TICKER (c) 1992 Management Systems Group ---------------------------------------- Ticker is a program we have written to provide you with a diversion from the hum-drum work you should be doing on your PC. Please help us help you avoid doing real work by sending a $15 donation to the following address if you use and enjoy Ticker: Management Systems Group P.O. Box 768 Havertown, PA 19083 (215) 446-9083 Currently, full databases are available for each of the categories in the sampler database. Other databases have probably also been added since this writing. Databases are available to registered users for $5.00 plus $1.00 shipping and handling (specify disk format, please). A list of available databases can be obtained by sending a self- addressed, stamped envelope to the above address. *************************** INTRODUCTION **************************** Ticker displays, either continuously or on command, short text items, selected from a database. These short text items can be jokes, sayings, trivia, messages, or anything else. All items in a database are categorized and databases can be restricted so that only items from selected categories will be displayed. This packaged version of Ticker comes with one database, the Sampler database, but other databases are also available. The final section of this manual, ROLLING YOUR OWN, describes how to use the TICKPACK utility to generate your own databases. ************************ INSTALLING TICKER ************************** There are two versions of Ticker, one for DOS and one for Windows. Both of these programs should be installed in the same directory, so simply create a directory (for example MD C:\TICKER) and copy all of these files into it. If you only plan to use the DOS version of Ticker, you are done, and can go on to the USING DOS TICKER section. To install Ticker into Windows, start up Windows. Click one time in the program group you in which you wish Ticker to be placed, and select New from the File menu, indicating that you wish you add a new item. Type in "Ticker" for Program Description then click on the "Browse..." option. Find the Ticker directory you created, and double-click on "wintick.exe". Then click on OK to return to the previous box, and click on OK in that box also. (Instead of using "Browse...", you can just type WINTICK.EXE preceded by its full path in the "Command Line" field and, for users of Windows 3.1, aldo in the "Working Directory" field. For example, if you installed Ticker in the default c:\ticker directory, you would type "c:\ticker\wintick.exe" in those fields.) If you installed Ticker properly, the circular Ticker icon will appear in your specified group. You may run it by double-clicking the icon. The on-line help facility should be able to guide you through learning how to use Ticker. *************** USING THE DOS VERSION OF TICKER *************** The first time Ticker is run, it will immediately prompt you to select a database and setup options. Thereafter, the previous options will be restored whenever the program is run. Ticker will then continue running until you press "q" for "quit". (Note: if you run Ticker with a "/Q" parameter [TICKER /Q], then it will display one text item and return immediately to DOS. Selecting a Database -------------------- The first time Ticker is run, the database form will be brought up automatically. Thereafter, you must press 'd' while Ticker is running to change databases. Use the up and down arrow keys, move the cursor until the title of the database you wish to load is highlighted, then press ENTER. If you wish to exit the form without selecting a new database, press ESC. Changing Options ---------------- This form will also be called automatically the first time Ticker is run, immediately after a database is selected. Thereafter, you must press 'o' while ticker is running to change these options. Enter all relevant options and then press F10 (or ENTER from the last field) to accept your entries and leave the form. Press ESC to cancel any changes you have made. Following are explanations of each option. Auto Advance Mode: Enter 'Y' to have ticker advance the database automatically or 'N' to require the user to press ENTER or 'j' (for Jump) to display subsequent text items. Seconds to Wait: The number of seconds to wait before advancing the database. Only meaningful when Auto Advance Mode is ON (i.e. 'Y'). Maximum Width: This sets the width of the Ticker window in characters, where 78 characters is the maximum. Maximum Height: This sets the height of the Ticker window in characters. Direction: Enter 'F' for Ticker to traverse the database's text items in forward order. Enter 'B' for backward (reverse) order. Active Categories ----------------- This form will also be called automatically the first time Ticker is run, immediately after options are set. Thereafter, you must press 'c'. The text items in the database are grouped into categories, such as "Jokes", "Trivia", etc. Use this Categories form to configure Ticker so that only entries from certain categories are displayed. Press 'Y' for each category that you wish to be active and type 'N' for each that you wish to be inactive. Leave the categories form by pressing F10 (or ENTER from the last field). Pressing ESC cancels any changes you have made. Key Commands While Ticker is Active ----------------------------------- ENTER, 'j' jumps to the next database entry 'a' displays "About Database" information 'q' quits Ticker 'h' displays help 'd' displays the database form 'o' displays the options form 'c' displays the categories form ********************** ROLLING YOUR OWN ******************************** You can generate a .TCK Ticker database file by typing in a simple ASCII text file (using the below format) and then running the included TICKPACK.EXE program against it. When you have typed in your text, create your database file by typing TICKPACK yourfile.txt TICKPACK will create a file called yourfile.tck, which will be a valid database file. If there are any errors in your text file, TICKPACK will indicate as such and not create the .TCK file. .TCK files should be 48K (49152) bytes or less. Tickpack Text File Format ------------------------- The '\' (backslash) character is the delimiter character. All text must be preceded by a command defining what type of text it is. Commands should be typed on lines by themselves. The commands are as follows. \COMMENT\ : all text following this until the next command is ignored \TITLE\ : title of database (one line or up to 30 characters) \ABOUT\ : information to be displayed when the user chooses "About" from the Ticker program (5 lines of up to 40 characters each) \CATEGORIES\ : category names. Each category should be on a separate line and up to 30 characters each. \TEXT\ : This indicates that all text items will follow. Within this section, precede all text items by the category name or number within backslashes. Categories are numbered starting at 0 using the order you typed them in in the \CATEGORIES\ section. You should randomize entries of different categories within your text file because Ticker reads the database sequentially, and one would generally not want text items of all one category to appear before any of the next category begin. Following is an example of a valid text file. \TITLE\ My Database \ABOUT\ If you find this database engaging, a $5.00 payment would be appreciated. Management Systems Group * 215-446-9083 P.O. Box 763 * Havertown, PA 19083 New databases available upon request. \CATEGORIES\ Happy Jokes Sad Jokes Mean Jokes Dumb Jokes \TEXT\ \0\ This is my first happy joke. This is the punch line. \1\ This is my first sad joke. This is the punch line. \3\ This is my first dumb joke. This is the punch line. \2\ This is my first mean joke. This is the punch line. \1\ This is another sad joke. This is its punch line. \Mean Jokes\ This is another mean joke. Note that you do not have to use numbers. This is the punch line.