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