Note: AcJr! is an off-spring of Access! Since this version is essentually the same as Version .25 of Access! (but with 8 colors instead of 16), I have not taken the time to rewrite this doc file. Instead, I will list the major differences and minor changes since the last version (under "History" below). If you are familiar with Access!, then you probably won't need to read the past these notes. Otherwise, Please read on and note that the term now only uses 8 colors...(oh yeah, and the name has changed. (AcJr! == Access! - 8 colors)) ____________________________________________________________________________ | | | AcJr! (Access! Junior) | | ~~~~~ | |____________________________________________________________________________| Author: Keith Young Version: .01 Date: 10/27/87 Status: ShareWare (suggested contribution: $20.00) Size: 84336 (3092 bytes LESS than .25) Credits: ~~~~~~~~ D.James -> for the origianal source to "Comm1.34" (thanx Dan, I couldn't have made this mess without it! (grin)) Tim Roach -> BETA (ALPHA?) tester, Icon maker, Moral Support. D.Salas -> of "AMIC" for answering some 'C' questions. J.Denebeim-> of "Deep Thought BBS" (previously "S'ware Distillery") M.Fahrion -> For the NICE new Icons! (sorry I changed the name of this version Mike) Comments/Suggestions/Bug-Reports/Moral Support... Some Folks on GEnie-> DEB, SIMUTRONICS, GRAFIX.M, MDAVENPORT, J.CANNON, HOT-DOG, JBURNES, KHALED, etc... etc... B.Hogsett-> and ALL the folks on CA-AUG... thanks for the good reviews guys! AND ANYONE ELSE I FORGOT TO MENTION, THANX! AND EVERYONE WHO'S SENT IN CONTRIBUTIONS, THANX! THANX! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright notice: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Access! is distributed as ShareWare and may be posted at will, provided the following files remain UNCHANGED and AS A WHOLE in ARCHIVE FORM along with this notice. (files may be "un-arced" in a directory together on pd disks) ALL rights to the program and graphic images within it remain with the author: Keith Young Files in this archive: Name Size Function ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ AcJr! 84336 This is the Terminal program: "AcJr!" AcJr!.info 7398 Icon for... Acc!.color 273 Sample color file for... Acc!.keys 288 Sample macro-key file for... Acc!.def 473 Sample define file for... Acc!.phone 1530 Sample phone-lib file for... Access!me 57828 This is what you are reading now... Future?.txt varies Possible future enhancements... ~~~~~~~~ Disclaimer!: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program comes with NO WARRANTY either expressed or implied and I assume NO responsibility for any damage whatsoever, caused by the use of it. Nuff Said, Now on to bussiness.... Access!: ~~~~~~~ A "16 Color Terminal Program" based on D.J.James's "Comm1.34". (NOTE: Although I list myself as "author", the "origianal" author of "Comm1.34" is D.J.James. This is a Modified Version of that program. Usage: ~~~~~~ from the cli promt: 1> access! [-i] [-s] where optional "-i" sets interlace optional "-s" sets interlace AND "Split Screen" (see "SPLIT" below under "FAST MENU") NOTE Ver.23: "Acc!.def" file now specifies default support files (and ~~~~~~~~~~~~ other defaults) at boot time, so "phone.file" on comand line is no longer supported. (see below for details) Examples: Sets: 1> access! -> med-res, full-screen 1> access! -i -> interlace, full-screen 1> access! -s -> interlace, split-screen 1> accessories -> loads some program called "accessories"? (NOTE Ver.22: although all the above options still work, they are also available from within the progam, so just type: 1> Access!) (NOTE: Ver.18: Access! now has an Icon... Compliments of: Tim Roach of CrawfordsVille, Ind. Thanks Tim, Looks good, I might have never gotten around to it...) Features available using "TOOL-TYPES" in ICON: INTERLACE=ON -> hmm.... SPLIT=ON -> sets interlace on and then splits screen at start-up. History: ~~~~~~~~ Ver.01 (.01? well, this IS the first version of AcJr! :-) ~~~~~~ Additions: (read: Subtractions :-) 1) Well....First thing's first: I finally cut this puppy down to size! AcJr! is essentually the same program as Access!, but it uses 3 bit-planes instead of 4. Although the program is only a few KBYTES smaller, dropping the extra bit-plane has resulted in a savings of as much as 64K at run-time! (actually that's the approx. total amount of savings if ALL the windows are open at the same time. With just the main terminal window and fast-menus, the term uses about 20K less than Access! Ver.25) (applause, applause) This means that you should now be able to open more of the 'utility' windows at once with less memory required to do so. Another result of dropping the 4th bit-plane is that things seem to work/print/open a little faster and the text doesn't 'jerk' as much. (it still does, just not as bad) 2) The screen now opens 'behind' the Workbench screen and then gets moved to the front AFTER the windows open. This just makes things a little more 'pleasing' to look at when going in/out of interlace mode or toggling the borders on/off. 3) A slight BUG was fixed... for some reason, if you changed the color palette, the string beside "Bytes Free:" in the "File Requester" got screwed up. I'm still not sure exactly what caused this but I got it fixed. (I think it was a wild pointer in the "Color Palette") 4) Another "oversight" was fixed.... it seems that the keyboard command sequence for the "NewCli" and "Editor" got switched around. The comand for "NewCli" is now 'N'. (Editor is not yet implemented) 5) While doing all the color changes, I "re-arranged"/ "organized" the color selection a little... The default Sysytem colors are now (from 0 to 7): Black, White, Grey, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Blue This gives me enough of the "basic" colors to work with and arrangement makes more sense. (kinda' rainbow-like) 6) Because of the reduction in colors..... (this is the part where I get to bitch and whine) I HAD TO RE-DRAW ALL THE GADET IMAGES, RE-DO ALL THE MENUS, RE-DO ALL THE WINDOWS, TEXT RENDERING, ETC...ETC...!!! Seriously, it did take longer than I thought it would (about 20 hours) but it also turned out better than I thought it would! (and I'm not really bitchin' about it, I enjoyed the challenge) (hopefully doing this will let more people with 512K use it) 7) Generally 'cleaned' up the code. ( took out about 1000 Bytes of redundant code before doing the color changes) 8) I think that's about it... Now, if I still have your attention, I'd like to take a short poll: a) (after using this version for a while,) Would anyone still like to see future upgrades/enhancements done to the 16 color version ? b) The color changes (in the menus/windows) may still change from time to time... Are there any color combinations (in this version) that "cry out" to be changed ? ( I think the color I miss the most is the "burgandy" (dark red) color that I used to use for a lot of the text in the various windows and for the "Fast-Menu" borders) ***************************************************************************** * * The documentation below was written for "Access!" a 16 color version * of this program, Although most all of it still applies. (except for the * name change and the amount of colors used) * **************************************************************************** Ver.25 ~~~~~~ Additions: (Note: not a WHOLE lot of additions this version, (I've had the FLU (sigh)) but due to #1 listed below, I thought I'd go ahead with it) 1) Re-did the "welcome" screen (again) due to popular DEMAND (hehe) (it's still there, but it goes away quicker.) 2) "Line Delay" prop gadget added to the "INFO" window. (see below for details) 3) "BORDERS" gadget added to fast menu to disable/enable borders (thus giving full 80 cols. vs 79 cols.) 4) Re-arranged the normal menus. (now all but one feature can be accessed through the normal menus) 5) "Fast-Menu" positions are now saved/loaded along with "Acc!.def" file. (see below for details) 6) Re-sized the "CHAT" windows... the bottom window now has 3 lines of text and the top has 19. (used to be 4 bottom 18 top) (with the borders turned off, you get 4 lines on bottom 19 top) 7) Spent an HOUR re-formatting this doc file to take out some of the extra blank lines and left-justifying the lines (a little) to get more text per line, thus removing even more lines... (no great improvement on the quality of the file, just the length :-) (of course letting you know that I did this has now added 6 more lines...(7 if you include the blank one. hehe)) Ver.24 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) Another new "welcome" screen... 2) "WAIT" feature added...(buffers chars. until is pressed see below) 3) New feature added to "File Requester" (displays "Bytes Free" on selected drive. ("RAM:" is currently not displayed correctly, should be working next Version...) 4) "Get Keys" option added to "Phone Book" for loading keymacro file at dial time. (see below for details) 5) "Get Colors" option added to "Phone Book" for loading color file at dial time. (also see below...) Ver.23a ("quicky" update to Ver.23) ~~~~~~~ Additions: 1) Added menu option to allow Loading/Saving of "Phone Books" without opening the "Phone Book" window. (this was added because the amount of memory used to open the "Phone Book" window might prevent opening the "File Requester" to load/save on 512K machines.) 2) New "welcome" screen at boot time... (let me know if you liked it the old way :-) 3) 2nd "Fast-Menu" now opens at top of screen, this should be an option in future versions... Ver.23 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) Access! now looks for "Acc!.def" file at boot time to "define" system support files. (i.e. "phone.file", "key.file", "color.file", and other system defaults, see below for details) 2) new "Define Access!" window for loading/saving/defining system defaults. (see "DEFINE" below for details) 3) Upload/Download directories are now seporate and definable. 4) "Alternate Service" added (put back in:-) to "Phone Book". 5) "STRIP" feature now supported on "Captured" files (for stripping blank lines) 6) fixed the bug that put the "dir/path" on the "file" line in the "File Requester". (now only the file is displayed there, and the "dir/path" is on the "drawer" line where it's supposed to be :-) 7) re-wrote many of the file io routines to support the ".def" file, let me know if something has crept up... 8) And of course, re-wrote more routines... (hmmm... did however get up over the "79000!!!" that I mentioned last time, when will it ever stop!? :-) Ver.22 (early posting on CA-AUG) ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) fixed the old "subdirectory within a subdirectory" bug that added the extra '/' char. to the end in the file requester. 2) re-formatted the "normal" menus for easier "access" (pun intended) to the "sub-items". ( let me know if it worked...) 3) Made "File-Requester" more flexable! (see below) 4) "SAVE" option now working on the "Phone Book" ('bout time huh?) 5) Changed "phone book" format to the "FinalList (tm)" type format. (serial params. are now set when number is dialed, see below) 6) fixed small bug... title bar now stays on (if it WAS on) after the interlace/toggle thing... (thanks for the report D.Whatley) 7) "Macro Window" now uses the "File Requester" for loading/saving. (peviously used the (now non-existent) "Input Window") 8) "CHAT" mode now re-entered after "Split-Screen" (provided it was on prior to "Split-Screen") 9) Again, Extensive re-writes on MANY routines... (at one point, it was up to 79000 BYTES!!!)(NOTE Ver.23: big deal, it's now OVER 83000 BYTES!!! :-) Ver.21 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) "LACE" option added for switching Interlace/NonInterlace AFTER start-up (see "LACE" below) 2) "STRIP" option added for stripping in-comming blank lines. (see "STRIP" below) 3) "ADD" gadget now working on "Phone Book" 4) "EDIT" gadget now working on "Phone Book" 5) Extensive re-writes on MANY routines... Ver.20 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) NEW "Phone Book" added. (see "Phone Book:" below for details) 2) Now supports 60 phone numbers (as compared to 44) 3) bug fix in "color palette" (see "Load" under "Color Palette" below) 4) modified "Redial" option (slightly) Ver.19 (limited posting on AMIC) ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) Load/Save option added to "Palette" window! (see below) 2) Split-Screen option now supported from WBench ICON. 3) "Help" window updates more often to help monitor Memory Available. 4) "Cleaned-up" gadgets a little... Ver.18 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) New "Macro Window" added (see Macros: below) 2) Fixed "CHAT" mode (now works on 512K machines, see below) 3) Once again, minor code changes and "window dressing" Ver.17 ~~~~~~ Additions: 1) Second "Fast-Menu" (see Fast Menu: below) 2) TRUE "Split-Screen" mode (see Fast Menu: below) 3) Minor code optimizing and "window dressing" Ver.16 (first "public" BETA release) ~~~~~~ While learning "C" I decided to "Hack-up" someone else's (EXCELENT) program.... This program is essentually "Comm 1.34e", with the changes listed below. When I first started modifying it, I had it open up on a three bit-plane screen, giving me 8 colors to play with (and support for 8 color BBS's). I then proceeded to add custom gadgets and more color to the menus ect...ect... Well, I wasn't happy with JUST 8 colors (I'm greedy! :-) so... I changed it to 4 bit-planes and 16 colors! (this seems to satisfy my needs for now :-). Additions: ~~~~~~~~~~ 1) It now supports 16 Colors! ( well, it used to anyway... :-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Access! now opens up on a 4 bit-plane screen, giving a total of 16 colors (1 background and 15 foreground). Colors 0-7 can be used for Text foreground/background color combinations. (see "Color Menu" below). Colors 8-15 are used for various menu/gadget colors. 2) "Color" menu item ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a) "Reset Text Colors"-> Selecting this will reset both the foreground and background colors (colors 1,0 respectively). This is usefull if you make a selection on a "Color" BBS in the middle of a color change and you get a "bad" color combination. (this ever happen to you?) b) "ForeGround Text Color" -> Here you can select the color for text in the "receive" window. This color will stay the same until... 1:You select another color. 2:A BBS (or other terminal) sends an ANSI code that changes it. (NOTE: in split screen mode, the TOP (receive) window will use this color,but the BOTTOM (transfer) window will be color #1.) c) "BackGround Text Color" -> Same as above but for the text background color. (NOTE: see note above :-) d) "Sample Text Colors" -> This option lets you test your foreground/background color selections to see what works best... EXAMPLE: Select a foreground color, go to "Sample Text Colors", select "Background Colors" and your selected foreground color will be displayed on 8 different background colors. Now try the opposite for background. (confused yet?) e) "Modify Palette" -> Yep, you guessed it, this will bring up a color palette for you to set the colors YOU like. (the colors I like are already there). 1a) "OKAY"-> Selecting this gadget tells the system that the current/modified (or not modified) colors are the ones you would like to use. 1b) "RESET"-> This gadget brings back the original "system" colors (the ones I like :-). If you get things all messed up, you can always get back to where you started. 1c) "CANCEL"-> This gadget tells the system that you changed your mind and it will return you to the last colors that were "OKAYed". EXAMPLE: If you have modified the colors (and hit OKAY) and then want the "default/system colors", 1. Open the Palette. 2. select "RESET" 3. select "OKAY" (if you select "CANCEL" instead, it will return to the last colors) IMPORTANT! ~~~~~~~~~~ ONLY AFTER selecting your colors and CLOSING the palette, open up the file-requester and/or menus and check out the colors. Many of the colors are dependent on each other for the gadgets and menus to look "esthitically" pleasing.(in my humble opinion anyway :-) But if you find a combination that works well, SAVE THEM for later use. 1d) "LOAD"-> This will load the colors in the given file name. (provided they were either "saved" by "Access!" or they are in the CORRECT format... Format for "Color" text files: 1) Any text you chose may be at the TOP of the file but NOT the '%' char. (unless there is no other text and the "color values" follow) 2) There MUST be a '%' char. DIRECTLY proceding the "color values" along with a new-line or space between it and the values. 3) The "color values" are writen in "hex" ie: % 0x000 0xf00 0x0f0 0x00f etc... each seporated by either a new-line or a space, with NO text between them.(see the file "Acc!.color" for an example) (or why go through all the trouble...find the colors you like and let "Access!" save them for you :-) (NOTE: Please READ the docs in future versions for possible changes in this format!) 1e) "SAVE"-> The "save" option will save the currently selected color values to a text file with the given name. (see the format listed above for details) (NOTE Ver.18: the "Color Palette" option is seeming more and more like a double-edged sword... It's nice to be able to CHANGE the colors but (as you might have already noticed) I keep using different color schemes for different funtions! And so when you think you've got some colors you like... BAM!, they don't ALWAYS look good on some other menu/window/gadget/text ect... OH Well, such is life :-) (that's the REASON for the RESET button) (NOTE Ver.21: If anyone DOES find some other colors that work well, please upload them somewhere I can find 'em. (maybe I'll include them in the arc along with your name in lights!) (NOTE Ver.23: User definable "color.file" now loaded in at boot time.) 3) FAST MENUS ~~~~~~~~~~ (NOTE Ver.21: If you look REAL hard you still won't find some of the options listed below in the normal "Menus". Some of them have found their way up there and some may not EVER get there. Actually, I had event thought of doing away with the "Normal Menus" altogether... so don't be supprised if... (grin)) (NOTE Ver.25: Well... open mouth, insert foot I guess..(hehe) as you might have noticed, I've now added most of the "Fast-Menu" options to the "normal" menus so there are now at least 2 (if not 3) ways to "Access" the various functions. (in the spirit of the programs' namesake :-) There are now 2 Fast menus!, the items on them may move around (even from one to the other) but both menus work the same so I'll just list them and you should find them on one menu or the other (unless I delete it altogether :-)). Most of these are self explanitory(sp) and are just short-cuts to the "normal" menu-items. There are a few that need further explanation... a) "QUIT" -> hmmmmmm..... b) "INFO" -> brings up the "Status Window" (same as key) c) "PRINT" -> Starts Printer (if you have one hooked up :-) d) "CAPT" -> Starts ASCII Capture (with file name) e) "XUP" -> " XModem (or WXModem) send f) "XDOWN" -> " XModem download g) "WXDOWN"-> " WXModem download h) "CHAT" -> Chat Mode i) "COLOR" -> Brings up the Color Palette j) "NEWCLI"-> Starts a NewCli (flip back to WBench to find it) k) "MACROS"-> Opens "Macro Window" (see below) l) " ^ " -> (Up Arrow) This gadget will send the "FAST MENU" to the top of the screen (and back again)(NOTE: if your cursor is at the top of the screen when you send the menu bar up there, it will "hide" the cursor. (if for some reason you can't find the cursor, move the fast menu and it will probably be there.) If you select "CHAT" AFTER the menu is at the top, the cursor will move down for you. (NOTE: this gadget works the same for both "FAST MENUS") // m) "\X/ " -> (check mark) This gadget is essentually a "Back Gadget". Use it to reposition the "Fast-Menus" and the "Status Line" to your preferences. n) "ASEND" -> Starts ASCII "Send" mode (same as normal menu selection). o) "HANGUP" -> Sends out "hang-up" string to modem. p) "DIAL" -> Although not yet in "finished" form, There is now a "Phone Book" window. Usage is fairly straight-foward but I'll expand a little anyway... When the "Phone Book" opens, you'll see 30 phone numbers list along with some other gadgets/info... 1) "ADD" -> Will allow you to add numbers (up to 60 total) to the "Phone Book".(see "NOTE" below for further info) 2) "DELETE"-> still N/A (this version) opposite of "ADD" (above) 3) "EDIT" -> Will allow editing individual phone numbers without leaving the "Phone Book". (see "NOTE" below for further info) (NOTE: While in the "Phone Book", if you select "ADD" or "EDIT", the gadget will remain selected to remind you of what the "current" action is... when you hit on the string gadget (which you must do for the change to take effect) the "current" action will be taken. (ie: if "ADD" is selected, the number will be ADDed to the end of the list (provided there is room) If "EDIT" is selected, the number will be changed to the one in the string gadget.) If you change your mind, selecting "ADD" or "EDIT" again will toggle them back off. (so does "CANCEL") 4) "LOAD" -> Brings up the file requester for loading in new "Phone Books" (up to 60 numbers and TWO alternate service numbers, if you have more than 60 numbers, use an editor to break them up into 60 number chunks) (NOTE Ver.24: If you try to load/save from the "Phone Book" and nothing happens (the "File Requester" doesn't appear), then chances are that you don't have enough memory for both windows on screen at the same time. If this is the case, you should "close" the "Phone Book" window and then use the "normal" menu options for loading/saving. You can then re-open the "Phone Book" if needed.) (NOTE Ver.22: Access! NOW uses the "FinalList (tm)" phone format!, the Acc!.phone file that is in the arc is an example of this format. see below for further details ) 5) "SAVE" -> (yeah, finally got around to it) When your through "editing/adding" phone numbers, you may NOW SAVE them! 6) " ^ " -> (up arrow) This will shift the display between numbers 1-30 and 31-60. (this variable is stored so that the next time you open the window, you will see the previously selected set of numbers) 7) "CANCEL"-> This will close the window without dialing any number (possibly numberS in the future) 8) "OKAY!" -> Dials Currently selected number (if any)(possibly numberS in the future) ( BTW, to select a number, just click on it :-) 9) "Alt-Serv #1" -> Selecting this gadget will dial the specified alternate service number (in the string gadget to the right) and then dial the selected phone number.(if you don't know what this would be used for, then you probably don't need it :-) 10) "Alt-Serv #2" -> This is a SECOND alternate service number you may define. (works the same as above) NOTE Ver.23: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Currently EITHER or BOTH of the "Alt-Serv's" may be used with a number... in other words, if both are selected, "Alt-Serv #1" will be dialed FIRST then the "Alt-Serv #2" will be dialed, then (finally) the number. The alt-serv's can be up to 18 numbers each and the phone number can be up to 18 numbers... for a total of 54 numbers! This SHOULD be enough to reach any number you wish to dial. (along with your account number if needed) (although there may be a 30-40 number limit on your modem...) These numbers are definable in the "string" gadget where they live. And are saved/loaded along with the "Phone Book". (these are "toggle" gadgets so you currently have to de-select them if your not using them.) 11) "Get Keys"-> NEW Ver.24! Selecting this (toggle) gadget tells the system to load the "keymacro" file with the same name as the currently selected phone number. The term will take the name of the selected number up until the first "space" in the name, then append ".keys" to it, the attempt to find/load a file of that name in the current "System" directory (the one that you keep all your "support" files in) EXAMPLE: If this gadget is selected and you select: Good BBS in Ca. 1-(123)-456-7890 |------Name------|-----Number-----...... to call... Then it will take the name until it reaches a "space" i.e. "Good" then add ".keys" (Good.keys) and look for that file in the current "System" directory. (selecting "Genie" would look for "Genie.keys" etc..) 12) "Get Colors"-> NEW Ver.24! As you might have guessed, this oporates exactly as the above function does, but it looks for a ".color" file... Using the same examples above, it would look for: "Good.color" and "Genie.color" (NOTE!: THESE FUNTIONS WILL ONLY USE THE CHARS. OF THE NAME BEFORE A SPACE, REMEMBER THIS WHEN SAVING YOUR "KEY/COLOR" FILES) ~~~~~~ Ver.22: Format for "Acc!.phone" files... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Duplex (F or H) | Linelength (8 or 7) || Parity (None,Even,Odd) ||| StopBits (1 or 2) |||| |||| | 17 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 26 | |--System Name---|--Phone Number---|-Baud|-Set|--------comment----------| AMIC CA. 1-(707)-579-0523 2400 F8N1 F1,F2 any comment you want Deep Thought NC 1-(919)-471-6436 2400 F8N1 (S'ware Distillery) F1,F2 GENIE 1- 774-2427 1200 H8N1 F6 CAUG OH 1-(216)-581-2284 2400 F8N1 nice board F3,F4,F2 Example of 18 numb123456789012345678 | | Number starts HERE! Baud starts here! If needed you may actually use 18 chars. for the "phone number", and the '-', '('and ')' are optional. (to use 18 numbers they must be as shown in the last example shown above (spacing wise). Duplex, Linelength, Parity, StopBits and Baud rate (format shown above) are automatically set when a number is dialed! (unless the "Set" field is empty) (also, use CAPITAL letters in the "Set" field ) q) "REDIAL" -> Simply "re-dials" last number dialed... (NOTE: duplex,linelength,stopbits,ect... are not re-set for "Redial", but they should be set right since you just dialed that number :-) r) "WAIT" -> NEW Ver.24! This feature serves two purposes... 1) For all you "type ahead" people, selecting this will not send chars. out to the modem until you hit !! 2) Some BBS's echo what you type back to you while in "CB"/"Conference" modes. This tends to "break up" what you're typing and can get very confusing/frust- rating. To avoid this, go into "Chat" mode and toggle this feature on. (NOTE: if you are using this feature with a "half-duplex" BBS (i.e GEnie), while not in conference mode, you will be able to type ahead, but when you hit the chars. you typed will be printed on the screen again. (try it, you'll see what I mean) (ANOTHER NOTE!: DO NOT type over 3 lines of text without hitting return!) s) "STRIP" -> This option will strip all blank lines from in-comming text! This allows you to get more (meaningful) lines of text on screen at once. (nice feature for GEnie conferencing, CB mode, ect... but can be used anytime) NOTE Ver.23: "STRIP" now also strips blank lines from "Captured" files. (the vote here was 1 to 0 :-) t) "BORDRS" -> NEW Ver.25! (stands for "BORDERS") This option will enable/disable the main window borders to give you a full 80 col. screen vs a 79 col. screen. This will also give you an extra line of text in the "transmit" (bottom) window in "CHAT" mode. (4 lines vs. 3.5 with the borders on) u) "CLOCK" -> N/A (this version)(somebody got a small clock routine?) v) "SPLIT" -> Selecting "SPLIT" (currently not a normal menu item) will give you a TRUE split screen!, which means no more swapping back and forth to the WorkBench screen to see how your "unarcing" is coming along (know of a good, small "DirUtil"? like one that takes up half of a screen... ? ) ( hint, hint ). What it actually does is shrink the term down to normal, non-interlaced size (640*200) and moves the screen half-way down. Thus giving you a 23 line (interlaced) terminal on the bottom of the screen w/out losing any of the normal terminal display area ( of course you dont get as many lines as a "full/sized/interlace/display" but you can swap back and forth as you like!) Seleting "SPLIT" again returns you to a Full/Sized/ Interlace screen again (it's a toggle switch). (NOTE: this option works very well when used with the "NEWCLI" option above or with a "half-screen DirUtil" if there's one around or better yet, with WBench set to interlace also.(although I haven't taken the time to try it.)) (ANOTHER NOTE: this option can be selected at start-up by using the "-s" (or "-S") as a command-line argument. ( example: at the prompt, 1> Access! -s ) (ONE MORE NOTE: this option is currently only supported in "interlace" mode. 1> Access! -i (sets interlace on) or 1> Access! -s (which also sets interlace on) w) "LACE" -> This option will toggle you between "Interlace" and "Non-Interlace" modes. (or cause the program to exit if you don't have enough memory for interlace) I have played with this EXTENSIVELY and it seems to be working fine. (let me know if it doesn't for you, along with what you system set-up is, but before you do that, see the paragraph below about memory) It will also "remember" how the screen was set-up and reset back to how you had it... If one or the other (or both) of the "Fast-Menus" were at the top, they will be replaced where they were. If you were in "Chat" mode, you will be returned to "Chat" mode. (this only takes a second or 2, so please wait until it's finished before proceeding. (grin)) AGAIN, if you don't have enough memory for "INTERLACE" in the first place, chances are the program will EXIT! You might also avoid clicking on this (or ANY other) gadget while either the "File Requester" is open or the "Palette Window" is open. (all other windows should be ok) 4) Macro Window ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Selecting this option (from the "Fast-Menu") now opens up a "Macro Window" that will let you see/edit/load/save all currently defined macro keys (F1-F10,F1-F10). usage: When the window opens, you will see 10 funtion key definitions. Hit the "arrow" gadget to toggle between shifted/non-shifted keys. To edit one, simply point to it and "click". It will then move down to the editing line where you can make your changes. When your through, be sure to hit before moving on or your changes will be lost! The new definitions will be in effect until you either quit the program, change them again, load in new ones, or (heaven forbid) crash. Select "Save" to save them to disk for future use. BTW, if for some reason while you're editing you hit the "switch" gadget (arrow) and THEN hit your changes will go onto the current page at the same location.(might be useful for "copying" from F1->S1 ect.. but not much else :-) a) "OKAY" -> when your done editing/loading/saving ect.. this will close the window. b) "SAVE" -> brings up the "Input" window and saves macros to the name you supply. (Access! looks for the .key file defined in the "Acc!.def" file at startup) c) "LOAD" -> opposite of "SAVE" (above) d) "CANCEL"-> currently acts the same as "OKAY" above (selcting this gadget COULD be used for "undoing" any current changes, but this would take a little more "overhead" and I left that option out for now...) e) " ^ " -> (arrow) click on this to toggle between "shifted" and "non-shifted" funtion key definitions. NEW Ver.22! ~~~~~~~~~~~ You might notice that two of the "disk" gadgets in the "File Requester" look a little odd... I KNOW your not reading this BEFORE you ran the program, so I'm SURE that you discovered that they actually have "STRING GADGETS" connected to them!! While contemplating how to make the "File Requester" fit YOUR set-up, I came accross this idea. (yes, this WAS MY idea :-) I assume EVERYONE has "RAM:" (at least SOME ram) MOST people have "VD0:" (if you don't, you should.) EVERYONE has "DF0:" (it's the one connected to your AMY!) ALOT of people have "DF1:" (ok, so SOME people don't...) And that takes care of 4 out of 6 "disk gadgets" so the other two are free for you to specify as you please. (drive, path, ect... up to 50! chars. (I think it's 50)) This way you don't have to do alot of "assigning" if you use deeply inbedded "paths" for dl/ul's! Some time in the future I will be adding a "Acc!.setup" file that will let you define these and other defaults, to be loaded at "boot" time. NOTE Ver.23: The future is here... These are two of the defaults that are defined in the "Acc!.def" file that is loaded in at boot-up. (BTW, notice that the previously mentioned "Acc!.setup" has been changed to "Acc!.def")(see below for details) (BTW, if you're wondering what the big gap between the "CANCEL" and "OKAY" gadgets is, I've got something planned for there but it's not working right now...) (NEW Ver.24!: WELL, It's still not working 100% but the above mentioned "gap" is now filled with information about the number of "Bytes Free" on the currently selected drive!) x) "DEFINE" -> This will open the "Define Access!..." window to let you laod/save/define the support files, user dir's, ul/dl dir's... see below. This window displays the current filing preferences and modem defaults. i.e. if you change the "Key File" to "my.keys", if you go to the "Macro Window" and select LOAD, then "my.keys" will be shown in the file string. The reverse is true also... If you LOAD in "my.phone" from the "Phone Book", when you open the "Define Access!" window, "my.phone" will be displayed beside the "Phone Book:" string. The same is also true for ALL the support files/dirs/ paths/user dirs etc... Currently, loading in a .def file (via the LOAD button on this window) will only load in the "names" of the files, it does not actually LOAD the FILES in. In other words, it will load in the NAME "grey!.color" but to actually LOAD the color in, you will have to go to the "Color Palette" and LOAD it in there. (this window is currently BEST used for setting up the file to be loaded at boot-up which DOES LOAD THE FILES IN!) Access! will look for a file named "Acc!.def" (in the current dir) when it boots.(this file is included in the arc, it will get you loaded and running then open the "Define Access!..." window, fix it the way you want it then SAVE it as "Acc!.def") (If all of this is confusing, just load 'er up and fiddle with it a while...:-) NEW Ver.25!: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Although it is not shown on this window, the positions of the "Fast-Menus" are also now saved/loaded along with the other defaults. i.e. if you save the defaults with one or the other of the "Fast-Menus" at the top, then if you load that file back in, they will be returned to that position.(in case you're wondering, this is represented by either a '1' (for up) or a '0' (for down) for each of the "Fast-Menus" in the ".def" file) Filing Preferences: 1) "Phone Book"-> defines the "phone.file" to be loaded. (name only, no dir/path) 2) "Key File" -> defines the "key.file"... 3) "Color File"-> defines the "color.file"... 4) "Upload Dir"-> defines default dir/path for uploads. 5) "Dnload Dir"-> defines default dir/path for downloads. 6) "System Dir"-> defines dir/path to search for support files.(.phone, .key, .color etc...) 7) "Def.Capture"-> defines dir/path/name used for "captured" file when L-amiga 'c' is pressed. 8) "User Dir #1"-> defines dir/path used in the first user-selectable string gadget in the file requester. 9) "User Dir #2"-> defines dir/path used in the second... Modem Defaults: 1) "Set-up String"-> defines the string sent out to initialize the modem. 2) "Dial Prefix" -> defines string sent to modem prior to dialing. (ATDT for hayes compatibles) 3) "Dial Suffix" -> defines string sent to modem after dialing. ( ... ^M ) 4) "Hangup String"-> string sent to modem to hang-up. (this one may be deleted in a future version when I'll just drop carrier to hang-up) 5) "1200 Connect"-> string RETURNED by modem when you get connected at 1200 BAUD. (currently not used) 6) "2400 Connect"-> string RETURNED by modem for 2400 BAUD.(also not currently used) 7) "No Connect #1"-> string returned by modem when... "NO CARRIER" (also not currently used) 8) "No Connect #2"-> string returned by modem when... "BUSY" (also not..) 9) "No Connect #3"-> string returned by modem when... "VOICE"(this one either...) NOTE Ver.23: The above string definitions that are "currently not used..." will be used in the future for multiple-phone-dialing. If this window looks a little "out of proportion", I plan to add other things to it so I just made it big to start with. Other: ~~~~~~ 1) Now checks for ".ZOO / .zoo" extension and for disabling auto-chop. 2) Routine added to "Confirm()" downloaded file, displayed in "Status-Line" (size may be off by a byte or so but if it shows "0" bytes, then you know you didn't get the file :-) 3) File-Requester now supports up to six devices.(currently DF0:,DF1:,DF2: DH0:,RAM:,VD0: but future versions will "Dynamically" set up for devices you actually have mounted) (I'm still learning :-) (NOTE Ver.21: Still haven't worked on the "Dynamic" thing...^) (NOTE Ver.22: Didn't DO the "Dynamic" thing...^, did something I think is BETTER/MORE VERSATILE! )(see above) 4) Various graphic/gadget enhancements. (let me know what you think) (Ver.18) ~~~~~~ 5) Older versions (even the original "Comm1.34") had problams with eating too much memory when going into "CHAT" mode (split-screen on Comm1.34). Thus, if you only had 512K, chances were that you could not use this feature. I've re-writen that routine and it should now be possible to use this option (even in interlace) with a 512K machine. If you STILL have problems with this option (or other windows not opening) try shrinking down any windows you have open in the background (yes, even "empty" CLI windows eat up mem.) NEW Ver.25! ~~~~~~~~~~~ 6) There is now another "prop" gadget in the "INFO" window labeled "Line Delay". This gadget controls the amount of delay between lines of text sent via the "ASCII SEND" feature. This was added by the suggestion of someone who "uploads" source files to a VAX computer that needs a short delay between lines to compile them. But I have also used this to upload pre-typed messages to a BBS's message base. If you do this, you'll probably need to experiment with both the delay and the length of the lines that the BBS will take. I've found that 70 chars. per line and 1 click to the right on this gadget works just fine... (the other gadget "Char Delay" controls the delay between characters sent.) Deletions: ~~~~~~~~~~ Yes, I'm guilty.... I took out the "Veiw Window" and the "Debug Functions" I never used them and I'm trying to keep the file size down. Ver.20-> The "phone" menu item seems to have "vanished", I don't know where it went (grin) but it's just as well since all these funtions are now handled in the new "Phone Book" feature. Known Bugs: ~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't know of any "REAL" bugs, but the error checking is not what it should be. For example you CAN open every window/requester at the same time... This is NOT good and SHOULD be AVOIDED! (or you might see a number to meditate over :-)(although if you close them back down in the right order, it should be OK, as long as you don't fiddle with a bunch of gadgets while they're open) (Ver.18) ~~~~~~ still haven't added any more error checking....that's kinda' like doing the dishes after eating a good meal... (I'll get around to it...) (Ver.19) ~~~~~~ I quess it goes without saying... I haven't gotten around... BTW, DON'T PLAY WITH THE GADGETS DURING A TRANSFER! (it doesn't really hurt anything but you might get a LOT of NAKS or no file at all!) (Ver.20) ~~~~~~ Hmmm... ( I'm tired now, maybe next time...) (Ver.21) ~~~~~~ Need I say it...? (actually I do from time to time find a "bug" and attempt to fix it, I just don't always remember what they were when it comes time to update this "readme" file...) (Ver.22) ~~~~~~ Ditto! (same as above ^ ) (Ver.23) ~~~~~~ There is one thing that works a little funny... when you go to save the "Acc!.def" type file. If you change directories, it will also change the "System Dir" that you had defined. (they're hooked to the same buffer) Oh well, I'll fix this next time... (Ver.23a) ~~~~~~~ I seem to have mis-stated something last time, I said that the "Modem Set-Up String" was currently not used.... ACTUALLY, one of the first things that happens is that the string is sent to the modem... I've changed this string to "ATH" (hangup). this seems to work ok, the old definition seemed to cause a "lock-up" of the modem in some cases. Sorry if this has caused any inconvieniance (sp). (Ver.24) ~~~~~~ Bugs? what Bugs? *grin* (Ver.25) ~~~~~~ Well, it's not really a bug in the program... more of a bug in INTUITION. Some of the "Fast-Menu" gadgets that used to stay on when selected ("STRIP" ,"WAIT",etc...) are no longer set up to do this. When I put these features into the "normal" menus (giving another way to use them) I had to put code in to "turn them on/off" in the "Fast-Menus" if they were selected/unselected from the "normal" menus... Well, to make a long story short, INTUITION either didn't like the way I was doing it or didn't know how to do it, so until I get some info from C-A, you will have to check the normal menus if you are in doubt. That's It For Now: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Besides these changes, it's good ole 100% "Comm 1.34" under the hood, so refer to your "Comm134e.docs" for info on the other features of this FINE term. (NOTE Ver.21: after reading through all the above changes, you might be asking yourself what I mean when I say "besides these changes.." "it's good ole 100%..." well I'm not sure what I mean by that either! (grin) But, the Xmodem, WXmodem, etc... are "virtually" still unchanged, and so are many other routines. (you don't fix it if it isn't broke(unless of course you just do it different)) ******************** NOTE AcJr: PLEASE READ! ******************************* > The biggest problem that I seem to be hearing (over and over) is that I use >4 bit-planes and thus... use lots of memory, "jerky" text scrolling (I only >see this in "interlace" mode), ect... with the suggestion that I make the >number of bit-planes "user-selectable". > > Well... 4 bit-planes DOES use lots of memory, and the text (in interlace) >DOES "Jerk". > > I thought about adding a feature to let the user select the no. of >bit-planes (colors), but.... if you look hard, you'll see that some of the >gadgets USE more than 8 colors! (I think the "disk" gadgets use 11 colors!) >and MOST of them use at LEAST 6 colors. Also the "menus" use some of the >upper 8 colors, and some of the "text" rendering in the support windows use >these colors... see the problem? > > This doesn't mean that I won't add this feature (sometime in the future) >(possibly Distant future), I'll have to re-do/design the WHOLE thing and it >may lose some "Pizazz"(you don't really use this term because of all the >colors, DO YOU?) (I DO, but then again, I have 2.5 megs and don't find these >problems to BE a problem :-) > > What I might do instead is... another version with "simple", "normal", >"what everybody else does", "everyday", "square", "text" gadgets.(like my >fast-menu gadgets, but with less colors) And let the user select between >say...4 and 8 colors (maybe 16). (or maybe a "low-res" version with 32 >colors... nah.:-) > > I don't mean to sound cynical about this, but one of the MAIN reasons for >doing it in 16 colors was to make (attemp) a functional yet pleasing user >interface! ( I BOUGHT my Amiga because it HAS 4096 colors:-).............. >....... ETC.....ETC......ETC........ The above (somewhat long-winded) comments were followed by another page or so of the same type in earlier versions of this doc file and are left in THIS version for historical reasons. (eating a "small" portion of crow..) As you can see, I HAVE now reduced the number of bit-planes to 3, although this is not currently an option. To make the transition more "paletteable" (grin) to me, I did not do the "simple", "square", "text", etc.. gadgets mentioned earlier, but instead took the time to re-draw them all! (pass the salt please) Suprisingly, I now prefer (ahem) the 8 color version myself. (although I do have the memory to spare). -Keith- **************************************************************************** NOTE Ver.23: Please see the file "Future?.txt" for a list of ~~~~~~~~~~~~ suggestions/comments/possible future additions... Ver.24! ********************** NOTE ON BUG REPORTS!!! ******************************* So far, things seem to be going pretty well (knock on wood). The main problem USUALLY ALWAYS has to do with a lack of memory... If a window "just doesn't open" when you expect it to, CHANCES ARE, you do not have enough memory for the window to open! i.e. If you see a message in the main terminal window the says something like... "Can't open such-in-such Window" then it's a MEMORY (or lack there of) problem! The term SHOULD still work on a 512K machine, but you may have to make some sacrafices to do so (like multi-tasking). If you do have other problems to report, PLEASE list the VERSION NUMBER along with the report! This will help me track down the problem or let me know if it's already been fixed. I try to respond to most/all reports/suggestions/comments but am not always able to do so. -Keith- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please send all BUG REPORTS, KUDO'S, HELP, SUGGESTIONS, INSULTS (grin) to... AMIC: Keith Young GENIE: K.Young CA-AUG: Keith Young Deep Thought: Keith Young ( or anywhere else you see my name listed ) The Plea: ~~~~~~~~~ This program being distributed as SHAREWARE, so if you use the program and would like to SUPPORT my efforts, or if you just feel inclined to help me with my PHONE BILL (hint), Please feel free to do so! With your support, I will continue to add as many features to this program as I am able to. Suggested contribution is $20.00 (but please feel free to adjust this figure to the amount you feel it's worth. BTW, contributions over $100.00 will not be accepted. (just a joke, actually they will :-) ANY contribution is APPRECIATED! Snail Mail: Keith Young RT. 2 BOX 13G MONETA, VA. 24121 ___________I CODE TO BE FRUSTRATED, DON'T WE ALL? AND AIN'T IT FUN?____________