home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
- │ │
- │ GEdit 1.00.06Γ - PUBLIC Gamma Release Mon 1 Mar 93 │
- │ Copyright 1992 by Chris Patterson, All Rights Reserved │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ GProduct Support Sites │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ 1:170/303 (FidoNET) 1-918-251-6252 2400..14400 (v.32bis/HST/v.42bis) │
- │ │
- │ All program updates are available from the above numbers. All bug reports │
- │ and suggestions can be sent via FidoNET NetMail addressed to the author, │
- │ Chris Patterson. Reports may also be made via the BBS or by US Mail. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.0 » What is GEdit? │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit is a full-screen external message editor for use with RemoteAccess, │
- │ QuickBBS, SuperBBS, and any other BBS system that uses the QuickBBS-style │
- │ external message editor interface. GEdit will allow users to edit their │
- │ messages in a comfortable, full-screen editing environment. GEdit │
- │ includes support for both ANSI and AVATAR emulation codes, making it a │
- │ very fast alternative to the other editors which are available. │
- │ │
- │ After becoming tired of using an available but under-utilized AVATAR/0+ │
- │ emulation, I decided to develop a full-screen editor which fully used the │
- │ advanced capabilities of AVATAR/0+ to provide the smooth, easy-to-use │
- │ interface of GEdit. The simple, yet powerful capabilities of this │
- │ program, as well as the speed of the displays should bring it to the front │
- │ of the message editor arena. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.1 » General Features │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ Here are some of the great features of GEdit. While this list is not │
- │ complete, it gives a basic summary of the powerful design that went into │
- │ the program. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Full support for both ANSI and AVATAR/0+ emulation codes, including │
- │ automatic detection of advanced ANSI capability beyond the basic │
- │ support provided by DOS ANSI.SYS. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Keyboard commands almost 100% compatible with TopED, as well as │
- │ support for the DOORWAY/AVATAR keyboard and VT-100 keypad codes. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Automatic word-wrap and line-wrap while entering text, including │
- │ paragraph reformatting. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Screen length adjusted to users setting to provide maximum editing │
- │ area for fewer screen redraws. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Extremely simple interface provides a short learning curve for new │
- │ as well as experienced users. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Sysop commands for shelling to DOS, adjusting users time remaining, │
- │ disconnecting user, and importing text files from the local disk. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Easy-to-use quote window with full-navigation is available to make │
- │ replying to messages easier. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Message information is displayed when used with QuickBBS, SuperBBS │
- │ or RemoteAccess. The message information is displayed on status │
- │ bars while the message is being edited. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ The quote option is only displayed when quote text is available. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Multi-node systems are not a problem with GEdit. No special │
- │ configuration is required. Setup is the quickest around. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Very minimal screen output for excellent response time on slow │
- │ modem connections. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.2 » Technical Features │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ ≡ Built-in support for RemoteAccess, QuickBBS and SuperBBS EXITINFO │
- │ files. MSG.INF, MSGINF, and MSGED.BBS are read by GEdit to display │
- │ message information. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ All communications are performed using the FOSSIL driver for best │
- │ compatibility with system configurations. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ Carrier, user time remaining and idle timeout are all monitored │
- │ internally for safe operation. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ All video routines are handled internally, including the ANSI and │
- │ AVATAR/0+ emulation decoding. What you see locally is what the │
- │ user should see as well. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ The program is written in Borland C 2.0. The video and keyboard │
- │ functions are all written in high-speed assembly language for the │
- │ fastest operation. The entire program was written by the author. │
- │ No external libraries or toolkits were used. │
- │ │
- │ ≡ DESQview aware. Idle time-slices will be handed off to the other │
- │ processes. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.3 » Hardware and Software Requirements │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit can be run on any MS-DOS based system that uses an 8088 or higher │
- │ processor. │
- │ │
- │ GEdit has been tested with the following software packages: │
- │ │
- │ QuickBBS 2.75, 2.76 (Beta-II) │
- │ RemoteAccess 1.11 and 2.00 (Gamma-1) │
- │ SuperBBS 1.15, 1.16 (Gamma-2) │
- │ │
- │ The remote terminal programs which have been tested with GEdit are: │
- │ │
- │ Telemate 3.01 ANSI or AVATAR modes can be used │
- │ Qmodem 5.01 ANSI mode only (limited ANSI implementation) │
- │ ProComm Plus 2.0 ANSI mode │
- │ Telix 3.15 ANSI mode only (AVATAR is not AVT/0+ compatible) │
- │ FDTerm 2.02 AVATAR mode recommended, ANSI mode okay │
- │ Lync 2.0 ANSI mode only │
- │ Commo 4.5 ANSI mode │
- │ Desterm 2.0 ANSI mode (on Commodore 128) │
- │ │
- │ GEdit has no problems working in multitasking or LAN environments. It │
- │ has been tested under DESQview/386 as well as Novell NetWare 386 and │
- │ NetWare Lite. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.4 » Warranty and Disclaimer │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit is provided to the user "AS IS" with absolutely no warranties or │
- │ guarantees of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and │
- │ performance of GEdit are assumed by you. I, Chris Patterson, do not make │
- │ any claims, promises or guarantees as to the usability, or inability to │
- │ use GEdit or any other GProduct. I cannot and do not accept any │
- │ responsibility for system damage, loss of profit, or any other special, │
- │ incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability │
- │ to use this product. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.5 » Copyright and License Agreement │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit is distributed under the ShareWare concept. You are licensed to │
- │ use GEdit for a period not exceeding 30 days. After that time period has │
- │ expired, you must either register GEdit or stop using it. By using GEdit │
- │ beyond this evaluation period, you are in violation of United States │
- │ Copyright laws and may be subject Federal Prosecution. Any blatent │
- │ attempts to violate this copyright WILL result in prosecution to the │
- │ fullest extent of the law. │
- │ │
- │ GEdit, and the original distribution archive, may not be modified in any │
- │ way, shape, or form by any means. The archive format may be changed, but │
- │ no files may be removed or inserted. The archive header should remain │
- │ intact if possible. │
- │ │
- │ I, Chris Patterson, retain all rights to GEdit and it's source code. No │
- │ disassembly or reverse-engineering of the executable images is allowed. │
- │ The source code is not available and remains the property of the author, │
- │ Chris Patterson. No fees may be charged for the distribution of GEdit or │
- │ any GProduct without obtaining prior written permission. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 1.6 » Registration │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit is a very powerful editor with a lot of enhanced features designed │
- │ into the code for future enhancements. Because of the time and energy │
- │ required to develop and maintain such a powerful product such as GEdit, I │
- │ am asking for a registration fee of US$15. │
- │ │
- │ If you are a software developer, an alternative to paying the registration │
- │ fee would be to send a registered version of your product to the author of │
- │ GEdit. Files may be sent via FidoNET to the above listed address or may │
- │ be mailed to the registration address below on either 5¼" or 3½" disks. │
- │ The software product must be approved before being submitted to the author │
- │ in exchange for registration of GEdit. │
- │ │
- │ If you are a registered user of TopED or QuickED, you can move up to GEdit │
- │ for only US$10. You must provide proof of registration to qualify for │
- │ the upgrade price. │
- │ │
- │ Registrations, along with the US$15 registration fee, should be mailed to │
- │ the following address. Checks and money orders are accepted. │
- │ │
- │ Chris Patterson │
- │ P.O. Box 1660 │
- │ Broken Arrow, OK 74013-1660 │
- │ USA │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 2.0 » Program Installation And Configuration │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit does not require any configuration before use. │
- │ │
- │ To execute GEdit, you must include the full name and path of the │
- │ program file GEDIT.EXE. This can be set using RACONFIG or whatever │
- │ your BBS configuration program might be. │
- │ │
- │ An example of this would be: │
- │ │
- │ D:\RA\GEDIT.EXE │
- │ │
- │ Or: │
- │ │
- │ D:\RA\GEDIT.EXE *M │
- │ │
- │ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! │
- │ !!! DO NOT USE THE *N MACRO (Node Number) WITH GEDIT !!! │
- │ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! │
- │ │
- │ When the offline editor is invoked from the BBS, the configuration │
- │ information is read from the EXITINFO.BBS files created by QuickBBS, │
- │ SuperBBS or RemoteAccess. The format is automatically recognized. │
- │ │
- │ If you wish to examine GEdit's functionality from DOS, you can specify │
- │ the command line as: │
- │ │
- │ GEDIT TEST [A<1=ANSI,2=AVATAR>] [R<screen length>] │
- │ │
- │ The above command can also be used to allow GEdit to be used with an │
- │ offline editor I imagine. I have added a command line parameter to pass │
- │ a filename to GEdit for editing. The interface is crude at the moment, │
- │ but if enough people are interested in this option, it will be expanded │
- │ to become more user friendly. An example command line to use GEdit to │
- │ edit a standard DOS text file would be: │
- │ │
- │ GEDIT.EXE TEST A3 R25 F<filename to edit> │
- │ │
- │ The help files for GEdit (GEHELP.A?? and GEQUOTE.A??) must exist in the │
- │ same directory where the program is executed from. The files are checked │
- │ in the order of AVT, ANS, ASC. The appropriate file will be displayed │
- │ depending on the emulation mode selected by the user. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 3.0 » Operation │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ The following keys are available while editing using GEdit. The keys that │
- │ are preceeded by a caret (^) are to be pressed with the control key. │
- │ │
- │ ^A (^Left) Move the cursor to the previous word │
- │ ^B Center the current line │
- │ ^C (PgDn) Move the cursor down one screen length │
- │ ^D (Right) Move the cursor one column to the right │
- │ ^E (Up) Move the cursor up one line │
- │ ^F (^Right) Move the cursor to the next word │
- │ ^G (Del) Delete the character under the cursor. If the │
- │ cursor is at the end of the line, the following │
- │ line will be brought up onto the end of the │
- │ current line. Depending on the structure of the │
- │ paragraph, the lines may be reformatted. │
- │ │
- │ ^H (Backspace) Delete the previous character. If at the beginning │
- │ of the line, will move to the end of the previous │
- │ line, bringing the line up with it. │
- │ │
- │ ^I (Tab) Move the cursor to the next horizontal tab stop. │
- │ ^K (F4) Close the quote window if it is open. │
- │ ^L Redraw the screen. │
- │ ^M (Enter) Move the cursor to the beginning of the next line. │
- │ If the cursor is not at the end of the line and the │
- │ editor is in insert mode, the text will be moved to │
- │ the next line as well. │
- │ ^N (ShiftTab) Toggle autoindent mode. In this mode, while typing │
- │ a paragraph, if the text wraps past the last column │
- │ on the screen, it will be indented equal to the │
- │ indention of the previous line. The result would │
- │ look like this reference section. │
- │ ^O (ESC) Bring up the editing functions menu. │
- │ ^P (End) Move the cursor to the end of the current line. │
- │ ^Q (F3) Open the quote window (if quote text is available). │
- │ ^R (PgUp) Move the cursor up one screen length. │
- │ ^S (Left) Move the cursor left one column. │
- │ ^T (AltK) Delete the word or space to the right of the cursor. │
- │ ^U (Ins) Insert deleted lines from the scrap buffer. │
- │ ^V (AltI) Toggle insert mode. │
- │ ^W (Home) Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. │
- │ ^X (Down) Move the cursor down one line. │
- │ ^Y (AltD) Delete the current line to the scrap buffer. │
- │ ^Z (ESC/S) Save the message and exit the editor. │
- │ │
- │ (^Home) Move the cursor to the top of the edit window. │
- │ (^End) Move the cursor to the bottom of the edit window. │
- │ (^PgUp) Move the cursor to the top of the message. │
- │ (^PgDn) Move the cursor to the end of the message. │
- │ (Grey+) Copy the current line to the scrap buffer without │
- │ deleting it. │
- │ (Grey-) Cut the current line to the scrap buffer (the same │
- │ as ^Y and AltD. │
- │ (AltQ) Quit without saving or asking any questions. │
- │ (AltX) Bring up the command menu (like ^O and ESC). │
- │ (AltW) Save message and exit without any questions. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ « 4.0 » SysOp Specific Operation │
- ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
- │ │
- │ GEdit has a number of functions which are available to the system │
- │ operator while the program is executing. These functions are only │
- │ available from the local keyboard and cannot be activated in any way by │
- │ the caller. │
- │ │
- │ AltF2 Allows a text file to be imported from the local disk. │
- │ The sysop is prompted for the filename in the command │
- │ area of the screen display. While the program is │
- │ waiting for a filename to be entered, the program is │
- │ no longer checking any time limits. This function is │
- │ available from the local keyboard at all times. │
- │ │
- │ AltC Invoke an external chat utility to chat with the user. │
- │ In the unregistered version, GCHAT.EXE is hard-coded. │
- │ In future registered versions, any external chat program │
- │ will be able to be specified. │
- │ │
- │ AltH Hangup on the current user and return to the BBS. The │
- │ modems DTR line will be dropped until the carrier is │
- │ lost or until the hangup routine times out. │
- │ │
- │ AltJ Swaps the editor to EMS/XMS/Disk and invokes a DOS │
- │ shell. If insufficient memory is available to swap │
- │ the editor, the shell will still be attempted but the │
- │ amount of available memory will be reduced. │
- │ │
- │ AltU Toggles the users keyboard on/off while user is online. │
- │ │
- │ Alt- Decrease the users time remaining by one minute. │
- │ │
- │ Alt= Increate the users time remaining by one minute. │
- │ │
- │ ShiftF1.. Sysop macro keys. These keys, when pressed locally, │
- │ ShiftF12 will send the respective keyboard macro string to the │
- │ editor. The macros are kept in a standard DOS text │
- │ file. The first 12 lines of the text file are assigned │
- │ to the Shift-F1 throught Shift-F12 function keys. │
- │ │
- │ The text file "GEDIT.MAC" must be located in the same │
- │ directory as the GEDIT.EXE file. │
- │ │
- │ The following characters are recognized as special │
- │ characters in the macro string. These characters are │
- │ identical to those used by FrontDoor in the editor │
- │ keyboard macros. │
- │ │
- │ | - insert [Enter] key │
- │ ~ - begin control sequence using next character │
- │ ~ - insert tilde (~) │
- │ | - insert pipe (|) │
- │ ! - invoke DOS shell │
- │ > - cursor right │
- │ < - cursor left │
- │ ^ - cursor up │
- │ V - cursor down │
- │ } - delete to end of line │
- │ S - save message │
- │ # - save message │
- │ U - insert user's name │
- │ │
- │ │
- │ ««« NOTE the following keys are temporary kludges until the GEdit »»» │
- │ ««« Customization Program is completed. NO BUG REPORTS ON THESE »»» │
- │ ««« KEYS PLEASE!!! »»» │
- │ │
- │ AltS Select color to change. The name of the color item to │
- │ be changed is displayed in the lower-right corner. │
- │ │
- │ AltF Increment the foreground color by one (cycles). │
- │ │
- │ AltB Increment the background color by one (cycles). │
- │ │
- │ AltW Write color information file (GEDIT.CLR). The file is │
- │ created in the directory from which GEDIT.EXE was loaded. │
- │ To reset the defaults colors, delete this file. │
- │ │
- ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
- │ │
- │ Thank you for trying GEdit. I hope that you find it useful and make it │
- │ the default editor on your system. If you have any problems or │
- │ suggestions for future versions, please feel free to contact me at any of │
- │ the locations mentioned in this document. │
- │ │
- │ I would like to personally thank all of the beta testers that helped with │
- │ the testing of GEdit. Your patience and dedication is appreciated. │
- │ │
- │ - Chris Patterson, GEdit Author │
- │ │
- └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
-
-