GETTING STARTED WITH XPIP



This file, XPSTART.DOC, is being displayed by XPIP. Press any key to scroll
forward through the file. Pressing another key will stop the display. PgUp
or PgDn move up or down in the file one screen at a time. Press F10 for help
showing all functions available.


When you start XPIP, it displays a prompt similar to the DOS prompt except
that it uses a right brace "}" instead of the greater than symbol ">". You
can execute DOS commands and other programs under XPIP virtually the same as
you would at the DOS prompt. See the section of the Help file on EXECUTING A
DOS COMMAND.


Most of XPIP's user manual is in the Help file XPIP.HLP, which should be in
the current directory or in a directory on the DOS PATH. It is accessible
from the pulldown menus or by typing "/HE" at the XPIP prompt.


When the cursor is at the XPIP prompt and you have not entered anything on the
command line, you can perform many functions with single keystrokes:

Left or right arrow displays XPIP's pulldown menus. See below for an
example of using the pulldowns.

Home, PgUp, PgDn, UpArrow, and DnArrow allow you to change directory
easily. See the Help file INTRODUCTION on special editing keys.

The End key displays the last command line you entered and lets you edit
it and re-execute it.

ESCAPE lets you edit and re-execute the last ten command lines you entered
and lets you enter, edit, and execute command lines assigned to function
keys F1 to F10.


The first thing you might want to try with XPIP is to display the directory.
XPIP provides two different displays - long (size, date, time, attributes) and
short (showing just file specifications, 5 across). Here is how to do it with
the menus:

Press left or right arrow at the XPIP prompt.

Press right arrow to display the "Directory" menu.

The top line (Long list) will be highlighted. Press the Ins key to select
it, or press down arrow or "S" (first letter of "Short list") and then
press Ins to select the Short directory list.

Press ENTER in response to the "Input filespecs" prompt to show all files
in the current directory.

Press ENTER in response to the "Spool filespec" prompt. (See the Help
file about Long Directory for information on using spool files.)

The Options menu will appear -
press ENTER to show all files in the directory, sorted by filename (which
is the default); or
use the up and down arrows or the first letter of each line to move the
cursor to the options you want and select them by pressing the Ins key.
If you change your mind, deselect an option by pressing the Del key.
When you are done choosing options, press ENTER. If you specified the
date or attribute selection options, XPIP asks for more information.

When XPIP has everything it needs, it displays the command as you could
have entered it at the XPIP prompt, and then it executes the command.


Using the pulldown menus is the quickest way to get a look at the capabilities
of XPIP. When you are more familiar with the program, you may prefer to type
commands at the prompt - this can be faster (at least, if you are a good
typist) and also lets you enter more than one command on a single line. See
the INTRODUCTION for more information.

The menu that appeared when you started XPIP is a user-defined menu stored in
file STD.XPC. See the Help file about USER-DEFINED MENUS for information on
modifying it or setting up your own menus.


Most of XPIP is written in the MPS language, a commercial (not shareware)
product of System Facilities, Inc. For more information about MPS, see the
December 1987 issue of Computer Language magazine or write to us at the
address below.

Many of XPIP's features have been added in response to users' suggestions. If
you have questions, problems, comments, or suggestions, we encourage you to
write to us at the address below.




LICENSE
-------

Copyright (c) 1987 System Facilities, Inc. All rights reserved.

You are free to use, copy, and distribute XPIP for noncommercial purposes IF:

NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR USE, COPYING OR DISTRIBUTION.

XPIP AND ITS RELATED FILES ARE NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY EXCEPT AS
SPECIFIED IN THE HELP FILE OR MANUAL TO CHANGE PARAMETERS.

Clubs and user groups may charge a nominal fee (less than $10) for expenses
and handling while distributing XPIP.

Volume discounts, site licenses, commercial licenses and custom versions of
XPIP are available. Write to the address below for more information.

This program is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied,
including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose.




If you find XPIP useful, a contribution of $15 would be appreciated. With
each contribution of $30 or more:

You will receive a printed manual (over 70 pages).

You will be registered to receive a diskette with the next version of
XPIP when available, plus XPSORT, a program that sorts ASCII files with
any length (even variable-length) records, on multiple ascending,
descending, and record selection keys.

Please state your current version of XPIP. Send contributions to:

System Facilities, Inc.
P.O. Box 7079
Charlottesville, VA 22906