........ String Viewer v1.1 - additional information ........ (c) 1993 Antoine Pitrou & MMPF - release date: 23.08.1993 - You have read the joke-introduction page and you want to know more about this proggy ? Then read this text (which, I hope, you are viewing with the String Viewer) !! Last upgrade Thank to a new end-detection routine, there are no more bugs with Protext files. The String Viewer now displays the physical and logical length of the file. Compatibility This product should work on all CPCs (and Plus), 464, 664 and 6128 with or without a memory expansion. If not, please tell me !! Keys to use When editing the directory: the cursor keys move the bar on the file to be viewed, Space loads the selected file, ESC gets back to the main menu. When viewing the text: the cursor keys (up/down) scroll the text, the same + Ctrl go top or bottom of the text, P starts printing the text from the first line displayed (NOT from the beginning, except if you are top of the text !!), ESC stops printing. Space gets you back to the menu. About the disc routines All the disc management is made through the Amsdos. There is no direct disk access in this proggy !! This has several consequences... First, if a message says "Disc error (...)", think that it can be any Amsdos hardware error. Check if a disc is in the drive (!), try a second time (maybe the drive isn't ready), take care if there is a strange noise in the drive (it can be a Read Fail...). The directory editor does neither display the System (hidden) files, nor files that aren't registered in user 0 !! Every ASCII or binary file is first loaded until its physical end. If the maximum length (32 K) is reached before the end of file, an error message ("File too long") will appear, you have the choice between going back to the menu (press ESC) or view the loaded part - the first 32 Kb. - of the text (any other key...). If the file was entirely loaded, then the program looks for a logical end code - chr$(&1A) - in the last 128 bytes. If this code couldn't be found (for example if the file has been 'crashed' a little), the physical length is edited (so that some more lines can appear after the expected end of the text). Warning: no error will be detected during the loading of the file. So be careful !! Viewing the text The font used is in mode 1, it is 4 pixels large, 8 pixels high and composed of 2 colours for a better effect (anti-aliasing). The 3 character sets are only different for a few letters: 'à','ç','é','ù','è','~'. View this text in the 3 languages to see the differences !!! Sorry for English users, none of this character sets include the "pound" symbol. The character &7F - '' - is used to create stripes. If some lines in the text are longer than 80 characters - the width of the screen - some bugs will appear on this lines. Particularly, if the scroll is suddenly (and briefly) jerky, you can be sure that one text line around is too long. Printing the text First, take care, you can only print a file when it is bigger than 25 lines (i.e. when you can scroll it). If you consider to print a text, switch your printer "on line" as soon as - or before - you're in the main menu, because the codes which initialize the printer and select the language will be sent once before viewing the text. When printing, the text will scroll on the screen accordingly: the first line displayed is always being sent to the printer, then the screen scrolls down for the next line (except when the last line of the text is displayed: one can not scroll beyond the end of the text). Attention ! Most printers have a buffer where they store the characters sent by the computer before printing them. So the part of text displayed can be far after the one being printed. To know when to stop printing, wait for the end line to disappear at the top of the screen, then immediatly press ESC !! Last thing: when the computer is busy printing the text, no other function can be selected: you can neither scroll the text nor go back to the menu. You have first to stop printing. ---------- This program consists of: machine code: &A00 bytes; font: &378 bytes. The source code is 1200 lines long. Antoine.