


















                                    EXECUTE
                                  Version 1.5




                             MAH Software Services
                                 29 Beech Court
                               Babbitt, MN 55706


                  Copyright (c) 1992 by MAH Software Services
                              All Rights Reserved





































                               TABLE OF CONTENTS




     Introduction.........................................................1
        License Agreement.................................................1
        Registration Fees and What You Get................................1

     Beginning with EXECUTE...............................................3
        Who is EXECUTE For................................................3
        What is EXECUTE...................................................3
        System Requirements...............................................3
        Installation......................................................3
        Running the Program...............................................3

     Using EXECUTE........................................................4
        Starting the Program..............................................4
        Command-Line Mode.................................................4
        Interactive Mode..................................................5

     Appendix A - Files Included With EXECUTE.............................7

     Appendix B - EXECUTE Error messages..................................8










































                                  INTRODUCTION





     EXECUTE is a Shareware product.  Shareware is a distribution method,
     not a type of software.  With Shareware you get the ultimate
     money-back guarantee...if you don't use the product, you don't pay for
     it.

     Shareware is not free software.  Copyright laws apply to both
     Shareware and commercial software,  and the copyright holder retains
     all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated in this document.
     The main difference is the method of distribution.  The author
     specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the EVALUATION
     VERSION of the software to anyone as long as no remuneration is
     received for the distribution of the software unless permission is
     granted in writing by the author.

     Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before
     buying it.  If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you
     are expected to register the software with the author.  With
     registration, you will receive the latest version of the software
     without the evaluation titles and messages.  With shareware you are
     able to try the software on your computer with your own set  of
     peripherals, the only way to know if it will function in your own
     environment.  Only after deciding that EXECUTE is a software product
     that you will use do you pay for it.  When you do pay for the
     software, you pay only for the software itself, not for the cost
     of advertising the software, which can be many times what the software
     actually costs.


     License Agreement
     -----------------

     By using EXECUTE on your system, you indicate your agreement to the
     following terms and conditions.  If you do not agree to these
     conditions, you should not use MEMORY.

     Users of MEMORY must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "EXECUTE is
     supplied as is.  The author disclaims all warranties,  expressed or
     implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of
     merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no
     liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from
     the use of MEMORY."

     EXECUTE is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the
     user for evaluation.   Feel free to share the EVALUATION COPY with
     your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of
     another system.  The essence of "user-supported" software is to
     provide personal computer users with quality software without high
     prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to
     develop new products.  If you find this program useful and find that
     you are using it and continue to use it after a 30 day trial period,
     you must make a registration payment to MAH Software Services.  The
     registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at
     any one time.  You must treat this software just like a book.   An
     example is that this software may be used by any number of people and

                                     Page 1




     may be  freely moved from one computer  location to another, so long
     as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's
     being used at another.  Just as a book cannot be read by two different
     persons at the same time.

     Users of EXECUTE must register and pay for their copies of EXECUTE
     within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn.

     You are encouraged to pass an EVALUATION COPY of EXECUTE along to your
     friends for evaluation.  Please encourage them to register their copy
     if they find that they can use it.  All registered users will receive
     a copy of the latest version of EXECUTE.  DISTRIBUTION OF REGISTERED
     COPIES OF MEMORY IS A VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAWS.

     To register your copy of EXECUTE, print the file REGISTER.FRM,
     complete the form, and send it along with your registration fee to:

     MAH Software Services
     29 Beech Court
     Babbitt, MN 55706


     Registration Fees And What You Get
     ----------------------------------

     The evaluation version of EXECUTE is in no way crippled, and contains
     100% of the capabilities of the registered version as it existed at
     the time of distribution.  When you register, you will receive the
     latest version of the program, along with the latest documentation.
     The fully registered version of the program removes all references to
     evaluation.  Registered users will receive notice of all updates made
     to the program and these updates will be supplied to registered users
     for a nominal charge.  Every effort will be made to supply updates to
     registered users at the lowest possible cost.  In addition, you will
     receive evaluation copies of other MAH Software Services programs, and
     support by mail and phone.

     The registration fee for EXECUTE is US $10.  Price is subject to
     change without notice, but will be guaranteed through December 1992.
     If payment is by check, these funds MUST be drawn on a US bank.
     Unfortunately the processing of non-US checks can be as much as $20,
     and we cannot afford this type of transaction.  We are continually
     looking for innovative ways to serve non-US customers.


















                                     Page 2




                             BEGINNING WITH EXECUTE




     Who is EXECUTE for?
     -------------------

     EXECUTE is program for persons who want or need to be able to run
     multiple DOS commands, programs, and/or batch files, or need to have
     programs run or commands execute at or within a certain time.


     What is EXECUTE?
     ----------------

     EXECUTE is a program designed to run other programs.  With it, you can
     run up to 50 programs (.COM and .EXE files), batch files (/BAT),
     and/or internal MS-DOS commands.  You can also specify that execution
     begin after a certain amount of time has elapsed, or at a specified
     time.


     System Requirements
     -------------------

     - any monitor
     - At least 512k of memory
     - Supports both hard & floppy disks
     - EXECUTE requires approximately 78k for it's own operation


     Installation
     ------------

     No installation is required, since the program can be run from the
     floppy disk.  If you plan to run "EXECUTE" from a floppy disk, it is
     STRONGLY suggested that you make a copy of the disk and place the
     original in a safe place.  See your DOS manual for details on using
     DISKCOPY to make a copy of a disk.

     If you want to run the program from a hard drive, simply copy all the
     files to your hard drive using the COPY or XCOPY command.


     Running the Program
     -------------------

     To start the program, simply change to the drive that has the program
     on it, and the subdirectory, if necessary, type

     EXECUTE

     and press ENTER.







                                     Page 3




                                 USING EXECUTE




     Starting the Program
     --------------------

     EXECUTE can be used in one of two modes - command-line mode and
     interactive mode.  Regardless of the mode being used, first change to
     the drive that has the program on it, and the subdirectory, if
     necessary.  What you do next depends on the mode.  We'll begin with
     command line mode.


     Command-Line Mode
     -----------------

     To use the command-line mode, begin by typing

     EXECUTE

     Do NOT press ENTER yet.  Once you've typed the program name, you may
     type one of five command-line switches:

     /D - instructs EXECUTE to display commands as they are executed

     /S - instructs EXECUTE to wait X number of seconds before beginning
          execution of any of the programs, commands, or batch files

     /W - instructs EXECUTE to wait until a specified time before
          beginning execution of any of the programs, commands, or batch
          files; the time must appear after the switch in the 24-hour
          format HH:MM:SS

     /T - instructs EXECUTE to display the time while waiting for the
          specified time before execution begins; used in conjunction with
          the /W switch

     /? - instructs EXECUTE to display a help screen, then exit the program

     You can't use the /? switch if you want to EXECUTE to run any
     programs; it's there strictly to provide a quick reference on
     EXECUTE's use.  You can combine any of the other switches, although
     there are some you wouldn't want to.  For example, there's little
     reason to use the /S switch to wait for a certain number of seconds to
     pass with the /W switch to wait for a certain time.  And the /T switch
     will only work with the /W switch.  If you use it without the /T
     switch, no error will occur, but the time won't be displayed, either.

     Once you've entered what ever command-line switches you desire, enter
     the commands you want executed, separated by a semicolon if there is
     more than one command.  Let's look at some examples to better see how
     the command-line mode works.

     Example 1: EXECUTE /S 3600 DIR

     Execute the DOS command DIR after 3600 seconds (1 hour).



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     EXAMPLE 2: EXECUTE /W 01:00:00 XMP

     Execute the program XMP at 1:00 AM.

     EXAMPLE 3: EXECUTE CHKDSK;DIR /P

     Execute the DOS command CHKDSK, the execute the DOS command DIR with
     the /P command-line switch.  Note here that you can execute programs
     with their own command-line switches; this is why you must specify any
     of EXECUTE's command-line switches BEFORE specifying the programs to
     execute.

     There is one limitation with the command-line mode, and that's the
     length of the command-line itself.  You can only have a maximum of 128
     characters on the command-line, which limits the number of programs
     you can execute at one time.  The limit depends on the command-line
     switches used and the length of the commands being executed.  This can
     be overcome with the interactive mode.


     Interactive Mode
     ----------------

     To use the interactive mode, begin by typing

     EXECUTE

     and press ENTER.  EXECUTE will now present you with a list of
     questions for you to answer, in the following order:


     Display commands being executed (Y/N)?

     If you want to have the commands displayed on the screen when they are
     executed, press Y.  Press any other key if you DON'T want them
     displayed.


     Execute commands at a certain time (Y/N)?

     If you want the commands to begin executing at a certain time, press
     Y.  Press any other key if you DON'T want them executed at a specific
     time.  If you answer 'Y' to this question, the following two questions
     will be displayed:

     Time to begin execution (HH:MM:SS):

     Enter the time you want execution of the programs to begin in the
     24-hour format HH:MM:SS, and press ENTER.

     Display time while waiting (Y/N)?

     If you want the time to be displayed on the screen while waiting for
     the specified time before execution begins, press Y.  Press any other
     key if you DON'T want the time displayed.


     Execute commands after waiting X number of seconds (Y/N)?

     If you want the commands to begin executing after a specific number of

                                     Page 5




     seconds, press Y.  Press any other key if you DON'T want them to be
     executed after a specific number of questions.  This question will
     only be displayed if you did not answer 'Y' when asked if you wanted
     to execute commands at a certain time.  If you answer 'Y' to this
     question, the following question will be displayed:

     Number of seconds to wait before execution:

     Enter the number of seconds you want to wait before execution of the
     programs begins.  There are 3600 seconds in an hour.


     Command or Program to Execute (RETURN to Quit):

     Now begin entering the DOS commands, programs, and/or batch files you
     want executed.  Commands MUST be entered exactly as they would be if
     you were typing them from the DOS command line.  For example, if you
     wanted a directory listing of all the files in the current
     subdirectory, with the display paused every time the screen fills, you
     would enter

     DIR /P

     then press ENTER.  This question will be repeated until you simply
     press ENTER.  At that time, execution of the commands will begin (or
     will begin at the time specified if one was, or after the specified
     number of seconds has elapsed, if a number of seconds to wait was
     entered).

































                                     Page 6




                                   APPENDIX A





     Files included with EXECUTE:

     MANUAL.TXT     This file!

     PRINTMAN.BAT   A batch file to print the manual.

     README.TXT     A file with important information.

     README.BAT     A batch file which displays README.TXT.

     EXECUTE.EXE    The program itself.

     REGISTER.FRM   The order form to register.

     REGISTER.BAT   A batch file which prints the order form.

     VENDOR.DOC     A text file with information for shareware
                    distributors.





































                                     Page 7




                                   APPENDIX B





     EXECUTE Error Messages


     ERROR MESSAGE: Must enter an execution time!

     PROBLEM:       The /W switch was used, but no execution time was
                    entered.


     ERROR MESSAGE: Invalid time entered!

     PROBLEM:       When using the /W switch, or in response to the program
                    prompt, you entered an invalid time.  Any of the
                    following is interpreted as an invalid time:

                    - you entered an hours number less than 0 or greater
                      than 24
                    - you entered a minutes number less than 0 or greater
                      than 59
                    - you entered a seconds figure less than 0 or greater
                      than 59
                    - you separated the hours, minutes, and seconds using
                      something other than a colon (:)
                    - you did not enter the time, usually skipping the
                      seconds


     ERROR MESSAGE: Must enter the number of seconds to wait!

     PROBLEM:       The /S switch was used, but the number of seconds to
                    wait was not entered.


     ERROR MESSAGE: ERROR!  COMSPEC= not set in environment, unable to
                    execute!

     PROBLEM:       COMSPEC is the environment variable which indicates
                    where COMMAND.COM is to be found.  This is set
                    automatically when you boot your system, and indicates
                    where COMMAND.COM was when the system was booted.  This
                    error will most likely occur for one of two reasons:

                    1) COMSPEC was changed for some reason, and is either
                       no longer there (someone entered SET COMSPEC=) or
                       made a mistake when indicating where COMMAND.COM is
                       to be found.

                    2) The system was booted from a floppy disk and the
                       disk with COMMAND.COM is no longer in drive A.


     ERROR MESSAGE: ERROR!  Not enough memory to continue.

     PROBLEM:       EXECUTE ran out of memory.  This could happen for

                                     Page 8




                    several reasons:

                    1) The program that EXECUTE is trying to execute will
                       not run in the memory available.
                    2) There are too many TSR's (terminate-and-stay-
                       resident) programs loaded too allow EXECUTE enough
                       memory for itself and the programs it's executing.
                    3) EXECUTE is being run while "shelling" out to DOS.
                       "Shelling" is when you are in a program, and that
                       program allows you access to DOS from within the
                       program.  When this is done, there is normally too
                       little memory left to run EXECUTE.

















































                                     Page 9

