Category : Assembly Language Source Code
Archive   : AGNEW.ZIP
Filename : LIBRA.MAN

L I B R A

Microsoft Librarian Shell


USER GUIDE

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Version 1.01
1 December 1988











Copyright 1988 by Herb Rose
All Rights Reserved




Disclaimer and Warranty Statement

This software is provided "as is" without any warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited
to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for
a particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and
performance of the software is with you. Should the software
prove defective, you (NOT ADEPT SOFTWARE) assume the entire
cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.

In no event shall Adept Software be liable to you for any
damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other
incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or
inability to use this software even if Adept Software or it's
authorized representative has been advised of the possibility
of such damages, or for any claim by any other party.


Several trademarks and trade names appear in this manual, as
well as copyrighted names of programs. These include
Microsoft, Intel, LIB, and MS-DOS.




Table of Contents

i. Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2. Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3. Running LIBRA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

4. The LIBRA Display Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

5. Module Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

6. PUBLIC Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

7. EXTERNAL Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

8. Selecting Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

9. Extract Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

10. Delete Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

11. Add Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

12. Replace Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

13. Extract and Delete Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

14. Quitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

15. Help Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

16. Searching For Symbol Refernces . . . . . . . . . . . 4

17. Other Display Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5



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i. Ordering Information.

This program is distributed as SHAREWARE. Under this
distribution system, you are licensed to use this program for
the purpose of evaluating it. You may legally make copies of
the program to distribute to your friends or place on BBS
systems, etc., provided the program and text files are not
modified in any way.

This program is not, and has never been, in the Public Domain.
The copyright is held by Herb Rose, owner of Adept Software.

If you wish to continue using LIBRA after evaluating the
program and becoming familiar with it, you must purchase it
from Adept Software.

Send to: Adept Software
P.O. Box 2181
Woodbridge, Va.
22193


Name ______________________________________

Company Name ______________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City, State, Zip ______________________________________


( )LIBRA Registration . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 ________

( )LIBRA Program Disk - Current Version . . $ 4.00 ________

Sub-Total ________

Virginia Residents add 4.5% sales tax ________

S&H ____3.00

Total ________



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LIBRA User Guide

1. Introduction

LIBRA is a user interface for the Microsoft LIB program.
Object libraries are an important programming tool, and this
program will make the task of managing your object libraries
easier and more enjoyable. LIBRA will not take the place of
the LIB program provided with MS-DOS or your programming
language. It is designed to work with LIB to make library
management easier.

LIBRA will read object modules and object libraries in
Intel/Microsoft format. All Microsoft compilers and utilities
produce object modules in this format. The LIB utility
combines these object modules into libraries. LIBRA provides
a user interface to the LIB program that is both informative
and intuitive.

2. Assumptions

This utility is a programmer's tool. It is assumed that the
concept of object modules, libraries, compilers, assemblers,
and linkers is familiar to you. That being the case, you
will undoubtedly appreciate the greater control over your
libraries that LIBRA will provide.

It is assumed that the LIB program is present in the current
directory, or in a directory listed in the current PATH.
LIBRA does not replace LIB, it simply enhances the user
interface to it. LIB is called by LIBRA to perform all
library modifications.

3. Running LIBRA

From the DOS command prompt, type 'LIBRA [filename]', where
[filename] is the name of an object library in INTEL/Microsoft
format. LIBRA will read the library file, and display
important information about each object module in the library.
If the library file cannot be read, or the file is not in the
correct format (i.e. not an Intel/Microsoft library file), an
error message will be displayed, and LIBRA will not run.

LIBRA builds tables for each module which hold the names of
the PUBLIC and EXTERNAL symbols defined or used by the module.
If there is not enough memory available to hold these tables,
LIBRA will display the message 'Not enough memory', and will
not run. This should not be a problem, as I have run LIBRA
against a 300K library file with a 512K PC.

4. The LIBRA Display Screen

On the top line of the display you will see the LIBRA version


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number, followed by the file name being viewed. On the right
side of the screen you will see the size of the input file.

The main portion of the display is composed of 4 text windows.
The largest window, on the left side of the screen, shows the
module names of all the object modules in the library. A
reverse video bar is the LIBRA 'cursor'. The module name
under the cursor is the 'current' module.

In the center of the screen is a narrow window which shows the
size of the object modules.

On the right side of the screen are 2 windows which display
symbols defined or used by the 'current' module.

5. Module Names

The large window on the left of the screen shows the names of
all the modules present in the library. The Up Arrow and Down
Arrow are used to scroll this window one line at a time. The
PageUp and PageDown keys are used to scroll the window 10
lines at a time. The HOME key is used to set the cursor on
the first module name, and the END key places the cursor on
the last module name in the library.

6. PUBLIC Symbols

The upper window displays a list of PUBLIC symbols defined in
the current module. These PUBLIC symbols are made known to
other object modules when the library is linked into an
application. The F7 and F8 keys are used to scroll this
window up and down if more than 8 PUBLIC symbols are defined
by the module.

7. EXTERNAL Symbols

The lower window displays a list of EXTERNAL symbols
referenced by the current module. The EXTERNAL refernces must
be resolved by the linker, using PUBLIC symbols defined by
other modules. F9 and F10 are used to scroll this window up
and down, if more than 8 EXTERNAL symbols are referenced by
the current module.

8. Selecting Modules

LIBRA works on a 'selected' module scheme. You select the
module or modules to be acted on, then choose an action for
the selected modules. To select a module, position the cursor
on the module to be selected, and press ENTER. The selected
module will be highlighted, and a marker will be shown in
front of the module name. The cursor will automaticlly
advance to the next module name. You may select as many
modules as you wish in this manner.



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To un-select a module, position the cursor on the module name
to be un-selected, and press ENTER. You may un-select all
selected modules by pressing the F3 key.

9. Extract Modules

Once you have selected one or more modules, you may extract
the modules by pressing the 'E' key. Object files will be
created for each selected module. The contents of the library
file are unaffected.

10. Delete Modules

Pressing the 'D' key will cause all selected modules to be
deleted from the library. No object files are created.

11. Add Modules

It is not necessary to select any modules to perform an Add
operation. Press the 'A' key, and you will be prompted for
the file name of an object file to Add to the library. After
the object file has been added to the library, the library is
re-loaded into LIBRA's memory.

12. Replace Modules

When you press the 'R' key, all selected modules in the
library are replaced. Replacement means that they are first
Deleted, then Added back into the library. The object files
associated with the modules must reside in the current
directory. The library file is re-loaded when the Replace
function completes.

13. Extract and Delete Modules

Pressing the 'X' key will cause all selected modules to be
Extracted, then Deleted from the library. The library file is
re-loaded when the the Extract and Delete function completes.

14. Quitting

Pressing the 'Q' key or the ESCape key will terminate LIBRA.
You will be asked if you really wish to quit the program.

15. Help Screen

Pressing the 'H' key will cause the LIBRA Help Screen to be
displayed. This is a reminder screen, and does not contain
full operating instructions.

16. Searching For Symbol Refernces

You may search through the modules for references, both PUBLIC
and EXTERNAL to specific symbols. To do this, simply press


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the F1 key. You must supply the name of the symbol to search
for. If you press return without supplying a symbol name, the
search function terminates, and returns you to the LIBRA
display screen.

The search starts at the current module. If the symbol is
found, the module containing the symbol is made the current
module, and it is displayed on the screen.

To continue searching for a previously defined symbol, press
the F2 key. The search will begin at the module immediately
after the current module.

17. Other Display Fields

Below the windows you will find several peices of useful
information. They are :

Publics : The number of PUBLIC symbols defined by the current
module.

Externs : The number of EXTERNAL symbols referenced by the
current module.

Module 2 of 12 : Shows how many modules are defined in the
library, and the number of the current module.

n Modules Marked : Shows how many modules are currently
selected. See section 8 above.