Document $VER MiniXpkGuide.dok 1.1 (28.05.95) ********************************* * * * MiniXpkGuide * * * * Version 1.1 * * by Martin Gierich * * 28.05.95 * * * ********************************* MiniXpkGuide is a replacement for the AmigaGuide and Multiview command with support of XPK-compressed and PowerPacked files. 1. Introduction =============== MiniXpkGuide is a replacement for the AmigaGuide and Multiview command with support of XPK-compressed and PowerPacked files. So you can compress all your documentations, pictures, sounds etc. using the XPK-package or Powerpacker and view them with MiniXpkGuide without bothering about decrunching. In opposite to the AmigaGuide command, MiniXpkGuide will pop up a filerequester if no file was specified. If you have OS 1.2/1.3, it has no use at all. If you have OS 2.0/2.1, you can view ASCII-texts or AmigaGuide- databases with it. If you have OS 3.0 or better, you can view any type of file which is supported by your DataTypes including ASCII-texts and AmigaGuide- databases. MiniXpkGuide can be started from CLI or from Workbench. It is pure and therefore can be made resident. It is in assembler and optimized for size (only 604 bytes long) and therefore fits comfortably in two datablocks on harddisk/floppydisk. Small size does not mean that this is a hack; it is fully systemconform ! 2. Copyright and Disclaimer =========================== It is a small program, so let us keep this chapter also small: MiniXpkGuide is Public Domain ! Use it at your own risk ! 3. Requirements =============== You need at least OS 2.0, but OS 3.0+ is better. Ofcourse, you need amigaguide.library in your LIBS: directory (you can find it on Aminet or on Fish Disk 920 with documentation how to use it and how to write AmigaGuide files, but if you have OS 3.0+ you will find it on your Workbench-Disk without documentation). To use XPK-compressed files, you need xpkmaster.library and the right xpkcompressor (like xpkNUKE.library). To use PowerPacked files, you need powerpacker.library and xpkmaster.library. To show pictures/play sounds you need OS 3.0+ and the right DataTypes. 4. Distribution =============== These files belong to MiniXpkGuide: MiniXpkGuide the main executable. 604 bytes long MiniXpkGuide.doc documentation in ASCII-format, compressed with xpkNUKE for testing MiniXpkGuide.guide documentation in AmigaGuide-format, uncompressed MiniXpkGuide.S Assembler-sourcecode MiniGuide XPK-support-free executable, only 480 bytes long MicroGuide CLI-only Guide-viewer for fun. 132 bytes long MicroGuide.S Assembler-sourcecode and some Icons If you do not have all of them, you had bad luck. MicroGuide comes without documentation, see the source for more. MiniGuide is the same as MiniXpkGuide, except that XPK support is missing. 5. Usage ======== MiniXpkGuide can be used from CLI or Workbench. Usage is nearly the same as of the AmigaGuide-command and Environment-variables are used the same way (you can find some documentation on Aminet or on Fish Disk 920). It is pure and therefore can be made resident. I suggest you to do so if you use it a lot. Maybe you want to rename MiniXpkGuide as AmigaGuide or MultiView and replace the old and huge AmigaGuide/MultiView command. 5.1. CLI-Usage -------------- MiniXpkGuide [] [DOCUMENT ] [LINE ] [PUBSCREEN ] [PORTNAME ] ( is the name of the file to show. If you do not give this, an asl-filerequester will pop up.) The command template is: DATABASE,DOCUMENT/K,LINE/N,PUBSCREEN/K,PORTNAME/K DATABASE: Name of the file to show. Can be XPK-compressed or PowerPacked. If you have OS 2.0/2.1, the file can be an ASCII-text or an AmigaGuide-database. If you have OS 3.0 or better, the file can be any type which is supported by your DataTypes (Text/Guides/Pictures/Sound ...). If you forgot this, a filerequester will pop up. The following arguments will only work if showing AmigaGuide-databases: DOCUMENT: Name of the node to start at. Fine for online-help in scripts and simple programs. LINE: Number of the line to start displaying from. See also DOCUMENT (above). PUBSCREEN: Name of a Public Screen to open window on. The screen must exist before using this. This is case sensitive ! PORTNAME: Name of an ARexx-port to create. 5.2. Workbench-Usage -------------------- No annoying ToolTypes are supported. Just doubleclick on the icon of MiniXpkGuide to get a filerequester. Or click the icon of MiniXpkGuide, then Shift-doubleclick the icon of the file you want to see. Or use it as default tool. You can use it from the Workbench's menu-item "Execute Command", too, but this is no real Workbench usage, see `CLI-Usage' for more. 6. Problems and Notes ===================== Amigaguide.library V34 has a bug which is fully supported by the standard AmigaGuide command. Every time it is started from Workbench it forgets to free a lock on the directory the file was in. So write accesses to that directory will fail ! MiniXpkGuide, ofcourse, has a workaround for this bug, so it will not appear with it. MiniXpkGuide will not suck you with frustrating errormessages, it will exit quietly (and systemfriendly !) after an error has occured. But there are only few errors possible: - Workbench-start: Shift-selected more than one file. - CLI-start: File not found (anyway, I do not know how to catch this error). - General: amigaguide.library not in libs: directory. No file specified and asl.library not found, too. I was both astonished and impressed when I saw that with OS 3.0 and a picture-file the picture came up. I had guessed that only some fancy characters would appear in the AmigaGuide-window. It seems to be an undocumented feature in amigaguide.library V39, that the given filename will only be handed through to datatypes.library which could show pictures, too. Same with sounds. It is not possible to access a XPK packed file from within a guide, because this is done amigaguide.library internal. The only way to do this would be to fully rewrite amigaguide.library. 7. Future and History ===================== Possible things that could be done: - open window on own screen - ToolTypes - patch for 68000-CPU to be as fast as 68060/50MHz-CPU :-) I do not have planned these improvements, so if you want to see them (or other things) made, you need to convince me to do so. I wrote this program because I have seen XPKGuide from Simon Dick and I liked the idea to use compressed documentations. But unfortunately XPKGuide cannot be made resident, and therefore needs to be loaded every time from disk. I played around with amigaguide.library anyway to implement a viewer in the great ZShell, and with the XPK-package to use XPK-compressed executables, texts and guides with ZShell. So MiniXpkGuide was some kind of dropping (but it is NO HACK !). XPKGuide has Filerequesters, own Screens, Application-Icon, ToolTypes, supports lots of crunchers and hopefully the next version can be made resident. XPKGuide is a real "adult proggie": It is 16548 bytes huge. V1.1 note: Some guys felt fit enough to reinvent the wheel, they made similar programs: - MiniView V37.1: No XPK support, no filerequester, CLI only, OS3.0+ only, 840 bytes big, but source included - ShowView: Well, that is something different. Just a joke :-) - ShowGuide V2.2a: 5324 bytes huge ! german docs only, XPK support, filerequester, WB & CLI, no source included 8. Credits and Author ===================== Credits go to - Simon Dick for his XPKGuide I took the idea from (Sorry Simon, but it just happened that I coded this) - the writers of the amigaguide.library for their great Hypertext system - the authors of the XPK-package (UD. Müller, B. Ford, C. Schneider) - Nico Francois for his powerpacker.library - the one who created the icons I took (I do not know where I found it) - Stefan Sürken for his Text2Guide - Peter Bagnato for being the only one who wrote to me Does MiniXpkGuide V1.0 really have only one user ?!? - all the ZShell users (have a look at it !) - and to all future users of this proggie :-) - (have I forgotten anybody ?) Please send comments, bug reports, suggestions for future improvements or just a "Hello !" to my snail-mail address: Martin Gierich Narzissenweg 7 76297 Stutensee Germany or to one of my EMail-addresses: uj3w@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de uj3w@ibm3090.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de I will try to reply EVERY EMail I get ! MiniXpkGuide was developped on an A500 using OS 2.1, 200 MB of Harddisk, 1 MB of Chip RAM, 2 MB of real Fast RAM, the oldish EGS-chipset and a VGA-Monitor with Flicker-Fixer running at 70 Hz framerate using NTSC interlaced 8-colour mode. I have not used my DeskJet 500C printer, my A570 CDROM drive and my Vortex ATONCE AT-emulator (the last two like to crash very often !). Most time of writing I have listened to the SWF 3 radio station 8-) /\/\ "Life is not good by default, / __ \ artin you have to configure it" (_/ \_) uj3w@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de (Martin Gierich)