           Hello, and welcome to the PC-WREAD documentation! 
 
   In just a moment, we'll take you right into that documentation;
   first, though, let's explain how you move around in the document.
   
   All the active keys will be continually displayed along the bottom
   line--you see them there now.  They are the usual movement keys:
   
        the four cursor keys (plus Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right);
        the PageUp and PageDown keys; and,
        the Home and End keys.
   
   The Esc key is the Exit key.
   
   By and large, everything does what you might expect it should: the 
   cursor keys scroll one line or column at a time, the Page keys scroll 
   one screenful at a time, and Home and End jump to the top and bottom--
   respectively--of the document.  (Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right jump 10 
   columns at a time.)  And Esc returns you peacefully to DOS.

   To see this document as was intended, use just the Page keys.

    (Press PgDn when you're ready to move on.)
   
                                                                               
                                   PC-WREAD                                    
                                                                     
                                                                               
                         Ŀ                          
                                                                             
                             A software product                              
                                                                             
                                   from                                      
                                                                             
                             High Boskage House                              
                                                                             
                                                   
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
                                                                               
   V. 1.00                                      Copyright 1990 by Eric Walker  
   


                         ͻ
                           
 PC-WREAD: Its Legal Status 
  
                         ͼ

     
      Please be sure to read this section! 
     
     PC-WREAD is a "shareware" product.  Its author retains the copyright and 
     all rights in the program, including the exclusive right to license its 
     use by others.
 
           The author hereby grants you the following limited license:
     
         You may install and use this program without notification or      
         payment in any amount to the copyright holder, provided such use  
         does not extend longer than thirty (30) days from the date of     
         first installation; by no later than the end of the aforesaid     
         period, you must either register the program by notifying the     
         author of your intent and paying the registration fee or else     
         remove the program from your system and thereby cease using it.   
           
           
         It is the intent of this license that you have an opportunity to  
         evaluate the program and its suitability for your needs before    
         having to decide whether or not to purchase a full license.  You  
         are permitted, and indeed encouraged, to distribute this program  
         to others, subject to the folowing conditions: all files in the   
         original distribution package--SEE.EXE, SEEDOC.EXE, SEEDOC.TXT,   
         COLORS.DOC, and README.1ST--must be distributed together, each    
         unaltered in any way whatsoever, and not bundled with any other   
         programs; you may not charge any fee for the distribution, except 
         that established user's groups may charge a nominal amount (not   
         to exceed ten dollars); and you must not represent, explicitly or 
         implicitly, that any recipient is receiving any rights in this    
         program beyond this shareware limited license.                    
     
     Registration will bring you the following: a slightly augmented version of 
     the program (described more fully below); a license to use the program and 
     any successor versions in perpetuity at any one site (multiple-site 
     licensing is available at moderate incremental costs); a few modest but 
     perhaps useful little utilities; the right to--at reasonable hours and for 
     reasonable periods--harass the author by telephone; the peace of mind that 
     comes with having fulfilled a moral obligation on the honor system; and 
     the satisfaction of having helped support the shareware concept. 
 
     Registration for a single site is $10; if, however, you send along a 
     diskette in a suitable mailer, or do not require the augmented program, 
     the cost is only $8.  For multiple-site use, the license-fee structure is:

        Number Of Sites:     License Fee Per Site:
             2 -  5              $7
             6 - 10              $6
            10 - 20              $5
            over 20              $4

     These figures are registration costs only; distribution diskettes are $2 
     each, regardless of number of sites. 
             
     Please: Bear in mind that such modest costs for software, representative 
     of the shareware movement, are only possible if you register the programs 
     that you use.  It is neither honorable nor reasonable to expect "the other 
     guy" to do it all.  There are very few--if any--software needs for which 
     the best answer is not available in the shareware world.  
     
     Whether or not you find this particular program worth registering, please 
     keep these low prices for high quality possible by supporting shareware 
     authors. 
     

              
                           ͻ
                              PC-WREAD: What It Does   
                           ͼ


     
     PC-WREAD is a file-viewing tool.  It can be used as a general-purpose file 
     viewer, and it will do that job decently, but candidly it does not have 
     the full panoply of features that an all-purpose file viewer (such as the 
     shareware program LIST from Vernon Buerg) should ideally possess. 

     Rather, PC-WREAD is a special-purpose tool: it was designed to work in 
     tandem with the highly successful shareware word-processor PC-Write, from 
     Quicksoft, Inc., although--as described in the Appendix hereto--it can be 
     of significant use even without PC-Write. 

     Briefly stated, what PC-WREAD does is present on screen a display of any 
     file that is exactly the same as the display that PC-Write would show for 
     that file when displaying in "Hide" mode (font characters invisible). 
  
       Note: if any of the terms used in this discussion are unclear to you,
       there is an extended introduction to the basics further down, under the
       heading "Basic Background."

     The remainder of this discussion will assume that you are a user of and 
     at least reasonably familiar with the operation and features of PC-Write.
     
     PC-WREAD evolved to fill a perceived gap between the features of PC-Write 
     and of LIST (and similar programs).  Frequently, situations arise in which 
     the user (that's you for now, but stay tuned) wants to simply view on 
     screen--as opposed to edit or print out--a text file.  PC-Write can, of 
     course, be invoked for this purpose, either in the ordinary Edit mode or 
     in the Read-Only mode.  Each of these two cases, however, has drawbacks. 

     In Edit mode, there is the very real possibility (and, over time, that 
     becomes probability) of inadvertently altering the file, perhaps 
     disastrously--there are a lot of ways to cause havoc by a single careless 
     or accidental keypress.  Worst of all are the instances in which such file 
     alterations are not even noticed at the time, which is assuredly possible 
     in the most likely case, the accidental keypress (everyone--everyone--
     brushes a finger or a notepad against the keyboard on occasion), because 
     the alteration will usually only be caught if it was dramatic. 
 
     Read-Only mode has its own problems.  PC-Write, wonderful as it is, is an 
     editor; that's its job.  The Read-Only mode was included primarily as a 
     way to work around locked files in networks, and it thus works in all ways 
     just like Edit mode, except that you cannot save any editing changes to 
     the file directly but must write the file under another name.  So, besides 
     the very real problem of remembering to call PC-Write in the Read-Only 
     mode (and of remembering how to do so), there is the fact that while you 
     can't actually damage the file, you can certainly appear to be doing so.  
     Further, it would be all too easy to call up a file to review and after 
     kicking around in it for a few minutes forget that you're in Read-Only and 
     start editing; you wouldn't be reminded what was happening until you first 
     went to save your work.  Yes, you can and would then use another file 
     name, but--all in all--while using PC-Write in Read-Only as a straight 
     file-viewing tool works, it's not the ideal solution. 

     An obvious alternative is a full-blown file viewer such as the above-cited 
     LIST program.  But such programs can't know when they're looking at a PC-
     Write-created file, so they have to be equal-opportunity displayers of 
     files' contents.  This means that they can have no way of knowing that a 
     Code-2 character is supposed to make the following text look like this 
     until another Code-2 character is encountered, then revert to "normal"; 
     in fact, they can't even know what "normal" means to you (especially on a 
     color monitor) without special configuration.

     Furthermore, general-purpose file-view programs have to present all 
     characters (whether or not you made them "enhanced") in one appearance, 
     plus thay have to decide what to do with the font characters themselves.  
     If they display them like ordinary text, the result will be, to say the 
     least, distracting, especially in any areas of your document making heavy 
     use of text enhancements.  But if they don't display the font characters 
     at all, you have no idea what text sections may be enhanced in some way. 

     Enter PC-WREAD.  PC-WREAD does know that it's viewing a PC-Write-created 
     file (actually, it doesn't know, it assumes).  As you will have seen from 
     reading this file, PC-WREAD very obviously does know what to do with font 
     characters used by PC-Write, even when they're nested: 

      Normal, then elite going bold with italic in it within the elite area.

       Note: the specific font-display characteristics in this document are
             customized PC-Write font characteristics, discussed further below.

     PC-WREAD displays them all just as PC-Write would.  So, the very obvious 
     first major use for PC-WREAD is as a quick, easy, safe way to look over 
     document files created with PC-Write.  You're reading one now--but that 
     brings us to a second (if related) major use for PC-WREAD.  
      
     PC-Write uses font characters primarily to send instructions to your 
     printer.  The altered screen display is only a support feature for that 
     primary purpose, there to let you know what text is affected.  It isn't 
     perfect in that respect--your screen can't actually show italics or 
     different pitches or sub- and superscripts--but it doesn't have to be; it 
     is enough to tell you the text is affected, and leave the "how" it is 
     affected to categorical (e.g. differing-pitch) display variations.

     But why not utilize that facility--variant screen displays--as the primary 
     function?  That's exactly what this very file does.  It is not intended to 
     be printed out--if you tried it, you'd get some very peculiar results!  It 
     is intended for just this: being read "on line," as you are doing now.  
     Have you noticed how the text, without (we hope) any manifest signs of 
     forcing, makes complete screenloads of information? 

     It must strike any thoughtful observer as both bizarre and ludicrous that 
     programs--software, the essence of the computer age--are to this hour 
     documented almost exclusively in hard copy or in files intended for 
     no other use than to be printed out.  "On-line documentation" is a phrase 
     that rarely means anything but Help screens in a program.  Actual outside-
     the-program documentation intended exclusively or even mainly for screen 
     reading is almost nonexistent.  The shoemaker's children go barefoot.

     Having PC-WREAD available, you can now readily create documents for on-
     line reading.  You could, of course, always do this and use a general-
     purpose file viewer to read them, but now you have the full spectrum of 
     text presentation available to you.  In monochrome, you can use--

               normal
               boldfacing
               underlining
               boldfaced underlining
               reversed video

     (which, if you are viewing this in color, is what those lines show as in 
     monochrome).  In color, you can use anything on anything, provided it is 
     coded into PC-Write, either by default or by your customization of the 
     font characters' screen effects (discussed further below). 

     This added capability makes on-line files a good deal more attractive, 
     both literally and figuratively.  Consider how vastly simpler the giving 
     of even elementary instructions is when you can create lines like:
      
      Type F <Enter> and wait for a response, then press <F1> and type R2
 
      While the mind immediately seizes on the marvellous prospects for 
      improvement in text files, such as program documentation (like this 
      file), the fun has only started.  Virtually every programming language, 
      even DOS's Batch Files, has some "remarks" delimiter: after the delimiter 
      (the ' in BASIC or--effectively--the : in a Batch File), the language 
      ignores the rest of the line.  Consider this fragment of a PC-Write 
      "commented" AUTOEXEC.BAT file seen via PC-WREAD, and ponder the 
      possibilities: 


:     THIS IS THE NORMAL, FULL AUTOEXEC VERSION   
:   (The "fast start" version is in AUTOEXEC.HOT.) 
echo off
cls
prompt $P$G
path C:\;C:\EDITOR;C:\UTILS;C:\DOS;C:\FILTERS;C:\AMPLE
set CPMDISK=D                                
set W=ALONGNAMEDESIGNEDTOASSURETHATTHEREWILLBELOTSOFENVIRONMENTSPACE
set X=ALONGNAMEDESIGNEDTOASSURETHATTHEREWILLBELOTSOFENVIRONMENTSPACE
set Y=ALONGNAMEDESIGNEDTOASSURETHATTHEREWILLBELOTSOFENVIRONMENTSPACE
set Z=ALONGNAMEDESIGNEDTOASSURETHATTHEREWILLBELOTSOFENVIRONMENTSPACE
:This adds 256 bytes to Environment space--must occur before 1st TSR program
synchdos
 
     Programmers: you know it's good practice to extensively comment your 
     code; now look what you can do:
     

cls
system
'
'SUBROUTINES, PROCEDURES, & FUNCTIONS
'
'Get A Keypress
sub KB
  shared kb$,scancode
'
  do:loop until instat
  kb$=ucase$(inkey$)  '--won't run except in TurboBasic
  if len(kb$)=2 then scancode=asc(right$(kb$,1)) else scancode=0
end sub
'
'Interpret Key Presses
sub INTERPRET(scancode)
  shared daymax,day,month,year
  local ok

     Or this:

'change default disk drive
sub SETDRIVE inline
'
' call setdrive(drive)
'
  $inline &H55                ' push BP          save Base Pointer             
  $inline &H89,&HE5           ' mov BP,SP        use extant stack              
  $inline &H8B,&H5E,&H06      ' mov BX,[BP+6]    load DRIVE's pointer          
  $inline &H8B,&H17           ' mov DX,[BX]      move DRIVE into DL            
  $inline &HB4,&H0E           ' mov AH,0E        load op code into AH          
  $inline &HCD,&H21           ' int 21           set DRIVE as current drive    
  $inline &H5D                ' pop BP           restore BP                    
end sub
'
'scan file contents for custom attributes
sub SCAN inline
'
'call scan(mono,aa(0),codes(1),prdefsize,holdtext$)
'          +22  +18     +14      +10       +6
'

     Examples and possible uses could be endlessly multiplied, but your own
     imagination can probably make the point even better than we can.

     This PC-Write/PC-WREAD marriage is made in heaven for writing reminder 
     instructions for, as a start, yourself.  Here at High Boskage House, when 
     we get a new piece of software in, the very first thing we do--before ever 
     dreaming of installing the program--is to take the supplied .DOC file and 
     very materially rewrite it for our own benefit.  The first benefit is 
     ensuring that the documentation is completely and thoroughly understood; 
     one cannot rewrite what one has not definitively understood.  The second 
     benefit is that when we're through, we have (we think) a comprehensible, 
     clear document; it is a sad fact that far too many software creators are 
     much more adept at a computer language than at the English language.  
     
     (As an aside, it is our firm opinion that many fine programs--especially 
     shareware programs, and most especially large and powerful shareware 
     programs--often don't get the distribution they deserve because many users 
     cannot fathom the opaque "explanations" provided in the .DOC files.) 

     The third benefit is that we can use PC-Write font characters to enhance 
     the screen text to make fast spotting of key points and summaries 
     available when we later screen-review the file for a specific datum.

     Now, however, consider the case of leaving instructions for third parties, 
     whether on your system or theirs.  What a picnic!  You can get flashy, 
     attention-getting screen displays without cumbersome batch files or 
     special ANSI coding or suchlike.  Just use good old PC-Write to create the 
     information file--like this one--and what you see is what they'll get.

     Granted that PC-Write is possibly the premier word processor around, you 
     can't write files--.DOC or otherwise--on the assumption that every end 
     viewer will have and know how to use PC-Write.  (Their loss.)

     But--all that's necessary is that the viewer have PC-WREAD available, a 
     simple enough requirement.  And it's so very easy to use that even the 
     rankest beginner can be trusted to use it properly to read your 
     instruction (or other information) files.  (See the end of this document 
     for information on bundling PC-WREAD with other products.) 
                                         
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        | 
                                  (more follows)
                                      
                                      

                          ͻ
                             PC-WREAD: How To Work It   
                          ͼ



     The operational program comes to you named SEE.EXE.  You may freely rename 
     it to whatever you find quick and easy.  If you do not rename it, you 
     would display the contents of a hypothetical file FIXIT.DOC by typing: 

          SEE FIXIT.DOC <Enter>
     
     You may include, as necessary, Path or Drive specifications:

          SEE B:\WORK\MISC\FIXIT.DOC <Enter>

     All Path specifications--Drive specified or not--must begin with a \.  
     
     You can also call PC-WREAD without a file specification, with just: 

          SEE <Enter>

     When so invoked, PC-WREAD will come up prompting for a file specification; 
     it will be showing a list of all files in the current default directory.  
     (We will discuss dealing with that screen a little further on.) 
 
     If you call PC-WREAD with a file specification that is in some way 
     defective or is nonexistent, PC-WREAD will show you your specification and 
     an error message explaining the problem it is finding (it can, however, 
     only signal one kind of error at a time).  PC-WREAD will at this point be 
     asking you whether you want to quit the program or try again--the only two 
     options then available (the screen is utterly self-explanatory).  If you 
     choose to continue, PC-WREAD will then take you to the same screen that 
     you get after exiting a normal file presentation (which is also the same 
     screen that you get if you invoke PC-WREAD with no file name at all--the 
     one we just said we will discuss a little further on). 
     
     When PC-WREAD successfully locates a file you have specified, it will 
     display it--as you are now seeing.  The top "framing" line will show the 
     file name as specified and the Line Number of the topmost line of the 
     current screen display.  Line numbering can occasionally be slightly 
     tricky; the problem is that certain "phantom lines" which appear on the 
     screen display don't figure into the displayed Line Count.

     A PC-Write file contains three "classes" of lines: real text lines, which 
     could be printed out if desired; Guide Lines, which are in essence private 
     messages from you to PC-Write about formatting your document and which 
     neither print out nor even appear in the "hide" screen-display mode; and 
     Page-Break Lines, which show where you or PC-Write have inserted page 
     breaks, and which don't print out as lines (just as form feeds) but which 
     do display on screen, even in the "hide" screen-display mode. 

     PC-Write itself is a bit ambivalent about Page-Break lines.  The normal 
     Status-Line display is relative: lines are numbered relative to the page 
     they're on, and Break Lines are designated "Line 0" in that display.  But 
     if you request an all-document absolute location, Break Lines (and even 
     Guide Lines) are counted in the displayed total! 

     PC-WREAD both displays and counts text lines; no problem.  It neither 
     displays nor counts Guide Lines; no problem.  It does not count, but does 
     display Page-Break Lines--problem: a "line" not counted in the displayed  
     Line Number count appears on screen. 

     In PC-WREAD, Break and Guide Lines never figure in the Line Count.  Just 
     remember: If a Break Line is the top screen line, the displayed Line Count
               will be that of the first real text line below that Break Line. 

     This need to treat Break Lines slightly differently than does PC-Write
     itself (because PC-WREAD always shows an absolute Line Number count)
     leads to one small, curious difference in screen display: when you
     scroll a Page-Break Line up off the top of the screen, you see what   
     appears to be a "jump" effect.  What happens is that your one-line
     scroll command is telling PC-WREAD to move to the next line; but the
     "next" line--the next real line--is the one whose line number follows
     that displayed in the top framing line.  The Break Line that was being
     shown atop the display area has no real existence; the displayed number
     was that of not the Break Line, but that of the "real" text line shown
     right after it--the second displayed line on the screen.  So, the one-
     line scroll moves two display lines off the screen--the phantom Break
     Line and the real text line.

       Ŀ
                                   NOTE:                               
        Using PC-WREAD to view any file containing characters of code  
        11 or code 12 that do not conform to PC-Write's requirement of 
        one per line, in the very first column only, will lead to some 
        VERY bizarre-looking screen displays!  No others are problems. 
       


     The bottom "framing" line shows all the keys PC-WREAD will recognize:

        <Left Arrow> = scroll one column left (stops at left document edge)

        <Right Arrow> = scroll one column right (goes indefinitely)

        <Ctrl>-<Left Arrow> = scroll ten columns left (to document edge)

        <Ctrl>-<Right Arrow> = scroll ten columns right (indefinitely)

        <Up Arrow> = scroll one line up (stops at document top)

        <Down Arrow> = scroll one line down (stops at last document line)

        <Pg Up> = scroll one screen up  (stops at document top)

        <Pg Dn> = scroll one screen down  (stops at last document line)

        <Home> = jump to top of document (cancels any horizontal scrolling)

        <End> = jump to bottom of document (cancels any horizontal scrolling)

        <Esc> = exit from current document (returns to menu)

     The Line Number display on the top framing line gives you an idea where in 
     a document you are, but this information is supplemented by the presence 
     or absence of four "pointer arrows" on the screen.  An arrow at any one of 
     the four extreme corners of the display screen signifies that more of the 
     file can be seen by scrolling in the direction indicated by the arrow.

     Right now, you will see at the bottom corners the "Up" and the "Down" 
     arrows; they mean that you are neither at the start nor the end of this 
     document.  You can scroll up and see more, or you can scroll down and see 
     more.  (On very rare occasions, you can find a ? where the Down arrow 
     would go; this means that PC-WREAD is at the very last line of the current 
     "block"--explained later--and that it doesn't yet know if this is the last 
     block of the file.)

     The Left Arrow appears whenever you are scrolled horizontally away from 
     the left margin.  The Right Arrow only appears if a document line is 
     longer than the 80 characters that will fit on the screen at once, like 
     the 100-character "ruler" below; the Right Arrow will remain on until you 
     scroll far enough right to display the end of the longest line of the 
     current screen.  Use the Left and Right cursors now to see what we mean.

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7----+----8----+----9----+----0
      
     When you quit a file's display via the <Esc> key, or when you have invoked 
     PC-WREAD with no file specification or with an invalid one, you are 
     presented with a "what next?" screen.  The top part of this screen will be 
     a list of all the files in a Directory (in which Directory depends on 
     things we'll explain shortly), bracketed by two "framing" lines; below 
     this will be a request for a new file to display.  The top framing line 
     will identify the displayed Directory; the bottom one will usually tell 
     you how to list some other Directory.  We say "usually" because PC-WREAD 
     makes allowance for the fact that a very long Directory list might 
     overflow the available list space; if that happens, the bottom framing 
     line will instead be showing a blinking message to that effect.  

     PC-WREAD can list 72 files (and it lists only files, never SubDirectory 
     names); if you have more than that in one SubDirectory, it's past time to 
     reorganize!  It's poor practice to overload directories; they were created 
     to avoid just that happening.  Make some new SubDirectories and rearrange. 

     The normal bottom framing line display is a note to the effect that you 
     can elect to display some other Directory by entering as a "dummy" file 
     selection the * asterisk character.  Although the screen message does not 
     say so, the [ and ] bracket characters will also work for that purpose.  
                                                      
     The two bracket signs were included because they are among the few lower-
     case characters not recognized by DOS as valid in commands--so that they 
     cannot be taken as real file names (and both were included so you don't 
     have to remember "left bracket or right?")--and lower-case characters are 
     much easier for hunt-and-peck typists to enter when they're in a hurry. 
     
     What happens if you use these "dummy" file names will be covered in a 
     moment, but let's finish the "what next?" screen first.  The bottommost 
     screen line will be a message to the effect that pressing the <Enter> key 
     with no file entry will exit PC-WREAD.  This is, in fact, the normal and 
     proper way to exit PC-WREAD; although the <Break> key should work, it 
     should never be needed, since there is error-trapping. 
  
     (If PC-WREAD encounters an unanticipated error, it will jump to a special 
     Error-Display screen; the only exit from there is to DOS, via any key.) 
  
     PC-WREAD tries to be accomodating with respect to your file-request 
     entries.  It is totally indifferent to case in letters.  It tolerates (and 
     ignores) leading or trailing blank spaces.  It assumes that if no Drive is 
     specified, the current (DOS default) Drive is intended; likewise, it 
     assumes that if no Path is specified, the current (DOS default) Path is 
     intended.  
     
     You can explicitly specify either a Drive or a Path, but you do have to 
     follow the DOS rules: Drives must be one letter followed by a : colon, and 
     Paths--whether or not there is a Drive specification preceding them--must 
     begin with the \ backslash character.  And, of course, the Drive, Path, 
     and file named must all exist for PC-WREAD to find the file!

     Something that should be of interest to all shareware veterans: PC-WREAD 
     will work with CED!  If you don't know about or haven't got CED (the 
     Command Editor), a shareware program, you don't know what you're missing.  
     For the rest of you: remember that PC-WREAD is a CED application program, 
     and that CED maintains completely separate DOS-Command and Application-
     Program stacks, and has a completely separate set of Application-Program 
     synonyms.  Check the CED documentation if you're unclear about this.  
     (Note: CED has a new--at this writing--shareware competitor, ANARKEY; it 
     sounds good and comes well recommended, but we have not yet obtained it 
     and so cannot guarantee that PC-WREAD can make use of it, although it 
     probably can.)

     If you don't have CED or a similar program, note that your keyboard input 
     to PC-WREAD's file-name requests is "DOS-buffered"; this means that the 
     keys on your keyboard should work just as they do when you are entering 
     input at the DOS Command line, so that the <F1> and <F3> keys, for 
     example, could be used to recall and edit--primitively--the last entry. 

     Comment: if you do have CED, please use the CED edit keys, not the DOS 
     keys; at least in our version of CED (version 1.0D), such use within an 
     application causes fascinating but annoying CED conflicts.  PC-WREAD can, 
     we believe, deal with all of these in stride, but try not to tempt fate. 
     
     Now about the Directory display: again, PC-WREAD tries to be accomodating.
     It will display the files in the last valid Drive:\Path named to it, 
     whether or not it located the specific file requested there.  Note the 
     words "last" and "valid"--the to-be-displayed Directory doesn't change, no 
     matter how many file-request attempts you make, until one of those 
     attempts contains at least a Drive-Path combination that is valid 
     (regardless of the file name's validity).  Naming no Drive or Path is 
     equivalent to specifying the current Directory, so that's what PC-WREAD 
     will show if you call a file (whether or not at first entry) by file name 
     only, and also if you call no file name at all when first invoking it.

     And as to changing the Directory display without calling for a particular 
     file: when you use a *, a [, or a ] by itself as a "file name" request, 
     PC-WREAD will take you to a special Path-select screen.  The rules here 
     are very similar to those at the main "what-next?" screen, except that no 
     specific file is to be named.  You can end your Path specification with a 
     \ or not, as you may be used to--PC-WREAD will take it either way.  
     
     Here too, PC-WREAD will tell you what problem it may be having with an 
     invalid entry.  And, as the screen will inform you, just pressing <Enter> 
     with no entry will be interpreted as a request for the current Directory. 

     Understand this:  changing the PC-WREAD display Directory does NOT change 
     the DOS default Directory, nor will PC-WREAD recognize the displayed 
     Directory as a default for file selection unless it really is also the DOS 
     default Directory (and if it is, the top framing line will say so).  If 
     you want to see a file from the displayed list, unless it happens to be 
     the current Directory, you must enter the complete Path as part of the 
     file specification.  (The same applies concerning Drives.)  The PC-WREAD 
     display is only a tool to help you remember the full, correct name of 
     files you may want to see.  PC-WREAD never changes its startup DOS default 
     Drive and Path, and always returns you to them when you exit from it. 

     A last note: Because PC-WREAD takes in files in "blocks," as detailed 
     later, when scrolling through a long file you will every so often 
     experience a very brief delay--noticeable, but just barely so--between 
     some pair of screens.  Because PC-WREAD uses overlapping blocks, you will 
     have to move some distance through the file before experiencing another 
     such delay; you cannot find yourself jumping back and forth between blocks 
     at some specific line-count position.


                         ͻ
                            PC-WREAD: How It Works   
                         ͼ

     
     
     In this section, we explain some of PC-WREAD's functioning and detail its 
     capabilities and limitations.

     PC-WREAD does not necessarily load the entire document file into memory 
     all at once.  To save start-up time, and allow handling of files of any 
     length, it deals with document files in "blocks" of 32Kbytes at a time
     (of course if the entire file is 32K or less, PC-WREAD takes it all at 
     once).  If you ask PC-WREAD to scroll the file such that it needs text 
     outside the 32K block currently in memory, it will load in a new 32K 
     block, but one offset (up or down, as appropriate) only 16Kbytes from the 
     block that was current.  In this way, your current screen position in the 
     document--which was the edge of the former block--is now at the midpoint 
     of the new block.  You thus have plenty of room to move around in either 
     direction before you will force PC-WREAD to read another new block.
 
     When we say PC-WREAD can handle files of "any" length, we mean any length 
     that can be stored on today's storage media, or most likely even on 
     tomorrow's: PC-WREAD's file-length specifier is 32 bits long, allowing 
     files of up to 4,096 Megabytes.  Even laser disks won't be a problem!

     Scrolling in PC-WREAD is limited top, bottom, and left by the file's 
     "edges"; rightward scrolling, described earlier as unlimited, actually is
     limited, but only to 32,767 columns--you'd get a crick in the fingers 
     scrolling out that far, even ten columns at a time.  There's no reason to 
     ever go that far, nor for PC-WREAD to be able to; it just happens that it 
     can.  (At bottom, you can scroll up until the last file line is atop the 
     screen, facilitating exact line-number referencing without counting.)

     When scrolling rightward, PC-WREAD does not ignore the columns off-screen 
     leftward; it keeps track of font-effect characters in that invisible area, 
     and knows what the current screen effect should be even if the font 
     character that turned it on is a thousand columns leftward.

     Speed of operation with PC-WREAD will, of course, vary depending on quite 
     a variety of factors, the foremost of which is the specific hardware that 
     makes up your computer system: from a basic PC or XT to a PS/2 Model 80, 
     there is an almost 16-to-1 clock ratio, and that by no means tells it all. 
     
     Also remember (or learn) that when measuring intervals internally on a 
     computer, such as with the TIMER function in BASIC, we can get results as 
     precise as we want, but they will only be accurate to about .027 second.  
     (Never confuse precision with accuracy; you can say that the time now is 
     4:37 p.m. and 17.3 seconds, which is very precise, but if you're using a 
     sundial to get it, probably not very accurate.)  In the IBM/clone family 
     of computers, the standard software "clock tick" occurs roughly 18.2 times 
     a second, or about every 55 milliseconds (.055 second). 

     Note one point: the first time that you press the <End> key, for a jump to 
     file end, there will be a definite pause, the length of which will depend 
     directly on the length of the file.  Because PC-WREAD displays the line 
     number of its position in the file, it must go through the entire file 
     counting line ends before actually making the jump; this can take time 
     perceptible on the human scale, as noted below.  After that first time, 
     PC-WREAD has the all-file line count and will simply make the jump, like 
     any other block jump.  (PC-WREAD does not need the all-file line count for 
     itself; it just wants to be able to show it to you.) 

     Also note that, depending on file size and your location in the file, 
     "jumps" to file-top and file-bottom may not involve loading new blocks (if 
     the whole file is under 32K, nothing does), and may thus take no longer 
     than scrolling up or down by one line (a "screen jump").
     
     On a "Turbo XT clone" with a decent hard drive, we found these times: 

         initial start-up, file 32K or larger: circa 1.35 seconds
            "      "   " ,  "  very small: circa 0.60 second
         "block jump," full 32K block: circa 0.78 second
         screen jump: circa .05 second
         first jump-to-file-end: circa 1 second for every 46K of file

     As noted, these will vary, but all in all--regardless of your exact 
     hardware configuration--you should find PC-WREAD comparable in speed of 
     operation to whatever you're accustomed to in your environment from any 
     good-quality screen-display program, and perfectly usable. 

     About screen colors: you are not seeing this document with SEE, the actual 
     evaluation version of PC-WREAD, but rather with SEEDOC, a special-purpose 
     version of SEE.  The effects displayed here (particularly if you are 
     seeing this in color) are--in effect--what you would get if you had 
     customized your PC-Write configuration files in a specific way pertaining 
     to displays, a process we strongly recommend.  Please review (with SEE of 
     course!) the supplementary file COLORS.DOC for a fuller discussion of the 
     fascinating and subtle matter of customizing displays in PC-Write. 

     The actual evaluation version of PC-WREAD, SEE.EXE, simply uses all the 
     PC-Write default screen-display colors or attributes.  If you have 
     customized those, PC-WREAD in that version will not know that.  
     
     The full-registration version is smarter.  It will search the Path for the 
     two PC-Write configuration files, ED.DEF and PR.DEF; if it finds them, it 
     will search them for any screen-display redefinitions that you may have 
     placed there, and will use that information itself.  It will recognize any 
     and all <Alt>-<letter key> font redefinitions, plus any redefinition of 
     the "normal text" display or the line-end-fill display (but not any 
     redefinition of the "lines under last text" area display).

     PC-WREAD does not at this time have a text-string search capability.  If 
     the response to the initial release is sufficient, such may be added.

     Whether or not you elect to use and register PC-WREAD, we would certainly 
     appreciate any feedback, positive or negative, about it, and especially 
     about features you would like to see added (or subtracted).  Please send 
     any comments to the registration address at the end of this file.

                                        | 
                                  (more follows)

  
     

                         ͻ
                            PC-WREAD: Basic Background   
                         ͼ
     

     
                             Some Primers For Newcomers 

  
     All "characters"--things that can be typed, printed out, or displayed on 
     screen--are single bytes of data; a byte, being 8 bits of data, can have 2 
     to the 8th power, or 256, different values, ranging from 0 to 255.  The 
     numerical value of a byte used as a character is referred to as its code; 
     the phrases "ASCII code" or "ASCII value" are also often used, but 
     properly speaking only the codes from 32 to 127 inclusive are "ASCII" 
     codes.  ASCII is an acronym for the American Standard Code for Information 
     Interchange, in which standard meanings to be assigned to the "ASCII" 
     codes have been defined: for example, code 65 universally denominates the 
     capitalized form of the letter A. 
     
     Codes outside the ASCII range are not standardized.  Two near standards--
     by no means universal--have evolved for the "extended ASCII" range of 
     characters with codes from 128 to 255: the Epson version and the IBM 
     version (these are not their formal names--they don't have any such).  In 
     the Epson version, the ASCII characters repeat but in italics; thus, 
     character code 193, which is 65 (the ordinary capital A) plus 128 (to 
     shift it to "high-order"), is an italicized capital A.  In the IBM 
     version, the 128 so-called "high-order" codes produce a fascinating 
     variety of graphic characters, many of which can be combined to draw neat 
     boxes like this: 

            ͻ
               DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER YOUR COPY OF PC-WREAD!   
            Ķ
               It's the honorable thing to do, and it's cheap!   
            ͼ

     The characters with codes below 32 are less standardized yet.  Virtually 
     no printer, unless especially instructed to (and not all can be so 
     instructed), will print any such character.  Screen-display responses vary 
     with programming language, but many of these low-code characters will not 
     even show on the screen (unless poked directly into video memory).  
      
     There is a reason for this apparent discrimination: these 32 codes are 
     very commonly used to send commands to peripherals, especially printers. 

     PC-Write makes use of these 32 low-code characters as what it calls font-
     control characters.  As you create a document with PC-Write, you embed 
     font-control characters in your text, either explicitly with the <Alt> key 
     plus a letter key, or implicitly (as, for example, by pressing the 
     <Enter> key).  As you will know, embedded <Alt>-<letter>--that is, font-
     control--characters are used by PC-Write to send instructions to your 
     printer as to how to treat the affected text: "normal," boldfaced, italic, 
     and so on.  
     
     PC-Write does not send these codes directly to your printer, which would 
     not understand them; the print portion of PC-Write (as contrasted with the 
     edit portion that you use to create the file) translates each such font 
     character into the corresponding codes specifically appropriate to your 
     brand of printer.  You will remember that at your first use of PC-Write 
     you had to tell it what printer you have; this was so that it would know 
     into what codes to translate each embedded font-control character in your 
     document.  Printer control codes are scandalously nonstandardized; even 
     so-called "compatible" printers often have their individual quirks (but 
     again, the two quasi-standards are Epson and IBM).
 
     As you also should know, PC-Write varies the on-screen appearance of 
     document portions that are influenced by an embedded font-control 
     character, so that you can keep track of what you've done to what.  It 
     normally distinguishes 22 such modes on screen (10 others have no special 
     effect on screen-display text).  For color-monitor users, PC-Write 
     normally uses 10 "non-standard" color combinations to distinguish between 
     those 22 modes, while monochrome-monitor users have 4 "non-standard" 
     looks: reverse, bright, underline, and bright underline.  
     
     Obviously, unique identification of the text alteration mode is never 
     possible in monochrome, and is not completely implemented even in color, 
     at least in the PC-Write defaults.  The folks at Quicksoft grouped their 
     default font-display choices into quite reasonable, and thus informative, 
     patterns, although the color choices in particular are rather bland--
     inoffensive but unexciting.  

     We strenuously urge you to review the file COLORS.DOC, which is part of 
     the PC-WREAD evaluation package, for a thorough discussion of the topic, a 
     discussion too long to be included in this already lengthy outline of PC-
     WREAD.  There, we examine the various conflicting criteria for screen font 
     displays, and derive and explicitly list the values used in the document 
     you are now reading.  (Use SEE to view COLORS.)

     PC-Write allows you to toggle font-control characters from visible to 
     invisible and vice-versa very easily (that's the characters themselves, 
     not their display effects on affected text), but unless you have a special 
     need to briefly examine what's where, it's far easier to keep them 
     invisible while working (for once, contrary to the PC-Write manual), and 
     most PC-Write users we know do so most of the time. 
     
     You can change the way PC-Write screen-displays text affected by a given 
     font-control character via appropriate customization commands placed in 
     the PC-Write PR.DEF file.  You can also, via the PC-Write ED.DEF file, 
     change the appearance of "normal" text and other screen-display areas 
     (such as the Status Line).  Again, see COLORS.DOC for more information. 

                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        |
                                        | 
                                  (more follows)



              
                    ͻ
                                AN APPENDIX:             
                    Ķ
                       PC-WREAD: Uses Without PC-Write   
                    ͼ



     If you are a confirmed proponent of some word processor other than PC-
     Write, PC-WREAD is by no means useless to you.  Certainly it does lose 
     some of its value as a simple reviewer of files you have created with your 
     word processor, unless that word processor also uses an embedded-character 
     scheme involving the 32 low-order codes (Codes 0 - 31).  In that case, you 
     can readily make PC-WREAD work for you directly by creating a PR.DEF and 
     an ED.DEF file pair with such characters "customized."  PC-WREAD scans any 
     file named PR.DEF located anywhere on the Path for appropriately formatted 
     screen-display characteristics definitions.  A format for such definitions 
     is supplied somewhat farther on; by following it out, one can define the 
     screen appearance for text controlled by any 26 of the 0-to-31 low codes. 

     But the second main area of use for PC-WREAD, simply reading on-screen 
     documentation files, remains highly useful.  All that need be done is to 
     create a file that is "flat ASCII"--that is, which initially contains no 
     below-code-32 characters.  It should then not be difficult to embed such 
     characters wherever desired by manually inserting them.  PC-Write uses the 
     <Alt> key in combination with letter keys to generate and embed such 
     characters, but lacking PC-Write you can use the DOS keypad method.

     By depressing and holding down the <Alt> key, one can generate from the 
     keyboard any character by pressing at the numerical keypad, digit by 
     digit, the code for that character.  In other words, to generate a capital 
     A (code 65), you can depress Alt, press the 6 key of the numeric keypad 
     and then the 5 key of that keypad, then release the <Alt> key.  This is 
     vital:  Only the NUMERIC KEYPAD keys work in this instance!  The regular
     "typewriter" number keys will NOT perform this function.

     That's a clumsy way to enter a capital A, but it works just fine for any 
     character you can't enter via a straightforward keypress.  You can also, 
     in some programs, use a Ctrl-letter key combination, but many programs 
     intercept such key actions and interpret them as special commands.

     Remember that making a PC-WREAD-readable file is a one-time task; after 
     that, it's always available for reading (attention software developers!). 

     To return to adapting PC-WREAD to work with a word processor that is not 
     PC-Write but that does work by embedding low-code characters: all one need 
     do is make a pair of files, named PR.DEF and ED.DEF, to redefine for PC-
     WREAD what the embedded characters mean.

     Note: this discussion applies only to the full-featured version of PC-
     WREAD; the shareware distribution version does not read the .DEF files for 
     display redefinitions.

     The key to the redefinitions, beyond the simple mechanics of the syntax, 
     presented below, is understanding the "attributes."  An attribute is, 
     somewhat like a character, a one-byte datum; each of the 2000 character 
     positions on the screen (80 x 25 = 2000) has an attribute byte associated 
     with it that determines how the character at that position will be 
     displayed: the foreground/background colors (and intensity and blink) in 
     color, or the mode in monochrome (normal, bold, underline, bold underline, 
     or reverse).  Each bit in the byte controls some aspect of the display; to 
     explain it all here would be a bit much--consult the file COLORS.DOC
     for details--but the attribute value is simply the bit pattern of the 
     attribute byte reckoned as a number (e.g. attribute code 23 signifies an 
     attribute byte with bit pattern 00010111, blue on white in color or 
     "normal" in monochrome). 

     In the example below, M is the attribute value that you want for for 
     monochrome monitors, X is a dummy value (PC-WREAD does not support single-
     color-graphics type displays), and C is the attribute value you want for 
     color monitors; code is, obviously, the code value of the low (0 to 31 
     inclusive) "font character" that you want to have generate these effects. 

       >> THERE MUST BE SOME VALID ENTRY FOR  EACH OF THE THREE VALUES!! <<  
                                                                             
     Technically, "valid" means between 0 and 255 inclusive, but use 7 as a 
     "dummy" entry for any monitor type you don't currently care about. 

     This is a general format for the definitions in a non-PC-Write PR.DEF:

          #Z:M.X.C=<code>

     For the Z shown, you can use any letter from A to Z inclusive; thus, you 
     can associate screen-display attributes with up to 26 Code-0-to-32 
     characters.  Which letter is associated with what code is unimportant. 

          REMEMBER: use this format only if you DO NOT use PC-Write!! 


     You can also make an ED.DEF file to define the "normal" and line-fill 
     attributes.  Use this format:

          &1:M.X.C  will define the "normal" attribute, while

          &2:M.X.C  will define the line-fill attribute.

     "Line-fill" is the unused space between the actual end of a file line and 
     the right margin of the screen; very few people will want the line-fill 
     attribute to differ from the "normal text" attribute.  One exception might 
     be a text data file where all lines must be of a fixed length; a differing 
     fill value would let you see the line's true length (otherwise you can't 
     tell space characters from unused columns).  And again:

       >> THERE MUST BE SOME VALID ENTRY FOR  EACH OF THE THREE VALUES!! <<  
                                                                             
     and:

          REMEMBER: use this format only if you DO NOT use PC-Write!! 


     By the way, why don't you?

      

     
              
                      ͻ
                         PC-WREAD: How To Register It   
                      ͼ



     
     Registration of PC-WREAD for single-site use is $10.  This will bring you 
     a diskette with the latest full-featured version of PC-WREAD, plus a few 
     other little HBH utilities--nothing big, but one or more might be of some 
     interest to some of you (the exact list may vary from time to time).  It 
     will also bring you a telephone number if you have questions, suggestions, 
     or whatever to offer.

     Remember: you have 30 days maximum to use PC-WREAD without registering it!

     Obviously, no one and nothing can police such a restriction except your 
     conscience and ethics, in which we--like all shareware authors--trust.

     Saving Money: If you send with your registration request a 5-inch DSDD 
     (double-sided, double density) diskette in a plausibly reusable diskette 
     mailer, you need only send $8 as the registration fee.  Or, if you want to 
     fulfill your ethical obligation but don't feel the need for the augmented 
     version of PC-WREAD (the sole difference is that the augmented version 
     reads your PR.DEF and ED.DEF files for screen-appearance redefinitions), 
     or the utilities surprise package, $8 will again suffice for the 
     registration fee (and you will get the phone number in your return 
     acknowledgement). 

     Multi-Site Users: the fee schedule for multiple sites appears near the 
     front of this document.  When registering, please specify the number of 
     sites at which you will be using PC-WREAD.

     Customization: we can and gladly will customize PC-WREAD at extremely 
     modest costs.  Please write to us and outline your needs.

     "Bundling": Software authors--High Boskage House Software would be glad to 
     work with you.  We can customize PC-WREAD and, if desired, edit/rewrite 
     your .DOC files.  We are flexible and reasonable--write to us.

     Commercial Users: we make no distinctions.  Checks with orders, please.


           HERE'S THE ADDRESS: 

               High Boskage House
               63500 Argyle Road
               King City, CA  93930-9713


     Please do not send cash (does anyone ever do that?).  
     
     
           HERE'S HOW TO MAKE OUT THE CHECK: 
     
     Make the check or other payment instrument (Money Order, whatever) payable 
     to: 

               High Boskage House Software


     We thank you for your interest in PC-WREAD, hope you find it useful, hope
     you pass it along to others, and very much hope that you register it.

        
