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-=-=-=-=-=-=-
This file is called ABOUT.DOC.
It is the documentation file for version 1.4 of the S16 application
called ABOUT.
ABOUT is an Apple IIGS DeskTop Application that is distributed with all
IIGS disks of Public Domain, FreeWare and ShareWare software from the
WELLINGTON APPLE USERS' GROUP of New Zealand.
ABOUT is FreeWare. The authors retain full copyright.
ABOUT requires SYSTEM DISK 3.2 or higher to work. It correctly
functions with GS/OS.
ABOUT was written to provide these functions:-
1/ To read the text (TXT), APPLEWORKS (AWP) or SRC (file) type
documents that accompany PDS software without having to run a
Word Processor/Text Editor such as APPLEWORKS, APPLEWORKGS or
the APW Editor.
2/ Provide a text only printout of these documentation files.
3/ To 'launch' S16, SYS or BAS (Applesoft) programs.
4/ To provide information about your IIgs that is not readily
accessible, i.e. the amount of RAM memory available, and to
provide a facility to 'reclaim' any purgeable memory.
-=*=-
ABOUT MENU STRUCTURE
Apple
About ABOUT... (Apple-?)
About WAUG...
----------------
(Desk Accessories)
File
Open a Document... Apple-O
Close Apple-W
Close All
--------------------------
Dump to Printer... Apple-P
Print All...
--------------------------
Launch an Application... Apple-L
Transfer to... Apple-T
Run Installer
--------------------------
Quit Apple-Q
Edit
(standard)
Special
Settings for ABOUT... Apple-S
Install Icon...
---------------------
System Info Apple-I
---------------------
Shut Down... Apple-D
Windows (Entry in menu only there if a file has been opened)
-=*=-
APPLE MENU
The APPLE menu is under the multi-coloured Apple at top left of
screen. Under this pulldown menu you will find:-
About ABOUT...
This is the same screen you MAY see when you first run ABOUT
(it will tell you who to blame......). Click on the "Click
when ready" button to close the "About" window or you can use
the 'Return' or 'Enter' keys on the keyboard. This applies any
other time you see a "OK" button as well.
There may also be two other buttons, one called "About This
Disk" and the other, "Read Instructions". You may have tried
"Read Instructions" already and are now studying the results!
"About this Disk" will give you a brief outline of what is on
this disk. It will only be available if a file called THIS.DISK
exists in the same directory as the ABOUT program.
About WAUG...
WAUG is the Wellington Apple Users' Group of Wellington, New
Zealand. Read this to find the telephone number of WAUG's own
homegrown electronic BBS system.
Try clicking on any text within the "About ABOUT" window for further
information. You never know what you might find....
Underneath About WAUG...
Will be any New Desk Accessories (NDAs) that are currently
installed and are active on your boot volume.
-=*=-
FILE MENU
Using ABOUT, you can read up to four different documentation files at
once. ABOUT can open standard text files, APPLEWORKS Word Processor
files including APPLEWORKS 3.0 AWP, and Source Code files from
APW-ORCA/M.
ABOUT will ignore line feeds, tabs, and bells (and other control
characters) imbedded in a text file.
Open a Document...
To open a documentation file, pulldown on FILE and select this
command. You will then be presented with a standard Apple IIGS
file dialog.
Close
Use CLOSE under the FILE menu to close the window OR use Apple-W
OR you may use the CLOSE box on the top left hand corner of the
"Open"ed file's window.
Close All
CLOSE ALL will close ALL open windows, including Desk
Accessories and the SYSTEM INFORMATION window.
Dump to Printer
To print out the documentation from the 'front' window, select
"Dump to Printer". This will present you with a dialog that
will let you change the current printer setup.
Please note: ABOUT does NOT use the standard Apple IIGS Print Manager
which is designed for high quality graphics printouts. ABOUT will
only print TEXT using the built-in fonts of your printer NOT fonts
from the GS graphics display. "Dump to Printer" is designed purely of
"quick and dirty" text only "dumps".
The dialog box offers:-
Add Line Feeds
Form Feed at end of document
Printer Slot/Port selection
General Help on Init String
Help on Printer Settings
The Add Line Feeds setting should normally be on. If the printout
is double spaced, de-select this option and try again.
The Form Feed setting forces the paper to the next page at the end
of printing the document.
The slot/port should be set to the slot or port that your printer
is connected to. Select Printer or Modem for a built in GS port, or
enter the slot number of your interface card by selecting external.
The Init String field should be set to whatever initialization
string your interface card needs (usually ^I80N). You can also
send commands to your printer (to change character pitch, for
example).
To enter control characters, use a caret (^) followed by a letter
(^I is Control-I, ^[ is ESCAPE). For example, ^I80N^[p will print
proportionally spaced text on a ImageWriter.
Print All
PRINT ALL will print the contents of all the windows currently
open with respect to the user's setup of print parameters. The
windows will be printed in the order given in the WINDOWS menu.
-=*=-
Launch An Application...
You can run any S16, SYS or BAS (Applesoft) program from ABOUT.
Select "Launch an Application" for a standard Apple IIGS file
dialog. When you have completed the chosen Application, you will be
returned to ABOUT.
If you have run a BAS (Applesoft) program from ABOUT and wish
to return to ABOUT and there is no "Quit" option in the program, type
'bye' (case insensitive) at the AppleSoft prompt (the ']').
Transfer to...
An alternative to "Launch an Application" is available with
"Transfer to...". This is very similar to "Launch..." EXCEPT
you will be returned to the program you launched ABOUT from (NOT
ABOUT). Most likely this will be FINDER. " Transfer to..." removes
ABOUT from your GS's memory.
Run Installer
If "Run Installer" appears under the FILE menu, it may be possible
to use this to install programs or files from the disk containing
ABOUT onto your disks.
"Run Installer" can NOT be selected unless there is a copy of
INSTALLER in the same directory as ABOUT, and there is a "folder"
(sub-directory) called SCRIPTS. Inside SCRIPTS are files used by
INSTALLER (you cannot run these directly yourself).
-=*=-
EDIT MENU
The EDIT menu is there for use by Desk Accessories that need these
editing tools. They are normally dimmed (i.e. cannot be used by ABOUT
- yet).
-=*=-
SPECIAL MENU
Settings for About...
This is where Users may customize ABOUT to suit their tastes.
The options available are:-
Help for dimmed menu items
Bring up the ABOUT dialog on startup
Right margin for viewing or printing files
Check printer settings
Save settings to disk
Use settings
Tell me more
Cancel
"Help for dimmed menu items" is for first time GS Users who may
not be totally familiar with the Apple DeskTop. By selecting
this, when you now select a dimmed menu item, a window will appear
with a brief description of what that function does BUT not perform
that function.
"Bring up the About dialog at start" will disable the displaying of
the "About ABOUT" window that appears when ABOUT is first run. Note
that "About ABOUT" will not appear if you have "returned" to
ABOUT after using the "Launch Application..." option.
The box beside "Right margin for viewing or printing files" lets
you set how many characters are to be displayed. A comfortable
figure for reading files on screen is 75. However you may wish
to extend that to 100 when "dumping" the file to your printer.
Note that this setting is used when the file is loaded. You cannot
change the right margin setting of a file that has already been
loaded. The right margin setting only affects files that are
subsequently loaded.
You will find that ABOUT will let you load any file in more than
once. Perhaps once to read it on screen then again to print it,
using a different right margin setting.
The "Check printer settings" is another access to the "Printer
Settings" dialog discussed earlier.
You can select "Save to Disk" to make changes permanent or "Use
Settings". If you select "Use Settings", the altered settings are
used by ABOUT but are lost when you quit ABOUT. You are prompted
to "save the settings" should you attempt to QUIT or "SHUTDOWN"
ABOUT and the settings have not already been saved.
The "Tell me more" button offers further online help for the
various functions in "Settings". "Cancel" lets you return back to
normal operation discarding any changes that may have occurred.
Install Icon...
"Install Icon" is a very special option that makes ABOUT extremely
powerful.
"Install Icon" will 'patch' the ABOUT.ICONS file to inform Finder
where to find this working copy of ABOUT. This will allow you
to open and print text files directly from Finder, without having to
launch ABOUT manually.
It offers two modes of operation. AUTOMATIC simplifies the process
if you are not to sure what exactly to do. AUTOMATIC searches for
the file ABOUT.ICONS on the disk that ABOUT is on, then on the boot
disk.
MANUAL is for seasoned GS Users who already know where their
Icons are! A standard Apple IIGS file dialog is presented to
let Users select the ICON file to modify. Indeed the ABOUT Icons
can be moved to your own custom Icon file using an ICON EDITOR such
as ICONED or DICED.
If in doubt select "Cancel".
System Information
"System Information" will tell you the name and version number
of the current Operating System. For early versions this will
be ProDOS16. Please note, at the time of writing this, that
GS/OS 3.1 is the most current version. Also note that GS System
Disk 5.0.2 returns GS/OS version "3.1 prototype". This is correct.
"System Information" will tell you the name of the Boot volume
(should you have forgotten!).
Also listed is the version of the Apple IIGS System ROM. If your
machine is a "00" ROM type, see your Apple IIGS dealer immediately
for a free upgrade!
Next displayed is information on the "Total RAM Installed"
(addressable by the CPU) in your computer. The figure includes the
RAM that is on your GS's motherboard PLUS the extra memory you may
have on a RAM expansion board in the IIGS's special expansion slot.
The next figure is the "RAM available" as reported by the GS's
Memory Manager. This will exclude memory in use by the Operating
System and Desk Accessories etc, and that of any RAM that is
currently in use by the RAM disk should you have a RAM disk set
up.
"Potential free RAM" indicates memory that is reusable. If this
figure is too low you may have to 'purge' memory. Use the "Clean Up
Memory" button at the bottom of the screen to do so.
The last figure is the "Largest free RAM block" available to you.
This is the largest contiguous block of RAM. If memory has been too
fractionated you will not be able to load in some of the larger S16
Applications. "Clean Up Memory" may assist you in obtaining
larger blocks of RAM.
SHUTDOWN...
This function performs a GS/OS ShutDown. This will flush the GS/OS
disk cache and performs any necessary internal 'housekeeping'. The
ShutDown option will leave the RAM disk intact.
The SHUTDOWN option under the Special menu is available only
when running GS/OS (i.e. it remains dimmed if using ProDOS16).
Warning. SHUTDOWN is the 'default' button. Hitting 'Return' or
'Enter' will cause the GS to ShutDown. Any 3.5" disks online will
be forcibly ejected!
The "Quit About" option in SHUTDOWN is exactly the same as
selecting QUIT in the FILE menu or executing APPLE-Q from the
keyboard.
You may select "Cancel" should you change your mind. You will
be returned to ABOUT.
If you have changed any of the ABOUT or printer settings you will be
alerted that you may not have saved the settings. Choose "Yes"
to save, "No" to ignore and "Cancel" to return to ABOUT.
-=*=-
HINTS AND TIPS
Look for a file called THIS.DISK (or click on "About This Disk") in
the "About ABOUT" window for more information about other files on
this disk.
Installing the ABOUT Icon will tell Finder where ABOUT is so that
Finder will automatically run ABOUT if a TXT icon is "Open"ed.
For example, Use the install option (either MANUAL or
AUTOMATIC) to set up the ABOUT ICON. Now when running Finder,
select up to 4 TXT files at once (*HINT* Use "shift-clicking"
techniques if you have to scroll around a large directory). Now
"double-click" on one of the now highlighted TXT files.
You should find yourself in ABOUT with the 4 files you selected
loaded in.
This technique ALSO works using the PRINT option in Finder!!!
Select up to 4 TXT files and select Print from Finder's FILE
menu!
If you find that you are using ABOUT frequently, it will probably
be easier to use if you install it on your system disk (or hard disk,
if you have one). This will reduce the amount of disk swapping
needed to start up and use ABOUT. See the section titled "Installing
ABOUT on another disk" below for instructions.
-=*=-
EXPLANATION OF FILES
ABOUT - A useful GS S16 Application.
ABOUT.DOC - This file. Must be in the same directory as ABOUT
if you wish to access it with the "Read
Instructions" button in the "About ABOUT" window.
If ABOUT.DOC is not present, a abbreviated Help
screen is presented instead.
ABOUT.SETTINGS - Optional file that ABOUT will create, for storing
the Users printer settings and display
preferences. Must be in the same directory as
ABOUT.
THIS.DISK - A file containing text that usually describes
briefly the contents and source of a Public Domain
Disk. If this file is present, the "About this
disk" button in "About ABOUT" will open it.
ABOUT.ICONS - Must be in a folder called ICONS in the root
directory of ANY disk. Contains a Icon for ABOUT
and a appropriately modified version of the
generic TXT file Icon. ABOUT does not require this
file to be present, however the "Automatic" option
under "Install Icon" will only work with an icon
file of this name.
INSTALLER - (along with INSTALLER's SCRIPT 'folder' and script
files.) These are optional. INSTALLER is a program
from Apple Computer, Inc. that automates the
process of installing System files such as fonts
and desk accessories.
-=*=-
INSTALLING ABOUT ON ANOTHER DISK
ABOUT can be installed on a hard disk (or another floppy disk such as
your system disk) without much difficulty. Note: the terms "directory"
and "folder" are synonymous.
ABOUT should be copied into any convenient directory on your disk.
If you want documentation for ABOUT to be easily accessible, copy
ABOUT.DOC into the same directory as ABOUT.
If you have changed the default settings for ABOUT, you should also
copy the ABOUT.SETTINGS file into the same directory.
Copy the file ABOUT.ICONS into the ICONS folder on your disk. If
there is no ICONS folder, create one using Finder's "New Folder"
command. The ICONS folder must be in the "root" directory (i.e.
the first window opened when a disk icon is double-clicked) or
Finder will not be able to use the icons contained in the folder.
Finally, run the new copy of ABOUT, choose the "Install Icon"
command in the "Special" Menu, and click on the "Automatic" button.
This will modify the file ABOUT.ICONS so that Finder knows where the
new copy of ABOUT is. If you move ABOUT to a different directory on
your disk, you should do the Icon installation again.
You should also make any necessary changes to the existing settings
and save the settings to disk.
If you use Finder for most of your disk maintenance and program
launching, you will find ABOUT most useful if you leave it out on
the desktop, in an open window, or in a folder close to the disk's
root directory.
-=*=-
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
This section gives in-depth information on some features of ABOUT.
This information is not needed for day-to-day use of the program, and
should be skipped by novice users.
INSTALL ICON
This command searches through an ICON file for an icon referring to
a TXT file (type $04) with auxiliary type of $0000 and filename of
"*". If such an icon is found, its application pathname is changed
to the full pathname of ABOUT.
The "Automatic" option looks in two places for the file
ABOUT.ICONS. The first is in the ICONS subdirectory in the root
directory of the disk containing ABOUT. The second is in the
ICONS subdirectory on the boot volume (i.e. */ICONS/ABOUT.ICONS).
The "Manual" option allows you to choose the icon file to be
modified using the standard file dialog. It does not permit you
to modify FINDER.ICONS or FINDER.ICONS.X (for System 5.0). The
ICON file selected must contain a suitable text file icon, or an
error will be reported.
If you have an Icon editor, you can set up your own icons for ABOUT
and text files, or you can modify those in ABOUT.ICONS. There are
three icons in ABOUT.ICONS: the ABOUT application, the text file
icon, and an icon for WAUG P.D. disks. The latter is not required
for general use of ABOUT.
The code which implements the "Install Icon" command is a dynamic
segment, which means it will not be loaded into memory until the
"Install Icon" menu command is chosen. After the installation is
complete, the memory used by this command will be made "purgeable".
The disk containing ABOUT will need to be inserted when the "Install
Icon" command is used - you will be reminded if the disk can't be
found.
SYSTEM INFORMATION
The memory statistics in the "System Information" window will be
updated in the following circumstances:
(a) A document is opened or closed.
(b) The "Install Icon" command is used.
(c) The "Clean Up Memory" button is pressed.
(d) The "System Info..." command is chosen from the menu.
If you have performed an operation which might have changed the
memory usage statistics, select "System Info..." again (or press
Apple-I), and the values will be updated.
CLEAN UP MEMORY BUTTON
This button performs a "PurgeAll" call on all known Application
IDs, as well as ProDOS IDs (i.e. types $1xxx and $3xxx). It then
performs a memory compaction. This should catch most purgeable
memory.
If you are running System 5.0 or later, you will probably find this
button is of little use, as System 5.0 is quite good at
automatically freeing memory when things get tight. Some programs,
however, look for a large contiguous chunk of memory when they
start (especially ProDOS-8 based programs). You may find the Clean
Up option useful prior to running such programs.
Note: if you execute a program with the "Launch..." command, ABOUT
will remain in memory (in a "purgeable" state). Any documents that
were opened will be removed.
Executing a program with the "Transfer..." command will remove ABOUT
from memory, but you will not return to ABOUT when you quit the
program.
THE "ABOUT.SETTINGS" FILE
This file must be a BIN file of auxiliary type $0000.
The contents of this file are private to ABOUT and should not be
modified by any other program. There is a version number signature
in the file to help insure that a valid settings file is being loaded.
If ABOUT gets any problems while loading ABOUT.SETTINGS (other than
"file not found"), it will bring up an error alert describing the
problem.
If a file called ABOUT.SETTINGS already exists when the settings are
saved, and it is not of the type/auxtype mentioned above, ABOUT will
ask you if it is OK to delete the existing file prior to saving the
settings.
READING OTHER FILE TYPES
If you hold down the OPTION key while selecting the "Open a document"
command, ABOUT will allow you to open any type of file. Any control
characters will be stripped from the file, and high-ASCII codes will
be converted to their low-ASCII equivalents. Only the data fork of an
extended file can be read.
If you attempt to open a file which is larger than 64k, ABOUT will
warn you that it cannot read the entire file. If you choose to
proceed with the open operation, only the first 64k of the file will
be read into memory. The remainder of the file cannot be viewed.
-=*=-
LEGAL STUFF
ABOUT is FREEWARE. This means that you can copy it freely and upload
it to a bulletin board or on-line service. You may NOT sell it,
include it with commercial software, or modify the program itself.
The authors retains full copyright.
If you do distribute ABOUT, please include ABOUT.DOC and ABOUT.ICONS.
The icons contained in distributed copies of ABOUT.ICONS should not be
modified, other than any changes made to the application pathname by
ABOUT's "Install Icon" command. You are free to change your own copies
of ABOUT.ICONS in any way you desire.
Apple User Groups may distribute ABOUT freely.
If you wish to have your own User Group's personalized version of
ABOUT, send us a disk from YOUR Groups PDS library (preferably of
material generated by members of your group), and we'll send you a
'custom' version of ABOUT in return!
Please write to us and let us know what you think of ABOUT - any
problems encountered, ideas for future versions, and so forth.
Contact the WELLINGTON APPLE USERS' GROUP
P.O. Box 6642
Wellington
New Zealand
Attention: Allan Honey
Program and trademarks mentioned in this document are copyright to
Apple Computer, Inc., BYTEWORKS, CLARIS, Nibble Magazine, A2-Central
Magazine and anybody else that we've forgotten to mention.
ABOUT was written by David Empson and Allan Honey. It was started late
1988 and was finished late 1989 (late). Sources of influence and
information can be found in ABOUT by clicking on the authors' names in
the "ABOUT About" window.
About the ICON used for ABOUT.
Wellington is the Capital city of New Zealand and is noted for
the distinctively "Beehive" shaped building which is part of
New Zealand's Parliament buildings.
The ICON shows the BEEHIVE inside a version of the Apple logo.
This is fitting as the Wellington Apple Users' Group meets monthly
at a High School only a few hundred metres away from Parliament's
grounds.
P.P.S. ABOUT was written in 65816 Assembly Language using APW and
ORCA/M. Over 850 Macros were executed in its making. Not bad for a
first attempt at writing a DeskTop Application, huh!
P.P.P.S. If you liked this version (1.4), watch out for version 2!!
Still in the planning stage, ABOUT v2.x will take full advantage of
GS/OS resources and text editing functions.
-=*=-
BUG FIXES
The first general release of ABOUT was version 1.3.
Version 1.4:
The Shaston 16 Font is pre-loaded while ABOUT is setting itself up. This
avoids the computer hanging on a single drive system (or if the System Disk is
off-line) when the ABOUT dialog is displayed.
The prefix is set to the directory containing the files opened in Finder and
used to launch ABOUT.
-=*=-
LAST BIT
Perhaps you have been wondering why we named this program ABOUT.
Obviously the program tells you 'about' files on a disk and it was
found desirable that our program be at the top of an alphabetically
sorted file list such as those presented by LAUNCHER or the filename
display in FINDER.
-=*=-
EOF