Category : Miscellaneous Language Source Code
Archive   : PEC20A.ZIP
Filename : README.PEC

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³ PEC : A Programmer's Environment for C ³
³ ver 2.0a 7-20-90 ³
³ Copyright (C) 1990 Russel Havens ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ³
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Welcome to PEC! It has been fun for me to write, and I hope it becomes
as useful for you as it has been for me!

----------------------------------DISCLAIMER----------------------------------

First of all, lets dispense with the inconvenient details required in
today's world. The author of this program will in NO WAY be held liable for
ANY damages, real punitive, caused by the use or mis-use of this software.
(To be honest, I can't figure out how in the world this could possibly cause
problems, but I still have to protect myself!) In other words, use this
program at your own risk.

---------------------------------REGISTRATION---------------------------------

Now that THAT mess is over with, the LICENSING/REGISTRATION mess is next.
If you want to send me some money, any amount around 5 or 10 dollars would be
wonderful. (If you feel like sending me more, go ahead! I'm just a poor,
married college student and I can always use some extra money.) On the other
hand, if you don't want to send any money at all, don't let your conscience
bother you! I've used a few prgrams without registering them for a while
(for the same reason noted above -- I'm a poor, married college student) and
I hate feeling guilty! If you want to do something similar without starting
from scratch like I did, I'll give you the source for $25. Reverse
engineering, modifying the code or documentation, taking credit for my work
for yourself or otherwise "hacking" this program are expressly forbidden.
(Besides, if you're clever enough to reverse engineer the code, you could
write your own version without any problems.) If you wish to use this for
anything other than personal use, PLEASE LET ME KNOW, and we'll discuss
licensing. (and boy am I lenient!) I am always open to suggestions via
letter or E-Mail:

Russel Havens
1999 N. University Ave., #76
Provo, UT 84604


BYU CCC-INFO BBS
(801)378-5035
(then type "C CCCINFO" when connected)

Soft Warehouse BBS
(801)785-1404

The Engineer's Technician BBS
(801)224-6449



-----------------------------General Information------------------------------


This is a simple shell front end for just about any compiler, but it has
been especially written for Turbo C, and the default configuration shows
this. I love Turbo C, and I could not live without the integrated debugger
when I am trying to chase down a problem, but I only need that for the last
stage of writing my programs. On the other hand, after having used SemWare's
excellent Q-Edit (C) editor, I can very easily live without the integrated
editor. And since I do a LOT of typing on a program before I even do a
LITTLE debugging, it makes no sense for me to use an editor that I do not
like! Also, the command line C compiler TCC.EXE generates tighter code than
TC.EXE (because it doesn't include all the debugging information used by
TC.EXE). Thus PEC was conceived. I orginially wrote it for my own use, but
after a friend of mine started using it for his work, I took heart and
followed his suggestion to fix a few bugs and submit it to the general
public. I will continue to improve it as long as I keep getting suggestions.
(Of course, a little money would help convince me to continue improving it....)

This release (2.0a) has seen a LOT of changes from the last one! I'm now
using Cook Enterprise's excellent CWindows Libraries for my menus and
interface, and I like the new look. It also now supports any Microsoft (c)
compatible mouse. Let me know what you think of the new look!


-------------------------------------Usage-------------------------------------

Just unZIP it to your working directory, type PEC, and read the message
that comes up. The active keys are highlighted, and the mouse is available
in the menus, as well as at every "Press any key to continue" prompt.
Remember that the Right Mouse Button acts as if you pressed ESCape, while the
Left Mouse Button acts as if you pressed enter.

In version 2.0a, I have done away with the Project File, Compiler
Options and the Linker Options. The Editor, Compiler, Linker, File Manager,
and both external programs (a.k.a. "X-ternal program #1" and "Y-ternal
program #2") work off the command lines which you can edit with all the
standard editing keys (INS, DEL, RIGHT, LEFT, HOME, and END). Other
non-printable keys (such as the function keys, PgUp, PgDn, ESC, Alt-Keys,
etc) will end the edit in the current condition as if you had pressed the
enter key.

Also, the configuration file is now called PEC2.CNF (because of the
doing away with the extra fields), so you will want to delete your old
PEC.CNF file.

If you have not yet defined a command, or have it defined as nothing,
PEC will give you a message telling you to type EXIT to return to PEC, and
then it will drop to a DOS shell as if you had used the Jump to os option.

PEC will attempt to determine your command processor by reading COMSPEC
from the environment, but will default to COMMAND.COM if it cannot find a
COMSPEC. This will allow those who use WordPerfect (c) Office/Library, 4DOS
(c), etc to continue using their command processor.

PEC takes up about 72k when it is running its external programs, and I
have had no problems with any files being too big to fit in the remaining
RAM. (Of course, PEC itself has been the largest program I've used it with,
and it is only a little over 500 lines of code.)


If you have any questions, leave me E-Mail at CCC-Info or Engineer's
Technician (the phone numbers are listed on page one), or write me at home.


As an afterthought, if anybody would be interested in a similar program
that could be a more general menu program, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. If anybody
does, I would be glad to use the same menu engine on a FREEWARE menu program.
It would even be easy to implement password protection. Let me know!

Russel Havens.