
DosAcc Version 2.9                               Les Kneeling
------------------                               ------------

For those of you who have used earlier versions of DosAcc, the news is:

ACP.PRG is no longer required - the user-defined buttons and system settings 
can now be done inside the accessory.

There is only one resource file for colour and mono.

Supplied Files
--------------
DOSACC.ACC     These are the desk accessory and the associated
DOSACC.RSC     resource file.

DOSACC.SYS     A sample file for the NEC P6+

Installing DosAcc
-----------------
Simply copy DOSACC.ACC and DOSACC.RSC into the root directory on your boot 
disk and restart the computer. The DosAcc 2.9 entry will then appear in the 
list of desk accessories.

Compatibility
-------------
I have not used any undocumented system calls or intercepted any vectors in 
DosAcc. Despite this, I have found that minor problems arise in Neodesk - the 
printer configuration is a little rocky, and I have had reports that using it 
in conjunction with Maxidisk inverts the screen, although I have not managed 
to reproduce that particular problem.

Load DESKTOP.INF
----------------
DosAcc is intended to replace the Atari Control Panel. The colour, printer and 
mouse settings in your DESKTOP.INF file are activated when the accessory 
loads.

Changes made to these settings inside the accessory can be saved using the 
Save Desktop selection on the Atari Desktop.

Using The Accessory
-------------------
When the accessory is called by clicking on its name in the accessories menu, 
the main menu is shown. This contains the following:

Change Drive
------------
Drive selectors A-P are shown. There are three 'states' for the drive button.

Normal text - the drive is currently available

Inverted text - the drive is currently selected

Light text - the drive is not available

The current drive can be changed either by clicking on the appropriate button, 
or by hitting the appropriate key. If the Disk Space indicator is activated, 
this will be updated.

Memory
------
The amount of free memory in the computer is displayed.

Set Date
--------
The current system date is displayed. To change it, click on the date display, 
hit Esc to clear the old date, type in the new date and hit return. Incomplete 
or impossible dates (like 30/30/91) are ignored and the old date will be 
displayed. The date could still be invalid since there is no calendar in 
DosAcc at the moment.

The date on the keyboard clock is also set by this routine - this can be used 
for some internal clock cards.

Set Time
--------
A similar method as that for setting the date. When the DosAcc window is 
selected, the time display will update every two seconds.

The time on the keyboard clock is also set by this routine - this can be used 
for some internal clock cards.

Enquire Disk Space
------------------
This box is switched off as a default. Click on it to enable the display. The 
space available on the current disk will be displayed and is updated if the 
current drive is changed.

Click on the box again to switch the facility off.

Set Verify Flag
---------------
The operating system will normally re-read each sector it writes to disk to 
ensure that no error occurred. Click on this button to disable this 
verification.

If the disk verify is already disabled the button is shown in inverted text.

The setting of this button can be saved using the Save Desktop selection on 
the Atari Desktop.

Set Key Click
-------------
The key click normally heard through the monitor loudspeaker can be switched 
on and off with this button. The advantage of using this instead of turning 
the volume down is that you will still be able to hear when sounds are used to 
indicate errors.

If the keyclick was already disabled the button is shown in inverted text.

The setting of this button can be saved using the Save Desktop selection on 
the Atari Desktop.

Set Bell Audibility
-------------------
The bell sound normally used to indicate when you have clicked the mouse where 
you shouldn't have can be switched off and on with this button.

If the bell was already disabled the button is shown in inverted text.

The setting of this button can be saved using the Save Desktop selection on 
the Atari Desktop.

Reboot Computer
---------------
This is almost the same as switching the computer off at the mains switch - 
but is a little easier on the hardware. To prevent accidental resets the reset 
button will not work until the safety button has been clicked on first.

Flip Screen
-----------
If you wish to use your monochrome screen in white on black instead of the 
normal paper-white mode, click on this button.

Change to other menus
---------------------
The other menus can be reached either by clicking on the buttons at the bottom 
of the dialog or by using:

     Ctrl D or Ctrl S    Disk/System Menu
     Ctrl F              File Menu
     Ctrl P              Printer Menu

The same keyboard selections are also available in the other menus.

Disk/System Menu
----------------

Copy A Disk
-----------
This will copy a disk from the currently selected drive to the 'other' drive. 
If neither the Drive A nor Drive B buttons on the display are selected the 
program assumes you wish to copy from A to B. The format of the source disk is 
read and the destination disk is formatted to match. The format available is 
for 9/10 sectors and 80-82 tracks only.

Enquire Disk Format
-------------------
To find out what the format of a disk is - place it in a drive, click on Drive 
A or Drive B as appropriate, then click on Query Format. The type of format 
and the serial number is displayed in the dialog.

MS-DOS Patch
------------
To make your Atari disk readable (just!) by an MS-DOS computer, place the disk 
in a drive, click on Drive A or Drive B as appropriate, then click on MS-DOS 
Patch.

This is a very crude patch and I cannot guarantee success.

Format A Disk
-------------
To format a disk:

Drive          Click on Drive A or Drive B
Sides          Click on Single or Double
Tracks         Click on the arrows to alter the display to 80-82
               tracks
Sectors        Click on the arrows to select 9 or ten tracks

     Then click on Format to format the disk.

Duplicate A Format - click on Query Format to read the type of format on a 
disk then click on format to use the settings displayed to format another 
disk.

Palette
-------
Only four indices can be set by this routine - the accessory does not fit onto 
a low-res screen.

Click on the colour you wish to change, then click on the arrows above and 
below the RGB box to change the shade.

Set Initial Delay
-----------------
To change the length of time that elapses before a key begins to repeat when 
it is held down, use the arrows above and below the Initial box to adjust the 
figure. The default value is 11.

Set Repeat Speed
----------------
To change the speed at which a key will repeat, use the arrows above and below 
the Repeat box to adjust the value. The default value is 3.

Set Double-Click Speed
----------------------
To set the speed at which the mouse must be double clicked in order to be 
recognised as such, use the arrows above and below the D-Click box to change 
the value. The default value is 3.

Printer Menu
------------

System Printer Settings
-----------------------
The following Atari system settings are displayed and can be changed by 
clicking on the appropriate buttons:

          Dot Matrix/Daisywheel
          Mono/Colour
          Atari/Epson
          Draft/Final
          Parallel/Serial
          Continuous/Single Sheet

The next set of buttons assume that the printer is Epson compatible. The 
buttons do not show the current state of the printer, of course, since this 
cannot be read.

               Condensed
               Emphasised
               Bold
               10 cpi/12 cpi

               Reset

User-Defined Buttons
--------------------
These buttons can be set up to send a string of characters to the printer.

Edit Button Legend
------------------
Hold down the Control key and click on the button. A cursor appears in the 
box. Edit the box and hit return to finish.

Edit String
-----------
Hold down the Shift button and click on the button. A box appears, containing 
00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00/00 if there is no existing definition. Hit 
Esc to clear the box, then type in the Hex codes of the string you want to 
send to the printer when the button is clicked - consult your printer manual 
for explanations of these.

Save User-Defined Buttons
-------------------------
The names on the buttons and the strings can be saved by clicking on the box 
surrounding the buttons. The information is saved in a file called DOSACC.SYS 
in the root directory of the boot disk. This file will automatically load when 
the accessory is used next.

File Menus
----------

Enquire Free Space On Disk
--------------------------
Click on the Path: legend in the top left corner of the dialog. The result of 
the enquiry will be displayed instead of 'Path:'. This little button is used 
for a couple of other things too.

Wildcards
---------
The list of files displayed can be filtered using the usual wildcards - that 
is *, which stands for any group of characters, and ? which stands for any one 
character. Click on the box at the top which currently displays the path, say 
C:\. The display changes to 'Wildcards:'. Type in the wildcards - for example 
*.c and hit return. The file display is updated immediately.

File Dislpay
------------
Clicking on a directory immediately changes the listing to the contents of 
that folder.

Click on a file to select it. A tick appears at the same time - these are used 
in multiple operations like Erase and Copy.

Hold down the Shift button and click on a file to tick all of the files or 
clear all of the ticks.

The Path: display in the top left corner of the dialog shows the total size of 
all the ticked files.

Sort File Display
-----------------
Four buttons to the left of the file display decide how the names are sorted - 
NM means they are sorted by name, DT - sorted by date, SZ - sorted by size, 
and NO means unsorted. An unsorted display is useful for checking out which 
order programs in the AUTO folder will execute.

Go Up, Go Down
--------------
Click on the single arrows to the right of the file display to page the file 
listing up and down. The double arrows move to the beginning or end of the 
list.

Close Box
---------
Close the current subdirectory and list the files in the parent. This produces 
an error message if you do it in the root directory.

Touch A File
------------
The date and time the currently selected file was created and its size are 
displayed below the file display. Click on this display to change the date and 
time to the current system date and time.

Set File Attributes
-------------------
The attributes of the currently selected file are displayed as:

     RW   - read/write
     RO   - read only

Click on the box to change the attributes.

Name Disk
---------
If the current drive is a floppy, the name of the disk, if any, is displayed. 
If the disk has not been named click on the box and and you can then name it.

Change Drive
------------
The drive selector is a twin of the one on the main menu. Either click on the 
buttons or type the appropriate key to change the drive.

Rename A File
-------------
Click on a filename, then on Rename. The current filename is displayed in the 
top box. Edit the name and hit return to complete.

If you change your mind, hit Esc to clear the display, then hit return - this 
abandons the operation.

Move A File
-----------
Click on a filename, then on Move. The current path/filename is displayed in 
the top box. Edit the path/filename until it shows where you want it to go and 
what you want it to be called. Hit return to finish.

If you change your mind, hit Esc to clear the display, then hit return - this 
abandons the operation.

Move A Number Of Files
----------------------
Click on the filenames, then on Move. The top display changes to A:\. Edit 
this display until it shows the drive and path where you want the files to be 
moved. Then hit return.

If you change your mind, hit Esc to clear the display, then hit return - this 
abandons the operation.

Erase A File
------------
Click on a filename, then on Erase. A dialog box is displayed to allow you to 
change your mind.

Erase A Number Of Files
-----------------------
Click on the files you wish to erase. A dialog box is displayed to allow you 
to change your mind.

Copy A File
-----------
See Move a file.

Show/Print A File
-----------------
Click on a filename and then on Show.

Up/Down   - the single arrows move the display up or down one page. The double 
          arrows move to the beginning or end of the file.

Hex       - display the file as Hex values and ASCII
ASCII     - or just ASCII

Print     - dump the file to the printer in the current format. 
          Hit any key to stop the printout.

Find A File
-----------
Click on Find. Type the filename or wildcards you wish to look for then hit 
return. A dialog will be displayed each time a file is found.

Print Directory
---------------
Click on Print Dir to print the directory in three columns.

Create A New Folder
-------------------
Click on New Folder. Type the name in the display at the top and hit return.

If you change your mind, hit Esc to clear the display, then hit return - this 
abandons the operation.

