suffix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your compression program AFTER giving it the name of the file to delete. Note that Palrun, as distributed, does not include ">nul" as a suffix when deleting from your archive. We felt that the deletion process is important enough that you should be given the messages that the compression program writes to the screen. If you prefer, use ">nul" for your suffix. Note: If you have made changes to the prefix information and want to find out what Palrun thinks is the correct information, you can take a gander by using the "Restore" choice from the Setup menu. To make sure that the restore operation does not overwrite all your prior changes, either save your original information to a configuration file before using the "Restore" selection, or else simply <Esc> from the Setup menu after having used the "Restore" selection. The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to do a quick shell operation when using the compression program. A "quick shell" invokes the compression program in a speedier fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your compression program with at least the amount of RAM that you specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun 86 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of itself behind in RAM. 17.4.3 Extraction Program to Use With ARC Archives Since there are several programs available which can handle archives having an *.ARC extension, Palrun offers you the freedom of choice. You may select among the programs ARC, ARCE, PKUNPAK, and PAK. 17.4.4 Extraction Program to Use With ZIP Archives Since there are two programs available which can handle archives having an *.ZIP extension, Palrun offers you the freedom of choice. You may select among the programs PAK and ZIP. 17.5 Miscellaneous Information There are three basic groups shown on the submenu displayed when you make the "Miscellaneous Information" selection. Each of them shows the current settings for the information described. You may select any of the three groups for change, and you will be presented with a separate sub-menu so that you can change any individual parameter in that sub-group. Below is an example of 87 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ the Miscellaneous Information submenu, displaying the settings that Palrun uses as it is initially distributed. ╒═══════════ Miscellaneous Information ═══════════╕ │Character substitutions: │ │ DOS output redirection character: ) │ │ DOS input redirection character: ( │ │ DOS pipe character: ! │ │ Commandline separator character: ^ │ │ │ │Toggle switches: │ │ Use EMS for swapping? YES │ │ Use EMS for overlays? YES │ │ Quiet down the comments? NO │ │ Force pause before return? NO │ │ Keep tree info on disk? YES │ │ Storage directory for tree info: │ │ C:\ │ │ │ │Directory sort and display control: │ │ Sort by: Name │ │ Length of display: Regular │ │ │ │3-Button Mouse Definitions │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 17.5.1 Character Substitutions This subgroup allows you to change the characters that Palrun looks for in special situations. 17.5.1.1 DOS Redirection Characters The first three entries in the character substitution subgroup provide a method to feed DOS redirection characters to Palrun from the DOS system prompt. See Chapter 19 at page 110. The substitute characters which Palrun uses on distribution are physically suggestive of those which DOS expects to see. The 88 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ only reason that you may desire to change these translations is if they interfere with your normal computer usage. DOS Symbols Palrun Substitution > ) >> )) < ( | ! 17.5.1.2 Commandline Separator Character The Commandline Separator character is the character that you may use on the Palrun Commandline to signify the separation between subcommands. You may have several commands on any Commandline. The Commandline Separator character is interpreted as if you had tapped the <Enter> key. Change this only if the "^" character is needed for other purposes. 17.5.2 Toggle Switches These are the parameters that you can turn on or off by answering "Y"es or "N"o when Palrun asks what you want to do. 17.5.2.1 Use EMS for Swapping? When Palrun shells to DOS to execute a program, it removes most of itself from memory so that most of your computer's RAM is made available for the desired operation. Palrun leaves just a precious few thousand bytes of itself in memory so that it can reload when it needs to regain control. For speed in accomplishing this swap, Palrun is set up to use EMS memory if your system has it available. If you prefer 89 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ that Palrun does NOT use EMS, then change this parameter. In such a case, Palrun will swap to a disk file instead. You may want to tell Palrun not to use EMS if, for instance, you want to make sure that your application program has the maximum EMS memory possible for its own usage. 17.5.2.2 Use EMS for Overlays? This parameter permits you to designate whether or not Palrun should use EMS for its overlay file. Ordinarily, you want to leave the answer "YES," so that dipping into the overlay file is done with greatest speed. However, if you want to preserve EMS for other purposes, you can set this parameter to "NO." At this writing, the overlay code will take up about 213K of EMS. 17.5.2.3 Quiet Down the Comments? On distribution, Palrun is set up to provide you with fairly verbose comments about the status of what is going on. If you prefer a more quiet screen display, then change this parameter. 17.5.2.4 Force pause before return? Answering "YES" for this parameter will force Palrun to pause after an operation, waiting for a keypress, before returning to the Palrun Prompt. This could be useful, for instance, if the Palrun Prompt forces information on your screen to scroll off before you have time to study it. On distribution, this parameter is set to "NO" for more seamless operation. If you need to pause only in some, but not all situations, consider using an Alias and the internal "PAUSE" command to make the screen await your keypress only when clearly necessary. 90 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.5.2.5 Keep tree info on disk? This parameter indicates whether or not Palrun retains on disk the structure of your subdirectory tree. This information is used in the CD and CHDIR commands; e.g., when using CD in a nonspecific way so as to bring up a pick list of all subdirectories on a particular drive, or when using the "Super" CD ability of Palrun to move you to a subdirectory when you specify just a few keystrokes of the subdirectory to which you want to move. The "Super" CD function depends on the disk-based information created when you set this parameter to "YES." If you do not retain the tree structure information on disk, then the "Super" CD function will be disabled. The tree information is saved to a subdirectory which you specify in the parameter discussed in the next section. Each drive will have its own disk file with the name "PALRUN.?," where the "?" character is filled in with the letter corresponding to the drive. On distribution, this parameter is set to "YES." If you change the parameter to "NO," Palrun will not save the drive information to disk files, and will read you tree structure each time you need a CD command. For speed of operation, we recommend that you keep this parameter at "YES." The information in the disk files will be modified each time you use the MD, MKDIR, RD or RMDIR commands from the Palrun Prompt, or when you delete a subdirectory with <F4> while in a PCKDIR pick list. Note, however, that Palrun cannot be aware if you remove or create a subdirectory from within a resident program, from within an application program, or when shelling to DOS from an application program. If you suspect that the information in Palrun's tree info files is stale, you can always force Palrun to reread the structure by striking the <F3> key while within a CD pick list, or by using the "CD /F" syntax when initially invoking the CD command. 91 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.5.2.6 Storage Directory for Tree Info Although this parameter is not strictly a "toggle switch," its logical relationship to the previous parameter dictates that it be juxtaposed to it. With this parameter, you may specify the drive and subdirectory in which you would like Palrun to keep the file in which the tree structure information is stored. 17.5.3 Directory Sort and Display Control These parameters control the manner in which the files in your directory are displayed with the PCKDIR or PD command and the manner in which the component files of your Palhouse are displayed with the PCKHOUSE or PH command. Changing parameters here will set how Palrun will display your files by default each time you execute Palrun. Within each Palrun session, you may temporarily change these parameters by striking <F5> within a PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE pick list, or you may specify the sort options as an optional parameter when invoking PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE, and those changes will hold sway until you QUIT from Palrun. However, changes made with the <F5> key will be forgotten when you QUIT. The only way to permanently make such changes is to do so in the Setup procedure. 17.5.3.1 Sort Order Use this parameter to indicate whether Palrun should sort your files in name, extension, size or date order. 92 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.5.3.2 Level of Detail This parameter allows you to set the amount of information shown for each file. There are three levels: brief, regular and lengthy. "Brief" provides you only with the name of each file, and your files will be shown in 5 columns. "Regular" and "Lengthy" will give you successively more information on each file, and they will be shown 2 across and 1 across, respectively. 17.5.4 3-Button Mouse Definitions When you are at the Palrun Prompt, if you have a mouse, every combination of button clicks has a particular meaning. For 2-button mice, the meanings are always standard: <Left> equals <Enter> <Right> equals <Esc> <Left&Right> equals <F1> If you have a 3-button mouse, the availability of the center button makes available four additional button combinations that can initiate some action at the Palrun Prompt. You may attach to each of the combinations any 8-character or less command. The command may be a Palrun internal command, an Alias, or any program or batch file that you might otherwise wish to execute. When you hit the 3-button mouse combination while at the Palrun Prompt, Palrun will immediately execute the command that you have attached. On distribution, Palrun defines the additional combinations as follow, and you can change these definitions in this section of the Setup procedure: <Center> MENU <AllThree> QUEUE <Center&Left> PCKDIR <Center&Right> PCKHOUSE 93 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.6 Palhouse Information The "Palhouse Information" submenu details three choices regarding your Palhouse, setting forth the current settings for each of them: ╒═════════════ Palhouse Information ══════════════╕ │Name of file for Palhouse: │ │PALHOUSE.ZIP │ │ │ │Path where Palhouse is located: │ │Anywhere in the DOS path │ │ │ │Search DOS before Palhouse?: │ │NO │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 17.6.1 Name of File for Palhouse This parameter sets forth the name of the archive that Palrun uses as your default Palhouse. Be sure to specify the extension. Your choice of extension will also affect Palrun's ability to point to archives, as described in Chapter 13, starting at page 56. With the pointing operation, if you specify an archive without an extension, Palrun will assume that you want to look for one that has the same extension as that which you set forth here. 17.6.2 Path Where Palhouse is Located This is the parameter that tells Palrun where to look for your Palhouse. On distribution, this is set up to look in the DOS path. You may reset this parameter to a specific drive and subdirectory. If you do reset the parameter and want to return to looking "Anywhere in the DOS path," then leave the edit line blank before tapping <Enter>. 94 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ There are advantages to both methods of indicating the path for the Palhouse. For instance, leaving the distribution default alone will permit you to have a different Palhouse in each subdirectory in which you may want to have an application, and Palrun will use the Palhouse in the current subdirectory. On the other hand, specifying a particular drive and subdirectory for your Palhouse will make sure that you will always be accessing the same Palhouse. There are two additional benefits of specifying the path for your Palhouse where you have only one; first, Palrun will find your Palhouse a fraction of a section faster if you specify the full subdirectory, and, second, if you have a good-sized RAM- disk, you might want to copy your Palhouse over to the RAM-disk and point Palrun to it with a change in this Setup parameter. 17.6.3 Search DOS Before Palhouse? By default, Palrun will search the Palhouse before looking in DOS for the program that you want to execute. You may prefer to change the order of searching with this parameter. 17.7 Viewer Information This set of parameters deals with the information which Palrun needs to know in order to view a file from within an archive: ╒══════════════ Viewer Information ═══════════════╕ │Name of file viewing program: │ │ │ │ │ │Prefix parameters: │ │ │ │ │ │Suffix parameters: │ │ │ │ │ │Minimum RAM required: │ │128K │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ 95 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ You must specify the name of a file viewing program if you want to make use of Palrun's ability to view a file from an archive. The prefix and suffix parameters provide you a means of passing information to your designated viewing program in addition to the name of the file which Palrun extracts for viewing. For instance, whenever Palrun extracts a file for viewing, it will actually execute a command in the following manner: VIEWINGPROGRAM PREFIXPARAMS FILETOVIEW SUFFIXPARAMS 17.7.1 Name of File Viewing Program Here you must specify the name of the viewing program, including its extension (COM, EXE or BAT). 17.7.2 Prefix Parameters These are the parameters that you may optionally specify to be passed to your viewing program BEFORE the name of the file being viewed. 17.7.3 Suffix Parameters These are the parameters that you may optionally specify to be passed to your viewing program AFTER the name of the file being viewed. 17.7.4 Minimum RAM Required The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to 96 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ do a quick shell operation when using the viewer program. A "quick shell" invokes the viewer program in a speedier fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your viewer program with at least the amount of RAM that you specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of itself behind in RAM. On distribution, Palrun sets the minimum RAM requirement for your viewing program at 1280K; this means that it will do a quick shell in most instances rather than a full swap. Contrast this with the 640K minimum RAM requirement that we set for your wordprocessing program. The reason that we draw this distinction is that most viewing programs need very little RAM to operate, while editing programs may require the greatest amount of RAM available in order to edit large files. 97 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.8 Wordprocessor Information This set of parameters deals with the information which Palrun needs to know in order to edit a file from within an archive: ╒═══════════ Wordprocessor Information ═══════════╕ │Name of wordprocessing program: │ │ │ │ │ │Prefix parameters: │ │ │ │ │ │Suffix parameters: │ │ │ │ │ │Backup extension: │ │ │ │ │ │Minimum RAM required: │ │640K │ ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════╛ You must specify the name of a wordprocessing program if you want to make use of Palrun's ability to edit a file from an archive. The prefix and suffix parameters provide you a means of passing information to your designated wordprocessor in addition to the name of the file which Palrun extracts for editing. For instance, whenever Palrun extracts a file for editing, it will actually execute a command in the following manner: WORDPROCESSOR PREFIXPARAMS FILETOEDIT SUFFIXPARAMS 17.8.1 Name of Wordprocessing Program Here you must specify the name of the wordprocessor, including its extension (COM, EXE or BAT). 98 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.8.2 Prefix Parameters These are the parameters that you may optionally specify to be passed to your wordprocessor BEFORE the name of the file being edited. 17.8.3 Suffix Parameters These are the parameters that you may optionally specify to be passed to your wordprocessor AFTER the name of the file being edited. 17.8.4 Backup Extension If you would like Palrun automatically to delete any backup file created by your word processing program, then indicate the extension here. If you do not want Palrun to delete the backup file, then leave this entry blank. 17.8.5 Minimum RAM Required The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to do a quick shell operation when using the editor program. A "quick shell" invokes the editor program in a speedier fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your editor program with at least the amount of RAM that you specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of itself behind in RAM. On distribution, Palrun sets the minimum RAM requirement for your wordprocessing program at 640K; this means that it will do a full swap in all instances instead of a quick shell. Contrast this with the 128K minimum RAM requirement that we set for your viewing program. The reason that we draw this distinction is 99 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ that most viewing programs need very little RAM to operate, while editing programs may require the greatest amount of RAM available in order to edit large files. 17.9 File Save and Load When you select the "File Save and Load" section of the Setup main menu, you will be presented with the following submenu: ╒══ Configuration Files ══╕ │Load Configuration File │ │Save Configuration File │ ╘═════════════════════════╛ This section of the Setup procedure permits you to save and recall all the customizations that you have made within the Setup procedure, including, for instance, your Aliases and menu. It is not necessary for you to save your customizations into a configuration file, since the Setup procedure saves your changes directly into the PALRUN.EXE program file. However, you may find that saving a configuration file is useful in the following situations: (a) If you would like to have Palrun behave differently for different situations, you could have a different configuration file for each of those situations, loading them in turn. For example, you may want a different set of Aliases and a different menu for common use, but then bring in a different set of Aliases and a different menu for a specialized use. In this way, you can have more than the 50 Aliases and 50 menu entries to which you would otherwise be limited. (b) If you obtain a later version of Palrun to which you would like to transfer your customizations, you will be able to do so by saving your current customizations to a configuration file, then loading them into the new version. We guarantee that all future versions of Palrun will be able to read and interpret your configuration file so that you will always be able to quickly upgrade without having to manually reinstall your customizations. 100 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ (c) You might like to save an image of how Palrun behaves while you are trying out a new set of parameters. If you are unhappy with your new set of parameters, you can easily restore your prior set by loading the previously saved configuration file. Details on how to load or save a configuration file follow. 17.9.1 Load Configuration File When you select the "Load Configuration File" option, you will be prompted for the name of the configuration file that you would like to load. The line editor will present you with the name of the file that it guesses you would like to load. This will most often be the name that you last used when you saved a configuration file. If the name that you specify does not include a full drive and directory specification, then Palrun will look through your DOS path. If Palrun cannot find the specified file, you will be prompted for another name. You may edit the choice which is presented to you. Hit <Enter> to complete the selection of the file name, or hit <ESC> to abort the process. When you load a configuration file into memory, you are loading a set of parameters that had previously been saved to disk. If these parameters are any different from those which resided in memory at the time you started this session of Palrun, there will be an indication at the right side of your screen as to which areas have been changed. You may enter those areas from the main Setup menu to examine the new parameters and make further modifications if you so desire. The changes which are brought into memory by loading a configuration file do not become permanent unless saved from the main Setup menu. 17.9.2 Save Configuration File When you select the "Save Configuration File" option, you will be prompted for the name of the configuration file that you 101 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ would like to save. The line editor will present you with the name of the file to which you last saved your configuration information, but you may edit that file name if you want. Once you select a file name by tapping <Enter>, your information will be saved. If a file with the same name already exists, Palrun does not ask for confirmation whether you want to overwrite or backup the existing file and will presume that you want to go ahead and overwrite it. Any file saved in this manner may be recalled later with the load command. Saving a configuration file is not the same as saving changes into Palrun. Changes made in a Setup session will not become permanent until you use the "Save Changes" option from the Setup main menu. 17.10 Save Changes Into Palrun & Exit All of the changes that you make while in the Setup procedure are initially made in a kind of scratchpad in memory. They do not affect Palrun's behavior unless and until you make a conscious decision to save them. If you do not want to save your changes, tap the <ESC> key from the main Setup menu. If you try to escape despite having made changes, Palrun will request you to confirm that decision. To save your changes directly into Palrun, so that these changes will take effect immediately and for each successive invocation of Palrun in later computing sessions, you must select the "Save changes into Palrun & exit" choice. When you make this selection, you will be offered the opportunity to create a new .EXE file with a name different from PALRUN.EXE. This may be useful to you if you would like your newly changed behavior to be saved into a brand new file which you can invoke later, while retaining the old information in your existing PALRUN.EXE. If you do not want to save the changes permanently into PALRUN.EXE (or a newly created file) but would like them to be activated for the current session only, then select the "This Session Only" choice. 102 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 17.11 This Session Only This selection permits you to save your changes into the currently running version of Palrun. Your changes will take effect immediately after exiting the Setup procedure. However, they will disappear when you QUIT from Palrun or turn off or reboot your computer. If you want your changes to be more permanent, consider the "Save changes into Palrun & exit" selection, discussed at section 17.10, or think about saving your parameters to a configuration file, as discussed at section 17.9.2. 103 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 18: DOS ENHANCEMENTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun makes significant enhancements to two important sets of DOS internal commands. Additionally, although Palrun allows you to continue to use DOS's DIR command, you may find Palrun's internal PCKDIR command to be tremendously more flexible. 18.1 CHDIR / CD Palrun replaces DOS's "CHDIR" and "CD" commands. As with DOS, both commands are interchangeable. The basic usage of the command continues to be supported. For instance: CD \UTIL will change to the \UTIL subdirectory on the current drive. In addition to the standard usage, Palrun's version of these commands is enhanced in several ways. 18.1.1 Changing Drive and Directory Simultaneously Palrun allows you to precede the subdirectory with a drive specification, so that with just one command you can change to a subdirectory on a drive different from your current drive. For instance, if you are presently on the C: drive, you could issue the command CD E:\UTIL and Palrun will switch you to the E: drive and change you to the \UTIL directory there. 104 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 18.1.2 Picking From a List of Subdirectories on a Single Logical Drive Palrun will allow you to use the CHDIR command in a "nonspecific" way. That is, if you are unsure of the precise name of the subdirectory to which you want to change, you get a pick list from Palrun of all the possible subdirectories on any drive by using the following syntax: CD [DRIVE:] [/F] The specification of the drive following "CD" is optional. If you do not include a drive specification, then Palrun will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on the currently active drive. For instance: CHDIR F: -- will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on drive F: CD -- will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on the currently active drive If you do not change the distribution parameter that tells Palrun to retain the subdirectory tree information on disk (see section 17.5.2.5 at page 91), the first time you use CHDIR to summon a pick list of all the subdirectories on a drive Palrun will read the entire structure of that drive and save the information to disk before showing you the pick list. On subsequent calls to CHDIR, Palrun will refer to its disk file to give you a much faster report of the available subdirectories. For any drive for which Palrun has saved the subdirectory tree information to disk, Palrun will keep track of all changes that are made through Palrun; e.g., with MD, MKDIR, RD and RMDIR issued from the Palrun Prompt, and with the <F4> key to delete a subdirectory from a PCKDIR pick list. Palrun cannot detect, however, if you make changes to the subdirectory tree by other means, such as through a resident program, an application program, a separate partition in a 105 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ multitasking system, or when shelling to DOS from an application program. The optional "/F" parameter is used when you want to force Palrun to reread the entire subdirectory structure of the requested logical drive, regardless whether or not Palrun has previously saved that information to a disk file. You may also force Palrun to reread the structure while in a CHDIR pick list by striking the <F3> key. Forcing a reread of the subdirectory structure would be useful in cases where you suspect that Palrun may not be aware of changes that have been made in your subdirectories. Please note that the "/F" parameter may be used only as an adjunct to obtaining a pick list of all the subdirectories on one drive. It may not be used as a parameter when you are trying to change to a specific directory. Thus, the following two commands are permissible: CD E: /F CHDIR /F while the two below are incorrect: CD \UTIL /F CHDIR COMM /F After you launch your CHDIR command, Palrun will display the pick list from which you may select any subdirectory. Use the cursor keys, the name search technique, or your mouse to move the highlight bar. When you register your acceptance of the subdirectory under the highlight bar, you will be moved immediately to the drive and subdirectory of your choice. If you hit <Esc> instead of selecting a subdirectory, then you will be returned to the Palrun Prompt and find yourself at the drive and subdirectory from which you first invoked the command. When you obtain a CHDIR pick list in this manner, you will see that there are two function keys that you can utilize in addition to the <F1> help key: <F2> Allows you to specify a new drive <F3> Tells Palrun to rebuild the tree information 106 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 18.1.3 "Super" CHDIR The most sophisticated enhancement that Palrun makes to the CHDIR command is what we refer to as "Super" CHDIR. With this feature, you may feed CHDIR a parameter consisting of just a few keystrokes, representing a small portion of the entire subdirectory name. The first thing that Palrun does when you feed it such a string of characters is to look on the current drive as DOS's CD would do to see if it can find an exact match. Failing that, Palrun goes through a sequence of steps. If Palrun finds one subdirectory on any drive that contains the string of characters that you specified, then you will be immediately switched to that drive and subdirectory. If Palrun finds more than one subdirectory that contains the string, it will give you a pick list of all the subdirectories that contain a match. If Palrun finds no matches, it will simply indicate that no matching subdirectory could be found. To provide you with this convenience, Palrun relies on the tree information saved to disk, as described in the preceding section. Example: As an example, let's assume that you have two logical drives (excluding your A: and B: floppy drives) and that you have the following subdirectories: C:\ D:\ C:\DOS D:\COMM C:\UTIL D:\COMM\DOWNLOAD C:\WP D:\COMM\MSGS C:\WP\LEX D:\UPDOWN C:\WP\MAC C:\WP\STY C:\WP\MSGS C:\WP\COMMUNIC Given the foregoing hard disk setup, suppose you issue the command: CD MSGS What happens depends on where you are when you issue the command. If you start out in the C:\WP subdirectory, you will wind up in 107 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ C:\WP\MSGS. Similarly, if you start out in D:\COMM, you will wind up in D:\COMM\MSGS. This is exactly what DOS's CHDIR command would do. If, however, you had issued the "CD MSGS" command from C:\, you would be presented with a pick list that includes both "C:\WP\MSGS" and "D:\COMM\MSGS" for your further selection. If you know which drive the subdirectory is on and want to avoid having Palrun search all the drives, simply precede the subdirectory designation with the drive letter. For example, in the foregoing example, if you had issued the command: CD C:MSGS then Palrun would immediately switch you to "C:\WP\MSGS" since that is the only matching subdirectory on drive C:. As a further example, if you had issued the command: CD X then no matter where you started from you would wind up in C:\WP\LEX, since that is the only subdirectory which contains an "X" in its name. One more example to add some clarity. If you were to issue the command: CHDIR DOWN then you would be presented with a pick list containing both "D:\COMM\DOWNLOAD" and "D:\UPDOWN," but if you had issued the command: CHDIR \DOWN you would be immediately switched to D:\COMM\DOWNLOAD. In this case, the "D:\UPDOWN" subdirectory is not considered to be a match because it has no "\" character preceding the "DOWN." Hint: The "Super" CHDIR feature depends on the disk files to which Palrun writes the information it learns about the subdirectories on each logical drive. If an information file does not exist for a particular logical drive, then the "Super" CHDIR feature will not work for that drive. When you first start out using Palrun, it will not yet have created any disk files for the tree information. Since the "Super" CHDIR feature works only with the disk files that Palrun has already created, you might 108 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ find it useful to do a nonspecific CD command on all the logical drives of your hard disk just for the purpose of initializing the information files. For instance, you could do a single Commandline to initialize all the information files: CD C:^CD D:^CD E:^CD F: Use as many subcommands as may be necessary to handle all your logical drives. When you are presented with each pick list, just press <Esc> to proceed to the next CD subcommand. 18.2 ERASE / DEL ERASE and DEL are interchangeable DOS commands which have been enhanced by Palrun in two ways. First, if you ask for deletion of an entire directory, Palrun pops up with a message box which is more friendly than DOS's normal response. Second, you may place any number of file specifications for deletion following the command. For instance, the command: DEL *.BAK *.BK! *.TXT *.DOC will delete all files having four different file extensions. 18.3 DIR No, we haven't supplanted DOS's DIR command. You can still use it. However, Palrun provides an entirely new command that transcends the capabilities of DOS's DIR command: the PCKDIR command, which may be abbreviated as PD. It is with the PCKDIR command that you summon a pop up pick list of the contents of your subdirectory. You can "run" a file, edit one, view one, delete one, or control the sort order and level of detail. For complete details on the PCKDIR command, see Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. 109 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 19: DOS REDIRECTION ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ When using I/O redirection (the >, >>, < and | commands that DOS provides) on a Commandline executed from Palrun's prompt, everything will work hunky-dory. However, if you use redirection when invoking Palrun from the DOS prompt, you'll have to do some special things, since DOS will not interpret the I/O redirection characters as you intend. Let's use a simple example to illustrate the problem. Suppose you want to do something easy like type a file and send the output to your printer. The normal command that you would run would be TYPE FILENAME > PRN If you wanted to invoke this by calling Palrun from the DOS prompt, you might think that all you have to do is execute PALRUN TYPE FILENAME > PRN This will NOT give you the result you might be expecting, because DOS sees the redirection character (the ">") and stops passing that information to Palrun. In effect, DOS thinks that what you want to do is redirect the output of Palrun, when what you really wanted to do is redirect the output of TYPE. To bypass DOS's stubborn insistence on stripping out all redirection from the Commandline, we have to fool DOS. To do that, you'll have to use certain substitute characters that Palrun can detect so that DOS will pass the entire Commandline to Palrun. Palrun will look at your Commandline, and if it detects the substitute characters, it will interpret them as the proper DOS redirection characters. 110 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ These are the substitutions that you need to use to fool DOS: If You Want to Use: Then Substitute: > ) >> )) < ( | ! Palrun will recognize the foregoing substitutions if and only if there is a space preceding and a space following the substitution. It will not recognize the substitution if any character other than a space precedes or follows the substitution. The purpose of this is to make sure that if you need to use any of the substitute characters for any other reason, such as within some command you are giving, Palrun will not misinterpret it. To illustrate the foregoing: PALRUN TYPE FILENAME ) PRN -- Palrun will execute: TYPE FILENAME > PRN and then return to the DOS prompt PALRUN TYPE FILENAME )PRN -- Palrun will not replace the ) with > This is because the ) is not followed by a space PALRUN /P DIR *.* ! SORT ! MORE -- Palrun will execute: DIR *.* | SORT | MORE and then return to the Palrun Prompt The only time you need to worry about these substitution characters is if you want to perform any redirection operation while calling Palrun from the DOS prompt. This is the case whether or not you are using Palrun's "/P" switch. 111 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you are at Palrun's own prompt, you don't have to worry about these substitutions. However, for the sake of consistency, if you happen to use any of the substitute characters at the Palrun Prompt, Palrun will detect them and make the substitutions. 112 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 20: SWAP FILES ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Whenever Palrun executes a program or batch file for you, it swaps all but about 4K bytes of itself out of memory. Palrun will also perform this swapping operation when extracting and compressing files or when using your editor or viewer if it cannot otherwise supply the minimum ram requirements that you have specified for the operation in the Setup procedure. By swapping most of itself out of memory, Palrun leaves you with most of your RAM intact for purposes of the operation that is happening. If you have sufficient expanded memory (EMS) in your system, Palrun will place the unneeded portion of itself in EMS, occupying about 180K of EMS. If, for some reason, you prefer that Palrun not use EMS even if you have it available, you may use the Setup procedure to tell Palrun NOT to swap to expanded memory. If you do not have sufficient EMS, or if you have customized Palrun so that it will not use EMS, then the unneeded portion will be swapped to a disk file. It is this disk file to which we refer when we use the term "Swap File." The size of each Swap File will be about 170K. Each Swap File is created in the subdirectory which was current at the time of the swap. It is important that a Swap File survive any inadvertent attempt by the user to erase it, so all Swap Files are hidden files. They will not be displayed when you do a DIR command, and they will not be erased with a "DEL *.*" command. If you have a program which displays hidden files, you will see Palrun's Swap Files with names based on the structure of "SWAP????.$$$," where the "????" is replaced by a unique code for each Swap File. The reason that each Swap File must remain intact is that Palrun needs that information to restore itself when the operation to which control was passed terminates. Without the Swap File, Palrun will not be able to resume. When Palrun does resume, it erases the Swap File which temporarily stored the necessary information. This last point bears special note, because it produces a corollary fact: If you turn off your computer or reboot in the 113 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ middle of one of these swapping operations, Palrun will not have an opportunity to reinstall itself and erase the Swap File. Fortunately, Palrun will automatically erase all of your old, unattached Swap Files which it encounters each time it performs a swapping operation. If Palrun automatically kills old Swap Files in the subdirectory in which it is doing its work, what about old Swap Files that might be littering a rarely used subdirectory on your hard disk? Just to make sure that you have the capability to ferret out and delete Swap Files in rarely used subdirectories, Palrun includes a function which will kill all old Swap Files on an entire disk. You may want to run this periodically. The syntax is: PALRUN /K [DISKSEQUENCE] [COMMANDLINE] There are two optional parameters following the "/K" (do not type in the brackets). The term Disksequence refers to an optional sequence of letters that you specify (without any intervening spaces) to denote the drives that you want to cleanse. If you do not specify any Disksequence, then Palrun will kill Swap Files on the current drive. As the syntax above shows, you may optionally specify a Commandline following the Disksequence. If you want to specify a Commandline but don't want a Disksequence, then start your Commandline with the Commandline Separator, the "^" character. The "/K" operates just like the "/P" switch, so when the cleansing is completed, Palrun will come to rest at the Palrun Prompt. If you prefer to exit back to DOS immediately, then add the command QUIT following your Disksequence. One bonus that you get when you invoke the "/K" switch to cleanse a disk is that Palrun will show you the names and locations of all hidden files which reside on your disk. 114 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ To illustrate the operation of Palrun with the "/K" switch, here are some examples: PALRUN /K -- cleanses the current drive and then comes to a halt at the Palrun Prompt PALRUN /K CD -- cleanses drives C: and D: and then comes to rest at the Palrun Prompt PALRUN /K CD CD -- cleanses drives C: and D:, then executes Palrun's internal CD command to give you a list of subdirectories on the current drive, then comes to rest at the Palrun Prompt PALRUN /K ^ QUIT -- cleanses the current drive, then quits back to DOS PALRUN /K QUIT -- tries to cleanse drives Q:, U:, I: and T:, and then comes to a halt at the Palrun Prompt PALRUN /K C DIR *.BAK ^QUIT -- cleanses drive C:, reports a directory of files matching the "*.bak" specification, then quits back to DOS 115 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 21: ON-LINE HELP ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The Palrun help system offers you a convenient, indexed means of finding out what you need to know about the ins and outs of the program. 21.1 The Help Index The help system contains an index of topics. If you invoke PALRUN from DOS without adding any parameters, the help index will pop up. Another method of viewing the help index is by pressing <F1> while viewing any screen of context-sensitive help. In the help index, you select a topic to review by moving the highlight bar and pressing <Enter>. If you press <Esc> while in the index, the help window is erased. If you press <AltF1> while in the index, the previous help topic is restored. 21.2 Context-Sensitive Help The help system will pop up for you on any press of <F1>, anywhere within Palrun. If you have a mouse, pressing the <Left&Right> buttons simultaneously will do the trick. We will refer to the <F1> key and the <Left&Right> mouse click as the <Help> key. If you would like to pop up the help index over the context- sensitive help, just give a second press of <Help>. Within each help topic, you may find one or more cross- references, each of which will be displayed in a special video highlight. Position the highlight bar over the item. Then just hit the <Enter> key to obtain the cross-referenced help. If you have a mouse, to select a cross-reference just place the mouse cursor on the cross-reference and click once to 116 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ position the highlight bar there. Click a second time in order to activate the cross-referenced topic. 21.3 Cursor Control Cursor movement through any topic is accomplished as follows: <PgUp> or <PgDn> display the previous or next help page. <Up>,<Down>,<Left>,<Right> move the highlight bar among the cross-reference topics, if any, displayed on the current help page. You will know whether or not you have additional screens to view within the current topic by looking at right side of the help window. If you are not using a mouse, then the word "more" will appear in the lower right corner. If you do have a mouse, then a scroll bar will appear along the entire right side of the window. 21.4 Redisplaying Previous Topics A press of <AltF1> displays the help topic most recently selected. The program maintains a stack of the 19 most recently selected help topics. Each time another topic is selected, the program pushes the previous topic onto this stack. Each time you press <AltF1>, the top element of this stack is retrieved and the corresponding help displayed. 21.5 Mouse Control If you have a mouse installed in your system, you can use it to advantage in our help system in several ways. First, the <Right> mouse button is equivalent to pressing <Esc> -- it exits the help system. 117 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Second, pressing both <Left&Right> mouse buttons is equivalent to keying <F1> within the help system -- it brings up context sensitive help from anywhere in Palrun. A second press of both buttons will bring up the index. The mouse may also be used to select cross-referenced topics. Positioning the mouse cursor over a cross-reference and pressing the <Left> button moves the highlight bar. Pressing the <Left> button a second time selects the topic and displays a new help screen, just like pressing the <Enter> key. In the upper left corner of the help window is a small diamond character. Positioning the mouse cursor there and pressing the <Left> button redisplays the most recently selected topic, just like pressing <AltF1>. The right edge of the help window contains a scroll bar if there is more than one page of help on that topic. Positioning the mouse cursor over the arrow characters at the top or bottom of the scroll bar and pressing the <Left> button causes the help system to display the previous or next page of help, respectively. Within the central portion of the scroll bar, the help system displays a block character called the "slider." The position of the slider indicates the relative position of the current help page within the topic. Positioning the mouse cursor above or below the slider and pressing the <Left> button causes the help system to display a new help page, its position proportional to the mouse cursor's position. 118 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 22: SUMMARY OF INTERNAL COMMANDS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The following commands are internal to Palrun. They will be executed before Palrun looks in your Palhouse or DOS. They may be overridden by creating an Alias with the same name. Some of the commands have abbreviations, set forth in parentheses, which will be recognized by Palrun. @ Used by itself in a command, the "@" character will bring up a pick list of all archives in the current directory. You may then pick one of the archives to become your current Palhouse. See Chapter 13 at page 56. /K Used as a method of getting to the Palrun Prompt from DOS with the added function of killing old Swap Files. See Chapter 20 at page 113. /P This is the command used in order to get from DOS to the Palrun Prompt. Basic syntax is PALRUN /P CHDIR, CD This is a DOS command which is executed internally within Palrun. Palrun's version of these commands is enhanced in a few ways. First, Palrun allows you to precede the subdirectory with a drive specification, so that with just one command you can change to a subdirectory on a drive different from your current drive. For instance, if you are presently on the C: drive, you could issue the command CD E:\UTIL and Palrun will switch you to the E: drive and change you to the \UTIL directory there. 119 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Second, Palrun will allow you to use this command in a "nonspecific" way. That is, if you are unsure of the precise name of the subdirectory to which you want to change, you get a pick list from Palrun of all the possibilities by using the following syntax: CD [DRIVE:] The specification of the drive following "CD" is optional. If you do not include a drive specification, then Palrun will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on the currently active drive. For instance: CHDIR F: -- will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on drive F: CD -- will present you with a pick list of all subdirectories on the currently active drive Third, Palrun has a "Super" CHDIR feature. You don't remember the drive or complete directory specification for a subdirectory whose name you know contains the string of characters "MSGS"? Just do: CD MSGS and Palrun will find all subdirectories on all drives that it knows about which contain "MSGS" anywhere within the subdirectory name. If it finds a single match, you will immediately be switched to that subdirectory. If it finds more than one match, Palrun will provide you with a pick list of your possible choices. See section 18.1.3 at page 107 above. 120 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CLS CLS clears the screen. ERASE, DEL This is a DOS command which is substantially enhanced by Palrun in two ways. First, if you ask for deletion of an entire directory, Palrun pops up with a message box which is more friendly than DOS's normal response. Second, you may place any number of file specifications for deletion following the command. For instance, the command: DEL *.BAK *.BK! *.TXT *.DOC will delete all files having four different file extensions. EXIT This DOS command has no meaning when executed from Palrun. FRESHEN (F) This command will point Palrun back to the Palhouse that you specified with Setup, rereading the contents of the Palhouse. It is useful if you have used the "@" operator to point to a different Palhouse. HELP, ? This will summon the index of help topics. Note that pressing <F1> from the Palrun Prompt will provide you with immediate help on the subject of the Palrun Prompt. See Chapter 21 at page 116. MENU This command calls up your custom menu. MENUSET This will take you directly to the section of the Setup procedure that allows editing of your custom menu. 121 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ MKDIR, MD This is a DOS command which is executed internally within Palrun. The only modification that Palrun makes to DOS behavior is that it provides more elegant responses. PATH Like the DOS command, this will change your path statement while using Palrun as a permanent shell. The changes you make here will not be preserved when you quit Palrun. If using Palrun as a transient program, the Path command will do nothing. PAUSE The PAUSE command stops execution of an Alias until a keystroke is received. PCKALIAS (PA) This command presents you with a pick list of your Aliases. Place the highlight bar over your selection, then hit <Enter> to place the Alias at the Palrun Prompt for editing and execution. PCKHOUSE (PH) This command presents you with a pick list of the contents of your current Palhouse. Place the highlight bar over your selection, then hit <Enter> to place the file name at the Palrun Prompt for editing your Commandline and execution of the selected file. <F2> allows you to edit the file, <F3> views the file, and <F4> deletes the file. Your sort order, level of detail and filemask may be changed with <F5>. Syntax is: PCKHOUSE [FileSpec] [/Sortoptions] where "FileSpec" is the optional mask, including wildcards if desired, for the files in the Palhouse you want to see, and "Sortoptions" is the optional designation you can make to indicate the sort order and level 122 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ of detail you want in the pick list. The permissible options are N - Sort by name E - Sort by extension D - Sort by date S - Sort by size B - Brief detail R - Regular detail L - Lengthy detail For instance, PH *.COM /SL would show all COM files in your Palhouse, sorted by size and shown with a lengthy level of detail. If you do not specify an optional filespec, then a "*.*" mask will be assumed. If you do not specify any sort and detail options, then the options which were last in effect will apply. PCKDIR (PD) This command presents you with a pick list of the contents of a subdirectory. You may follow the command with a file specification, which may contain wildcards. Place the highlight bar over your selection, then hit <Enter> to place the file name at the Palrun Prompt for editing your Commandline and execution of the selected file. If the selected file entry is another subdirectory, you will be presented with a new pick list of the contents of that subdirectory. If the selected file is an archive, a second press of the <Enter> key will make it your current Palhouse. <F2> allows you to edit the selected file, <F3> views the file, and <F4> deletes the file. Your sort order, level of detail and filemask may be changed with <F5>. Syntax is: PCKDIR [FileSpec] [/Sortoptions] 123 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ where "FileSpec" is the optional mask, including drive, subdirectory and wildcards if desired, for the files in the Palhouse you want to see, and "Sortoptions" is the optional designation you can make to indicate the sort order and level of detail you want in the pick list. The permissible options are N - Sort by name E - Sort by extension D - Sort by date S - Sort by size B - Brief detail R - Regular detail L - Lengthy detail For instance, PD E:\UTIL\M*.* /ER would show all files whose names begin with the letter "M" and which reside in the \UTIL subdirectory on drive E:, sorted by extension and shown with a regular level of detail. If you do not specify an optional filespec, then a "*.*" mask in the current subdirectory will be assumed. If you do not specify any sort and detail options, then the options which were last in effect will apply. PROMPT This command, though recognized by Palrun, will not accomplish any changes. The Palrun Prompt stands as a substitution for the DOS prompt, so no changes here would make any sense. If you want to change your DOS prompt, do so outside of Palrun. QUEUE (Q) This command presents you with a pick list of 20 recently executed Commandlines. Place the highlight bar over your selection, then hit <Enter> to place the old Commandline at the Palrun Prompt for editing and execution. 124 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ QUIT Issue the QUIT command at the Palrun Prompt to return to DOS. RMDIR, RD This is a DOS command which is executed internally within Palrun. The only modification that Palrun makes to DOS behavior is that it provides more elegant responses. SET Like the DOS command, this will change your path statement while using Palrun as a permanent shell. The changes you make here will not be preserved when you quit Palrun. If using Palrun as a transient program, the Path command will do nothing. Note: DOS passes to Palrun a limited amount of environment space. If you find that you are running out of space when trying to use the SET command from within Palrun, use the SET command before invoking Palrun. If you find that measure to be insufficient, use the SET command before any resident programs are loaded and/or consider using DOS's SHELL command in your CONFIG.SYS file to create a larger environment. See your DOS manual for details. SETUP (S) This is the command that gets you to Palrun's Setup procedure for customizing the program to your own liking. 125 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 23: GLOSSARY ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The following are some common terms used throughout this documentation. A brief glance through the definitions will give you an overview of some of the capabilities of Palrun. Alias An Alias is a Commandline that you define and which Palrun memorizes. You create Aliases within the Setup procedure. Aliases serve as a kind of batch file, so if you find that you are frequently invoking the same series of commands, you can have Palrun memorize an Alias for that purpose. Aliases may use other Aliases as part of the command. For instance, you might define one Alias to pick up your electronic mail and another Alias to tidy up your hard disk. You could then define a third Alias which calls the first two in successive operations. Alter Ego An Alter Ego is a small program that stands in the place of a larger program that you have compressed into your default Palhouse. The usefulness of this facility is apparent the first time you discover that an application program depends on one or more helper programs, and you are prevented from placing those helper programs in your Palhouse because the main application program doesn't know how to find them. An Alter Ego is created by first placing the helper program into your default Palhouse, then copying the supplied PALTER.EXE program into a new 126 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ file with the same name as your helper program. For instance: COPY PALTER.EXE HELPER.EXE After creating the Alter Ego, the next time your application program calls on the helper program, it will actual cause the Alter Ego to be invoked. The Alter Ego will itself shell to DOS and issue the command: PALRUN HELPER parameters where "parameters" are the additional parameters that your application program was intending to feed to the helper program. For details on Alter Egos, see Chapter 14 above at page 61. Archive An archive is a file which is itself composed of smaller component files. The component files are compressed and assembled into the archive by a compression program. The component files may be accessed by using the appropriate extraction program, which is often the same program as the one which accomplished the compression. The contents of an archive are invisible without the assistance of the compression/extraction programs which are designed to work with the particular form of archive. That means that if you do a DIR command, the archive itself will appear in the directory, but its contents will not. Palrun is designed to make archives more transparent. Popular compression/extraction programs supported by Palrun include ARC (and its competitors ARCE, PAK and PKPAK/PKUNPAK), DWC, LHARC, PKZIP/PKUNZIP and ZOO. These programs create archives with the extension of ARC, DWC, LZH, ZIP and ZOO, respectively. The PAK program, though capable of extracting from ARC archives, will create archives with a PAK extension. 127 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Commandline The term "Commandline" refers to the commands that you ask Palrun to execute. A Commandline may be transmitted to Palrun directly from the DOS Prompt with the syntax of PALRUN COMMANDLINE or the Commandline may be typed at the Palrun Prompt. If one of the purposes of your Commandline is to execute a program or batch file from within an archive, Palrun will look in your Palhouse for that program or batch file. If it is not present in the Palhouse, Palrun will then look in your DOS path. As indicated elsewhere in this glossary, you may specify your Palhouse in the Setup procedure. You may temporarily point to an archive which is different from your Palhouse by beginning your Commandline with "@NameOfArchive." Naturally, instead of typing in "@NameofArchive," you will type after the "@" the complete file specification for the archive you want. For instance, if you have an archive by the name of MYSTUFF.ARC, and you want to execute a program by the name of MYPROG.EXE which you know resides in the archive, and you would normally pass to MYPROG the parameters of "1 2 bucklemyshoe," then you would invoke Palrun with a Commandline in the following fashion: PALRUN @MYSTUFF.ARC MYPROG 1 2 BUCKLEMYSHOE One distinctive enhancement (among many others) that Palrun provides you over and above the normal DOS commands is that each Commandline may consist of several separate commands, each of them separated by a special character which we refer to in this documentation as the Commandline Separator. 128 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Commandline Separator The Commandline Separator is a single character which is used to separate commands on your Commandline. You may have several separate commands on a Commandline. As distributed, Palrun uses the carat (^) as the Commandline Separator. You may change this in Setup. Palhouse The archive which Palrun will examine to find the program to run or the file to view or edit. The Setup procedure permits you to designate a name for your Palhouse which Palrun will use at startup. You may change your Palhouse at any time while within Palrun by pointing to another archive, and can return to your default Palhouse by typing FRESHEN or F at the Palrun Prompt. Palrun Prompt Palrun provides you with a powerful alternative to the DOS command line interface. We refer to this as the Palrun Prompt. The Palrun Prompt is reached by invoking Palrun with the syntax: PALRUN /P You may optionally add a Commandline after the "/P" so that Palrun can immediately perform an operation for you before coming to rest back at the Palrun Prompt. The Palrun Prompt consists of two (2) lines. The first line always states the name of the program, then indicates the current drive and directory, then shows the full drive and subdirectory specification of your current Palhouse. At the extreme right, Palrun presents the current time. The second line of the Palrun Prompt begins with the familiar ">" of the classic DOS prompt, and 129 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ then provides you with a work area in which you can type and edit your Commandline. Although the work area appears to span only from column two to column eighty on your screen, in reality you may type in a Commandline which may be as long as 255 characters. If you continue typing beyond what appears to be the end of the work area, your entire Commandline will shift to the left in order to make room for more characters. Setup Setup is the internal procedure within Palrun, summoned by typing SETUP or S at the Palrun Prompt, which permits you to customize Palrun by setting up various defaults and assumptions. Palrun has the ability to memorize the changes that you make. It also has the ability to save these changes to a separate configuration file. 130 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 24: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: Palrun seems like such a great program to help me save hard disk space in my laptop with the "Palhouse" concept. My problem is that Palrun is itself a fairly large program. Can I get the Palhouse savings in a smaller program? A: Yup, you can. At the expense of most of the sophistication of Palrun version 2.0 you can come to the PAL Software BBS and pick up a copy of Palrun version 1.0. This original version of Palrun handles only ZIP archives and lacks most of the other features that you see in version 2.0. But version 1.0 takes up only 48,784 bytes on your disk. Q: There's such a proliferation of compression and extraction programs available. How can I decide which one to use? A: For some time now, we have been compiling test results which compare speed of compression, speed of extraction and degree of shrinkage achieved by all the programs currently available for BBS download. At this writing, we are preparing the 9th edition of this compilation of test results. Our reviews have been widely circulated on BBS systems. They are available on the PAL Software BBS at 914-762-8055 and on many other BBS systems. Look to download a file whose name begins with COMP and ends with a number indicating the edition of the reviews. For instance, at this writing, you could download either COMP8.COM or COMP8.ZIP from the PAL Software BBS. In looking at the test results, be cognizant of your own needs. Some feel that speed of compression is the most important, others think the compression ratio is most important, and still others weight the extraction speed as being most important. In the context of Palrun, compression speed is probably not going to be very important to you. Instead, extraction speed might be paramount, since you will be using Palrun to extract files from your archives on a regular basis. Additionally, compression size is important, for one of the basic purposes of Palrun is to help you save disk space. 131 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ In general, our test results show that DWC, PKZIP and PKPAK excel in extraction speed. Look to LHARC, PKZIP and PAK for degree of compression. Q: My system is locking up when I try to install a resident program with Palrun. What's happening? A: Please do not try to load a resident program with Palrun. It is not possible to do so without confusing the system, since the chain of interrupts will be messed up when Palrun exits. Never, never execute a program that becomes resident, ..such as SideKick or Desqview. Your computer system will probably become hopelessly confused and lock up. The implication of this for those who want to use Palrun from its own prompt is that you have to load all your resident programs prior to using Palrun. For instance, you may have an AUTOEXEC.BAT file which loads a series of resident programs when you boot up. Make sure that all resident programs are available outside of your Palhouse and can be loaded without resort to Palrun. Furthermore, you may desire to have the last command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file a "Palrun /P" command. Make sure that all resident programs are already loaded before going to the Palrun Prompt; otherwise, you'll just have to quit Palrun, load the resident program, then reload Palrun. Q: How much memory does Palrun use? A: When executing a file or calling up your compression, extraction, viewer or wordprocessing program, Palrun uses only about 4K of memory. It shrinks itself by swapping most of itself to disk (or to EMS memory if available), leaving in memory only what it needs to restore itself and clean up after the command has been executed. The swap takes up about 212K of EMS or 162K of disk space, whichever is applicable. 132 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: How much space can I expect to save by using Palrun? A: That's not an easy question to answer. It depends on how you use it. Let's take batch files for example. Assume you have about 20 batch files, averaging about 200 bytes each for a total of about 4000 bytes. If you move them all into your Palhouse, their aggregate compressed size won't be much different from 4000 bytes. But if you were to run CHKDSK before and after the move, you would find that you save several thousand bytes. This is because each individual file residing on your disk takes up space based on clusters, which are usually measured in thousands of bytes. Thus, your 200 byte batch file may actually be absorbing 2048 bytes of disk space. You will be recovering quite a lot of this slack space by using a Palhouse. As a drastic example of the way that small files eat up disk space, we have a separate directory on our hard disk for testing the compression results for PKZIP, ARC, LHARC and so forth on a lot of small files. Norton's FS program, which checks on free space, reports the following: 7,232 total bytes in 65 files 532,480 bytes disk space occupied, 98% slack If we move all of those small files into a single ZIP, the size of that ZIP is only 11,051 bytes. While that's more than the apparent size of 7,232 bytes of the total bytes of the files, that's an actual disk savings of 521,429 bytes! The 8K cluster size on our hard disk can produce some pretty great inefficiencies; even if your cluster size is only 2K, you'll still see a savings of about 122K. With larger COM and EXE files, your space recovery is likely to be between 30% to 50% of their size. If you start playing around with batch files like the sample PALWP.BAT in order to start archiving your support files, you'll gain even more space. Your experience will vary markedly from application to application. One of our beta testers reported that Flight Simulator didn't decrease all that much, but that a financial application reduced itself to about 1/3 of its original size. 133 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: Do you have any suggestions on how to organize my use of Palrun? A: Sure. We recommend that simple EXE and COM programs that don't require any support files (e.g., CHKDSK, FORMAT) be placed directly into Palhouse. More complex programs which require support files (e.g., SuperCalc, WordPerfect, Procomm Plus) can be set up in separate archives files which can be extracted by means of a batch file (in the Palhouse) which you summon with Palrun. For an example of how this can be done, see the sample batch file PALWP.BAT. If you examine PALWP.BAT, you will see that the batch file deals with two separate ZIP files -- WPSPRT.ZIP for all WordPerfect program and support files, and WPEDIT.ZIP for all documents being edited. When you're not running WordPerfect, all these files remain comfortably ensconced, in compressed form, within their respective ZIP files. When you're ready to run WordPerfect, a simple PALRUN PALWP NAMEOFFILETOEDIT will allow everything to jump into readiness for your editing pleasure. Q: Can I use Palrun on a line of my batch file to call another batch file? A: In constructing your batch files, there is no constraint against using Palrun as a command. Thus, you can accomplish quite a bit of gymnastics in this fashion. For instance, from within any batch file you can call Palrun to invoke another batch file. Users of versions of DOS earlier than 3.3 (which has a CALL command to permit nested batch calls) may find this facility to be of extra special value. Just remember, in setting up those batch files, that every time Palrun calls a batch file it takes up about 4K of RAM and also creates an additional Swap File. 134 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: Why do I get a notice from Palrun that it cannot do a SET or PATH command? A: First of all, you'll only get this notice if you're calling these DOS commands from a Palrun Commandline that is not going to leave you back at the Palrun Prompt but back at the DOS prompt. The reason for this is that when Palrun exits back to the DOS prompt, all changes which you may have tried to make to the environment will be lost. If you make changes to the environment and are returning to the Palrun Prompt, Palrun knows how to retain those changes, but once you finally quit back to DOS, those environment changes will be lost. The moral of the story is: If you want environment changes to be retained after Palrun quits, then make sure you make those changes from the DOS prompt before running Palrun. Q: I tried running a command from Palrun that uses DOS redirection to send output to my printer, but it didn't work. What's going on? A: DOS just doesn't understand how to do redirection with a program that you are having Palrun execute. You have to fool DOS. Read Chapter 19 starting at page 110. Q: What can I do to enhance the speed with which Palrun works? A: The single most important thing you can do to enhance Palrun's speed is to have EMS memory and/or create a RAM-disk. The RAM-disk can be specified for your output path in Setup's "Extraction Information" section. In the "Miscellaneous Information" section, you can specify that Palrun should use EMS for its overlay file and for swapping. Another technique for adding some speed to Palrun is to be aware of how Palrun searches for a file. The distribution version of Palrun searches first in your Palhouse and then in your DOS path. If you have most of your programs in your path, then you might want to reverse that order of searching by making the appropriate change with the Setup procedure. 135 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Also, if you have a very long series of subdirectories strung together to make up your path, this could take longer for Palrun to search than if you just have one or two subdirectories in your path. Q: I have used the Setup procedure to change my "standard operations" colors from basic black and gray to a color combination that I find pleasing. I have an application program that, when it finishes, restores the screen to black and gray. If I have Palrun execute that application program in a batch file or Alias which continues processing after the application program finishes, then my "standard operations" colors appear only as text is written across the screen, leaving a substantial portion of the screen black. I find this to be unattractive. Is there something I can do to make this look a bit cleaner? A: What you need to do is put the CLS command in your batch file or Alias after your program finishes. In this way, your screen will clear back to the "standard operations" colors. Everything will thereafter be nice and neat. By the way, you will probably notice the same difficulty when you shell from an application program to do some temporary processing before exiting back to the program. You'll find that the CLS command will help here as well. Q: Since I started using Palrun, I've noticed that CHKDSK reports one more hidden file than I thought I had. I also have a hard disk defragmentation program which notices the additional hidden file and refuses to touch it. What's going on? A: When Palrun does its work, it swaps most of itself to a hidden file on your disk in order to make more RAM available to your computer. The hidden swap file will be deleted when Palrun completes its work. If you have sufficient EMS and allow Palrun to use it for this purpose, then Palrun will not create any hidden files. If you want to make sure that these hidden swap files do not interfere with your defragger, then do not execute the defragger from Palrun. 136 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: In the Colors section of the Setup procedure, you let me use all those luscious background colors for pick lists and the help system, but I see that you permit me to use only 8 standard background colors for the other choices (standard operations, the Palrun Prompt and message boxes). Why can't I have those great background colors in all facets of Palrun? A: Those brilliant background colors of which you speak are obtained by manipulating what is known as the "blink" bit of the color attribute. Palrun tells your monitor that if this bit is set, instead of interpreting it as a requirement to display the text in blinking fashion, it should make the background color brighter. IBM compatibles have a hardware limitation that blinking text and intense background colors may not be displayed on any monitor simultaneously. The reason that we don't allow these bright colors in the Palrun Prompt, the message boxes and the standard background colors is that it is quite possible that some application program that you use may require blinking text, and since the Prompt, the message boxes and the standard background colors may be on the screen at the same time as such blinking text, we wind up with a potential conflict. Even in situations where the application program has blinking text but it is not possible that Palrun would use intense background colors while the application's blinking text is displayed, we would still need to do extensive manipulation of the blink bit in order to accommodate all the gymnastics required. After much experimentation, we concluded that the most aesthetically pleasing solution was simply to prohibit the intense background colors in the Palrun Prompt, the message boxes and the standard operations colors. 137 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 25: REGISTRATION ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you use and like this product, please register. To register, send your check in the amount of $25, payable to PAL Software NY to the following address: PAL Software NY 51 Cedar Lane Ossining, NY 10562 For your convenience, we have included the file ORDER.FRM, which you can print out and use for this purpose. If you register Palrun, you will be entitled to the following: 1. You will be provided with an exclusive password which will tell Palrun not to continually remind you that you need to register. 2. You will be provided with free support by mail for one (1) year following the date of registration. The level of support which we agree to provide is to answer questions and fix serious bugs. We are not required to modify the program for specific hardware or software environments or features. 3. You may access the PAL Software BBS at any time. The telephone number is (914) 762-8055. The BBS runs 24 hours a day and accepts calls at 300-9600 baud (US Robotics HST Dual modem). In addition, you can communicate with us on Compuserve; the PPN is 70475,1071. For additional avenues of support, see Chapter 27 below at page 141. 4. You will be added to our mailing list. If you are a Sysop of a BBS, kindly read SYSOP.DOC, a file included with the Palrun distribution files, for a special registration offer. 138 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 26: LICENSE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palrun (the "Licensed Program") is the exclusive property of PAL Software NY (the "Licensor"). Holders of the shareware version are granted a license to try the Licensed Program for a limited period of time. If you use the Licensed Program at least once a week or over a period in excess of one month, then it is understood that you are satisfied with the Licensed Program and must register and pay for the Licensed Program. If you continue to use the Licensed Program under such circumstances without registering and paying for it, then you are in violation of this limited license. Registration grants to a single user the right to use the registered program in perpetuity. By "single user" we mean one individual person. Entities other than individuals must register one copy for each individual user. Site licenses at reduced rates may be arranged for this purpose by direct negotiation with PAL Software NY. The plain English limitation here is: If you like and use the program, then register and pay for it. If, after a period of time of using the program you choose not to pay for it, then stop using it. Persons in possession of a copy of the Licensed Program are encouraged to share it with others by uploading it to computer bulletin boards, sending copies to friends, etc. You are permitted to redistribute the Licensed Program so long as no changes are made to the program or the documentation and the entire archived set is distributed unaltered. A reasonable charge may be received for the expense of copying and transmitting the program, but in no event must the person with whom you are sharing the Licensed Program be lead or permitted to believe that payment of such amounts constitutes registration or satisfies the requirements to register which are imposed by this license. Disk vendors who distribute shareware and public domain software on 5 1/4 inch and/or 3 1/2 inch floppy diskettes are permitted to distribute Palrun providing that the vendor's fee is less than $10.00 for the disk containing Palrun files. Vendors who charge more than $10.00 per disk are PROHIBITED from 139 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ distributing Palrun in any form without express written consent from PAL Software NY. The catalog or other indexing material used by a disk vendor must contain a clear statement that the program is shareware, not public domain, and that the user is expected to pay for the program if the user likes it and intends to continue to use it. Disk distribution services are encouraged to contact the Association of Shareware Professionals for suggested language. Vendors who meet the above requirements may distribute Palrun only if ALL attendant files are included on the distribution diskette, and only if NO files are modified in any way. Vendors are urged to read the file VENDOR.DOC, included with this distribution. Computer consultants and hardware sellers are permitted to distribute the Licensed Program along with their products and services so long as it is made clear to the end user that the Licensed Program is shareware and that the Licensor requires pay- ment if the end user continues to use the Licensed Program. In no event may the end user be lead or permitted to believe that the fee paid for consulting, hardware or software includes the registration fee required for the Licensed Program. For information concerning site licenses and dealer pricing, please contact the Licensor. In no event is any person permitted to modify the Licensed Program or any of the associated documentation. THE LICENSOR DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE LICENSED PROGRAM IS FIT FOR ANY PARTICULAR USE OR IS MERCHANTABLE. THE LICENSED PROGRAM IS NOT WARRANTED TO BE FREE OF BUGS, NOR IS IT PROVIDED WITH ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE LICENSED PROGRAM IS SUITABLE FOR YOU. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE LICENSOR, ITS OWNERS OR AGENTS BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSE- QUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR LOST DATA OR PROFITS TO ANY PERSON OR ENTITY THAT MAY ARISE OUT OF THE USE OF THE LICENSED PROGRAM, EVEN IF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE LICENSOR. RECOVERABLE DAMAGES IN ANY EVENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO NOT MORE THAN THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSED PROGRAM. 140 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 27: USER SUPPORT ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ We are available for support in a number of ways. If you have a modem and are familiar with BBSing, you can reach us in several places: 1. The PAL Software BBS is open 24 hours a day and accepts callers at 300 through 9600 baud (US Robotics Dual Standard modem in use). The telephone number is 914-762-8055. Try to reach us here for the most immediate response. 2. Our BBS is a member of RIME, the Relaynet International Message Exchange, which, as of this writing, boasts over 300 member boards. We co-host the "Archives" conference, which might be known on your most local board as the "Compression" conference. You can post support questions there. 3. We are also available on Compuserve, monitoring IBMSYS, IBMAPP and IBMPRO. You can also leave an EASYPLEX message. Our Compuserve PPN is 70475,1071. Lastly, if you aren't into modems, you can always contact us by U.S. Mail at the address on the title page. Please note that support is guaranteed only for registered users. Nonetheless, we will try to be of assistance to unregistered users who need our help in order to evaluate the program to their satisfaction prior to registering. 141 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ CHAPTER 28: ASP OMBUDSMAN PROCEDURE ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. 142 ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ INDEX ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ /K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113-115, 119 /P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7-9, 15, 119, 129, 132 % . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 34, 66, 69 @ . . . . . . 3, 4, 7-9, 13, 15, 32, 33, 41, 56-60, 119, 121, 128 Alias . 11, 12, 15, 33, 34, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70, 71, 119, 122, 126 Alter Ego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 39, 61-63, 81, 126, 127 Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 127 Association of Shareware Professionals . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40, 44, 47, 65, 126, 134, 136 CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 119 CHDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104, 119 CLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121, 136, 121 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 24, 76-80, 136, 137 Commandline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 128 Commandline Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 129 Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . 74, 84, 86, 100-103, 130 Custom Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 9, 28, 34, 68, 72, 121 DEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109, 121 EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17, 88-90, 113, 132, 135, 136 Entry Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ERASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109, 121 Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 74, 121 Expanded Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 113 F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 FRESHEN . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13, 19, 56, 64, 68, 121, 129, 121 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 4, 18, 27, 77, 116-118, 121 Hidden files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50, 113, 114 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Internal commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 68-70, 93, 119-125 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139, 140 Line Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27 MD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 105, 122 MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 MENUSET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70, 121 MKDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 105, 122 Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 26, 27, 29-31, 116-118 NOIBMPRN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 ORDER.FRM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 138 Overlay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 17, 18, 90, 135 PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 PAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 40 PALARM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 20, 39, 62 143 Palrun 2.0 Documentation ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Palhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 7, 10, 13, 32, 129 PALRREAD.ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Palrun Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 78, 129 PALRUN.DOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 PALRUN.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 17, 21, 70, 73, 100, 102 PALRUN.HLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 18, 21 PALRUN.OVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 18, 21 PALTER.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 18, 61, 126, 127 PALWP.BAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 39, 133, 134 PATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122, 135 PAUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 65, 66, 69, 70, 88, 90, 122 PCKALIAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 33, 67, 79, 122 PCKDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 35, 36, 40, 104, 109, 123 PCKHOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 33, 35-37, 41, 122 PD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 PH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Pick lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-32, 34 PROMPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Q . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 124 Questions & Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 QUEUE . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 27-29, 33, 54, 55, 79, 93, 124 QUIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 125 RAM-disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 81, 95, 135 RD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 105, 125 Redirection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110-112, 135 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Required Compression/Extraction Programs . 3, 17, 18, 23, 83-86, 95, 96, 98, 99, 137, 138, 140 Resident . . . . . . . . . 4, 20, 38, 39, 62, 91, 105, 125, 132 RMDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 105, 125 S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 SET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125, 135 SETUP . . . . . . . . . . 74-87, 89, 94-96, 98, 100-102, 125, 130 Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 7-9 Status Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 41, 78 Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138, 141 Swap files . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 17, 113-115, 119, 134, 136 Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 SYSOP.DOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 138 Timed Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Transient . . . . . . . 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 38, 61, 64, 79, 122, 125 VENDOR.DOC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 140 *** End of Palrun 2.0 Documentation *** 144