XU - (c) 1989 eXcellent Utilities by Noonan, Partain and Brown

Files contained in the package are:

XU.DOC You are reading it
FL.EXE File Locate (Bound)
FLP.EXE File Locate (Protected-mode only)
SC.EXE Set Color (Bound)
SCP.EXE Set Colors (Protected-mode only)
DIS.EXE Display Screen Image (Bound)
DISP.EXE Display Screen Image (Protected-mode only)
KEYRATEP.EXE Set keyboard rate (Protected-mode only)
KEYRATER.EXE Set keyboard rate (DOS-mode only)
ASK.EXE ASK (Bound)
ASKP.EXE ASK (Protected-mode only)
GETVER.EXE Get version (DOS-mode only)
X.BAT Used with XCD for DOS
X.CMD Used with XCD for OS/2
XCD.EXE eXcellent Change Directory (Bound)
XCDP.EXE eXcellent Change Directory (Protected-mode only)


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FL.EXE or FLP.EXE - File Locate utility.

Usage is FL [drivespec:] filespec [/a]

Finds a file(s) designated by the given drive and filespec. Yes, you
can use the normal DOS-OS/2 wild cards. Oh, it will even find directory
names that match your search criteria too.

The /a switch means search all drives except A: and B:. Of course if
/a is given and a drive is specified it overrides the drivespec and
searches all disks anyhow.

Hit any key to pause the display.

Type Esc to terminate the program.

NOTE:
FLP is the protected mode only version.
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SC.EXE or SCP.EXE - Set Colors using ANSI driver.

Usage is SC ON /C

Choices for options:
BRIGHT BLINKING

Choices for foreground and background:
BLACK RED GREEN YELLOW
BLUE MAGENTA CYAN WHITE

/C clears the screen

NOTE:
SCP is protected mode only version.

The only real difference between SC and SCP is the protected mode version
detects ANSI and turns it on, if it isn't already. SC won't but you'll
be able to tell soon enough.

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DIS.EXE or DISP.EXE - DISplay screen image.

Usage is DIS filename.

A filename can be any valid filename. Full paths are supported,
however, no wild cards are allowed.

Note:
DIS is not very picky - it will read any file into it's buffer
and display it. If the file isn't 4000 bytes (screen size) than
whatever happens to be in memory gets displayed (what a treat).
It's mainly used for displaying files that are created with packages
like THEDRAW in BIN or other similiar type formats.

DISP is (you guessed it) the protected mode only version.

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KEYRATER.EXE or KEYRATEP.EXE - sets the KEYboard repeat RATE.

Usage is KEYRATE Time Rate

Time is the amount of delay before the first repeat key is generated.
1 is the shortest delay (250 msec)
4 is the longest delay (1000 msec)

Rate is the number of characters per second.
1 is the least repeats (2)
32 is the most repeats (30)

Note:
These programs are not identical!!! KEYRATER is a DOS only program
using BIOS calls. This means some computers will not be affected by
this program because not all clone's BIOS will support this.

KEYRATEP is a protected mode only program and cannot be bound
because the calls are not BIND supported. KEYRATEP will
have no effect when run in a window, but once it's run in full screen
it will effect everything. This is because the keyboard has it's own
little BIOS and once it's changed, well you'll figure out the rest.

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ASK.EXE or ASKP.EXE (need I ask? I know bad joke but it's getting late).

Usage is: ASK "string"

"string" - a string of text to display
- input selections

How can anyone begin to describe a program as complex as this? Sorry,
but what can you expect from a programmer who's been up half the night.
This is just the traditional ASK program. There are no thrills or
frills.

Anyway, "string" is the text prompt to display telling the user what key
to press. is the letters or numbers the computer's waiting
for. Here's an example .BAT or .CMD file.

ASK "Press Y or N ==> " yn
if errorlevel 2
echo yep, you pressed N !!!
goto end
if errorlevel 1
echo yep, you pressed Y !!!
:end

Note:
ASKP is (once again) the protected mode only version of the
program

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GETVER.EXE return a DOS ERRORLEVEL depending on the version.

The whole purpose of this is to make sure you set the right
environment variables in batch files. For instance, you don't
necessarily want your COMSPEC pointing to the wrong version of
COMMAND.COM or your path to pointing to the OS/2 penalty box
version of DOS when you are running regular DOS.

This program returns an ERRORLEVEL of 1 if the version reported is
greater than or equal to ten (OS/2) otherwise it returns 0 meaning your
running normal DOS. If you forget the ERRORLEVELs returned just
type in GETVER and some command line parameters, like GETVER uh!, and
it'll remind you.

Example:

@echo off
GETVER
if errorlevel 1
set comspec=c:\os2\command.com
if errorlevel 0
set comspec=c:\dos\command.com


Notes:
This program is a DOS mode only version.

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XCD.EXE or XCDP.EXE - Excellant Change Directory utility.


Usage is: X [drive:] dirname or partial dirname [/R]

This program is similar to the one found in other DOS
enhancement packages but it is written for OS2. Actually the
program will run under both DOS and OS2, so that both
environments can share the same directory file.

If you haven't noticed, you run this program with a .BAT or
.CMD file called X. Sample files are included for both OS/2
and DOS. Actually, you don't need one for DOS but it's there
for consistency. The reason for this is OS/2 restores the
original enviroment after the program ends. There might be a
better way for this to work but this is fine for now.

Anyhow, XCD requires at least one parameter and can take up to
two (incredible)! The first parameter usually is the name
(or partial name) of a directory and can include a drive
specification. XCD will then attempt to locate a directory
on the specified drive and change to it. If more than one
directory is found that matches, it will pop up a menu and
allow you to pick the desired directory (beats that other
old program, huh?). The second parameter, if used, must be
'/R' and specifies that XCD is to rebuild it's directory
list file. This directory file is automatically created
when XCD cannot find it's file. The next time you
run XCD, it will use that file for finding directories,
making the search process much faster! Unlike the other
guys program, XCD does not check if the current directory is
in the file and rebuilds it's file. A future enhancement will
include this but we're tired of writing code for now so this
is it. '/R' can also be entered as the only parameter, in
which case XCD will only rebuild it's directory file.

XCD creates and executes a temporary batch file to
change directories. This file is by default, created in the
root directory of the C: drive. If using C:\ is not to your
liking, it is a simple matter to edit the X.CMD file and
change it. It's a good idea to edit this file anyway and make
sure everything is pointing to the right places.

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Have fun, enjoy and most of all send money...

$20 would be appreciated and help us feed our 350
pound large Australian kangaroo which does most of the code
testing and debugging for us.

Actually, everyone who registers will receive upgrades as
they are available. For instance, XCD.EXE will only pop-up
a selection window for 23 possible choices of directories,
this limit will be eliminated in the next release, which is
coming soon to a theater near you. Also, if you haven't heard,
OS/2 1.2 should be out later this year with it's new file
system. We'll have to make some changes to support this and
I'm sure if your still using these utilities then you'll want
the upgrade too.

Send Cash, check or money order (first born not
accepted) to:

Noonan, Partain and Brown
6501 Oakwood Drive
Falls Church, Va 22041

Oh yeah, please distribute these programs (even if you
don't pay for them, maybe the next guy will). Usually, we
don't ask for money but this is OS/2, the compilers and hardware
to run it on ain't cheap.

Also, let us know what utilities or programs you think would
usefull. Most of all, if you have any problems with any of
our programs let us know. We don't have our own BBS for support
yet, but we can be easily contacted on two BBS's and on
the OS/2 conference on FIDO-NET. The two BBS's are:

MEDLANTIC (301) 680-7792
Life's Like That (703) 560-5616

Leave a message for Tim Noonan or Joel Brown.

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