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.