Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [1] Ascii-View [v3.80] Copyright 1989-1991 by David M. Seberg Why ? Why ?. Wow!, that COULD be a deep philosophical question, but not in this case. Ascii-View is simply an ASCII text viewing program that was developed to replace the boring, plain, dull, monotonous, inflexible [Show]-[Print]-[Cancel] feature of the standard ST Desktop. It does this by allowing the user to easily view an Ascii text file with a myriad of features not available from the standard ST desktop or from the multitude of text viewers currently available in the ST market place. INSTALLATION To begin installation you'll need a Phillips screwdriver, Crescent wrench, pliers, hammer, 4 flathead screws, 6 1-3/4 inch nails ....... O.K., O.K., I know, enough with the frivolities. You know, writing documentation isn't all that it's cracked up to be. The following files should be included together, if they're not, than perhaps you don't have a legal version of Ascii-View. AV380.ASC The Documentation File AV380.HLP The Help File [Use Is Optional] AV380.PRG The Program Itself Ascii-View can be placed anywhere your heart desires, floppy disk or hard drive, root directory or nested deep within a sub-directory. However if you wish to use the online help you MUST place the file AV380.HLP in the SAME directory that you loaded Ascii-View from. Ascii-View can also be installed as an application from the standard ST Desktop or from an Alternate Desktop (if you aren't using one you should be). Once this is done, you can define it to accept parameters so that if you double click on an ASCII file with, for example, an extender of .ASC the Desktop would automatically load Ascii-View and the Ascii-View would in turn load the ASCII file that you selected. Ascii-View is fully compatible with NeoDesk 3.xx's Alternate Text File Reader feature (copyright 1990 Gribnif Software), refer to their documentation for installation and usage. Ascii-View currently supports TOS versions 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.62 in Medium and High resolution. Although untested Ascii-View SHOULD work on TOS version 2.05 (Mega STe) and TOS version 3.01 (TT) in the ST Medium and ST High resolutions, as well. Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [2] FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS This version had soooooo many new features and enhancements that I've simply decided to rewrite the documentation instead of trying to somehow logically describe the new stuff in contrast to the old. The user interface has received a MAJOR face lift and is [hopefully] more intuitive and cosmetically appealing. Ascii-View now sports 100% keyboard equivalents instead of the pseudo keyboard equivalents it used to have. Two scrolling speeds are now supported, one blazingly fast the other slow and crystyl clear. An off screen drawing routine was developed to enhance the appearance of screen draws and of paging text. Accessories may now be used from within Ascii-View. Forty eight lines of text can be displayed if used with a monochrome monitor. Ascii-View remembers the last 10 files that it has loaded and any of these files can instantly be recalled. The search routine remembers the last 10 words or phrases that have been searched for which can in turn re-searched. A 'Set Marker' feature has been added that allows you to set markers at any location within your file, or it can automatically divide your file into 10% increments. Once a marker has been set you can go instantly to the place in your file with just the press of a button or key. The Block feature has been reworked and includes the ability to append a block of text to an existing ascii text file. CONVENTIONS There are certain standards that are common throughout the usage of Ascii-View. ** The left mouse button is ALWAYS used EXCEPT to scroll a through a file slowly. ** When a word or letter is underlined all you need to do is press that word or letter to select that option. At this point I would like to describe how to select an item from the Options, Help, Load, Search and Set Marker screens as all these screens operate in the same fashion. The dialog box will contain a list of pre-defined choices in the case of the Options and Help screens, or a list of user defined choices in the other cases. Once defined you will be able to scroll through these choices in either of the following manners. 1] To select an item via the mouse, move the mouse pointer up and down through the choices until the one you want is highlighted and then click on your selection. 2] To select an item via the keyboard press the cursor up and the cursor down keys to scroll through the choices until the one you want is highlighted and then press the Return key. Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [3] UN-CONVENTIONS Shame on me, in a few instances I went against what may be considered 'Industry Standards' and used keys not normally associated with certain pre-defined functions. Such as, this version of Ascii-View doesn't use the cursor up/down keys to scroll through text. Instead, I decided to use the Control and Alternate keys for a couple of reasons. First, there is no key click associated with the Control and Alternate keys. Scrolling through a long file with the key click on, will I guarantee, drive you crazy. Of course I bould have simply turned off the key click but I have grown somewhat accustomed to hearing it as a completed key press. In addition, using the Control and Alternate keys frees the programmer from having to monitor the keyboard buffer, which can only slow down the performance of a program. LET'S GET STARTED !! To run Ascii-Viewcii-Viewcii-Viewcii-Viewcii-View .-@ .Jg .2. //N+=@0. @ l0.r0A`$0.r A2.4<BJAgra`rAA".R A .2. //N*-@`n .A"=@ .A"=@0.2.ܐA=@0.rAJ@g0.2.ܐA=@0. @lp=@0.rAJ@g0. @f 0.2.Am0.rA=@`X0. @fLp0".R A0.2<AJ@gpx`pX".R A0.rA=@0.rA=@0.2.4.Bo 2.`2.A=@0. @lp=@0.rA @f(0.SnJ@gp ".R A`p=@?.A //.N& .2.HЁ-@0.Sn2.ذAop0".R A`0.SnJ@gS . @".R A`0.SnJ@gp ".R A` .N^NuN^NuNV . fA /N!`pN^Nu .-@ np 0 nr"0Ё nr"0Ё2<HЁ-@/./.?<?<JNA Jg?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The following parameters can be set to assist you as you search for your String. Search Direction You may conduct your search in either direction by selecting the (F)orward or (R)everse. Beginning From You may conduct your search beginning from the (P)resent line number or from the (T)op/Bottom. If you select (T)op/Bottom your search will begin at the Top of your file if your search direction is forward or at the bottom of your file if the search direction is reverse. Match You may select to have either an E(x)act Match or to match by (S)pelling Only. The difference between these two choices is that the Spelling Only parameter doesn't care if the String is in upper or lower case where the Exact Match parameter does. Undo to Exit [Undo] Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [13] SET MARKER Select 'G' from Main Screen or 'Set Marker' from Options Screen. This command allows you to enter a series of markers, which can be thought of as book marks. Once defined you can use these markers to instantly move to the predefined marker. After you have entered a marker it will be remembered and displayed in the Previously Set Marker box. If more than 10 markers have been entered, then the markers will be deleted on a first in / first out basis. If you need help on how to select a marker from the Previously Set Markers box refer to the topic 'CONVENTIONS' located on page 2 of this documentation. The markers in the Previously Set Markers box are numbered from 0 to 9. Once a marker has been set, you can while at the main screen, go directly to you predefined marker by pressing the corresponding number equivalent on the NUMERIC keyboard. As an example if you defined Set Marker 0 as line number 250, then pressing the 0 key on the NUMERIC keyboard while at the main screen will instantly send you to line number 250 within your file. After selecting the Set Marker command you will be presented with a dialog box with the following choices: Set Marker [S] Selecting this command will display a dialog box allowing you to enter your marker. All entries must be numeric and must be between the first and last line number of the file currently in memory. All standard dialog box editing commands are available. Press Return when you have completed entering you marker. After pressing Return, your marker will be displayed in the Previously Set Marker box. You may now either enter another marker or select the marker. If you choose to select the marker then you will instantly be sent to that line number within your file. Delete Marker [D] This command will allow you to delete a marker from the Previously Set Marker box. When prompted to do so select the marker that you wish to delete. You will asked to confirm your intentions before the marker is deleted from the list. Clear All [C] Markers The command will allow you to delete all the markers in the Previously Set Markers box. You will be asked to confirm your intentions before the markers are cleared from the box. Use Default [U] Markers This command will divide the current file into 10 equal portions and allocate a marker to each segment. The text file must be at least 48 lines long for this command to be enabled, no need to use markers if you can see all the lines at once. Right? Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [14] SET MARKER Goto a [G] Specific Line Selecting this command will display a dialog box that will allow you to enter the exact line number that you wish to goto. Only numeric entries between the first and last line numbers will be accepted. If a valid line number was entered then pressing Return will immediately send you to that specific line. Undo to Exit [Undo] STATISTICS Select 'I' from Main Screen or 'Statistics' from Options Screen. This screen displays some system and program specific information that may be of some help during the use of Ascii-View. This includes: System Date System Time Current Version Current Text Display Mode Current Page Number Total Number of Pages Current Line Number Total Number of Lines Current File Name Current File Size Remaining Memory Ascii-View [v3.80] Page [15] ALMOST DONE Whew! Typing in all this documentation has accomplished one positive aspect, my typing speed has increased from 15 to 16 words per minute. Now I'm cookin. If you locate a bug in Ascii-View, please take the time to report it to me. Try to be as specific as possible, so that I will hopefully be able to duplicate it on my system. It's so much easier to remedy when I'm given a detailed description of the problem. If you think of some feature that may be a useful addition to Ascii-View, please take the time to report it to me. If you feel compelled to relay a comment, good or bad, please take the time to report it to me. If you're beginning to notice a common theme to all of this, you're absolutely correct. I wish to continue developing Ascii-View and to make it a better product, but without your feedback it makes this very difficult to achieve. I can be reached in the following manners: U.S. Mail Dave Seberg P.O. Box 420466 San Diego, CA 92142-0466 GEnie D.SEBERG Online often Compuserve 76505,2446 Online occassionally I truly hope that you find Ascii-View to be a useful tool when viewing ASCII text files. Enjoy!!