SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP NEWSLETTER - 12/88 What's New By Bob Ward The December meeting was well attended and one not to miss. With food and drink in mass and many door prizes for the taking, several members left the meeting full of food and hopefully with something for their computer in-hand. Our early meeting was less formal than usual with several individuals asking many good questions. George Campbell, alias Dr. DOS, came up with answers to all but the most obscure questions to satisfy the curious and inquisitive. After a short intermission while every attacked the food and drink, we settled down to the one serious part of our meeting. Unfortunately for the former officers, they played their parts too well and were unanimously re-elected for another stretch, or is that term in office. Our regrets that John Rohde asked to be replaced as treasurer due to scheduling conflicts with our meeting changed to Sundays. We appreciate the hours he spent keeping our checkbook balanced and hope he will be able to attend most of our meetings this coming year. Replacing him as treasurer is Teri Sorgatz. She had all the prerequisites necessary for treasurer.... a new battery for her abacus. In case you just raised your hand when everyone else did, and didn't know who you were voting for, let me list our elected officers for 1989: President (Alias Dr. DOS & head Guru) - George Campbell (528-1759) Vice President (You will find him guarding the library ) - Sam Powers (528- 4355) Secretary (the balding one running to and fro always looking for something he misplaced - Bob Ward (528-0121) Treasurer (she'll take all your money with a smile ) - Teri Sorgatz (489-2516) After the short business meeting, we gave away an assortment of door prizes from a copy of Leisure Suit Larry ver. 2 to a mouse cover. My special thanks to our two "ticket pickers", my two cute kids (I'm prejudice, of course) Kimberly and Elizabeth. Things were going smoothly until I put Elizabeth on the front counter and she fell into the sink! Also our many thanks to those business who donated door prizes. This included Computer Solutions, Fisbosa Computers, and Witco Computers. The club also purchased a large number of door prizes at cost from Lynne Boisen at Fisbosa. We thank all of you for your generosity. A list of winners is under a separate headline "WINNERS". We finished up the meeting with several members demonstrating their favorite shareware program or utility. This included George Campbell, myself, Bruce Turner, and Dick Trueman. The meeting adjourned about 5 pm with most going home to tell their spouses they wern't too hungry for dinner. The officers went out for Pizza to discuss how they're going to convince the club members to send them to Hawaii. Just kidding, of course, but it never hurts to try! *** PLEASE NOTE *** This coming month the meeting will NOT be held the first Sunday of the month for obvious reasons.... that's New Year's Day. We will change the meeting date this month only to Sunday, January 8th, 1989. Dr. DOS will be there for the early meeting to answer all your computer questions. I will give the demonstration at the general meeting starting at 2:30. The topic of demonstration will be Jim Button's new PC-File: dB(tm). The most exciting addition to his older database PC-FILE+, is the addition of compatibility with Ashton-Tate's dBASE III+. Create a database in PC-File: dB and read it directly by dBASE. There have been many other inhancements which will be demonstrated at the meeting. I will also briefly demonstrate a handy program that is a "must" for wordprocessor users who might need to convert between formats. Word-Link fills that need and converts between several wordprocessor formats. 3.5 Inch Drives in Clones with DOS 3.2 NY Amateur Computer Club Newsletter Reported from CPC Newsletter - November, 1988 Question: How do I get my PC/XT clone to recognize 3 1/2" drives under MS-DOS 3.2 with the FORMAT command? Answer: Put a line like this in your CONFIG.SYS file: DRIVPARM=/D:01/F:02 The D argument is 00 for drive A, 01 for drive B, etc. The F argument is 0 for 320/360K 5 1/4" floppies. 1 for 1.2M 5 1/4" floppies 2 for 720K 3 1/2" floppies 3 8" SD floppies 4 8" DD floppies 5 Hard disk 6 Tape Drive 7 other The example above implies that drive B is a 720K 3 1/2" floppy. (DOS 3.3 is required for 1.44M 3 1/2" floppies) The drive can be accessed in DOS without this CONFIG.SYS line but the FORMAT command needs this information to realize that it should use 80 tracks on both sides, not just 40. The FORMAT command is used with no special arguments; for instance, you don't have to enter FORMAT /t:80/n:09 as you normally would. By the way, DOS refuses those arguments if you do use them, even though the manual says they are valid! Further, if one puts a 5 1/4" drive back in without removing, FORMAT smacks the head into the stop 38 or so times and then believes it has successfully formatted a 3 1/2" disk! All this is found in Appendix B of the DOS manual. A File Zero Bytes in Length by Bob Ward You may have noticed in many of our library disks I use a --------.--- file to divide several files which may belong to two or more programs. In the past I created this file with EDLIN and it was 4 bytes in length. The January 17th issue of PC Magazine, Volume 8, Number 1, has a method of creating such files zero bytes long. Use the command @ZEROFILE = TYPE --------.--- >> --------.--- where the first --------.--- is a non existent file in your directory. You may use any filename as long as it does not exist in the directory in which you are working. The resulting file is not recognized by the COPY command because it is 0 bytes long, but may be copied with XCOPY (DOS 3.2) or DISKCOPY. If you place a zero at the beginning of the non existent source file name @ZEROFILE = TYPE 0-------.--- >> --------.--- you will omit the "File not found" statement. The next question arises, how do you locate the --------.--- file in the correct place of your file directory? Working strictly from DOS this may be accomplished by starting with a freshly formatted disk and copying the first group of files to the floppy disk using the COPY command. Then from the disk you just copied to, use the above method to create a file zero bytes in length. It will automatically be placed after the last real file copied to that disk. Then proceed to copy the rest of the files to the disk with the COPY command. If you want to use more than one divider on a disk, they must all be of different lengths as no two files with exactly the same filename may exist on one disk. Refer to your PC Magazine for further explanation on this method of creating files 0 bytes in length. BITS 'N BYTES * There was a new PC-SIG catalog left in the library at the last meeting. If you happened to pick it up, it was not met to be given away. Please contact Pat Farley 528-5815 so you can arrange for its return. * Don't forget to mark your calendar. The next meeting will be the 2nd Sunday of January 8th due to the holidays. * We are missing demo disk #2,"Charles Schwab's Equalizer", from our library. Demo disks are for copying at the meetings. If you must take the demo disk home because it's copy protected or a 1.2 MEG format, you MUST make arrangements with Sam Powers before removing it from the premises. I hope it will reappear at the next meeting. Thanks FORSALE KayPro XL 640K (10 months old) 20 Meg Hard drive, Monochorme Monitor Citizen D Printer PeachTree Accounting Software Asking $1400.00 Call Patti @ 805-934-4714 Diskette cases - $2.00 each Colored diskettes - .46 each Spinrite - $49.00 Leisure Suit Larry (ver 2) - $33.02 Call French Morgan @ 544-3691 Ventura Publisher: Enhancements and Utilities LePrint Headliner "After all, a headline," states the manual in it's opening paragraph, "is the first thing that an audience looks at." "...and it's certainly no place to be stifled for size and style." Point well taken. But just what do you do when your treasured HP Laserjet limits you to a piffeling 30 point headline when you want to SCREAM your message in 120 point type? Easy. Just whip out your favorite text editor and LePrint Headliner by LeBaugh. LePrint Headliner converts (rasterizes) standard text files you create in your word processor into graphic format (.PCX or .PCC) to be imported into many popular desk top publishing packages. With a 14" by 14" area to work in, copy can be sized anywhere from 4 point to full page (in portrait or landscape orientation), with a wide range of special fonts, font effects (such as positive or negative slanting), type positioning, ruling lines, and underlines. Bolding, italics, superscripting and subscripting are all supported. The basic Headliner package comes with 5 standard type styles: Courier, Pica, Prestige Elite, Times Italic, and Times Roman. Other type styles available are: Clarendon, Greek Characters, Helvetica Light, Helvetica Medium, ITC/LSC Manhattan, ITC Garamond, ITC Zaph Chancery Light, Letter Gothic, L.C.D., Math Symbols, Old English, Park Avenue, PC, and Special Symbols. Most of the Headliner type styles contain extended character sets. Fonts and font effects are invoked by "Dot" Commands placed on a line-by-line basis (affecting the entire line) or embedded in a line (affecting only specified characters). They can either be entered as text or embedded by special codes with your word processor. Depending on the word processor used, these codes will be maintained and converted to Dot Commands at time of import into Headliner. Extended character sets are accessed by Dot Commands, or in the case of the some typestyles, are directly converted to Dot Commands from word processors supporting upper ASCII characters (such as Wordstar). A sample text file such as this: .FA TIMES * {.CH 10 PT}{.IT -45}S{.CH 12 PT}{.IT -40}L{.CH 14 PT}{.IT -35}O {.CH 16 PT}{.IT -30}B{.CH 18 PT}{.IT -25}Y{.CH 20 PT}{.IT -20}T{.CH 22 PT}{.IT - 15}E{.CH 24 PT}{.IT -10}S {.CH 26 PT}{.IT -5}P{.CH 28 PT}{.IT 0}C {.CH 30 PT}{.IT 0}U{.CH 28 PT}{.IT 0}S{.CH 26 PT}{.IT +5}E{.CH 24 PT}{.IT +10}R{.CH 22 PT}{.IT +15}'{.CH 20 PT}{.IT +20}S {.CH 18 PT}{.IT +25}G{.CH 16 PT}{.IT +30}R{.CH 14 PT}{.IT +35}O{.CH 12 PT}{.IT +40}U{.CH 10 PT}{.IT +45}P * Produces results such as this: (.PCX art here) Headliner operates either from the DOS command line or a simple menu interface. The installation program allows you to install for a wide variety of monitor types, a default import filter, and a final export resolution up to 300 X 300 dots-per-inch. Word processors supported include most popular commercial packages and standard ASCII (with or without CR/LF). LePrint Headliner can be obtained from LeBaugh Software Corporation, 10824 Old Mill Road, Suite 6, Omaha, Nebraska 68154, (800) 532-2844. The Leprint Headliner program is a subset of the LePrint desktop publishing program, but functions fully as a stand-a-lone. NEWS FROM OUR LIBRARY Check out the new disk we are adding to our library for the month of December. These disk will be available for purchase or copying at the meeting January 8th. #249 PC-FILE:dB Program Disk - Here's Jim Button's latest shareware upgrade for PC-FILE. It's now compatible with Ashton-Tate's dBASE! Many new features. PC- FILE+ will be removed from the library and upgraded with this new version. Shareware #250 PC-FILE:dB Utility Disk - Includes simple conversion program to convert all your PCFILE+ databases to dBASE format for use with the new PC-FILE version. #251 PC-FILE:dB Documentation - approximately 150 pages long #294 BRADFORD 2.0 - An near-letter quality print for your dot matrix printer. The best one I've seen. Shareware #295 Dr Mystik - Sage advice from our own President, George Campbell. If you think he has good advice at the meetings, try this program! ORACLE is a modification of Dr Mystik that TALKS. This version will work on most computers. Shareware #296 LABELIT - Want a quick label? LABELIT3 will do it for you. Many features. Author - who else but the Sage. Shareware. PMSLABEL - If you have PrintShop or PrintMaster graphics you'll want this one. Prints graphic of your choice on mailing labels to the left of name and address. Shareware #297 UTILITIES - includes anti-virus program, simple disk formatter, turn num- lock off at boot (for you PS/2 users), translate English into Russian, and an excellent floppy disk label maker. Other utilities are also present on this disk. DEMO DISKS 86 - Demonstration of all products - Nostradamus 87 - WordCruncher Simulation Disk - Electronic Text Corporation 88 - Compatibility Guide - an MS-DOS point of view about Macintosh 89 - Q-DOS & BACK-IT - Gazelle Systems 90 - On-Screen Help Books (DOS) - Geyser Informatics 91 - The Universal Word - WYSIWYG Corporation 92 - GrammatikIII (writing inhancer) - Reference Software Inc. 93 - SYZYGY (Workgroup Software for Managers) - Information Research 94 - FONTMAX (WordPerfect 5.0 tool) - Intercontinental Software Systems Requires EGA or Hercules for demo 95 - Adobe Illustrator for the PC - requires EGA and 1.2 MEG high density floppy disk drive 96 - Game software from Sierra - requires color graphics card WINNERS FROM OUR DECEMBER DRAWINGS Anti-static Strips - Gil Hoffman, Marsh Guerra, Lars Perner, Bob Schrempp Autocad Book - George Tway Book of Fax - Ernie Werbel, George Campbell Chocolate Chip - Tom Beal Chocolate Disk - Virginia Sawyer Coffee Mug - Donny Rollin, David Stanley Computer Cover - Mel Sage Desktop Publishing with Word Perfect - Ernest Miller Disk Holders - Doug Warschauer, Jim Hough, Meyer Crumb, Harriet Amborn DOS Template - Teri Sorgatz Family Fued (Game) - George Henderson Floppy Disks (10) - J.R. Witthar Head Cleaning Kit - Frank Cardoza, Ken Brading, Earl Gustafson IBM XT Clone Book - Fred Steele Jeopardy (Game) - Betty McKie Laser Menu - Pat Farley Lotus Tips 'n Tricks (software) - Ed Reiten Nerd Perfect - Ben Brown Shirt & Buttons - Debbie Gulovsen SLO BYTES Membership - Ken Stilts 1 Colored Disks - Art Day, Bertie Rettburg, Chat Chatfield, Shirley Smith 1 Frisbee - Jim Chernoff 1 Leisure Suit Larry - Norma Henderson 1 R-Base Book Pack - Ed Montogery 2 Leading Edge Wordprocessor (software) - John Rohde 3 Disk Storage Box - Mike Marvier 3 Friendly Ware (software) - Jack Whalls 3 Mouse Cover - Ryan Amborn 1 - Compliments of French Morgan & Computer Solutions 2 - Compliments of Gary Schacter & Witco Computers 3 - Compliments of Lynne Boisen & Fisbosa Computers WHAT'S THIS STRANGE FILE IN MY ROOT DIRECTORY? By Reagan Andrews, North Texas PCUG From Greater South Bay PC User's Group - July, 1988 In the beginning, there was only Cassette BASIC. Then, DOS was added. That was the end of it. After the POST "beep," a request on the screen to enter the date and time was followed by IBM's PC-DOS 1.1 logo accompanied by "A:_" (You must imagine/visualize the "_" is blinking.) But, what if you want more? What if you want to really control what your computer looks like to DOS? Then, you have to take control via CONFIG.SYS. CONFIG.SYS - file of mystery. It wasn't mentioned much before DOS 2.0, and then, given scant recognition in Chapters 9 and 14 of the PC-DOS 2.0 documentation. Chapter 14? That covered "Installable Device Drivers." Batch files were covered much earlier in the DOS manual! CONFIG.SYS continues to have mysterious overtones. Although moved to the front of the PC-DOS 3.3 manual (IBM), it still resides toward the very back of the MS-DOS 3.3 manual published by Microsoft. Depending on the OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), attention given to this important file is variable with IBM heading up the "CONFIG.SYS is very, very important," group to glancing discussion of the file and its control over computer operations in other makers' documentation. To understand CONFIG.SYS, you have to know where it comes in the order of PC "business." Let's start back at paragraph #1 and what happens after turning on the PC. First, the PC runs a Power-On Self Test (POST) during which the machine checks itself out in terms of hardware, including RAM, and very low-level BIOS functions. This ends with a single "Beep" if everything is in order. After the POST, the PC searches for a Boot Sector - first on drive A:, then on drive C:. This is controlled by routines in the system ROMs (Read-Only Memory) on the motherboard of the computer. (There is a very short, "initialization routine" just before looking for the Boot (Boot-strap loader) routines.) If it finds a "good" Boot Sector, then it loads special, hidden files in order, IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM. IBMBIOS.COM supplies information about various input/output modalities DOS may use. IBMBIOS.COM builds or modifies existing device tables located in "low memory," resets the disk system, loads installable device drivers - and here is where CONFIG.SYS comes in - and does a number of other functions before calling in (using the EXEC function) COMMAND.COM. COMMAND.COM is universal. IBMBIOS.COM and IBMDOS.COM may have other names, depending on the version of DOS and the manufacturer of the computer. Even early clones still kept the "IBM" in the file names, though. If no "good" Boot is found, in IBM machines, Cassette BASIC loaded from the system ROMs and appears on the user's screen. So, what does CONFIG.SYS do? It gives the user an opportunity to change a number of "default" computer operational characteristics to improve the operation of his or her PC. In fact, a number of PC enhancements depend on use of a CONFIG.SYS file to operate and establish important parameters necessary to successful functioning. Early DOS users were very restricted in what their CONFIG.SYS files could do. DOS 2.0 allowed manipulation of the BREAK, BUFFERS, DEVICE, FILES and SHELL commands, with very little flexibility in device handling. Most of the possibilities were "undocumented" in this and later versions of DOS. DOS 3.3, the latest at the time of this writing, allows both more commands and more options under each command for the PC user. Currently, BREAK, BUFFERS, FILES, DEVICE and SHELL have been joined by COUNTRY, FCBS, LASTDRIVE, and STACKS commands with expanded/enhanced documentation and/or options under most of these. MS-DOS 3.3 also includes a DRIVPARM command in addition to the DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS command in PC-DOS 3.3. Some of these added or expanded commands have been included to insure compatibility with previous versions of DOS or programs that used features of older DOS versions. FCBS is an example of this and allows crossing the gulf created by abandonment of the File Control Block's method of file manipulation used by DOS versions prior to 2.0. That means a user holding on to an accounting or database program written for DOS 1.0 or 1.1 may still be able to run it successfully. What's really important? Depends. Depends on how the PC is used, and if other software makes demands on the system that DOS's defaults can't handle. Early users quickly discovered that FILES and BUFFERS were really important since DOS's default settings on these were so low as to be absurd in light of typical use. Most widely used CONFIG.SYS command likely is the installable device driver command, DEVICE=. It's also probably the least understood by the novice PC user. NTPCUG News readers who winced at the horror story revealed in what should have been a relatively simple drive installation may appreciate the irony involved in Microsoft's documentation of the DRIVEPARM= vs. DEVICE=DRIVER.SYS commands compared to IBM's lack of documentation of either in DOS 3.2, and scant attention to DRIVER.SYS in version 3.3. However, this is only one use of "DEVICE=" as a CONFIG.SYS command. Probably most common are the DEVICE=ANSI.SYS commands demanded by many programs, and the expanded/extended memory board drivers, such as EMS.SYS and EEMS.SYS, and RAM- disk drivers such as VDISK.SYS found in may PCs now. In these examples, the commands are either suggested by the software installation program, or placed in the CONFIG.SYS file by the program. This often occurs without the permission of the user, much to their later dismay. Next month DRIVPARM= vs. DRIVER.SYS, Clearing the CONGIG.SYS Confusion Word-Link for Disk to Disk Document Conversions By Bob Ward Now and then you come across a program that helps to fill that subdirectory on your hard disk called "must have" utilities. How many times have you been handed a text file to edit just to find out it was written in DisplayWrite and you use WordStar for a word processor? Wouldn't it be nice if as a WordPerfect user you could send your file to a friend on disk in THEIR word processing format should it be different than yours. Sure, many of today's better word processors have conversion programs, but they are limited in most cases. Word-Link by M/H Group is a program that will solve 99% of your text conversion headaches. The following is a list of Word Processing formats available for disk-to-disk document conversions: MultiMate DisplayWrite I, II, III, or IV WordPerfect MicroSoft Word OfficeWriter WordStar PFS:Professional Write ASCII This program will convert documents written in any of the above formats to any other format in the list. Conversion is very simple and requires only the selection of a source and destination word processing format. You are also asked for the drive and path for the source and destination document. Main Menu Word-Link's main menu has three selections: 1. Convert Document, 2. Set Document Defaults, or 3. Exit to DOS. Using the up and down arrows on the keyboard just make your selection and hit the enter key. Convert Document If you choose to convert a document between two formats select "Convert Document" from the main menu. The Conversion Selection menu lists a source format and a destination format. Select both formats with your arrow keys followed by F10 for acceptance of your selection. You will next be asked for the Source and Destination document drive and path. Another F10 will start the conversion process. Several files may be selected for conversion before the actual conversion process takes place. A Conversion Status menu will show the progress of your conversion and the statement "successfully converted" after the fact. Set Document Defaults The second selection from the Main Menu sets the document defaults. For example, if you choose WordPerfect, you are prompted by another screen asking for the defaults you wish make permanent for that word processing format. What version of WordPerfect are you converting, justify right, page length, and font pitch are a few questions asked. The questions will depend on the word processing format chosen. Documentation The documentation is very complete and presented in a logical order. After a brief introduction on installation, each menu is discussed in detail. Conversion details for each word processing format are divided into separate chapters and are very helpful in setting document defaults. The documentation is relatively short and to the point with a few good examples to help you along the way. The program fits on one disk and is not copy protected. License Agreement Word-Link is licensed to be used on a single machine. The license may be transferred to another person if they accept all conditions of the license printed in the back of the manual and all copies of the software are transferred to the new assignee or those not transferred are destroyed. Word-Link is a product of: M/H Group 222 West Adams Street Chicago, Illinois 60606 Price $149.00 SLO BYTES PC USER'S GROUP INFORMATION The SLO BYTES Newsletter is a monthly publication of SLO BYTES PC User's Group located in San Luis Obispo, California. Information in this Newsletter is derived from both our own membership and other PC User Group Newsletters. The purpose of this publication is to inform our members of meetings and provide information related to the use of IBM PC's and compatible computers. Membership: Dues are $18 per year. Newsletter only is $10 per year. Full membership entitles you to our monthly newsletter, full use of the public domain software library and discounts at local computer stores. Article Submission: Deadline for submission of articles is the 15th of each month. Articles should be provided in ASCII format without any type of formatting from your wordprocessor including tabs, indents, extra spaces, or highlighting. We prefer articles on disk but will accept hardcopies if necessary. Disclaimer: Neither SLO BYTES PC User's Group, its officers, editor, or contributors to this newsletter assume liability for damages arising out of this publication of any article, including but not limited to the listing of programming code, batch files and other helpful hints. Reprinting of this Newsletter: Articles from this newsletter may be reprinted by other user groups if credit is given to both the author and newsletter from which it was taken. Reproduction of articles with a specific (C) Copyright notice is prohibited without prior permission from the original author. The SLO BYTES Newsletter is a monthly publication of SLO BYTES PC User's Group located in San Luis Obispo, California. Information in this Newsletter is derived from both our own membership and other PC User Group Newsletters. The purpose of this publication is to inform our members of meetings and provide information related to the use of IBM PC's and compatible computers. Membership: Dues are $18 per year. Newsletter only is $10 per year. Full membership entitles you to our monthly newsletter, full use of the public domain software library and discounts at local computer stores. Article Submission: Deadline for submission of articles is the 15th of each month. Articles should be provided in ASCII format without any type of formatting from your wordprocessor including tabs, indents, extra spaces, or highlighting. We prefer articles on disk but will accept hardcopies if necessary. Disclaimer: Neither SLO BYTES PC User's Group, its officers, editor, or contributors to this newsletter assume liability for damages arising out of this publication of any article, including but not limited to the listing of programming code, batch files and other helpful hints. Reprinting of this Newsletter: Articles from this newsletter may be reprinted by other user groups if credit is given to both the author and newsletter from which it was taken. Reproduction of articles with a specific (C) Copyright notice is prohibited without prior permission from the original author. Advertising: Commercial advertisers, request ad packet from Bob Ward. Members may advertise personal computer equipment or software for free. Submit your ad to Bob Ward. Direct all correspondence to Bob Ward, 2100 Andre Ave., Los Osos, CA. 93402. Call (805)756-2164 M-F 7:30am - 5pm and (805)528-0121 all other times. Treasurer: Teri Sorgatz, 832 S. 7th Street, Grover City, CA. 93433 TREASURER'S REPORT The following summary is submitted by John Rohde, treasurer. Balance 11/20/88: $1419.55 Expenditures: $-408.30 Deposits: $ 244.20 Current Balance: $1255.45 SLO BYTES BULLLETIN BOARD (805)528-3753 2400/8/N/1 PC Files & Message Section SYSOP: George Campbell All Welcome - 24 Hours