Prodigy Technologies is a proud member of the Association of Shareware Professionals. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ (tm) ÄÄÚÄÄÄÄÁÄÄ¿ ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ³ ÚÄÄÄÄÁÄÄ¿ ³ Association of ³ ³ ³ÄÙ Shareware ÀÄij o ³ Professionals ÄÄÄÄij ³ ³ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÙ MEMBER FEATURES.TXT FILE CONTENTS -------------------------- 1) What is IAMS ? 2) Feature Summary 3) New for version 2.65 4) Versions prior to 2.65 [1] WHAT IS THE INSTANT ACCESS MENU SYSTEM ? The Instant Access Menu System (IAMS) is a program that allows you to organize your software in a centralized fashion. From there, you may "order" which program you want to run, much like you'd order what you wish to eat from a restaurants menu. WHO WAS IAMS DEVELOPED FOR ? IAMS was designed for anyone who wants to get the most out of their computer programs with the least amount of work, hassle and wasted time. IAMS is both an organizational and productivity tool. It's interface allows for easier, and quicker, access to any program on your hard disk. JUST HOW WILL IT MAKE THINGS "EASIER AND QUICKER" ? Once you have entered the information on the programs you wish to run through Instant Access, you no longer have to deal through DOS. For example, if you want to run your spreadsheet, you simply hit "A" (or whatever you wish it to be). The same is true for any type of program. From here on out, you don't have to switch drives and directories, or remember the command to begin the program. Simply said, with Instant Access you can run any program that would normally be executed through DOS. The important difference is that with Instant Access, it only takes two keystrokes! WHO WROTE THIS PROGRAM ? This program is produced by Tony Gentile, a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). The ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for the member's products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. [2] PROGRAMS : o Run any DOS program using less then 4K of memory. o Run any of 400 DOS programs with just two keystrokes. o Run programs on other [logical] drives. o Run internal DOS Commands. o Run programs on your PATH statement. o Run a program at a specific time and date, or everyday unattended. o Pass parameters to any program. o Password protect any program. CONFIGURATION : o Completely menu driven configuration system. o Program entry is done interactively. o Complete drive, directory and file name validation. GENERAL UTILITIES : o User definable colors. o Automatic screen blanking utility. o Usage log for program (time) tracking. o Online Help o A PopUp Notepad. o A Full-functioned text editor. o A DOS Shell. o Running time display. [3] Release v2.65 is both a maintenance release and an upgrade. New features include : - AutoBoot : This is an insurance policy for your programs. When IAMS is run in AutoBoot mode, it monitors the programs you run. If a program does not return after exit for any reason, it can be AutoBooted. For example, if you start a program, and it is terminated do to a power outage, the program will run when the power is restored. - Save Message : The configuration system has been updated to automatically prompt you for confirmation on exit from each area if updates were made and changes were not saved. - Banner Message : Users may now configure the banner message. Unfortunately, the complete rewrite of the configuration system lead to a few bugs sneaking in. They have been *properly* dealt with : Bugs : - The "Shadow" bug is fixed. - The "Prompt" bug is fixed. - The "Drive" bug is fixed. - The "Blank" bug is fixed. As always, if you have ANY questions or comments concerning IAMS, PLEASE feel free to contact me. The best ideas always come from users! [4] Version 2.6 o Colors : Users may now define their own colors to be used in the menu system. o Pause : Users now have the option to have programs pause after they execute. o Usage Log : The Mini Log has been re-written. It now displays it's information in a much more useable fashion. o Screen Blanking : A key toggle (along with automatic screen blanking) has been installed for immediate screen blanking. o Configuration Program : Approximately 7000 lines of the configuration program has been re-written. It is now cleaner and faster. o Help Screens : All of the help screens have been re-written and re-formatted. o Documentation : This documentation file has been re- formatted, as well as updated to reflect all program changes. Version 2.5 - Color : The colors have been changed once again, and will now remain until full color configuration is made available. - Blanking : Screen blanking has been changed. Instead of the former manual toggle, the program will now automatically blank the screen after three minutes of keyboard inactivity. When it blanks the screen, it displays a message. This message is rotated between two locations, once every minute. In this manner there is no chance for screen burn in. - Log : A small, "Mini-Log" has been added to the program. It creates a small file named MINILOG.TXT, which can be displayed by entering TYPE MINILOG.TXT at the DOS prompt. - Passwords : Password entry from the menu program has been changed. In order to provide maximum security, there will be absolutely NO keyboard echo when the password is entered. - Toggles : Most of the additions made modify the configuration file MENUS.CFG. However, they can also be turned on or off from inside the menu system. - Functions : The functions from the menu system have been changed from numeric (1, 2, 3...) to function keys (F1, F2, F3...). - Bugs : Somehow, , the last version was surprisingly clean. About three weeks after it's release I found a small bug in the configuration program. When defining a program, entering anything other than a path (ie. C:\) when asked for the path would give a system error (but the program wouldn't crash). This is now fixed. Version 2.4 : o Color Configuration: The user may now select a toggle for either color, or mono screens. o Users may now define their favorite Text Editor, or use the Turbo Editor as the default. o The configuration program has been added as an option from the function menu. o Each individual program may now have it's own 5 character password. o When attempting to save a file in the configuration program, a screen is displayed containing the status of the save (success / fail, etc). o Improved AutoExecution area. This area has been completely redone. Additionally, it has been moved into the configuration program to allow proper editing functions. It now allows not only data import, but also customization. o Parameters have also been completely restructured. Rather than just having the previous options of Yes or No, with Yes allowing you to enter parameters at run time, you now have three options. No, Fly (like the Yes option before), and Set. The Set option allows you to predefine parameters to use with a specific program. o Help screens. The help screens have been updated, so as to be useful white the new version. Additional help screens have been added. o The notepad has been modified. It now has an ESCape command that lets you exit without updating it's file, NOTE.PAD. o Bugs Department. 1) You may now hit ESC to escape from any editing sequence. 2) High Noon. The clock has been fixed to read 12:00 pm at noon, rather than 0:00 pm. 3) Root directory. Previously, if you entered the root directory as the path for a program, and than entered an invalid file name, the program would show you a blank list of files in the root directory. This has been corrected. 4) Floppies. Previously, when you designated drive A or B as the path to the program, IAMS would search the floppy drives. This meant that 1) IAMS crashed if no floppy is in the drive, or 2) It requires the user to insert each and every floppy disk... This has likewise been corrected. Version 2.31: o Applications - Instant Access will now auto-execute any of your configured programs at any time and date. There is also an option to execute a program every day. o File Validation - The file validation featured added in version 2.1 and updated in 2.2 has been updated for the new data files. In addition, it now includes program and path verification. o Command Line - You may now send command line arguments (switches parameters) to any defined application. o Configuration - The configuration program has been updated, to including better online help, and a more usable interface. It has also been modified to work with the new data files. o File Conversion - A utility has been included to automatically convert data files from version 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 to 2.3. o DOS - The configuration program now checks to make sure that DOS 2.0 or higher is installed, and refuses to run if it isn't. Version 2.2: o Applications - Instant Access has increased program capacity by 400%. The program will now run any 400 applications or commands that the user defines, while still maintaining a simple interface. o File Validation - The file validation featured added in version 2.1 has been updated for the new data files. It also now generates INSTANT.BAT automatically. o Configuration - The configuration program has been updated, including better online help, and a more usable interface. It has also been modified to work with the new data files. o File Conversion - A utility has been included to automatically convert data files from version 2.0, 2.1 to 2.2. Version 2.1 : o File Validation - This newest addition to the configuration program will create all necessary data files to run Instant Access, rather then require the user to save each sub-menu, configured or not. o Passwords -If a password was left blank during configuration configuration, the user will no longer be prompted to hit return. o Interface - The user interface for Instant Access has been "modernized". The new look is not only more attractive, but is actually faster. o Real time clock - In the upper right hand corner, users will find a real time clock updated by the second. o Documentation - This documentation file was modified to reflect the changes in the program.