Program Arguments Library v1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright (C)1995 by Dianne Hackborn.

=========================================================================
This library is shareware.  If you like it and use it in your
programs, please consider becoming a registered developer by sending 
$5 US to me.  [My address is below.]  This will allow me to provide
answers to questions you may have about its use and the resources to
continue to develop the library.  There is no fee for users.

This library is freely distributable as long as all of its files are
included with no modifications.  By becoming registered, you will be
allowed to include a subset of the library distribution with your program
if you so desire.  The library is provided as-is, with no warranties of
any kind.

People interested in using this in a commercial product should
contact me to discuss it.  [I'm not greedy.  Really. ;)]
=========================================================================
Installer and Installer project icon
(c) Copyright 1991-93 Commodore-Amiga, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
Reproduced and distributed under license from Commodore.

INSTALLER SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE;
NO WARRANTIES ARE MADE.  ALL USE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.  NO LIABILITY
OR RESPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED.    
=========================================================================

INTRODUCTION

    ProgArgs is a shared library which is intended to make the handling
    of CLI, Workbench and text file arguments simpler and more consistent.
    It basically provides a wrapper around the DOS ReadArgs() function and
    the Workbench argument functions, which unifies them into one standard
    interface.  It also provides support for intelligently writing tool
    types back out to disk -- only modifying the relevant entries, creating
    comments for tool types which do not have a value, etc -- and provides
    for the reading and writing of text files which are formatted much like
    tool types.
    
    While there are a number of things that the library currently does not
    support [the most notable probably being the inability to dynamically
    add and remove argument definitions], I believe that the library as-is
    provides enough functionality that it may be useful to others.  The
    addition of new features will depend on how much I need them and the
    response to the library from others.
    
INSTALLATION

    Included with the library is an installation tool; just double-click on
    the 'Install' icon to start up the standard Amiga Installer program.
    This will install the library, locale catalogs, compiler header files,
    support libraries, and documentation.  You should almost definitely
    choose a level of at least 'intermediate,' as the program is not
    intelligent enough to figure out good places to put the developer files
    when doing a novice installation; you will probably have to direct it
    to the appropriate places yourself.

THE EXAMPLE PROGRAMS

    Included with this archive is an example program, Example1,
    showing how to use the library.  This is a fairly simple program
    which shows a couple of ways to handle program arguments.  Note that
    you shouldn't need to install the library to try the example; it will
    be able to find it if you execute it from its original location in
    the distribution.
    
    If you own SAS/C v6.0 or later, you should be able to compile the
    example program by simply double clicking on the build icon in the
    Examples directory.  Note that you will need the progargs.library
    include files in the compiler's search path in order to get it to
    compile.

WHERE TO GO NOW

    The two main sources of documentation are the autodocs and the
    header file.  If you have AmigaGuide, read the file "ProgArgs.guide"
    in the includes directory.  This is the fully linked AmigaGuide
    version of the autodocs, with appropriate connections to the
    header file [and the system header files, too, if you have them in
    your AmigaGuide search path].
    
    Otherwise, the autodocs are suppled as a plain text file in
    "ProgArgs.doc".
    
    The first entries you will probably want to read are AllocProgArgsA(),
    ExecProgArgsA(), and AllocTagArgsA(), then just follow their links.
    
WHAT ISN'T HERE

    The library documentation should be fairly complete; as mentioned above,
    there are a number of features which would be nice to have, and I expect
    to get around to implementing them sooner or later.  Please let me know
    of anything you would like to see.
    
HOW TO REACH ME

    EMail -     SCHOOL: hackbod@mail.cs.orst.edu (prefered)
                BIX: dhack@bix.com (unlikely that I'll see anything sent here)

    SnailMail - Dianne Hackborn
                2895 Los Altos Drive
                Meridian, ID 83642
    
    SWIFT Deposit Number: 1 23000 123
    First Interstate Bank of Oregon, N.A.
            
FINALLY

    Have fun, and I hope you find the library useful.  All comments,
    suggestions and bug reports are more than welcome.