QCMsg - The QuickCIS Message Reader =================================== \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_ \_\_ RELEASE II \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_\_\_ \_\_\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_\_\_\_ \_ \_\_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_ \_ \_ \_\_\_ \_\_\_ \_\_ \_ Documentation For Version 2.11a (Beta 1/July 1993) *** IMPORTANT *** This version of QCMsg is only compatible with QuickCIS 1.72 & above. DO NOT USE QCMsg Release II WITH A VERSION OF QUICKCIS BELOW 1.72, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR MSG FILES!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! QCMsg & QuickCIS, when used in conjunction, require large amounts of memory. The 2 programs (when used together) are very unlikely to work on machines with less than 1 megabyte of memory, & I personally would consider 2 megabytes to be the viable minimum. This Text File Last Updated: 04 July 1993 ============================================================================ QCMsg is an alternate message reader module for use with Jim Ness' excellent QuickCIS navigator. You must have & use QuickCIS in order to make use of QCMsg. QCMsg provides enhanced message viewing facilities for the files produced by QuickCIS (those with .MSG .LBS .NWS .LIB file extensions). Please familiarise yourself with the QuickCIS documentation before reading this. QCMsg may be run either directly from the desktop (or any other shell) or from within QuickCIS itself. If you have a SUPPORT folder, you should place the PRG & RSC files in it, otherwise they should be placed in the same folder as QUICKCIS.PRG. Before you can use QCMsg correctly you must configure it. PLEASE FOLLOW THIS PROCEDURE EVEN IF YOU ARE UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION OF QCMSG. 1. Run QCMsg from the desktop (or whichever shell you normally use). DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RUN IT FROM QuickCIS. 2. A dialog is displayed giving the program version details & offering a choice of 2 buttons - 'ABORT' and 'SHARE & ENJOY'. Click on the 'SHARE & ENJOY' button (or press the RETURN key) to continue with the program. 3. As the program continues, it will look for a file called QUICKCIS.CNF, which is the default QuickCIS configuration file. If this file cannot be found the program will abort. The most likely reason for this file not being found is that you have placed the QCMSG_II.PRG file in the wrong folder. Relocate it in your SUPPORT folder if you have one & try again. 4. After loading the QUICKCIS.CNF file the program will look for its own configuration file, called QCMSG_II.CFG, & attempt to load it. If this file cannot be found the program will display a dialog informing you of this. click the dialog button (or press RETURN) to continue. The program will continue to work without this file being present. (You are just about to create a new one anyway!) 5. If the QCMSG_II.CFG file was found, the program may complain about unrecognised options. Ignore any such messages, they are not harmful. 6. When the program has finished initialising, it will display a standard GEM menu bar & the main dialog in the centre of the screen. 7. From the 'Options' menu, select the 'Configuration' item. This will display a new dialog from which you can configure QCMsg to your personal needs (See below for details of the actual options). 8. When you have selected all the options you require, select the SAVE button. This will write a new QCMSG_II.CFG file to your disk. 9. The main dialog will once again be displayed. From the 'Options' menu, select the 'Alt Reader' item. This is to configure QuickCIS to invoke QCMsg automatically instead of its built in reader. 10. You will be presented with your standard GEM file selector. Use this to locate your QUICKCIS.CNF file (or whichever .CNF file you use). 11. QCMsg will inform you of the current setting & ask you if you wish to SET the .CNF file to use QCMsg, CLEAR the entry to use the built in reader, or to ABORT. Make which ever choice you require. 12. Repeat steps 9 to 11 for every .CNF file you have. 13. Select the EXIT option from the main dialog to return to the desktop. QCMsg is now configured for use! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Configuration Options: CLIPBOARD PATH click on this to set the clipboard path using the GEM file selector. The clipboard path is the default path used when writing out messages to disk. EDITOR click on this to set the external editor, using the GEM file selector. If you do not use the EdHak desk accessory editor then you will need to use an external one. The editor must be able to accept a filename as the 1st parameter of a command line. First Word is an example of an editor which does, but you must use it in ASCII mode. USE EDHAK if this button is set, the EdHak desk accessory will be used to compose replies to messages. If it is not selected, the editor defined by EDITOR above will be used. Copy Mode COPY copies the current message being replied to into the EdHak buffer before passing control to EdHak. NO COPY doesn't copy the current message. PROMPT issues an alert box asking if you wish to copy the current message or not. NOTE: If you are using an external editor, the current message is always copied to the editor. font DEFAULT uses the default system font 8*16 uses the 8 by 16 system font 8*8 uses the 8 by 8 system font 6*6 uses the 6 by 6 system font OUTPUT MASK the default file extension used when outputting messages out to disk. MOUSE TIMER if set to anything other than 0, this is the number of seconds of mouse inactivity on the viewing screen that must occur before the mouse cursor disappears. This is for those that prefer to use the keyboard & don't wish to see the mouse pointer. MOUSE BUTTON this specifies which mouse button is used to move on to the next message when on the viewing screen. CORNER CLOCK if this is selected, a clock will be displayed in the top right hand corner of the screen. The clock is only active during QCMsg, is only updated every 2 seconds & breaks all the rules about screen ownership! SIGNATURE a single line of text that will be appended to all your message replies. The signature may contain the following 2 character sequences in addition to normal text: \n to start a new line \t to include 4 spaces \\ to create a single \ character WINDOW GADGETS defines the componants that are used to build the viewing window on the viewing screen. NAME The area where the window's title is displayed INFO The area below the title where info is displayed CLOSE The gadget in the top left corner that allows you to close the window with the mouse MOVE Allows the window to be moved in the standard GEM fashion (click on the title bar, hold the mouse button down & drag the window to its new location). FULL The gadget in the top right corner that allows a window to be toggled between its full size & its previous size. SIZE The gadget in the bottom right corner that allows the winds size to be adjusted in the standard GEM fashion (click on the gadget, hold the mouse button down & drag to its new size). RTARROW The right arrow on the bottom of the window that allows the window's contents to be scrolled right. LFARROW as for RTARROW, but left! UPARROW The up arrow on the right side of the window that allows the window's contents to be scrolled up. DNARROW as for UPARROW, dut down! HSLIDE The horizontal slide bar on the bottom of the window. VSLIDE The vertical slide bar on the left of the window. Currently, the following have no effect: FULL, HSLIDE Currently, the following are always active: NAME, INFO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The main dialog displays a list of available forums down the left side, with the number of messages & library descriptions available for viewing in little boxes alongside the names. To view the messages or library descriptions simply click on the box containing the number. If a forum doesn't have any messages or library descriptions to view then the box will contain a couple of dashes & you will not be able to select that box. If you have any mail to view, the box above the forum names contains the line 'Read Mail'. Simply click on this box to view your mail. If no mail is available the box will no be selectable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the viewing screen you can press the HELP key to get a brief reminder of the keys used for navigation. Next Message: Press the right arrow key Use the menu command 'Next' under 'Messages' Click the mouse button defined in the Options/Configuration dialog Using the mouse, the next message will not be displayed until you release the mouse button. This behaviour can be modified by placing the pointer within the 1st 3 columns of the viewing window. Placing the mouse here will cause QCMsg not to wait until the button is released, enabling you to quickly progress through the messages. Previous Message: Press the left arrow key Use the menu command 'Previous' under 'Messages' Click the mouse button defined in the Options/Configuration dialog Using the mouse, the previous message will not be displayed until you release the mouse button. This behaviour can be modified by placing the pointer within the 1st 3 columns of the viewing window. Placing the mouse here will cause QCMsg not to wait until the button is released, enabling you to quickly progress through the messages. Next Subject: Press the ) key on the numeric keypad Click the mouse button for NEXT message, but before releasing the button click the other button. Previous Subject: Press the ( key on the numeric keypad Click the mouse button for PREVIOUS message, but before releasing the button click the other button. Next Section: Press SHIFT + ) on the numeric keypad Previous Section: Press SHIFT + ( on the numeric keypad Scrolling the current message: If the current message is longer than the viewing window, it can be scrolled vertically by: Clicking on the UP/DOWN arrows on the right hand side of the window Clicking on the SHADED area of the vertical slide bar Dragging the UNSHADED scroll box within the vertical slide bar Pressing the UP/DOWN arrow keys to scroll by line Pressing the SHIFT + UP/DOWN arrow keys to scroll by page Clicking the RIGHT mouse button in the area above & including the INFO line of the window. If the mouse is in the INFO line, text scrolls down, if it is above the INFO line text scrolls up. If the current message is wider than the viewing window, it can be scrolled horizontally by: Clicking on the LEFT/RIGHT arrows on the bottom of the window Pressing the SHIFT + LEFT/RIGHT arrow keys Going to particular messages: There are 2 'Goto' options under the 'Messages' menu title. 'Goto Offset' allows you to goto the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc message. 'Goto Message' allows you to goto a specific CIS message number. Selecting each menu item displays a dialog into which you enter the required number. If you enter an invalid number you will be informed that the selected number is out of range. You may also jump directly to the first & last messages. Pressing the HOME key jumps to the first message. Pressing SHIFT + HOME jumps to the last message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul CIS ID: 100015,1212 27, Pembroke Gardens Swindon Wilts SN2 3EW ENGLAND (UK) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Really Boring Bit: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QCMsg Release II is copyright (½) Paul Gee/Hirsute Technology, & consists of 3 files: QCMSG_II.PRG The executable program QCMSG_II.RSC The resource file for the executable QCMSG_II.TXT This text file This version of QCMsg is FREEWARE. You may copy & distribute it freely provided that the following conditions are met: 1. NO FEE may be charged for QCMsg. Distribution & Copying costs may be recovered. 2. You MUST include all the above mentioned files if it is being distributed via any means other than the ATARIPRO forum of Compuserve. 3. NONE of the files may be altered in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, renaming the files & amending any of the text contained in the files. 4. QCMsg may NOT be included as part of any other package, software or hardware without the express permission of the author. This includes, but is not limited to, the inclusion of QCMsg on 'cover disks' supplied with magazines. While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that this software is not harmful to data or hardware, the author cannot accept any liability for any damage or data loss that occurs from the use, either directly or indirectly, of this software. It is supplied 'as is' & you use it entirely at your own risk.