                         INTRADOS 1.1
              INTRANET HTML TEXT BROWER FOR DOS
                (c) 1997 Charles M. Cork, III


IntraDOS is an HTML browser for DOS-based PCs, primarily for office
intranets and other hypertext needs.  It is not a web browser, but it
attempts to duplicate many of the features of popular web browsers
for documents that are written in HTML and available on a machine's
hard drive or network server.  I developed it for my office so that
the DOS 386 machines could share the same intranet resources with
the Windows Pentiums quickly and easily and so that I did not need to
implement two sets of hypertext documents.



KEY FEATURES:
-------------

DOS-file system support.
    Unlike other DOS-based HTML browsers, IntraDOS recognizes the
    DOS file structure (e.g., c:\htm\file.htm) as well as the internet
    standard (e.g., file:///c:\htm\file.htm).  This will be easier
    for intranet administrators to code.

Imitation of Leading Windows Browers.
    IntraDOS attempts to mimic the operations of leading Windows
    web browsers to the extent that a text-based program can do so.
    Back, Ahead, and Home menu options function like the buttons on
    popular browsers.  Standard Windows keystrokes apply (Home, End,
    Ctrl+Home, Ctrl+End), and scrollbars can be used as in Windows.
    Search for text with Ctrl+F, and repeat the search with F3.

Keystroke support.
    IntraDOS allows the mouseless user (and the dwindling number
    of us who continue to think that the keyboard is faster) to 
    select links without a mouse by using the TAB key (or 
    Shift+TAB to go in the reverse direction).  Menu items 
    (e.g., the Back button) are activated by pressing Alt+ 
    an accelerator key (e.g., Alt+B to go back).

Tables support.
    Unlike any other DOS browser I've seen, IntraDOS supports basic
    tables (but not tables within tables).

Jumping to Name Anchors.
    Unlike other DOS browsers, IntraDOS fully supports jumping to
    name anchors (e.g, c:\htm\index.htm#nameanchor), even if the
    anchor is in a file other than the current one.

Registry of pre-parsed files.
    Because IntraDOS attempts to implement many formatting codes,
    parsing large HTML files can be slow on a 386 machine.  Therefore,
    IntraDOS gives the user an option to save the parsed file in a
    registry so that it does not need to be parsed again (unless it
    is updated, which IntraDOS checks automatically).  A 386 machine
    reading a long pre-parsed file from the registry can display it
    about as quickly as a Windows browser on a Pentium can parse it
    and display it.  (See statistics below.)
    By default, IntraDOS asks users whether newly parsed files should
    be saved to the registry. This can be made automatic, or turned
    off entirely, by selecting the appropriate menu item under
    File, Pre-Parsed Registry.

My philosophy: The DOS machines may be dinosaurs, but they should still
not die prematurely.  Don't junk them just to give all your users access
to an Intranet.



Recommended System:
-------------------

IntraDOS has been extensively tested on my office's 386 machines
running MS-DOS 5.0 with VGA monitors.  Anything better is great.
I haven't tested the program on other monitors, on slower processors,
or earlier versions of DOS.  If you experience problems with those
systems, please feel free to let me know, though I cannot guarantee
that I can help.

Here are some performance statistics for our office intranet. Your
mileage may vary.  Times are in seconds.  Using IntraDOS, the first
number is the time it took to parse and show the file; the second is the
time it took to read a pre-parsed file from the registry. Using MSIE, the
first number is the time it took to link to the file; the second is
the time it took using the back/forward buttons.

                             IntraDOS    IntraDOS         MSIE
Files               Bytes    386 16MHz   Pentium 75MHz    Pentium 75MHz
-----------------  ------    ---------   --------------   --------------
Startup File
(Program startup    2,191     4.5    3   2     2          11    5(cached)
time included)
-----------------  ------    ---------   --------------   --------------
File 1              5,995     7      1   2     1           1.5  1
File 2             12,935    13      1   3     1           2    1
File 3             17,093    15.5    1   4     1           2.5  1
File 4             31,199    30      2   6     1           3    1
File 5             50,276    44    2.5   8     1.5         3    1

These statistics show the improvement that pre-parsing files can make.
I do not recommend having 386 users wait to parse a file requiring more
than a few seconds to parse.


Recommended preliminaries on a network:
---------------------------------------

1. Place your startup HTML file in a public directory.  This directory
     will store the list of pre-parsed files and the pre-parsed files
     themselves.  For example, create the public directory
     x:\public\html.  The startup file might be x:\public\html\home.htm.
     The list file x:\public\html\intrados.lst will be generated.
     Parsed files of the form x:\public\html\idpf.1 (2,3,4, etc.)
     will be created.
   Because IntraDOS places temporary files in this directory, users need
     to have read, write, create, and delete rights in this directory.
     If the network administrator wishes to give read-only access to
     certain files, those should be placed in a separate directory
     where users have limited rights.
   Place the program file IntraDOS.EXE in a directory on your network
     server accessible to those with DOS machines who will use it. It
     need not be in the same public directory in which the startup
     HTML file is located.

2. If not already done, each user should have his/her environmental
     variable USER set to three letters (initials).  To avoid conflicts,
     the initials should be unique.  Most machines on a network have this
     variable set at the time of logging in to the network.

3. Prepare one or more appropriate start-up files (home pages) for
     network users.  Since this program allows the network administrator
     to call any file as a start-up file, he/she can set the browser
     to start with a file that may be appropriate to different contexts
     in the office setting.

4. Pre-parse long (if not all) HTML files on a fast machine (usually the
     network administrator's machine).



Launching the program:
----------------------

If you start IntraDOS by adding to the command line a particular file, 
IntraDOS will use that file as the start-up file.  If you do not add
a start-up file to the command line, IntraDOS will look for the file
"HOME.HTM" in the current directory.  If it finds Home.HTM, it will open
it as the start-up file; otherwise, it will display a dialog box for
the user to identify the correct start-up file.

Thus, you can launch IntraDOS by a batch file with lines such as the 
following:

Batch file lines        Comments
----------------------  -----------------------------------------------
Set USER=ABC            (Where "ABC" is the user's unique initials
                        (  -- Probably unnecessary if the network
                        (     software has already done it.
x:                      (Change to the public drive, if necessary.
cd\public\html          (Change to the starting directory, if necessary.
                        (  -- Not necessary if "begfile.htm" in the
                        (     next line includes the full path.
intrados begfile.htm    (Launch IntraDOS and open begfile.htm as the
                        (  start-up file.
                        (  -- If IntraDOS is not in the starting directory,
                        (     it needs to be in the user's MS-DOS path.
                        (  -- If begfile.htm is not in the current
                        (     directory, the full path needs to be specified.



Navigating/Exploring via Hypertext Links:
-----------------------------------------

As with other browsers, a user can move through the information system
by activating links.  In IntraDOS, the links appear in yellow.  A link
does not change color after a user has activated a link.

Like popular Windows-based browsers, a user may follow hypertext links
by clicking on them with a mouse or (more laboriously) typing the
target file name.

Unlike the Windows-based browsers, IntraDOS allows a user to follow a
link without a mouse by means of the TAB key.  To select a link, press
TAB until the desired link is highlighted (or Shift+TAB to cycle
through the links in the reverse direction).  Then, the user presses
ENTER to activate the link.  If you scroll so that the active link is
out of view, IntraDOS interprets a TAB as calling for the first link
on the screen rather than the next link in order.



Included Files:
---------------

IntraDOS.EXE  The program file
IntraDOS.ICO  An icon for Windows, just in case
README.TXT    This file in ASCII Text
ReadMe.HTM    This file in HTML
Home.HTM      A sample start-up file
ID-Help.HTM   A help file for using IntraDOS



Known Limitations:
------------------

As with any other browser, with sufficient ingenuity (or sufficient
sloppiness) one can write a page in HTML that will confound IntraDOS.
In testing this on many, many files drawn from the internet, I've
found huge numbers of badly written HTML files.  I have attempted to do a
lot of error trapping in IntraDOS, but it is impossible to catch
them all.  This browser should be able to represent any moderately
well-formulated ordinary page of HTML, but I cannot guarantee that
all pages can be parsed or that, if parsed, all original data appears
on them.  Again, this is true for any browser.

Here are some of the more important known limitations:

Not a Web Browser
  You cannot use IntraDOS to access the internet, and it does not work
  with a modem.  The HTML files must be available on the user's hard drive
  or network. Within IntraDOS's other limitations, HTML files on the
  internet can be saved and used in the office network.

Look/Feel
  IntraDOS does not support images (which are marked by ).
  Colors are limited to 16 and cannot be changed by coding the HTML page.
    Thus links have one color (yellow) whether one has used them or not.
    Bold is always white, and italics are always purple.
  Only one font and font size are available.  Emphasis can be
    accomplished only by codes such as <B>, <I>, <H1>, etc.
    Codes such as <Font +1> will do nothing.
  Frames are not supported.  Network administrators should have
    IntraDOS users link to the most informative frame page.

Size of Files
  IntraDOS will not handle a file that generates a screen length
    longer than 32,000 lines or wider than 32,000 characters.
    I have loaded pages with over 200 links and had no memory problems,
    but there is some ultimate limit on the number of links that
    a page can have.

Lists
  Bullet-like characters in all lists are standardized by the program,
    not established by the HTML author.
  Nesting of lists (<UL> and <OL>) is supported up to 3 levels.  Deeper
    levels of nesting will yield unpredictable results.
  Due to formatting limitations, numeric ordered lists may be appear
    disordered if there are more than 99 list items, and alphabetical
    ordered lists greater than 26 (a-z or A-Z) will repeat.
  For the same reason, Roman numerals are not supported in ordered lists.

Tables
  Nesting of tables, i.e., one table within another, is not supported
    and will yield unpredictable results.
  Tables wider than the screen are not supported, and will yield
    unpredictable results.  Therefore, tables with many columns are
    also problematic, since space must be allowed for the cell walls and
    text in each.
    One less than ideal solution is to use <PRE> and </PRE> tags and
    place a preformatted table between them.
  Tables narrower than the screen are expanded to fill the screen.
    Thus, text set to appear on either side of a table, but not
    within it, will appear elsewhere.
  Tables with about 32,000 characters may cause unpredictable results.
    Tables whose cells exceed 16,000 characters may cause unpredicable
    results.
    Solution: Break up your tables/cells into smaller tables/cells.
  In tables with different numbers of cells per row, cells are filled
    with data from left to right.  Thus some unusual configurations
    of tables are not supported.
  Special formatting of tables, such as combining cells and cellpadding,
    is unsupported.  Borders are either off (invisible) or on (single
    line around each cell).
  Because of line width limitations, column widths are calculated without
    regard to command arguments such as <TD width=60%>.


            -------------------------
                   REGISTRATION
            -------------------------

This program is shareware.  If you wish to use it beyond a 30 day trial
period, please register your version.  Registration is $35 for a stand-alone
computer, $15 for each additional computer on a local networks, with a 
maximum fee for an entire local area network of $80.  

Certain discounts also apply:

Ministries that are engaged in 
full-time relief of the poor...........free

Religious organizations and
organizations that engage in
substantial work on behalf
of the poor............................$5

Other charities........................$15   single computer
                                       $25   2-5 computers on a network
                                       $40   6+ computers

Register by sending a check or money order to:

   Charles M. Cork, III
   P. O. Box 6897
   Macon, Georgia 31208-6897

Please include your name, your business's name (if applicable), your
mailing address, and your e-mail address.  By return e-mail or mail, 
you will get registration information.

Beyond the satisfaction of doing the right thing and making the
registration request at the end of the program disappear, registration will
entitle you to notifications of upgrades (free to registered users, 
unless the upgrade is really colossal) and to such support as I may
be able to give via e-mail to ccork000@counsel.com.


Redistribution Limitations:
---------------------------
The unregistered version of IntraDOS may be freely distributed by
any means so long as no files are altered, added or deleted.

A registered user of IntraDOS at the $80 level may freely distribute
the program without alteration, except that the Home.HTM file may
be altered and other files may be added.  This will allow a registered 
user to provide an off-line reader of the user's HTML materials.


                        IntraDOS

I hope that you find IntraDOS useful and worth the cost.
Charles Cork, ccork000@counsel.com
