Welcome to ST Whiz, by Hagop Janoyan, Copyright 1990 January 22, 1990 -INTRODUCTION- ============== ST Whiz is a utility that allows the user to effectively execute programs without the hassle of searching through folders and data files, or having to remember the exact filename. I started writing this program on a late Sunday night, when I suddenly realized that GoGo ST could be improved and offered as Shareware! One feature I loved to see was being able to select a program to execute from a list of DESCRIPTIONS of programs rather than their filenames alone. Thus, I started writing ST Whiz. After a few days of programming, I came up with ST Whiz v1.0. ST Whiz contains 9 different GROUPS of programs, with each group containing up to 10 programs. Thus, you have access to 90 programs, which should be enough for most of the users. Each group can have a name to it, which could describe the type of programs in that group. For example, one group can be named "Graphics," and another "Terminal Programs." You can switch from one group to another simply by clicking on it. -EXPLANATION OF FEATURES- ========================= Upon execution of ST Whiz (either through the Desktop, Startgem, or through Codehead's HeadStart), you are presented with a dialog box containing the available groups, the programs for that group, and other buttons for setting up the programs. In the box "SETUP," there are 5 buttons: ADD - Adds programs (one by one) to the available empty slots. EDIT - Edits the information for a program or a group slot. After selecting this button, select either a program or a group slot to edit it. You may edit as many slots as you need. When finished, simply click on the EDIT button again to return to the normal mode. DELETE - Deletes a program or a group slot. After selecting this button, select either a program or a group slot to delete it. You may delete as many slots as you need. When finished, simply click on the DELETE button again to return to the normal mode (Deja vu!). CLEAR - Clears the whole list of ALL the programs and ALL the groups. SAVE - Saves the list to a default file "ST_WHIZ.DAT" onto the directory where ST_WHIZ.PRG was initially executed from. NOTE: Currently, ST Whiz only allows for one list, which is updated automatically after you do an ADD, EDIT, DELETE, CLEAR, or QUIT function. Below the SETUP box, there is a button called "Execute Other." This button is self-explanatory; It brings up a file-selector box and allows you to select a program to execute without installing it. Through ST Whiz, you can also keep track of all the programs that have been executed for that session. Anytime you execute a program, ST Whiz automatically records the name of the program run, the date it was run on, the time it was executed and Exited from, and the length it was running. To access this information, click on the buttong "Log..." From there, you can either Display, Save, or Print out the Log information. NOTE: As an added bonus, ST Whiz also records your use of the Accessories. Whenever you go into the Accessory Mode (read below), then ST Whiz records the time you switched to Accessory Mode, and the time you switched back to Normal Mode, as well as the length of time. To access any installed Accessories, click on the button called (what else?) "Accessories." From there, a "Desk" menu is available with any installed accessories available under that menu. To return back to the main screen, click on the menu item "ST Whiz/Accessories" under the Desk menu. Then, the infamous "QUIT" button is available. I hope no one needs me to explain that! -SHAREWARE STUFF- ================= IMPORTANT: ST Whiz is a SHAREWARE program, NOT Public Domain. I firmly believe in the Shareware concept, and have been very satisfied with it with my "other" shareware program, HagTerm Elite. Therefore, if you use this program regularly, PLEASE take out that checkbook and write a check for $10 (or whatever you may think this program is worth) to the below address. ST Whiz is still in total rewriting and improving stage (hey, this is only version 1.0!), therefore many new features will appear very soon (read below). All registered users (those who sent in their checks) will receive a notice of the availability of an upgrade, and can send in a disk with a SASE if they want the upgraded version. Registered users will also receive my home phone number, where they can call in case of any problems and/or questions, or if they just want to talk to the famous Hagop Janoyan. Additionally, this program is written in GFA Basic 3.0. I will gladly make the source code available to any interested individual who has registered this product. Finally, as an added bonus, I will bundle the latest version of HagTerm Elite (my "other" shareware program) on the disk that you send to receive an upgrade/source listing. (NOTE: Registering ST Whiz does not automatically register you with HagTerm Elite. They are two separate products, written by the same author.) What is HagTerm Elite, you may ask? It's a communications program, a GOOD communications program![grin] It is also written in GFA Basic 3.0, but you will have to register HagTerm Elite separately to receive its source code. Send a check (or a money order) to: Hagop Janoyan 515 Wing Street Glendale, CA 91205 -FUTURE VERSIONS- ================= What might future versions bring to you good little boys? If you want to know, then read on. Some definite add-ons for the next few versions: * A "MOVE" function to automatically move a program from one slot to another, even from one group to another. * Load and save from different Lists using different filenames. Each list would then contain 90 different programs, which would then allow you for unlimited number of programs (limited only by your disk space.) * A Password for each different program and/or group, as well as a main System password restricting users from entering and/or leaving the program. * The ability to auto-execute any GEM or non-GEM program right after ST Whiz is executed. Some add-ons for the near future that aren't so definite: * I would like to somehow implement a "Install Application" type of thing, which would allow you to execute a document or data file, and ST Whiz would automatically find its corresponding program file to execute. When I find an ingenious way to implement this, I'll give it a try. NOTE: In the meantime, you can manually enter the name of the document/data file as part of the parameter. To do this, you have two choices. Either install a program as a "GEM - Take Parameters" (or "TOS - Takes Parameters," depending on whether it's a GEM or a TOS program [duhh!]), which would then bring up a dialog box to enter a parameter every time you execute that program, or enter a parameter when you install the program (in the "Program Parameter" field). Here is an example of the second case: For you GFA Basic programmers, say you are constantly programming under a file called GAME.GFA. To get to this file automatically by executing GFA Basic and loading GAME.GFA into the editor, you would install GFA Basic program as you normally would, and in the "Program Parameter" field, you would put in the filename GAME.GFA. In the "Program Info" field, you could say "GFA Program - Game." Every time you click on this slot now, GFA Basic would come up WITH the GAME.GFA loaded up and ready to go! You could also do this for several of your GFA programs, each with a different "Program Parameter." (Whew! I hope SOMEONE out there understood that! Now, anyone care to explain to me what I'm trying to say??!) * I can't think of anything else right now, but crazy ideas like each program slot containing a small Batch command type of thing do pop in my mind here and then. But then ST Whiz would not be a "simple" program anymore (as if it is now!) * Also, many times, I get a lot of ideas from other programs similar to this. That is how I write programs; I get ideas from the works of others and see which ones have worked out best for them. * Key equivalents to Main Menu buttons. You can then just press F2 and ST Whiz will automatically switch to Group 2. Press 5, and ST Whiz will execute Program Slot #5. * A whole slew of Disk Functions. I hope to create a file system similar to MaxiFile (by Codehead) or Universal Item Selector (by Application & Design software), where a list of all files on the current directory would be displayed and the user can then select the files and perform certain functions on them (such as COPY, MOVE, RENAME, etc.). I am working on such a system right now, and hope to have it incorporated in both HagTerm Elite and ST Whiz. In the meantime, I would highly recommend you to use either Universal Item Selector (available whenever a File Selector is displayed), or MaxiFile (available either as an Accessory, or through the Little Green Selector). * A screen saver utility built into the program. * The option to do a warm- or a cold-boot from within the program. Remember, this is only the FIRST version of ST Whiz. These are just some of the many ideas I have for future versions. -OTHER STUFF- ============= PLEASE, send in your suggestions as to what you would like in future versions. Like I had done so with my "other" Shareware program HagTerm Elite (another plug!), I do implement most of the suggestions received by registered users if they are at all possible, even if they are "crazy" ideas that only he would use. Either send me mail through my above address, or if you have a modem, call me up at the following ST BBS's which I call frequently: Dead Graveyard - (818) 848-4236 O-Mayer V BBS - (213) 732-0229 ST Jungle BBS - (213) 254-9534 NOTE: I use the user name/handle "Atari Corner" on the above BBS's. (Sorry, but I am rich boy, and do not have accounts on any pay services!) -CREDITS- ========= Gee, unlike my "other" Shareware program HagTerm Elite, I don't have many people to thank other than myself! I deserve it, I did everything in this program. Every piece of ST Whiz's code was written by ME! No one else, but ME! But, I would still like to thank everyone who has helped me with GFA Basic, including the two GFA books, "Programming with GFA Basic 3.0" and "The GFA Basic Book." And I would like to thank Antic, who is now the U.S. distributor of GFA titles. Without them, we might not even have had access to GFA Basic 3.0 or its compiler! Best of all, I would like to thank my wife who has put up with me when I've been staying up all these hours......OOOPS! Forgot, I'm not married! I've been reading too many of these documentations for Shareware/Public Domain titles! -ANYTHING I FORGOT?- ==================== I'm not too good at writing these things. Is there anything that I left out? Oh, yes, I almost forgot: Compatibility! -COMPATIBILITY- =============== ST Whiz should execute any well-behaved GEM/TOS programs. Only exceptions might be EZ-Draw or TouchUp, I think you will have problems when you try to execute the OUTPRINT.PRG from within those programs. It shouldn't be a problem; you can easily quit those programs first and then execute OUTPRINT.PRG. I will test ST Whiz with TOS 1.4 very soon, and will let you know. ST Whiz does not work with low-resolution; it only works with medium and high resolution. Sorry, but I had to make some sacrifices, and not supporting low-res was one of them. Other than that, everything I've run with it works perfectly. If you find something that doesn't work, please leave me a note. -WHY THE NAME?- =============== How in the hell I came up with the name "ST Whiz" you may ask? I don't know, and I don't care. I did not want to come up with a boring name like "ST Menu" or "ST Exec," and suddenly the word "Whiz" popped up. Since it's easy to pronounce, I decided to use the word. Don't you think it has a nice ring to it? (Come on...say "ST Whiz" a few times...don't you also like it?) -CLOSING STUFF- =============== I actually enjoyed writing this documentation, for a change, which is quiet different from writing the documentation for my "other" shareware program, HagTerm Elite. I also enjoyed writing the program ST Whiz. I'm sure you will enjoy using it. Speaking of which, I have been using ST Whiz ever since I created a simple working version. I then improved it and took out some bugs, and using ST Whiz to do this has helped me a lot (I just click on one button, and GFA Basic comes up complete with ST Whiz's source code loaded in. Click on another button, and Word Writer comes up with this documentation on the screen, ready for editting.) I really can't say that "I can't live without ST Whiz," but it has made my use of the ST much more enjoyable and I have been seeing the GEM Desktop less and less. I also hope you will find this program to be better suited to your needs from the others. Of course, if you have purchased HotWire!, then I certainly hope you don't think that ST Whiz is actually better! But since HotWire costs more than ST Whiz and you might not need that much flexibility, ST Whiz could be much better for your budget ($10 shouldn't be a strain on your bank account). So enjoy ST Whiz, and have a happy 1990 year! But be a good boy and register ST Whiz if you start using it regularly. -COPYRIGHT NOTICE- ================== If you didn't know already, then ST Whiz is Copyright 1990 by Hagop Janoyan. ST Whiz _cannot_ be sold for profit. Neither can it be modified and released into the public. I retain all the rights to the source code for ST Whiz; the release of the GFA Basic source code is meant only for educational purpose, and no part of it may be copied.