Category : C Source Code
Archive   : TEACH-C.ZIP
Filename : EXPLAIN

 
Output of file : EXPLAIN contained in archive : TEACH-C.ZIP
.T
a DISPLAY program for text files
.R6C1
~V ~N
~V If you have comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. concerning this ~N
~V display program, please write to: ~N
~V ~N
.b5-10
.R12C3
.B
P.J.Ponzo
.B
Dept. of Applied Math
.B
University of Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
.K17,30
PonzoTUTOR
.WN
~IPLEASE NOTE~N:
~I~W
.B
~r The DISPLAY program requires the ANSI.SYS device driver. ~N



Be sure that there is a ~Iconfig.sys~N file on the disk, which contains:

~Idevice = ansi.sys~N
~I~W
.B
~r and the IBM PC is turned on WITH THE DISK INSERTED! ~N

.R16C1
You may create such a ~Iconfig.sys~N by typing:

~IA>copy con:config.sys~N
~Idevice=ansi.sys~N
(now press F6 then Enter)

This will place the appropriate ~Iconfig.sys~N on your disk (which must
also have a copy of the DOS ~Iansi.sys~N device driver)
.b15-24
.WNT
How to use the DISPLAY program

The program ~Idisplay~N is meant to be used in place of the DOS ~Itype~N
command. To ~Idisplay~N a file called sam, just type: ~IA>display sam~N

The features of ~Idisplay~N which make it different from ~Itype~N are:

1) After each screen, the ~Idisplay~N will wait for you to press a key.

2) If certain 'special commands' appear in the file to be ~Idisplay~Ned, this
will cause the ~Idisplay~N to give colours (foreground and/or background),
position the 'next line' at any specified row or column, clear the screen,
cause the ~Idisplay~N to pause until a key is pressed or print the 'next
line' as a 'title' (centred, in intense white, surrounded by red bars).
You see an example of a 'title' line at the top of this screen. (Indeed,
~Ithis~N explanation of ~Idisplay~N uses these features!)

Now we will describe these 'special commands':
.WNT
The DOT COMMANDS
Certain DOT COMMANDS are available. They must appear on a line of their
own, beginning with a DOT in the first column, followed immediately by:
~b~IT~N, ~b~IR~N, ~b~IC~N, ~b~IW~N, ~b~Iw~N, ~b~IN~N, ~b~IQ~N, ~b~IB~N , etc.


~b~I The DOT COMMAND .T ~N


If a line of a file to be ~Idisplay~Ned begins ~b~I.T~N, it causes
~Idisplay~N to print the 'next line' as a title, for example:

~b~I.T~N
~b~IChapter One~N

will cause 'Chapter One' to be ~Idisplay~Ned as a title:

.T
Chapter One
.WN
~b~I The DOT COMMANDS .R and .C ~N



If a line of a file to be ~Idisplay~Ned begins ~b~I.R15~N, it will cause
the cursor to move to ~b~IR~Now ~b~I15~N.

If a line of a file to be ~Idisplay~Ned begins ~b~I.C33~N, it will cause
the cursor to move to ~b~IC~Nolumn ~b~I33~N.

~b~I.R20~N go to row 20.
~b~I.T~N prepare for title.
~b~I I'm a title on row 20 ~N this is the title.

.R20
.T
I'm a title on row 20
.WN
~b~I More on DOT COMMANDS .R and .C ~N



The sequence of DOT commands:

~b~I.R20~N
~b~I.C33~N
~b~II'm on row 20, starting at column 33~N

will print (at row 20, column 33):
.R20C33
I'm on row 20, starting at column 33
.WN
~b~I The DOT COMMANDS .W .N and .q ~N


~b~I.W~N will cause the message ~BPlease press the Enter key...(q=quit)~N
to appear at the bottom of the screen and further ~Idisplay~N
of the text file is suspended until a key is pressed.
(You will recognize this message at the bottom of ~Ithis~N
screen). ~b~IW~N means ~b~IW~Nait.

~b~I.N~N will give you a ~b~IN~New screen (~b~I.N~N clears the screen).


~b~I.q~N will ~b~Iq~Nuit the ~Idisplay~N and return to DOS.
.WN
~b~I The DOT COMMAND .B ~N


~b~I.B~N will cause the NEXT LINE to be printed in a 'box'.

~INOTE~N:You might use ~b~I.R~N and ~b~I.C~N to place the cursor
at the appropriate place on the screen before you use
the ~b~I.B~N command. The ~b~IR~Now and ~b~IC~Nolumn will
define the top left corner of the box.
After using ~b~I.B~N, ~Ithe cursor is at the top right of~N
~Ithe box~N. For example:
~b~I.R20~N
~b~I.C10~N
~b~I.B~N
~b~I Jack-in-a-box ~N will give:
.R20C10
.B
Jack-in-a-box
.R19C10
~I~Nrow 20,col 10 is here.
.R20C34
~IÛ~N cursor is left here (ready for another box!)
.WN

~b~I.R20~N
~b~I.C10~N
~b~I.B~N What will the combination of
~b~Ifirst~N .commands (shown at left) do?
~b~I.B~N
~b~Isecond~N
.W
.R18C10
.B
first
.B
second
.WN
~b~I The DOT COMMAND .b ~N

~b~I.b10-18~N will put a screen-wide box, from row ~I10~N to row ~I18~N.
.W
.b10-18
.W
.R14C15
~V ...and, of course, you can now put text inside....~N
.WNR10C2
... or you can have a se~Ix~Ny box:


~b~I.x9-12~N
.Wx9-12
.WNT
Another DOT command .Q
~b~I.Q~N Will ask the following question:
~b~IWho was buried in Grant's tomb?~N
~b~IGrant~N ...and expect ~Ithis~N answer.

(You may use ~b~I.Q13~N to first place the cursor on row ~b~I13~N)

Let's try it out on ~IYOU~N!
.K19,60
!@#$%^&*!!
.WN

.Q
Who was buried in Grant's tomb?
Grant
.K19,60
cock who?
.Q
Who killed cock robin?
I can't remember either!
.K19,60
FOUR!
.Q
2+2=
4
.K19,60
dumb!dumb!
.WNT
The DOT COMMANDS .s and .r

When you use ~b~I.W~N (to ~b~IW~Nait) or ~b~I.K~N (the ~b~IK~Nartoon, explained shortly) the
cursor position is ~Isaved~N, the DOT COMMAND does its stuff, then the
cursor is ~Irestored~N.

When you use ~b~I.B~N (to ~b~IB~Nox the following line of text) the cursor
is left "suspended", ready for another ~b~I.B~Nox. If you don't want another
"boxed-text", move the cursor with ~b~I.R~N and ~b~I.C~N.

In order to facilitate moving around the screen, printing here and there,
there are two more DOT COMMANDS.

~b~I.s~N the ~b~Is~N will ~b~Is~Nave the current cursor position...
~b~I.R10C2~N now move to another ~b~IR~Now and ~b~IC~Nolumn...
~b~Isome text~N print something..
~b~I.r~N ~b~Ir~Nestore the ~b~Is~Naved cursor position.
.WNT
the Komputer Kartoon

...and, for Komic relief, you also have a Komputer Kartoon:

Just include the dot command:

~b~I.K15,33~N gives a Kartoon at row 15, column 33.
~b~Imamma mia!~N comment (by the Kartoon) ~Iwith 10 characters or less!~N

...and you get:
.W
.K15,33
mamma mia!
.WNT
REVIEW of DOT COMMANDS
.R5C1
~b~I.T~N the 'next line' is printed as a ~b~IT~Nitle.
~b~I.R12~N moves to ~b~IR~Now ~b~I12~N.
~b~I.C22~N moves to ~b~IC~Nolumn ~b~I22~N.
~b~I.W~N ~b~IW~Naits for a key-press (automatic, after 22 lines).
~b~I.w~N sets (above) line count to zero (discussed later).
~b~I.N~N gives a ~b~IN~New (clear) screen.
~b~I.q~N will ~b~Iq~Nuit (returning to DOS).
~b~I.B~N will print the 'next line' in a box (with ~Isuspended cursor!~N).
~b~I.b5-13~N will draw a screen-wide ~Ib~Nox from line ~b~I5~N to line ~b~I13~N.
~b~I.x5-13~N will draw a screen-wide se~Ix~Ny box (line ~b~I5~N to line ~b~I13~N).
~b~I.Q~N will ask ~b~IQ~Nuestion (on the following line) and expect the
answer (on the line following that).
~b~I.s~N will ~b~Is~Nave the current cursor position.
~b~I.r~N will ~b~Ir~Nestore the (saved) cursor position.
~b~I.K19,60~N will print a ~b~IK~Nomputer ~b~IK~Nartoon at row ~b~I19~N and
column ~b~I60~N, with the ~b~IK~Nomment on the 'next line'.
.WNT
A final note about the DOT COMMANDS:

Because the ~b~IR~Now and ~b~IC~Nolumn specifications are often used
together, these DOT commands may be on the SAME LINE.

~b~I.R20C30~N moves to ~b~IR~Now ~b~I20~N and ~b~IC~Nolumn ~b~I30~N.

In fact, most of the DOT COMMANDS will work when strung out
on one line, after the initial DOT in column 1:

~b~I.WNT~N will ~b~IW~Nait, then provide a~b~IN~New screen, then a ~b~IT~Nitle.

~b~I.R10C1B~N will go to ~b~IR~Now ~b~I10~N, ~b~IC~Nolumn ~b~I1~N and get ready for a ~b~IB~Nox.

Not all DOT COMMANDS may be strung out on one line. The ~b~I.T~Nitle, ~b~I.B~Nox,
~b~I.b~Nox and ~b~I.K~Nartoon want desperately to print something on the screen.
SO, ~Iafter these, everything on a DOT COMMAND line is ignored!~N

~b~I.WNb5-7R10~N will ~b~IW~Nait, ~b~IN~New screen, give a ~b~Ib~Nox from row
~b~I5~N to ~b~I7~N, .... and ~Iignore~N ~b~IR10~N!
.WNT
...and yet another DOT COMMAND
If you ~Idisplay~N an ASCII text file which is NOT especially written
with the 'special commands'...in particular, if there are no ~b~I.W~N
~b~IW~Nait commands...then ~Idisplay~N will read 22 lines of text and
then will ~b~IW~Nait for the Enter key. ~IThe display program counts
the number of lines which are read from the text file and ~N~b~IW~N~Iaits
after 22 lines are read.~N However, in some cases, you may have a file
written with the 'special' ~Idisplay~N DOT COMMANDS which (of course)
are NOT printed on the screen but are instructions to the ~Idisplay~N
program. In this case, the text file may have 20 lines of text (which
are meant to be printed on the screen) and 5 DOT COMMANDS (each on its
own line!). That makes 25 lines from your text file of which 20 are
to be printed. Too bad !! ~Idisplay~N will ~b~IW~Nait after 22 lines are
read from the file. What you want is to have ~Idisplay~N read ALL 25
lines, and print the 20 which are NOT DOT COMMANDS, before ~b~IW~Naiting.
To achieve this you must tell ~Idisplay~N to set the line count back to
zero. There is another DOT COMMAND for this:
.WN




~b~I.w~N will set the line count to zero, and ~Idisplay~N will begin
counting lines from this point. A ~b~IW~Nait will occur after
the ~Rnext~N 22 lines (unless there is another ~b~I.w~N command)
or until a ~b~I.W~N command occurs).



.WNT
The TILDE COMMANDS
Whereas the DOT COMMANDS must have a line to themselves (beginning with
the DOT), there are COLOUR COMMANDS which may be embedded in the text
itself. Each time a TILDE appears in the text file, the NEXT CHARACTER
has a special meaning for ~Idisplay~N.

~b~IThe quick brown fox jumped over the lazy log.~N

The above piece of text will appear 'NORMAL' (white on black).
If you wish the word 'fox' to be in RED, precede it with ~b~I~~R~N.
After the ~b~I~~R~N, ALL subsequent text will be in RED!
To change to NORMAL text, insert ~b~I~~N~N. Hence the above line of
text would be rewritten as:

~b~IThe quick brown ~~Rfox~~N jumped over the lazy log.~N

and would be ~Idisplay~Ned as:

The quick brown ~Rfox~N jumped over the lazy log.
.WN
~b~I All the colours ~N

Here are all the COLOUR COMMANDS for ~RTEXT~N:

~b~I~~R~N changes text to ~b~IR~Ned.............~Rthis is red~N
~b~I~~Y~N changes text to ~b~IY~Nellow..........~Ythis is yellow~N
~b~I~~G~N changes text to ~b~IG~Nreen...........~Gthis is green~N
~b~I~~B~N changes text to ~b~IB~Nlue............~Bthis is blue~N
~b~I~~C~N changes text to ~b~IC~Nyan............~Cthis is cyan~N
~b~I~~M~N changes text to ~b~IM~Nagenta.........~Mthis is magenta~N
~b~I~~W~N changes text to ~b~IW~Nhite...........~Wthis is white~N
and
~b~I~~I~N changes text to ~b~II~Nntense.........~Ithis is intense~N
~b~I~~F~N changes text to ~b~IF~Nlash...........~Fthis is flash~N
~b~I~~V~N changes text to re~b~IV~Nerse video...~Vthis is reverse video~N
~b~I~~N~N changes text to ~b~IN~Normal again....~Nthis is normal~N

Guess what the following line of text will ~Idisplay~N:

~b~I~~F~~Rr~~Ya~~Gi~~Bn~~Cb~~Mo~~Ww~N
.W
.R21C30
~F~Rr~Ya~Gi~Bn~Cb~Mo~Ww~N
.WN

~b~I Coloured Background ~N

In addition to embedding ~b~I~~R~N (to change to ~b~IR~Ned text), you
may change the background colour to ~b~Ir~Ned by inserting ~b~I~~r~N
in your text file.

~b~I~~r~N changes background to ~b~Ir~Ned.......~rthis is red~N
~b~I~~y~N changes background to ~b~Iy~Nellow....~ythis is yellow~N
~b~I~~g~N changes background to ~b~Ig~Nreen.....~gthis is green~N
~b~I~~b~N changes background to ~b~Ib~Nlue......~bthis is blue~N
~b~I~~g~N changes background to ~b~Ic~Nyan......~cthis is cyan~N
~b~I~~m~N changes background to ~b~Im~Nagenta...~mthis is magenta~N
~b~I~~w~N changes background to ~b~Iw~Nhite.....~V ~N
(can ~Iyou~N see white-on-white?~N)
REMEMBER: ~b~I~~N~N returns (again) to ~b~IN~Normal white on black.

Guess what the following line of text will ~Idisplay~N:
.R20C1
~b~I~~w~~I~~MThis is a test~~N~N
.W
.R20C1
~V~~w~N~b~I~~I~~MThis is a test~~N~N
.R22C1
This gives a ~b~Iw~Nhite background.
.W
.R20C1
~b~I~~w~V~~I~~M~N~b~IThis is a test~~N~N
.R22C1
This gives ~b~II~Nntense ~b~IM~Nagenta text.
.W
.R20C1
~b~I~~w~~I~~M~VThis is a test~N~b~I~~N~N
.R22C1
This prints some text ( 'This is a test' ).
.W
.R20C1
~b~I~~w~~I~~MThis is a test~V~~N~N
.R22C1
This returns to ~b~IN~Normal text.
.W
.R20C1
~b~I~~w~~I~~MThis is a test~~N~N
.R22C1
...and the ~Idisplay~Ned result will be intense-magenta-on-white:
.W
.R20C30
~w~I~MThis is a test~N
.WN

...and you can have ~Icolour-in-a-box~N....


~b~I~~I~~G~N intense green box.
~b~I.B~N here comes the box...
~b~I~~w~~Rred-on-white text~~N~N and the stuff in the box.

~I~G
.B
~w~Rred-on-white text~N
.W
.R15C10
~V
.B
~N~I...or reverse video maybe ? ~N (~Iyou~N figure this one out!)
.WN



~b~I ...and how to print a TILDE on the screen? ~N


...just embed ~b~I~~~~~N in your text, and the TWO TILDES generate
a TILDE in your text!


One other point: for a ~Imonochrome monitor~N, choosing ~b~I~~B~N (to get
blue text) will give ~w~Bunderlined~N characters~I!!



.WNR5C2
... and you may change the (entire) background colour ...

To get a screen full of ~Ib~Nlue background, just include:

~b~I~~b~N

then ~Iclear the screen~N with:

~b~I.N~N

then begin each line of your text with ~b~I~~b~N

(to get blue background in the text too!)
.W
~b
.N
.R5C1
~b ... ain't this nice (just start your text with ~~b)
.R8C2
~b~I~W ... or maybe "intense white on blue" text (using ~~b~~I~~W)
.W
~b~I~Y
.x4-6
~b~I~G
.x7-9
~b~I~R
.x10-12
~b~I~Y
.R11C2
~b~I ... and sexy coloured boxes (using ~~b~~I~~Y then .x4-6 etc.)
.W
~b~I~W
.K16,32
lovely!
.WN

.T
MEMORY DISPLAY


When you type ~Idisplay memory~N the display program will look on the
disk for a file called ~Vmemory~N. If there is such a file, it will load
and ~Idisplay~N the file.

If, however, there is no such file on disk then ~Idisplay~N will ask
for ~VSEGMENT~N and ~VOFFSET~N and will display the contents of the ~IIBM~N
~IPC~N MEMORY.

During the ~Idisplay~N, you may modify the contents of memory.

( ...try SEGMENT ~Ib800~N and OFFSET ~I0~N to see ~Vscreen memory~N.)
.WN
.R2C32
~r~I~Gas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gtmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gstmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gistmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gristmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Ghristmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~GChristmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~G Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gy Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gry Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Grry Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~Gerry Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~GMerry Christmas ~N
.R2C32
~r~I~G Merry Christmas ~N
.R1C32
~r~I~G ~N
.R3C32
~r~I~G 1985 ~N
.wT
That's all folks!



P.S.

If you want to see an example of the use of ~Idisplay~N, just ~Itype~N
this ~Iexplain~N file (which has all the 'special commands' in it).
(Unlike ~Idisplay~N, the DOS ~Itype~N will not interpret the 'special'
commands, and you'll be able to see them all).

~IA>type explain~N


.q



  3 Responses to “Category : C Source Code
Archive   : TEACH-C.ZIP
Filename : EXPLAIN

  1. Very nice! Thank you for this wonderful archive. I wonder why I found it only now. Long live the BBS file archives!

  2. This is so awesome! 😀 I’d be cool if you could download an entire archive of this at once, though.

  3. But one thing that puzzles me is the “mtswslnkmcjklsdlsbdmMICROSOFT” string. There is an article about it here. It is definitely worth a read: http://www.os2museum.com/wp/mtswslnk/