PsL Monthly 1993 December

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********************************** TOGETHER! ********************************** Version 3.0 / May 1993 User Manual Copyright (C) 1990-1993 Joe (Giuseppe) Colucciello TABLE OF CONTENTS SHAREWARE NOTICE & REGISTRATION I. INTRODUCTION TOGETHER! at a Glance Compatibility Checklist System Requirements II. INSTALLATION Related Documentation Copy and Back Up Installing TOGETHER! Setup: TOGETHER.INI file Loading and UnLoading TOGETHER! Command line options Sample Pictures and Quick Start III. TOGETHER! BASICS Overview Features - About "Menus On The Fly" - About Pictures files and the Default - Viewing Text with Picture - Scrolling - Scaling - Grab Display - Help Window IV. USING TOGETHER! <Ctrl-Alt-T> "Activating" TOGETHER! Selecting a Picture Split Option Keys Arrow Keys Scale Menu Grab Key Space Bar Help Key <Escape> "Exiting" TOGETHER! V. APPENDICES Hardware Supported by TOGETHER! Credits & Trademarks Acknowledgments SHAREWARE NOTICE & REGISTRATION You are receiving a program under the "SHAREWARE" concept, this is a copyrighted program. NO PROGRAM OR SYSTEM SOFTWARE MAY BE SOLD OR DISTRIBUTED WITH TOGETHER!, UNLESS THE SELLER IS REGISTERED. You are permitted to: * Review and experiment with this program, until you determine if it suits your needs. * Distribute copies of TOGETHER! diskette "AS IT IS" at no fee charge. if you find this program helpful, take a few moments to fill out and send the included registration card (REGISTER.DOC) and a registration fee of $30. Please make the check or money order payable to: Joe Colucciello 830 WREN Avenue Miami Springs, FL 33166 This entitles you to receive new versions of the program at no (or very little) extra cost! TOGETHER! is not copy protected. This software is protected by federal COPYRIGHT LAW. Individuals who make any other use not mentioned here may be subject to civil and criminal penalties. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the software and any further programs developed utilizing the software is assumed by you. YOU MUST NOTIFY the author if you are distributing a product that uses this software, and include the statement: "TOGETHER! (C) Copyright J. Colucciello, 1990-1993" on the credit page of your documentation. I. INTRODUCTION TOGETHER! at a Glance TOGETHER! is the most innovative and elegant answer to the well known question: How can Graphics/Pictures be mixed with a text- based application? Without a graphics environment (GUI)? Without Programming? Using standard hardware? Easy to use? ... Using TOGETHER! "The Ultimate Graphics TSR", as I call it. As a computer user, you may realize the explosion of products related to Graphics and Multimedia environments allowing text and interactive data to be mixed with still photograph, video, sound, etc. TOGETHER! was designed with the purpose of allowing, in a simple manner, pictures or images displayed TOGETHER! with its associated text on one screen without the need of sophisticated and expensive programs, and without any requirement of technical commands or conventions, except the name of the picture! TOGETHER! has been designed so that the user can benefit immediately from it. There are many good text based applications in the market today and they have many users. Now these applications can be drastically enhanced to include picture/image association without sophisticated programming of any kind. You will visualize the enormous power and versatility of TOGETHER!, and you are probably thinking of all the things you can do, now that you have TOGETHER!. Compatibility TOGETHER! has been tested with many of the most popular database applications (and programs related to them), word processors, spreadsheets and stand alone programs in different screens. If you have any problem with your specific application please report it to me with the following information: Application Name Manufacturer Version CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT contents I can be reached in CompuServe at 76460,3127 Checklist The TOGETHER! diskette contains the following items (files): TOGETHER .EXE TOGETHER! program TOGETHER .INI TOGETHER! sample INI (configuration) file TOGETHER .DOC TOGETHER! user manual (this document) PICTURES .ZIP ZIP-packed file with Sample Pictures READ .ME! If present, useful information Or if you have downloaded TOGETHER! from a BBS you'll have a TOGETHER.ZIP file with all the items contained in it. System Requirements To use TOGETHER! you must have an IBMTM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or near 100% compatible computer with at least 640Kb memory + Expanded Memory, LIM 4.0 compatible (size depends on picture sizes), one diskette drive and hard disk , a HERCULESTM (or monographic compatible), CGA, EGA ,MCGA, VGA or SVGA compatible display adapter (see Appendix), and MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 3.1 or above. If a Expanded Manager is present, TOGETHER! will swap a large amount of it's code to EMM, leaving conventional memory for other applications. TOGETHER! uses the PC Paintbrush by ZSoftTM Corporation file format (PCX). This format is considered a standard in the market. All graphics and painting programs, scanners, video frame grabbers and capture programs, digitizing software, etc. allow to save in PCX format. II. INSTALLATION Related Documentation To make the best use out of the TOGETHER! program and this user's guide, you need to be somewhat familiar with PC-DOS operating system and with your computer hardware. You can find the necessary information about these topics within the documentation that came with your present system. Copy and Backup Diskette The first thing you should do is make a backup copy of the original TOGETHER! diskette. This is very important to protect the information on your original diskette from loss or damage. Refer to your DOS manual if you need information about using the DISKCOPY command. TOGETHER! is distributed on one (1) standard 360Kb 5 1/4" DS/DD diskette or upon request on one (1) 720Kb 3 1/2" diskette. Once you have made the backup diskette, store the original in a cool, dry, safe place, and use the backup copy for all further activities described in this manual. Installing TOGETHER! To install TOGETHER! in your computer, follow these next easy steps (Replace the drive letter by the letter that applies in your case): 1. Create a directory for TOGETHER! in your hard disk, MD TOGETHER <ENTER> CD TOGETHER <ENTER> (you can select any name for the directory) 2. Place the TOGETHER! Program Disk in Drive A COPY A:*.* 3. At this point you must configure TOGETHER! through the TOGETHER.INI file based on your hardware. Setup: TOGETHER.INI file Trough this file the TSR gets the initial parameters to load itself in memory and be ready to be triggered with the proper configuration. The TOGETHER.INI provided with the program can be modified based on your present configuration using any text editor (i.e. MS-DOS EDIT or EDLIN, ASCII word processor, etc.): Valid entries and parameters: I. To specify in which mode the display adapter should be set when displays 2 colors pictures: [2.COLORS.MODE];m2 Where m2 must an entry from the table: Graphics modes supported. Same, but for 16 colors: [16.COLORS.MODE];m16 and for 256 colors: [256.COLORS.MODE];m256 Note: TOGETHER! can display a 2, 16, 256 color pictures, even if picture was saved with different adapters (mode) but containing the same number of colors. i.e. a 2 color picture saved using a VGA adapter can be displayed in Hercules mono-graphics, or a 256 color picture, saved in 640x480 can be displayed in 256 colors 800x600 and viceversa, etc. Note: For adapters that can display the 3 modes, the entries can be or (must be) specified at once. i.e. Tseng Labs Super VGA Adapter: [2.COLORS.MODE];6 [16.COLORS.MODE];7 [256.COLORS.MODE];13 ... Graphic Modes Supported "Use the number (n) for the INI file entries" (Next page...) Adapters and Resolution Colors CGA EGA VGA HERCULES ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 2 640x200 (1) 640x350 (4) 640x480 (6) 720x348 (9) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 16 - 640x350 (5) 640x480 (7) - ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 256 - - 320x200 (8) - ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SVGA Adapters (Chipset) and Resolution 1/2 Colors Tseng Labs Paradise Video Seven ATI ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 2 640x480 (6) 640x480 (6) 640x480 (6) 640x480 (6) 800x600 (15) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 16 640x480 (7) 640x480 (7) 640x480 (7) 640x480 (7) 800x600 (10) 800x600 (14) 800x600 (18) 800x600 (22) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 256 320x200 (8) 320x200 (8) 320x200 (8) 320x200 (8) 640x350 (11) 640x400 (16) 640x400 (19) 640x400 (23) 640x480 (12) 640x480 (17) 640x480 (20) 640x480 (24) 800x600 (13) 800x600 (21) 800x600 (25) 1024x768 (26) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── SVGA Adapters (Chipset) and Resolution 2/2 Colors Trident VESA compat. ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ 2 640x480 (6) 640x480 (6) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 16 640x480 (7) 640x480 (7) 800x600 (31) 800x600 (38) ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 256 320x200 (8) 320x200 (8) 640x400 (32) 640x400 (36) 640x480 (33) 640x480 (37) 800x600 (34) 800x600 (39) 1024x768 (35) 1024x768 (40) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── II. Location to look for picture files (.PCX): (optional) [PCX.PATH];d:\.... Where d:\.... is any DOS valid path (useful for applications that share a common directory for picture storage or a file server). Defaults to the directory where TOGETHER! is called when the Hot- Key is pressed. III. Screen Range (optional) [RANGE];r1;r2 Where r1: start line r2: end line A "where-to-look" range on the screen can be specified for TOGETHER! to look for picture names. Useful for applications that have a known position to look for the picture name. i.e. data-base inquiry screen with a field for picture-name for TOGETHER!. Defaults r1=1 and r2=25 (full text screen). IV. Default display SPLIT The SPLIT is the way TOGETHER! will show the picture along with the text screen (see: TOGETHER! basics). Note: the split can always be changed through keyboard. [DEFAULT.SPLIT];s Where s can have any of the following values: <> <N> Non split (default), <H> Horizontal, <V> Vertical, <C> Corner and <O> Overlay. Note: Learn more about SPLIT's further in this manual. Loading and Unloading TOGETHER! After setting up TOGETHER! properly you simply enter the following commands: 1. CD\TOGETHER <ENTER> (replace TOGETHER by the name of the directory you've chosen during installation) 2. TOGETHER <ENTER> The program will now display the Copyright notice and will be ready to activate using the "Hotkey": CTRL-ALT-T. You will no longer need to reload TOGETHER!, it becomes memory resident. (If you want to load TOGETHER every time you startup the system you can put this command sequence in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file). If for any reason you need to Unload TOGETHER!, enter the following: 1. CD\TOGETHER <ENTER> 2. TOGETHER/U <ENTER> (/U stand for Un-install) At this point TOGETHER unloads itself and frees up all the memory used by it. This feature is helpful if you want to load TOGETHER! with specific applications and unload it after using these programs, allowing other applications for their memory needs. Command line options /F=n Specify font size for text display. Values (n): 16 font 8x16 (default) 14 font 8x14 8 font 8x8 Sample Pictures and Quick Start In the distribution diskette you'll find some picture samples (PICTURES.ZIP): 1. CD\TOGETHER <ENTER> To see a brief description of the pictures enter: 2. TYPE PICTURES.DOC <ENTER> You can try TOGETHER! at this moment. After loading it, type: DIR <ENTER> (DOS will display the directory with the sample pictures) Press: Ctrl+Alt+T (To activate TOGETHER!) Try now with one of your text applications and your own pictures!!! III. TOGETHER! BASICS Overview TOGETHER! is a memory resident program (TSR). Once activated it scans the actual application screen and looks for the name of the picture(s). If there is more than one picture TOGETHER! creates a "menu on the fly" allowing the user to select the picture to view. TOGETHER! can detect automatically which kind of display is the best for the specified picture and displays it along with the Text- screen. Features - About "Menus On the Fly" Once activated (through the hot-key), TOGETHER! "scans" the actual application screen to find words that match pictures filenames to display. If there is more than one picture name on the screen, TOGETHER! will show those names "blinking", at this time the user is able to move the marker (reverse video) with the arrow keys and hit the enter key to display the desired picture, after seeing the image, TOGETHER! will come back to the menu. The number of picture names per menu or screen is limited to sixteen (16). - About Picture files and the Default TOGETHER! can only display pictures that are saved in ZSoft's PC Paintbrush format (PCX). Most of the popular graphics packages have conversion utilities compatible with the Paintbrush format. If no picture filename is found by TOGETHER! when activated, it looks for the default picture if it exists (DEFAULT.PCX) - Viewing Text with Picture The picture can be placed on the screen in different ways, TOGETHER! provides, through a keystroke, several "splits/windows" to show the picture along with the text: Horizontal Vertical Non Corner Overlay ┌─────────┐ ┌────┬────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │ Text │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Text │ │ Picture │ ├─────────┤ │Text│Pict│ │ Picture │ │ ┌────┤ │(Backg.) │ │ Picture │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │Pict│ │ Text │ └─────────┘ └────┴────┘ └─────────┘ └────┴────┘ └─────────┘ - Scrolling If the picture does not fit in the screen in any of the "splits" available, you can pan or scroll the image in it's own window using the arrow keys. - Scaling TOGETHER! let you change the size of the picture displayed, pressing the scale menu key. Here you have options to scale the picture to a bigger/smaller size, using a given scale factor. Note: It's important to have enough Expanded Memory available to use this operation. - Grab Display The grab feature, allows "freeze" of a TOGETHER! display and saves it to a picture file to be used in the future. These screens are helpful for documentation, shows, etc. or to be displayed again with TOGETHER! itself for a specific layout. TOGETHER! automatically generates a name for the grab file using this rule: TGRABnnn.PCX, where TGRAB and the .PCX extension is "fixed", "nnn" is the sequential counter of the grabs issued, the counter is reset to 000, every time TOGETHER! is loaded. - Help Window By pressing the <F1> key the help window is available, to remind and show the user, TOGETHER!'s specific version features and how to activate them. IV. USING TOGETHER! <Ctrl-Alt-T> "Activating" TOGETHER! The Hot-key to activate TOGETHER! is the combination of three keys pressed at the same time: <Ctrl Alt T>, we chose this combination to avoid any possible conflict with other programs. If you've a specific application that needs a different hot-key please give us a call and we'll help you. Selecting a Picture If your application screen has more than one picture to display, TOGETHER! starts the "menu" to let you select the desired image. To select or move the "reverse video" marker, use the arrow keys. With these keys you can move freely from one picture to another. To show the picture, place the marker over the word and hit the <ENTER> key. Split Option Keys You can choose from four (4) different Split modes for displaying your text and picture on the screen. We strongly recommend that you try them all so you can find the Split Mode that suits your application based on the size and/or shape of the Picture, and the layout of the text screen. The Split Modes available are: H = Splits the screen in two (2) Horizontal Sections V = Splits the screen in two (2) Vertical Sections N = Non Split, displays the Picture only (default) C = Displays the Picture on the lower-right corner of the screen O = Overlays the Text-Screen over the Picture (The Picture appear as a Background) Don't worry if you choose the wrong Split Mode, because once within TOGETHER!, you can always change it without exiting the program selecting the Split Mode desired. Arrow keys Once the Text-Screen and Picture have been placed on the screen, you may scroll the contents of your Picture file using the arrow keys. Your picture will be scrolled as many pixels according to the Split mode in use. If any edge of the Picture is reached, a beep will be heard. Space Bar By hitting the Space Bar you're able to change the text color. Note: The text color varies depending on the actual picture palette. Scale Menu Pressing the <S> will bring up the Scale Menu. The following parameters of the scale operation can be changed: Increase <+> or decrease <-> scale factor, (now supports only integer factors) The scale operation itself, <S> can be changed to enlarge + or reduce - the image. The <G> is the go key to start the operation. Grab Key If it's available in the version you installed, through the key <G> you are able to "grab" or capture the actual display, the file is saved in the application directory or the one specified on [PCX.PATH] entry (TOGETHER.INI). See the explanation for the grab filenames in the section "Features" under Grab Display. Help Key If you're displaying a picture, pressing the <F1>, TOGETHER! will bring a "HELP" window screen with all the features available at the moment. <Escape> "Exiting" TOGETHER! To exit from TOGETHER! press the <ESC> key and you will be returned to your application program. V. APPENDICES Hardware Supported by TOGETHER! Any Scanner and/or Capture board capable of saving images under the PCX file format can be used with TOGETHER!. We recommend the user to try all the possibilities to find the best to fit his requirements in file size and display quality. TOGETHER! supports almost all the Display and adapters or compatible available in the market: Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) Hercules Graphics Adapter (HGA) Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) Video Graphics Array (VGA) Extended (SVGA) modes, using display chips from: Tseng Labs Video Seven ATI Paradise Trident VESA compatible Credits & Trademarks Acknowledgement Portions of this program where developed using the GENUS Microprogramming PCX Programmer's toolkit. GENUS Microprogramming, IBM, MICROSOFT, PKUNZIP, ZSOFT, PC-DOS and MS-DOS are Registered Trademarks. Other brands and product names mentioned here are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.