Category : File Managers
Archive   : ALT207_B.ZIP
Filename : HELPME.DOC

 
Output of file : HELPME.DOC contained in archive : ALT207_B.ZIP

This file lists the most commonly asked questions about ALT. If
you think you have a problem, consult this appendix first. Then,
if you cannot find an answer here you may call the Instinct
Support Bulletin Board at (214) 368-2709. Set your communication
software to operate with 8 data bits, 1 stop, no parity,
1200/2400/9600 baud. (For most communication software these are
the default parameters.) If you are unable to use the bulletin
board, send written correspondence to:

Instinct Software
11311 N. Central Expy. Ste 300
Dallas, Tx 75243

Please include the following information: serial number, version
of DOS, description of the problem, type of hardware involved,
the make and model of computer, the version of ALT, and the name
and version of the conflicting software (if applicable).

Kernel

Question: I load ALT from my AUTOEXEC.BAT file. I notice that
any commands I have after ALT in the batch file never get
executed. How can I correct this?

Answer: ALT loads a new command.com shell when installed into
memory. This prevents DOS from continuing with commands in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT. Any commands after ALT in the AUTOEXEC.BAT should
be moved to an AUTOALT.BAT file in the ALT directory. If the
AUTOALT.BAT file is present, the batch file will run in the first
partition when ALT is loaded into memory. This serves as an
excellent method to automatically run a program or DOS commands
when loading ALT.

Question: Sometimes when I am trying to open an additional
partition or accessory, a message is displayed that I am out of
swap space. What does this mean?

Answer: ALT provides the capability of running multiple programs
and accessories by swapping (or writing) all information about
these programs to disk or expanded memory. The error message is
displayed when ALT has used all available swap space. The swap
area available to ALT needs to be increased either by expanding
the limits on the swap drives or adding an additional swap area.
(See the next question for details of this process.)

Question: I want to change the drive and size of swap area where
ALT stores the memory of programs and accessories. Where do I
specify these changes?

Answer: The swap drives can be changed in one of three ways:
through the Setup program selection 'Swap Drives.', while loading
ALT into memory with the command line parameter -D or with the
ALTSWAP utility. The first two methods will provide you with the
Swap Drive entry screen. Simply specify the swap drive letter
and the maximum space of each drive allowed to be used by ALT. A
blank swap drive size allows use of all the available space if
required.

Swap drive X informs ALT to use expanded memory as a swap area.
Device driver ISMM.SYS is required on the last line of
\CONFIG.SYS for ALT to use expanded memory as a swap area. Add
the following last line to the \CONFIG.SYS file:

DEVICE=C:\ALT\ISMM.SYS (your path may differ)

Any changes in the Swap Drives will not take effect until the
next time ALT is loaded into memory.

Question: Why is the mouse not working in ALT's Main
Menu and accessories?

Answer: The mouse driver (i.e. MOUSE.COM) supplied with your
mouse must be loaded into memory before ALT. The Mouse Emulation
in the Setup program selection 'General Setup' must be set to Yes
prior to loading ALT into memory. The mouse can temporarily be
enabled or disabled through the ALT Main Menu Other System Mouse
selection.

Question: Why is the graphics screen of my program not restored
correctly upon returning from an accessory or another program?

Answer: It is possible that the particular graphics mode of the
program is not supported, or either the ALT partition was not
specified as a graphics partition. ALT supports a number of
graphics mode ranging from the CGA, Hercules, and EGA, to the
high-resolution VGA modes. The ALT partition must be defined as
a graphics partition for ALT to save and restore any graphics
screen correctly. A small 'g' will appear after the memory size
of the partition in the ALT Main Menu if it is set to handle
graphic programs. e.g.,

| 1 C:\AC autocad 524K g |

The graphics setting of a partition can be toggled off or on by
pressing Alt-G while highlighted in the ALT Main Menu.

If you have an EGA or VGA monitor, you may be using a proprietary
video mode. Try to set the program you are using to use a
standard video mode, such as 640x480 VGA, 800x600 VGA, etc.

Question: What steps are necessary to use expanded memory as a
swap drive?

Answer: There are two requirements for ALT to use expanded memory
as a swap area; the device driver ISMM.SYS must be added to the
CONFIG.SYS file on the boot drive, and the swap drive must be
designated as X. Copy the ISMM.SYS from the ALT directory to the
boot drive root directory. Add the following line to your
CONFIG.SYS file,

DEVICE=ISMM.SYS

to install the device driver. To load the driver, the computer
must be rebooted by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Question: Tapping the ALT key to retrieve the ALT Main Menu
conflicts with a program I use. Can I change the ALT hotkey?

Answer: You can change the ALT hotkey to any key from AltA to
AltZ or from CtrlA to CtrlZ. Select the new key in the General
Setup selection of the Setup.Exe program.

Question: I have a program that seems to prevent ALT from
popping-up. ALT will pop-up normally before running the program,
but it will not after. After I exit the program, ALT will then
continue again to behave as normal. How can I solve this
problem?

Answer: Some programs (e.g., Windows) completely take over the
keyboard when they are run. Programs, such as ALT, are thus
prevented from taking control. ALTPOP.COM provides a method for
ALT to regain control from such programs. When running these
programs, precede the program command entered at the DOS prompt
with ALTPOP.

For example, to run Windows, you would normally enter,

WIN86

When using Windows with ALT, enter the following instead;

ALTPOP WIN86

Ensure that the ALT drive and directory are in the PATH! e.g.,

PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\ALT;

Question: How can I change the memory size of a partition?

Answer: The memory size of a partition cannot be changed. The
only option is to delete the partition, and then redefine it with
a different memory size. To delete the partition, highlight the
partition in the ALT Main Menu and press the DEL key. Be sure to
exit any program to the DOS prompt before removing the partition.

Address Book

Question: Why doesn't the auto phone dialing feature work
properly?

Answer: The auto phone dialing feature requires proper settings
of the communication port, and baud rate. These parameters can
be set either in the Setup.Exe program selection 'Address Book'
or in the F9-Setup Modem selection in the Address Book. Remember
that the '!' is used in the modem command strings to represent
the CR or ENTER key. Also, use of the '~' character results in a
1/2 second pause. Pauses may be required when initializing or
hanging-up the modem, e.g.,

~+++~ATH0!~

Question: Why doesn't the standalone version of the address book
find the address book data files, colors and modem setting?

Answer: The address book must find the directory where ALT is
installed to operate properly. The address book begins its
search with the ALT environment variable and then looks at the
PATH.

To set the variable, use the SET command at the DOS prompt, e.g.,

SET ALT=C:\ALT
or
SET PATH=C:\ALT

Question: How do I print my address book records to a file
instead of the printer?

Answer: The device used by the address book for printing can be
changed in the F9-Setup, Printer, Direction selection. The
default printer name is PRN. The name can be changed to access
another printer or changed to a DOS filename to direct output to
a file on disk.

Question: How do I back up my address book?

Answer: For each address data book, there are two associated
files. One file to store all the information and another to
store the indexing or the arrangement of the address cards. The
two files have the name of your address book and the file
extensions IND and DAT. Suppose you have an address book named
ADDRESS, then back up the two files ADDRESS.IND and ADDRESS.DAT
in the ALT directory.

Disk Filer

Question: How do I configure the disk filer to use my own editor
and file viewer?

Answer: The editor and file viewer external programs can be
configured either in the Setup.Exe program selection 'Filer,
Appointment Options,' or through the F9-Setup Editor and View
options within the program. The command used to start the
programs is entered along with one of the disk filer reserved
keywords (e.g., $PN, $FN, $PT, etc.). The keyword $PN, is
usually used since it designates the full pathname of the
selected file.

For example,

EDIT $PN
or
VIEW $PN

To use the default editor provided with ALT, clear the Editor
option line (by pressing ) and press .

Similarly, to use the default viewer, clear the View option line
(by pressing ) and press .

Question: How do I force the disk filer to display only .EXE
files?

Answer: The wildcard or file selection criteria can be changed
with the -Command, File, Wildcard selection. The default
wildcard is *.* . To view only .EXE files, change the wildcard
to *.EXE .

Question: The amount of memory that is available to execute
programs (editor, EXE, COM, or Program selection) from the filer
seems to be limited. This results in my not being able to edit
large files or to run large programs. Can I increase the
available memory?

Answer: The extra memory that is given to the filer is specified
in the Setup.Exe program. Increase the value of the Extra Memory
in the 'Filer, Appointment Options' selection of the Setup
program. Note, increasing the Extra Memory value will result in
increased time to swap from the filer to another accessory or
program.

Appointment Calendar, Alarms

Question: How do I stop the Alarm pop-up message from
interrupting critical programs?

Answer: The Alarm pop-up can be disabled by specifying No to the
'Alarm Pop-Up' option of the Setup.Exe program General Setup
selection. The pop-up can temporarily be disabled or enabled
through the Main Menu Other, System, Alarm selection. The alarms
due that are also displayed when first loading ALT into memory
will be disabled by the same mechanism.

Question: I leave my computer on for days at a time without
removing ALT from memory. Sometimes I fail to receive alarms
that are originally set a number of days ahead. What is going
wrong?

Answer: When ALT is loaded into memory, it checks for alarms over
the next 7 days. If your computer is left on and ALT not removed
from memory for a period of 7 days, then it is possible that it
does not know of any future alarms. The selection (Alarms)
in the appointment calendar is used as both a method to view
alarms due, and to check for any alarms set for the next week.
The (Alarms) command should be exercised every few days if
you routinely leave your computer running.

Question: Why doesn't the standalone version of the appointment
book find the correct appointments and color settings?

Answer: The appointment book must find the directory where ALT is
installed to operate properly. The appointment book begins it
search with the ALT environment variable and then looks at the
PATH.

To set the variable, use the SET command at the DOS prompt, e.g.,

SET ALT=C:\ALT
or
SET PATH=C:\ALT

Editor, Notepad, Macro Editor, Clipboard

Question: I changed the assignments of keys to functions in the
Editor setup; however, the editor doesn't recognize the changes.
What's wrong?

Answer: The keys assigned to editor functions are saved to a
file when exiting the 'Assign Edit Keys' selection of the
Setup.Exe program. The drive, path, and name of the file (e.g.,
c:\alt2\wp.key) must be specified in 'Edit Key Define File' field
of the 'Editor, Notepad, Options' selection of the Setup.Exe
program. The changes will not be recognized until you run ALT
again.

Question: I know how to display the general help of the different
editors by pressing F1, but how do I get the help specific to the
particular editor accessory I am using currently? For example,
in the macro editor, I wish to view help on the macro editor
syntax and commands.

Answer: Help, specific to the notepad, macro editor, or
clipboard, is obtained by pressing F1 again while in the general
help.

Question: Why is text that I typed in the Notepad still present
even after I remove ALT from memory and load it again?

Answer: The Notepad automatically saves text to the file NOTES in
your ALT directory when pressing to exit the notepad. The
file is retrieved by the Notepad upon entering it the first time
after ALT is loaded. This provides an easy and convenient method
to save notes and have them available for editing and viewing
during each session. This feature can be disabled in the
Setup.Exe program by specifying No in the 'Notepad Auto
Save/Load' field in the 'Editors, Notepad Options'.

Question: I appear to run out of memory when trying to edit large
files with the editor. Can the available memory be increased for
it?

Answer: The memory for the editor can be changed in the Setup
program by modifying the value of the 'Extra Memory' field in the
'Editor, Notepad Options'. Note: Increasing the Extra Memory
value will result in increased time to swap from the editor to
another accessory or program.

Question: It appears that the block move and copy feature work
only within the same document. How do I move a marked block of
data from one document to another?

Answer: A block cannot be marked in one document and moved or
copied directly to another document. The HOLD feature of the
editor is required for such a move or copy operation. The "HOLD
Block,No Delete," "Delete and HOLD Block," and "Copy HOLD Text"
routines use a common file on disk for storage of block
operations. If you wish to copy a block from document 1 to
document 2, mark the block in document 1 and select "HOLD
Block,No Delete." This operation will transfer the block
contents to the HOLD file on disk. Proceed to document 2 and
select "Copy HOLD Text". The contents of the HOLD file (block
contents) will then be inserted into document 2 at the cursor.

Keyboard Macros

Question: Why do some keystrokes fail to get "played back" when
executing a macro in certain programs?

Answer: When ALT supplies the keys to a program, it does so at a
very fast rate. Some programs cannot keep up with this rate and,
as a result, lose keystrokes. The speed with which macro keys are
played can either be controlled globally by the Other, System,
Slow or Fast selections in the ALT Main Menu; or they can be
controlled more precisely with the macro command. The
command may also be placed within a macro for a
one-time delay.

Question: How can I have a macro file automatically loaded when
ALT is loaded into memory?

Answer: A macro file can be specified for automatic loading
either with the -F command line parameter or in the Setup.Exe
program. The full pathname of the macro file should be specified
in the 'Auto Macro Filename' of the Setup.Exe 'General Setup'
selection. It is important to remember that the macro file must
not have been saved as a text file within the macro editor, but
saved with the Other, Macros, Save selection of the ALT Main
Menu.

Question: What am I doing wrong when I am recording a macro and I
get the message "Out of Macro Memory"?

Answer: When ALT is loaded into memory, a fixed amount of memory
is used to hold the keyboard macros The message will be displayed
if you exhaust the memory that was allocated to hold the keyboard
macros. The solution is to instruct ALT to give you a greater
amount of memory to hold keyboard macros. The default amount of
memory is 1 kilobyte. A higher number can be specified in the
Setup.Exe program 'General Setup' selection. When increasing the
value, remember that memory specified for macros detracts from
that available to run programs. ALT will not recognize the
changes until the next time you load it into memory.


Question: I use 4DOS as my command interpreter. There appears to
be conflicts between ALT and 4DOS.

Answer:
ALT will work properly with 4DOS if configured correctly.
Two steps must be taken, 4DOS's command line recall and editing
must be disabled, and 4DOS must be made the primary shell when
the computer is started (booted).

The 4DOS command line recall and editing is disabled with the
4DOS command:

SETDOS /L1

ALT will have its own command line recall and editing once installed
in memory. Since the SETDOS /L1 command needs to be run each time
a new memory partition is opened, place the command in the 4DOS
autoexec file 4START.BAT. The 4START.BAT should be placed in your
root directory of your boot drive.

It is very important that you create the 4START.BAT file and place
the SETDOS /L1 command within the file. If not, ALT will have difficulty
"popping-up" and the menuing program will also fail to work
properly. See the 4DOS documentation on 4START.BAT and SETDOS /L1
for more information.

To make 4DOS the primary shell at boot time, the following line needs
to be in your CONFIG.SYS file,

SHELL=C:\4DOS.COM /p

Your drive and path may differ. This will load the 4DOS command
interpreter when your computer is first booted. The environment
variable COMSPEC will also be set when used in this configuration.
For ALT to work properly with 4DOS, the COMSPEC variable is required
to be set to the full drive and pathname of 4DOS. For example,

COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM


  3 Responses to “Category : File Managers
Archive   : ALT207_B.ZIP
Filename : HELPME.DOC

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