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AutoCLI V1.88 15th Dec 1990 by Nic Wilson ----------------------------------------- BUG FIXES & CHANGES SINCE THE VERSION ON MEGADISC 17 ---------------------------------------------------- THE FOLLOWING BUGS AND CHANGES CAN ONLY BE GUARANTEED ON VERSIONS 1.82 AND HIGHER. SEE NEW -l FUNCTION below BUGS ---- 1. FUNCTION KEY SCRIPT FILES WOULD OFTEN CAUSE A SYSTEM HANG OR GURU. Now Fixed. Caused by priority inheritance problem. 2. IF AutoCLI WAS LAUNCHED IN MIXED CASE, REMOVAL WAS NOT POSSIBLE. Now Fixed. Any case mixture is acceptable 3. MOUSE BLANKING (-b) SOMETIMES GAVE A VERTICAL BAR ON THE SCREEN. Now Fixed. Now manipulates copper list instead of Sprite DMA. 4. MOUSE BLANKING (-b) SOMETIMES CAUSED CERTAIN PROGRAMS TO HANG. Now Fixed. DMA problem. Same bug as above. 5. CUSTOM CLI WINDOWS DID NOT WORK IF TIME BLANKING OPTION USED. Now Fixed. Programming bug. 6. (-w) OPTION SOMETIMES DID NOT WORK. Now Fixed. Intuition problem, now using Layers instead. 7. SCREEN BLANKING HUNG THE SYSTEM IF DRIVE WAS BEING ACCESSED. Now Fixed. DMA problem, fixed by manipulating copper lists. 8. ON 68020 OR 68030 AMIGA, FUNCTION KEYS WOULD OFTEN CRASH Fixed in 1.83. Needed slight delay before changing priority. 9. MOUSE BLANKING IMPROVED FURTHER. Done in 1.84 10. SOMETIMES IT WOULD TAKE A WHILE TO RETURN COMMAND LINE AT LAUNCH. Bug in FindProcess macro, sometimes got confused about a task. Fixed in V1.85 11. IF IT WAS LAUNCHED PRECEDED BY COLON (ie. c:autocli) IT COULD BE LAUNCHED MORE THAN ONCE AND DID NOT REMOVE CORRECTLY. Fixed in V1.85 (same bug as item 10.) 12. WHEN RUNNING UNDER OS2.0 MOUSE BLANKING DID NOT WORK, BECAUSE THE GFXBASE COPINIT STRUCTURE CHANGED. NOW IT CHECKS KICKSTART VERSION AND WORKS AGAIN. Change made in version 1.88 CHANGES ------- Addition of options window that allows, changes to your options without having to remove and relaunch. See main docs below for instructions on its use. Addition of new Lock Pointer option (-l or -lr). This function allows you to freeze either vertical, horizontal or both mouse movements. This is great for icon aligning or better control in paint programs. How many times have you carefully placed the mouse and had it move slightly when the button was clicked. KNOWN BUGS OR CONFLICTS ----------------------- Problems have been encountered with non standard versions of the 'RUN' command. This command is called by dos.library's 'execute' command. If you have problems with the Amiga crashing when a CLI is popped up then make sure the 'run' command is standard. The one I use came from an original 1.3.2 workbench and has a filesize of 2568 bytes. It is also recommended that ARP Library commands are not used, as they are not very compatible and can cause various problems. SUGGESTIONS ----------- If AutoCLI does not have your favourite function, or you can think of any improvements, then write and tell me. The best suggestions will receive a full version of NoVirus free of charge. This program has been placed on the Public Domain for your enjoyment. Permission is hereby given to distribute this program in any way you see fit, as long as this doc file accompanies it. Please send any bug reports or ideas (and spare money) to the address at the bottom of this file. Commercial companies may also distribute the program, as long as the program is free of charge and this file accompanies it. We at Nic Wilson Software not only write commercial programs, but as you see we write non-commercial too. If you like this program and you use it, then help us by sending a donation to the address below. PROGRAM SUMMARY --------------- This program was written because of problems with the similar program I have been using called 'popcli'. Popcli crashes if used under WorkBench/KickStart 2.0, and also if used on a PAL Amiga to open a CLI window with a vertical size greater than 200 lines, it will not open if your Amiga decides to start in NTSC mode as they sometimes do. Popcli also seems to waste CPU time when waiting and doesn't allow you to remove it from memory without crashing or a reboot. AutoCLI overcomes all of the above problems and has many added features equivalent to other programs around, but uses less CPU time. In fact while waiting it uses 0.0% (as seen in 'Xoper'). AutoCLI was written in 100% Assembler using Devpac Amiga V2.14. Hand coded assembler is definately the best way to program. The code is small and executes very quickly as compared to coding in 'C' or other language, as the code generated would be much larger and slower. This can be noticed by running a program like 'xoper' that shows a percentage of CPU time that each task is using. The only time AutoCLI uses time is if an event sends it a signal to do something. A lot of programmers that do not use assembler, code the event handler in C:, which is against good programming practise, as stated in the Amiga Rom Kernal Reference Manual, Libraries and Devices Revised and Updated. FEATURES -------- * Kickstart / Workbench 1.2, 1.3, 2.0 compatible * Compatible with A500, A1000, A2000, A2500, A3000 * Default or custom CLI / Shell windows * Default windows open to 1 pixel less than current screen * Function key scripts option * Options window allows modification while running * Active window to front option * Screen shuffle option * Window shuffle option * Screen blanking after time period option * Mouse blanking on key press or time option * Mouse acceleration option * No CPU time wastage * 100% machine code * Freely distributable PROGRAM USAGE FOR INSTALLING AutoCLI ------------------------------------ AutoCLI [<optional switches>] [<optional seconds>] [<optional command>] DO NOT USE RUN or RUNBACK as it will return the command line and allow the window it was launched from to close, when an ENDCLI command is given. Yet it still retains the directory it was launched from and does not lose the current path or stack as some programs do. This means that when a CLI is popped up it will default to the directory that was current, when AutoCLI was launched. The path and stack that was set, will still be valid. The program is mainly designed to be used in your startup-sequence so you will always have a CLI window available very easily. For best results, AutoCLI should reside in your C: directory. OPTIONAL SWITCHES ----------------- The following switches do not have to be given in any particular order, but must all be before the optional seconds and command parameters. All options default to OFF and must be enabled with a switch. Any of these options can be modified after launch, by using the Option Window provided. (see OPTIONS WINDOW below) -f This switch enables function key trapping. When your qualifier (see below) is held down and a function key pressed, the program will execute a script file in the assigned S: directory with a filename of autocli.f1 to autocli.f10. This file must be a normal script (eg. startup-sequence). -w This switch enables the window to front option. To use this function, select the window you want at the front by clicking the left mouse inside the window and then hold your qualifier key (see below) and press the Left ALT key. -n This switch enables the screen shuffle option. To use this function, hold down your qualifier key and use the cursor up or down keys. These keys rotate all screens in opposite directions to each other. This is different to the standard LEFT AMIGA N & M. These standard keys only swap between the front and rear most screens. -m This switch enables the window shuffle option. To use this function, hold down your qualifier key and use the cursor left or right keys. This will move the front most window to the back or the back most window to the front respectively. The window shuffle always occurs on the screen that is at the front. This allows you to easily move between windows and screens by using the qualifier and all the cursor keys -q This switch enables mouse acceleration, If you find that it is too fast, slow it down in preferences. The amount it speeds the mouse up by depends on the speed the mouse is being moved. As it moves quicker the acceleration rate increases and as it slows down the acceleration rate also decreases. -l or -lr This switch allows the mouse movements to be frozen in vertical, horizontal or both directions. If the CONTROL key is depressed the horizontal movements are frozen. If the LEFT ALT key is pressed then the vertical movements are frozen. If both are depressed then all movements are frozen. When either of these keys are released then movements continue in that direction. If these keys conflict with your chosen qualifier key (see -s -c -a) then use the -lr switch instead, your keys with then change to RIGHT SHIFT for horizontal and RIGHT ALT for vertical. -b This switch enables mouse blanking. When any key is pressed the mouse pointer will be immediately blanked, or if no mouse movement is detected within 30 seconds the mouse pointer will be blanked. As soon as the mouse is moved at all the pointer will be returned immediately. This overcomes the annoying habit of the pointer always being in the way while typing. -s -c -a The default qualifier key is the LEFT AMIGA but this can be changed with a switch. The -s switch changes the qualifier key to the SHIFT key. The -c switch changes it to the CONTROL key, and the -a switch changes it to the ALT key. To use the default key (LEFT AMIGA) then don't use any of these three switches. Note that this qualifier key is also the same for the autocli function as well. -r The above qualifier is, by default, the key on the LEFT side of the keyboard. To change this to the RIGHT side, use thi switch. ? If the switch is a single question mark, then AutoCLI will display a USAGE string on the current CLI window. It will not install or remove itself. remove This switch should be used on its own. It will signal the current version of AutoCLI to shut down and remove itself. Whenever it attempts this removal, a success or failure message will be displayed on the CLI window. OPTIONS WINDOW -------------- This function is always available, even if function key scripts (-f) is turned off. It is accessed by holding the qualifier key and pressing HELP. A window will open on the front most screen with gadgets set with your current options. Click on the gadgets to turn functions on or off. Screen blanking time can be changed by clicking in the gadget and changing it accordingly. If you turn screen blanking on, but give no time, then a default time of 300 seconds will be set. At the bottom of the window are two gadgets, 'OK' and 'REMOVE'. The remove gadget will remove AutoCLI from memory completely. The ok gadget will set the new options you have made. OPTIONAL SECONDS ---------------- This is an optional time (in seconds) to blank the screen when no user input is detected. The default is off, so if blanking is not wanted then do not give a time at all. When the screen has been blanked, it can be turned on again by touching any key or moving the mouse. Because it only requires a single rawmouse event, we have found that giving your computer table a nudge is sufficient to turn the display on again. OPTIONAL COMMAND ---------------- If no optional command is given then AutoCLI will use a default command. AutoCLI will launch and wait for your qualifier key and ESCAPE to be pressed. When this event occurs AutoCLI will open a CLI window 1 pixel less than the size of the WorkBench Screen at the time it is opened. So if resolution mode is changed AutoCLI will notice the change. If NEWCON: is available, a Shell window will open instead of a CLI window. If an optional command is given, AutoCLI will execute that command in preference to the default CLI/SHELL window when your qualifier key and ESCAPE is pressed (see EXAMPLES). This allows custom commands or custom size CLI/Shell windows to be used. Note that if AutoCLI is already in memory it will display an error message on the current CLI window. EXAMPLES -------- AutoCLI -f -w -n -m -l -r -s 600 newshell newcon:0/10/640/150/MyShell (opens a Shell window with a title of 'MyShell', enables function keys, selects the RIGHT SHIFT as your qualifier, enables the window to front option ,enables the screen shuffle option, enables the window shuffle, enables pointer lock and will blank the screen after 10 mins of non use). AutoCLI -f -w YourProg (runs a file called YourProg. When LEFT AMIGA/ESCAPE is pressed enables function keys and window to front and will disable the screen blanking ie. no time given). AutoCLI remove (attempts to remove the currently running version from memory and displays a success or failure message). REQUIREMENTS ------------ The following commands MUST be available in the current C: directory :- run ; c directory (called by the DOS Execute function) newcli ; c directory (called by AutoCLI if NEWCON not available) newshell ; c directory (called by AutoCLI if NEWCON is available) shell-seg ; l directory (needed if newcon: is mounted) AutoCLI ; c directory The following commands, devices, files are optional :- cli-startup ; s directory (script executed by Newcli) shell-startup ; s directory (script executed by NewShell) NEWCON: ; (must be mounted to enable Shell instead of CLI) AutoCLI.F1 ; s directory (script file for qualifier/F1) AutoCLI.F2 ; s directory (script file for qualifier/F2) ...etc. NOTE: 'Amiga' is a Trademark of Commodore Amiga Inc. The idea for Pointer Lock come from a program 'Tame Pointer' by JOHN ROWE. Nic Wilson Software 138d South Street TOOWOOMBA Queensland 4350 Australia Phone (076) 358539 Home, (076) 358522 Work or Fax