Instinct Software 11311 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300 Dallas, Texas 75243 Orders Only! Phone Line (214) 739-5543 Bulletin Board Phone Line (214) 368-2709 1200/2400 Baud, 8 data, 1 stop, no parity ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Introduction ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± The purpose of ALT is to provide a useful, new framework for computing with your IBM PC, PCAT or compatible. It is a multi-faceted tool containing functions and capabilities that can literally make the difference between getting the job done effectively on the computer and abandoning the computer and going back to "doing it by hand". While none of the tools ALT provides are unique in nature, it is our opinion that most of them are superior in their operation and breadth of capabilities. ALT is best classified as a memory-resident (i.e., always available) integration of four major, popular utilities under a common user interface: * Context switching and management for running several tasks simultaneously with user definable menus * Desk Accessory programs that imitate and surpass their real-life counterparts * A DOS shell providing powerful file and directory management capabilities * Macros and Data Transfer (Cut and Paste) ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Installing ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± To install ALT from the floppy to a hard disk drive: Type: A: Press: Enter Type: Install Type: (drive letter of your harddisk and colon, i.e. C: ) Press: Enter The install program will then install ALT onto the designated hard disk. For those who have obtained the ALT shareware program without the install program, perform the following steps to install ALT: 1. Create an \ALT subdirectory on your harddisk. Type: (drive letter of your hardisk and colon, i.e. C: ) Press: Enter Type: md \alt Press: Enter Type: cd \alt Press: Enter 2. Copy all files from floppy (assuming drive A:) to newly created subdirectory. Type: copy a:\*.* \alt Press: Enter 3. The Alt shareware program is distributed in an archived (or crunched) form. The ARKE.COM program is used to unarchive (or uncrunch) the files required by Alt. Type: Arke Alt Press: Enter The installation of ALT is complete. Please note the following for successful operation of Alt. 1. Make sure you have the following lines in the \CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk (usually your hard disk). FILES=25 BUFFERS=25 2. Have the \ALT subdirectory included in your path, i.e. PATH=\ALT ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Running ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± To run ALT, first go to the ALT directory: Type: cd \ALT Press: Enter Type: alt Press: Enter The ALT banner will appear on the screen. Press any key to continue. If ALT is being run for the first time, a screen for configuring the swap drive will be presented. The swap drive is the disk drive used by ALT for temporarily storing programs run in other partitions while they are not being used. It is this capability that allows ALT to give more than one program, the entire memory resources of your computer. Thus, it is very important that you spend a few minutes setting up the swap drive configuration screen correctly. The swap drive configuration screen appears similar to the following: The Swap Drive configuration screen contains two columns: a swap drive column in which you fill in drive letters for the disk drives available to ALT for memory swapping and a column specifying the corresponding maximum amount of memory ALT is allowed to use temporarily on the disk. Note that ALT's use of your disk space is temporary. It will be freed upon exiting ALT. You must enter at least one disk drive letter for ALT to operate. We suggest using a RAM disk as the swap drive if you have one. This will make swapping much faster. Another good alternative is to use expanded memory. To use expanded memory, enter 'X' as the first swap drive letter. Then enter the maximum amount of disk space in kilobytes you can afford in the corresponding column to the right. Allow for about 600K per partition you plan to use plus about 130K for each accessory you use. You may leave this column blank if ALT is allowed to use all of the disk space available (you must enter a number, however, when using the expanded memory 'X' option). You can specify as many as five different swap drives as available to ALT. It is recommended that you specify your hard drive as the last swap drive if you are using a RAM disk or expanded memory. This will give ALT some memory to use temporarily in case it runs out of space on the RAM disk or expanded memory. Leave the Maximum Swap Size column blank for the last drive specified in order to avoid the "Out of Swap Space Error". For example suppose you have one hard disk C: and no RAM disk or expanded memory. Then the following simple configuration will suffice: Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive C K As another example, suppose you have a RAM disk D: with 3 Megabytes and a hard disk C:. Then a recommended swap drive configuration might be: Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive D 1500 K C The above sets up drive D: as the principal swap drive of which ALT is only allowed to temporarily use 1500K or 1.5 Megabyte. Drive C: is specified as the secondary swap drive. As a final example, suppose you have an expanded memory card with 4 Megabyte. Then you might configure ALT in the followinig manner: Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive X 2000 C This makes the expanded memory card the principal swap drive with enough memory to swap about three running programs and some accessories before running out of "disk" space on the expanded memory card. If ALT needed more than 2000K it would then use drive C: After configuring the swap drive, you will not see this screen again. You can, however, change these settings by using the setup program and selecting (D)rives. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± The ALT Accessories ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ALT provides a number of familiar desk accessory tools such as calculators, an appointment book, editors, file services and more. To bring up the ALT main menu and select an accessory: Tap: Alt ( i.e. the key marked Alt on your keyboard. Do not hold down the Alt key. YOU MUST TAP IT SHARPLY. ) Select: the desired accessory To get back to your running task or program, tap the Alt key again and select the task from the upper menu by pressing the appropriate number (i.e. 1). To get quickly to the last accessory you were in from another program, tap the Alt key twice. This is referred to as double tapping. Likewise, double tapping while in an ALT accessory returns you to the program you were in before entering the accessory. Another way of accessing the last accessory visited is to tap Alt and then press 0. (Think of the last accessory visited as being in partition 0). All accessories incorporate a user-interface similar to Lotus 123. At the bottom of each accessory appears a menu. (For some accessories you must first press F10 to retrieve the menu line). Items from the menu are selected either by using the arrow keys to position the highlighted bar over a menu selection and then pressing return, or by pressing the first letter of the menu selection. As the highlighted bar is moved with the arrow keys, an explanatory message appears beneath the menu line to remind you of the use or function of the selection. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± The Concepts of User Partitions and Program Switching ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± Like many programs for the IBM PC family, ALT resides in memory so that it is instantly accessible. However, ALT operates differently from most memory-resident software. ALT divides the memory in your computer into one or more partitions. This gives you the capability to run several programs simultaneously and allows you to switch at will between them. The partitions are numbered 1 through 9. When ALT is loaded it puts you back at the DOS prompt in partition 1. To switch to a new partition, tap the Alt key and then press the number of the partition desired. For example, to go to partition 2, tap the Alt key and then press 2. What does all of this mean to you? Well, for instance you can simultaneously run Lotus 123 in partition 1 say, and WordStar in partition 2. Furthermore, you can switch between the two programs at will. With ALT you are no longer constrained to doing just one thing at a time!!! ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Partition Configuration ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± If the partition you are switching to has never been visited before, then a partition configuration screen will be displayed. The first field configures the size of the partition. Enter the smallest size in kilobytes as needed to allow your application program to run in the partition. If you do not know the amount of memory needed, try giving the partition a large amount of memory, say 512K. However, the larger the size you enter, the more ALT must swap memory out to disk. Typing a larger number than the total amount of memory available will give all available memory to the partition. When in doubt, experiment! If the program you will be running in the new partition is a graphics based program then answer Yes to the second field (see below if EGA). If the program you are using is a communications program, answer No to the third field. This prevents ALT from swapping the program to disk during critical data transfer operations. Finally, press F10 to initiate the switch to the new partition or ESC to abort the operation. ±±±±±±± ± EGA ± ±±±±±±± ALT can be used with programs running in graphics mode on an EGA monitor, but there are some restrictions that do not apply to the lower resolution CGA monitor: o Only one program running in EGA graphics mode can be run at a time. o Programs running under EGA graphics mode must be run in partition 1. o ALT will automatically detect the EGA, but you must configure partition 1 for running graphics if you plan to use EGA graphics mode. It should be noted that the above restrictions do not apply when running programs in EGA text mode only. Furthermore, as many EGA text mode programs as desired can be run simultaneously with a graphics mode program running in partition 1. ±±±±±±±± ± Help ± ±±±±±±±± Help is available at all times inside ALT by pressing F1. In the abridged shareware version however, we are unable to provide the help file because of its size. However, pressing F1 does provide information about functions missing in the shareware version and how to order the complete version of ALT. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Recording Macros and the CUT/PASTE Facility ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± The ALT main menu gives you access to the CUT/PASTE facilities and the macro record feature. To record a macro: Tap: Alt Select: Other Select: Record Press: the key you wish to associate with a macro, i.e. Ctrl-F1 Type: a short descriptive title for the macro Press: ENTER Type: the keystrokes you wish to record Tap: Alt - to retrieve the macro Quit menu Select: Quit - to terminate recording Thereafter, the keystrokes you typed will be "played back" each time the recorded key is pressed. To incorporate the Alt accessories into your keyboard macros, tap the Alt key while in the macro Quit menu. This will bring up the familiar Alt Main Menu, which you can then continue on normally in your keyboard macro record. To cut some text for pasting back later: Tap: Alt Select: Kut Then use the arrow keys to position the cursor at one of the corners of the text you wish to cut. "Anchor" the selected corner by pressing the period "." or the "+" key. Use the arrow keys to select the opposite corner of the text to be cut. Finally, press ENTER to complete the operation. Hint: When moving around the screen during a cut operation, use Ctl-Right and Ctrl-Left to move quickly forward and backwards one word respectively. To paste back the cut text: Position the cursor in your application program where you wish to paste the text. Tap: Alt Select: Paste ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Instant Macros ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± Several keys are available for recording macros without entering the ALT main menu. The available keys are Alt-F1 through Alt-F10. For example, to associate a macro with the Alt-F2 key: Press: Alt-Shift-F2 (hold down both the Alt, Shift) Type: Quick example Tap: Alt - this action terminates recording. Notice that while you were typing "Quick example", a short click could be heard. This is to remind you that you are recording keystrokes. To play back the macro associated with Alt-F2: Press: Alt-F2 ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Configuring ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ALT is easily configured by using the setup.exe program included on the ALT distribution disk. With the setup program you can configure such things as the size of the first partition, the type of monitor you are using, the drives used to swap programs in an out of memory, whether you have a mouse, etc. To use the setup program, go to the ALT directory: Type: setup Press: Enter The setup program is used in the same fashion as an ALT accessory. Select a menu item to configure a particular function. For instance to configure mouse operation, select "System" and then "Mouse". ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Quitting ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± Occasionally you may want to remove ALT from memory entirely. For example, you may want to free up the memory it is using to run a large program. To do so: Tap: Alt Select: Other Select: Quit Press: Y CAUTION: When you quit ALT in this manner all running programs will be terminated and any unsaved data will be lost forever. Make sure all data is saved and all programs in the partitions are exited before using this option. If you have recorded any macros that you wish to keep, these must also be saved before quitting. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± The Full Version of ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± Alt is available in two versions, the Shareware and the Full version. The Shareware version is limited in many of its capabilities because of the disk space required to distribute the program. The Shareware version will fit on one disk and can be copied and distributed freely among interested persons. The Shareware version is not freeware, however. If you continue to use it, you must register. When you register, you will receive the Full version. You can register and receive the Full version of ALT by either using the handy on-line order form available from within ALT: Tap: Alt Select: Info or through the Instinct bulletin board or by calling the number given below. The cost of registering is only $29.95. With the Full version, you get the following extra benefits: * Ability to run nine programs (or tasks) instead of just two. Switch freely between all nine programs which each having access to all available RAM. * A printed manual. * All three calculators. A Reverse Polish Calculator (RPN) with 3 modes (business, statistical, and computer-based), an adding tape calculator, and an algebraic scientific calculator. * Full context sensitive help. Press F1 at any time while in Alt, and a detailed help will be provided on the accessory that you are visiting. * Increased memory area for keyboard macros. Macro key area can be increased from .5K to 10K to handle an almost unlimited number of macros. * Rolodex capacity is increased from 20 names to an amount only limited by the size of your hard disk. * Added functions to the Disk Filer. * Product support over the Instinct Bulletin Board System with extra privileges. * A user configuration menu program that will allow each user of Alt to configure his own interface to Alt. For example, you can move Alt's accessories and functions that you use most to the top of the Alt Main Menu. This allows you to access your favorite accessories even quicker. * * * Plus !!!! A Disk Services program. Why buy Norton Utilities when you can undelete files, unfragment your disks (optimize), directly edit sectors, sort directories, perform disk diagnostic tests, and much, much more with Instinct Software Disk Services. This is free with each Full version of Alt. All of this for only $29.95 !!! Orders can be made either through the Instinct Order Line (214)-739-5543 or through the Instinct Bulletin Board System (214)-368-2709 (1200/2400 Baud, 8 data bit, 1 stop bit, no parity). P.S. See the file TUTORIAL for a hands on approach to learn the power of ALT.