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- ECHO OFF
- :FIRST
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The first thing we will do is simply enter SDL all by itself.
- ECHO All you have to do is to find the key marked Esc and press
- ECHO it when the display pauses and waits for your input.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The default sort order (by Name) will be shown if SDL is in its
- ECHO original default configuration. Just observe the general format
- ECHO of the output and press Esc when you are ready to continue. Do
- ECHO not experiment with any other keys just yet.
- ECHO * * *
- pause
- sdl
- ECHO * * *
- if errorlevel 73 goto IS6
- if errorlevel 37 goto IS4
- ECHO In this case all of the file names fit on one screen in two columns.
- GOTO MORE
- :IS6
- ECHO Notice that the file names were displayed in six columns.
- GOTO MORE
- :IS4
- ECHO Notice that the file names were displayed in four columns.
- :MORE
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO If there are more file names than will fit in two columns, SDL will
- ECHO adjust the number of columns to try to fit them all on one screen.
- ECHO You can override this automatic adjustment by using a number option.
- ECHO Whenever the disk contains more files than can be fit on one screen,
- ECHO you will notice a pause when the screen is full before the directory
- ECHO is fully displayed. There are optional keys (N,X,S,D,O,2,4,6,Esc)
- ECHO listed on the bottom line. Any other key (such as Enter or space)
- ECHO will continue with the display.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO By the way, SDL sets the errorlevel to the number of files so in a batch
- ECHO program such as this you can check (as we did above) for this information.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FIRST
- :SECOND
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The next demo is simply to enter SDL for the current directory
- ECHO and specify a 2 column display. Notice the 2 columns of file
- ECHO names, and the option menu at the bottom of the display. You
- ECHO may experiment by pressing any of the keys shown in CAPS or
- ECHO numbers to change the display. If you press P, W, R, I, or T
- ECHO you will see the print menu. Be sure your printer is on line if
- ECHO you decide to try printing. (Otherwise your system may hang.)
- ECHO If you press E you will be asked to enter new titles. That's OK.
- ECHO If you are adventurous just follow the prompts.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO To exit and return to this DEMO press Esc to leave the directory on
- ECHO the screen, or either the space bar or Enter key to clear the screen.
- ECHO This may look like the previous demo depending on the number of files.
- ECHO (In the evaluation version the moving registration message may cover
- ECHO up the bottom row of the display if it extends down that far.)
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL /2
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FIRST
- SDL /2
- sdl_ask B
- :THIRD
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO As you can see, SDL works very much like DIR, only it is much
- ECHO more powerful and versatile. You will probably never want to
- ECHO use DIR again. Did you notice how the files were sorted? Not
- ECHO helter skelter like DIR, but in alphabetical order. If you use
- ECHO different extensions on your files to denote different uses for
- ECHO the files, you might like to see the files sorted by extension.
- ECHO To do this it is not necessary to exit to DOS and run SDL all over
- ECHO again. You can easily change the sort order by pressing one of
- ECHO the keys: X for eXtension, S for Size, D for Date and time, N
- ECHO for Name, or O to not sort at all and show the files in the
- ECHO same order as DIR would. Try it. The files will be sorted by
- ECHO eXtension. Try the other keys and observe the differences.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Note, when we show the options as / something, we mean that they
- ECHO are entered on the command line from the DOS prompt after SDL,
- ECHO not at the end of the display. To make a menu selection at the
- ECHO end of the display simply press the key without the / and without
- ECHO Enter. Now we are ready to enter the command to sort by eXtension
- ECHO and we will also specify a 4 column display.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL /x /4
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto SECOND
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO The last one went by pretty fast, so this time we'll include
- ECHO /c to turn the screen clearing OFF and let you see what is happening.
- echo Note the file order, and press a sort key: n x s d o
- sdl /x/c/4
- ECHO off
- :FOURTH
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO There are two options that control aspects of the screen display.
- ECHO the /C option toggles the clearing of the screen both before and
- ECHO after the directory listing is displayed. If the screen has been
- ECHO clearing before showing the directory (the original default), then
- ECHO /C will cause it not to clear, but to scroll. This may slow down
- ECHO the display slightly. Press C at the end to clear the screen.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The /H option will turn off the first two lines of the header.
- ECHO This makes room for two more rows of file names. The first row
- ECHO is more useful for floppies because it shows the volume label, but
- ECHO if you are listing files on a hard disk, the first two rows don't
- ECHO give you any new information, and can easily be dispensed with unless
- ECHO you need the reminder line. /H is also a toggle, so if the first 2
- ECHO lines have been turned off, /H will turn them back on.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Let's display all files ending in .DOC. The command is
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO sdl *.doc /c/h
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto THIRD
- ECHO We are turning "echo" ON so you can see the command.
- ECHO Now try pressing H and C to see the effects. Look for a "hidden" file.
- echo on
- sdl *.doc /c/h
- ECHO off
- :FIFTH
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO In the previous 2 column display you may have noticed a column
- ECHO labelled Atr. This column shows the file attributes as H for hidden,
- ECHO R for read only, S for system, and A if the archive bit is set.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Two options control the types of files that will be displayed. The /A
- ECHO option stands for All and controls the display of sub-directories and
- ECHO hidden files. It is another toggle, so using /A will change it from the
- ECHO default which originally is ON (DIRs and hidden are shown).
- ECHO Hidden files can't hide from SDL unless you want them to.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FOURTH
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The /k option shows only files that have their archive bit set.
- ECHO This will be of interest to you if you use a bacKup program that
- ECHO uses the archive bit to determine which files need backing up.
- ECHO (The DOS BACKUP command is one.) Don't use /A and /K at the
- ECHO same time. /K takes precedence and cancels /A.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO This time we will specify a 2 column display and use the /K option
- ECHO so you can see the A's in the Atr column. We will also use /M (for More)
- ECHO to turn off the pause at the end of the display (but to give you
- ECHO time to read, we will have DOS pause for you. This time any
- ECHO key at all will continue, so don't press one until ready.)
- ECHO The command is
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL /k/m/2
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FOURTH
- sdl /k/m/2
- pause
- :SIXTH
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Notice that by not pausing, the menu at the end of the directory is
- ECHO not available. There are times when this might be useful. Not
- ECHO pausing also suppresses the intermediate pause if the screen fills.
- ECHO If you have been using fewer files than will fill a screen, you
- ECHO have not seen the pause at the end of the intermediate screens,
- ECHO only the final screen. You can demonstrate this for yourself by
- ECHO running SDL on a directory or disk with more files. When you do
- ECHO that you will see the pause prompt starting with 2,4,6 indicating
- ECHO that those keys will do something other than just continue with
- ECHO the next screen. If you press one of them, SDL will immediately
- ECHO start the display over again using the number of columns you specify.
- ECHO Try it later on a larger directory.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FIFTH
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Another key that is available at either an intermediate or final pause
- ECHO is the Esc (for Escape) key. This will exit immediately without
- ECHO clearing the screen. Try it on this next display which will also
- ECHO use the /A option. If this is a subdirectory, or has any hidden
- ECHO files, you would have seen them with the default configuration. If
- ECHO so, the /A will now turn them off (it is one of the toggles). We have
- ECHO included a hidden file for the demo. If you saw it before you won't
- ECHO now. The command is
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL /A/C
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto FIFTH
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO Press the Esc key when you want to exit.... . . . . . . .
- sdl /a/c
- :SEVENTH
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO That time we did not use the DOS Cls command, so the screen did not
- ECHO clear, but is now scrolling. Exiting with Esc is the way to keep
- ECHO the directory on the screen if you want to.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO To summarize all the available commands there is a /? option which will
- ECHO display a screen of HELP information. It is a brief summary of everything
- ECHO available in SDL. Because SDL is so powerful, it may be a little
- ECHO overwhelming at first, but it is nice to know that /? is available
- ECHO in case you ever need a reminder of some little used, but available,
- ECHO option.
- ECHO Because of the many new features in Version 4, there are now two help
- ECHO screens. The second one explains the print options and can be seen
- ECHO by pressing P at the end of the first screen as shown on the menu.
- ECHO When you exit /? does not pause at the end of the display so we will
- ECHO again use the DOS PAUSE command to give you time to read the screen.
- ECHO This time the commmand is simply
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL /?
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto SIXTH
- sdl /?
- pause
- :EIGHTH
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO A useful feature of SDL is that it allows you to specify replace-
- ECHO ment text for three title lines with the /E option. This lets
- ECHO you print labels and sleeve inserts with descriptions,
- ECHO identification, instructions, etc.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO The first two lines can also be customized to your liking by using
- ECHO the setup program SDLSETUP. For example you can change them to show
- ECHO your company name, address and telephone number to positively
- ECHO identify the source of the disk. You can still use /E to make
- ECHO temporary changes whenever you want to, and if you forget the /E
- ECHO you can enter E as an option at the end menu.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto end
- if not errorlevel 89 goto SEVENTH
- sdl_ask B
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO As the last non-printing demo, we will invoke the /E option and
- ECHO let you enter any 1, 2, or 3 lines you want to. Notice how they show
- ECHO up at the top of the display. The H option still gives control
- ECHO over the display of the first two title lines. Try pressing the H
- ECHO key at the end of the display and watch the first two lines flip
- ECHO from on to off or off to on.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO This time we'll show 6 COLS and look only at the COM files.
- ECHO The command is
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO SDL *.com /E/6/c
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO To leave a line unchanged just press Enter. To blank out an entire
- ECHO line, just enter one or more spaces.
- ECHO ON
- sdl *.com /e/6/c
- ECHO Off
- IF NOT .%1==.YES GOTO NOPRINT
- ECHO Now we are ready to begin the printing demos.
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if errorlevel 126 goto NOPRINT
- if not errorlevel 89 goto EIGHTH
- sdl_ask B
- demoprn
- :NOPRINT
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO You have requested to not include the printing demos at this time.
- ECHO Printing of labels and sleeve inserts is a valuable feature of SDL.
- ECHO SDL has some automatic printing features that greatly
- ECHO simplify the printing of labels. The /L (for Label) option does
- ECHO all of the calculation necessary to fit the file names onto the
- ECHO label.
- REM The /W and /T options will automatically calculate the number of
- REM columns needed for the number of file names to be printed.
- ECHO * * *
- ECHO Please be sure to run the DEMO with printing, and/or read
- ECHO the documentation to learn more about it.
- ECHO Press Y to continue when ready, N to repeat the previous demo...
- SDL_ASK C "Continue? " YN}~
- if not errorlevel 89 goto EIGHTH
- :end
- MENU
-