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PALRUN
Documentation, Version 2.0
Copyright (c) 1990
All Rights Reserved
PAL Software NY
51 Cedar Lane
Ossining, NY 10562
BBS: (914) 762-8055
(R)
o
Association of
Shareware
o Professionals
MEMBER
PALRUN is a trademark of PAL Software NY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CHAPTER 1: BASIC TERMS AND PURPOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1 Basic Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.2 Palrun as a Transient Program . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Palrun as a Permanent Shell . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 The Palhouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.5 The Palrun Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6 The Commandline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.7 The Commandline Separator . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.8 Pointing to a new Palhouse . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.9 Alter Egos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.10 Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.11 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.1 Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2.2 The Benefits of Expanded Memory . . . . . . . 17
2.3 Required Palrun Files . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4 Required Compression/Extraction Programs . . . 18
2.5 Optional Editing and Viewing Programs . . . . 19
2.6 Optional Timed Events With Pal and Palarm . . 20
CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.1 Basic Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.2 Advanced Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.3 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
CHAPTER 4: THE LINE EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
CHAPTER 5: SELECTING FROM PICK LISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
5.1 Choosing With the Cursor Keys . . . . . . . . 29
5.2 Choosing With Name Search . . . . . . . . . . 29
5.3 Exiting the Pick List . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.4 Using a Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5.5 Activating Your Selection . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.5.1 PCKHOUSE Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.5.2 PCKDIR Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.5.3 Archive Pointer Pick Lists . . . . . . . 33
5.5.4 PCKALIAS Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.5.5 QUEUE Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
5.5.6 Custom Menu Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . 34
5.5.7 Setup's Aliases and Menus Pick Lists . . 34
5.5.8 CHDIR Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CHAPTER 6: OBTAINING A DIRECTORY (PCKHOUSE & PCKDIR) . . . . 35
CHAPTER 7: "RUNNING" A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
7.1 Running Files From an Archive . . . . . . . . 38
7.2 Running Files From a Subdirectory . . . . . . 40
7.2.1 Selecting Executable Files . . . . . . . 41
7.2.2 Selecting Archives . . . . . . . . . . . 41
7.2.3 Selecting Directories . . . . . . . . . . 41
7.2.4 Selecting Other Files . . . . . . . . . . 42
CHAPTER 8: EDITING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
8.1 Editing Files From an Archive . . . . . . . . 43
8.2 Editing Files From a Subdirectory . . . . . . 44
CHAPTER 9: VIEWING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
9.1 Viewing a File From Within an Archive . . . . 46
9.2 Viewing a Target File From a Subdirectory . . 47
CHAPTER 10: DELETING A TARGET FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
10.1 Deleting a File From an Archive . . . . . . . 49
10.2 Deleting a File From a Subdirectory . . . . . 49
10.2.1 Deleting a Directory Entry . . . . . . . 50
10.2.2 Deleting Protected Files . . . . . . . . 50
10.2.3 Deleting Other Files . . . . . . . . . . 50
CHAPTER 11: SORT AND DISPLAY CONTROL FOR FILE PICK LISTS . . 51
11.1 Changing the Sort Order . . . . . . . . . . . 51
11.2 Changing the Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . 52
11.3 Changing the Filemask . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
CHAPTER 12: RETRIEVING A PRIOR COMMAND . . . . . . . . . . . 54
12.1 Using the Cursor Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
12.2 Choosing From a Pick List . . . . . . . . . . 54
12.3 Searching With
CHAPTER 13: POINTING TO A NEW ARCHIVE . . . . . . . . . . . 56
13.1 Specific Pointing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
13.2 Nonspecific Pointing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
13.3 Resolving a Potential Ambiguity . . . . . . . 59
CHAPTER 14: ALTER EGOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
CHAPTER 15: ALIASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
15.1 Introduction to Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . 64
15.2 Creating Your First Alias . . . . . . . . . . 64
15.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming
Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
15.4 Batch-type Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
15.5 Nesting and Chaining Aliases . . . . . . . . . 66
15.6 The PCKALIAS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
15.7 Selecting an Alias Name . . . . . . . . . . . 67
iii
CHAPTER 16: CREATING AND USING CUSTOM MENUS . . . . . . . . 68
16.1 Selecting From a Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
16.2 Creating Your First Menu Entry . . . . . . . . 69
16.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Menu
Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
16.4 Additional Customization of Menus . . . . . . 72
16.5 Supplying a Header for the Menu Window . . . . 72
16.6 Showing Palrun Internals . . . . . . . . . . . 73
16.7 Saving Your Customized Changes . . . . . . . . 73
CHAPTER 17: CUSTOMIZING PALRUN: SETUP . . . . . . . . . . . 74
17.1 Introduction to the Setup procedure . . . . . 74
17.2 Aliases and Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
17.3 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
17.3.1 Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
17.3.2 Message Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
17.3.3 Palrun Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
17.3.4 Pick Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
17.3.5 Standard Operations . . . . . . . . . . . 79
17.3.6 Border . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
17.4 Extractor Information . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
17.4.1 Output Path for Extraction . . . . . . . 81
17.4.2 Customize Parameters for Extraction
Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
17.4.2.1 Extraction Parameters . . . . . . . 83
17.4.2.2 Compression Parameters . . . . . . . 84
17.4.3 Extraction Program to Use With ARC
Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
17.4.4 Extraction Program to Use With ZIP
Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
17.5 Miscellaneous Information . . . . . . . . . . 87
17.5.1 Character Substitutions . . . . . . . . . 88
17.5.1.1 DOS Redirection Characters . . . . . 88
17.5.1.2 Commandline Separator Character . . 89
17.5.2 Toggle Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
17.5.2.1 Use EMS for Swapping? . . . . . . . 89
17.5.2.2 Use EMS for Overlays? . . . . . . . 90
17.5.2.3 Quiet Down the Comments? . . . . . . 90
17.5.2.4 Force pause before return? . . . . . 90
17.5.2.5 Keep tree info on disk? . . . . . . 91
17.5.2.6 Storage Directory for Tree Info . . 92
17.5.3 Directory Sort and Display Control . . . 92
17.5.3.1 Sort Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
17.5.3.2 Level of Detail . . . . . . . . . . 93
17.5.4 3-Button Mouse Definitions . . . . . . . 93
17.6 Palhouse Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
17.6.1 Name of File for Palhouse . . . . . . . . 94
17.6.2 Path Where Palhouse is Located . . . . . 94
17.6.3 Search DOS Before Palhouse? . . . . . . . 95
17.7 Viewer Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
17.7.1 Name of File Viewing Program . . . . . . 96
17.7.2 Prefix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
iv
17.7.3 Suffix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.7.4 Minimum RAM Required . . . . . . . . . . 96
17.8 Wordprocessor Information . . . . . . . . . . 98
17.8.1 Name of Wordprocessing Program . . . . . 98
17.8.2 Prefix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
17.8.3 Suffix Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
17.8.4 Backup Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
17.8.5 Minimum RAM Required . . . . . . . . . . 99
17.9 File Save and Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
17.9.1 Load Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 101
17.9.2 Save Configuration File . . . . . . . . . 101
17.10 Save Changes Into Palrun & Exit . . . . . 102
17.11 This Session Only . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
CHAPTER 18: DOS ENHANCEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
18.1 CHDIR / CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
18.1.1 Changing Drive and Directory
Simultaneously . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
18.1.2 Picking From a List of Subdirectories on
a Single Logical Drive . . . . . . . . . 105
18.1.3 "Super" CHDIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
18.2 ERASE / DEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
18.3 DIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
CHAPTER 19: DOS REDIRECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
CHAPTER 20: SWAP FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
CHAPTER 21: ON-LINE HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
21.1 The Help Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
21.2 Context-Sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
21.3 Cursor Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
21.4 Redisplaying Previous Topics . . . . . . . . . 117
21.5 Mouse Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
CHAPTER 22: SUMMARY OF INTERNAL COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . 119
CHAPTER 23: GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
CHAPTER 24: QUESTIONS & ANSWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
CHAPTER 25: REGISTRATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
CHAPTER 26: LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
CHAPTER 27: USER SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
CHAPTER 28: ASP OMBUDSMAN PROCEDURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
v
INTRODUCTION AND QUICK START
FEATURES:
Palrun is a multi-purpose program. Among other things, it
permits you to:
Run executable files from within archives or from
a subdirectory
Edit or view files from within archives or
subdirectories using your favorite editor and file
viewer
Delete files from an archive or subdirectory
Inspect the contents of archives and
subdirectories
Save many megs of space on your hard disk by
placing your programs into a "Palhouse," which is
a designated archive from which Palrun can run
them
Recall and edit previously executed commands
either from a visible pick list, or by typing a
few keystrokes and asking Palrun to fill in the
rest from a prior command
Issue several commands with a single stroke of the
batch file
Change drives and directories quickly and easily,
letting Palrun help you guess at the entire
directory name after you supply just a few
keystrokes
Create a customized menu for executing common
tasks
Initiate a complex series of commands with a few
keystrokes using the Alias capability
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Use a mouse to help you make selections (with
special support for 3-button mice)
FOR PEOPLE WHO HATE TO READ DOCUMENTATION:
It's easy to get started quickly with Palrun, even without
reading through all the documentation. This section of the
introduction shows you how to do it. For more detailed
instructions, glance at the Summary of Documentation below.
Copy PALRUN.EXE, PALRUN.OVR and PALRUN.HLP to a subdirectory
that is named in your DOS Path statement.
If you now issue the command
PALRUN
from the DOS prompt, you will enter Palrun's context-sensitive,
cross-referenced, on-line help. You'll see a highlight bar
centered over the topic entitled "Help on Help." To read that
topic, so that you can find your way around the help system, just
tap the
of the first set of topics that precede the double bar.
You may also find it useful to browse through the Glossary
(Chapter 23 starting at page 126) and the Summary of Internal
Commands (Chapter 22, page 119).
Once you've satisfied yourself with the preliminary look at
the help system, you can try actually using Palrun.
ARCHIVES:
An archive is a file which is itself comprised of one or
more subsidiary files which have been stored within the archive
in compressed form by an archiving program. The archiving
program sets up the archive with its own form of internal table
of contents so that the individual components of the archive can
be identified and retrieved.
The virtue of creating archives is that one can assemble
closely related files into a single package, while at the same
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
time substantially decreasing the amount of required disk space
as the archiving program compresses the component files.
The main disadvantage of archives is that in order to access
the individual components within an archive, one must invoke the
archiving program to extract the component before it is possible
to do anything with it. An archive is, by its nature, opaque.
Its components are not accessible for viewing or editing, and a
program residing within an archive may not be executed until it
is first extracted.
Palrun makes archives more transparent. Palrun will handle
archives created by all the most popular, commonly available
compression programs. If an archive comes with the extension of
ARC, DWC, LZH, PAK, ZIP or ZOO, then Palrun can handle it.
Palrun's magic is performed by using the appropriate
extraction program to extract from the archive the program you
want to run or the file you want to view or edit. Once the
operation is completed, the extracted file is deleted from your
disk. In the case where you call on Palrun to assist you in
editing a component file, the archive will be freshened with the
edited file.
PALRUN AS A TRANSIENT PROGRAM:
To use Palrun just to run an executable program from within
an archive and then return to DOS, you would issue the command:
PALRUN @ARCHIVENAME COMMANDLINE
"ArchiveName" (don't forget to add the "@" before the name
of the archive, no spaces between them) is the name of the
archive in which the executable file resides. Remember to
include the extension of the archive. If you do not specify an
ArchiveName, then Palrun will look for a designated archive which
we refer to as the Palhouse.
"Commandline" is the full command you would have given to
DOS if you were executing the program from the DOS prompt.
For instance, if your WP.EXE file is in a WPSTUFF.ARC
archive, you can have Palrun extract and run it with the command:
PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
If you want to feed to WP the name of a file you want to
edit, you could have issued the command:
PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP MYFILE
You may execute almost any executable file (having an EXE,
COM or BAT extension) from within any archive. The only
exception is programs which terminate and stay resident, such as
SideKick.
Make sure that the extraction program that you would
normally need in order to extract a file from the archive is
located in a subdirectory in your DOS path.
Remember that your programs must have access to all data and
overlay files, so those files cannot remain inside an archive.
PALRUN AS A PERMANENT SHELL:
To get to the Palrun Prompt, from which you can operate
Palrun as a permanent shell, issue the command:
PALRUN /P
You may optionally add a Commandline for Palrun to execute
before it comes to rest at the Palrun Prompt, and may designate a
particular archive:
PALRUN /P @ARCHIVENAME COMMANDLINE
The meanings of ArchiveName and Commandline are set forth
above in the discussion on using Palrun as a transient program.
While using Palrun as a permanent shell program, you can
summon the on-line help at just about any time by tapping
by simultaneously clicking the
mouse.
This quick guide to using Palrun as a permanent shell does
not begin to scratch the surface of the features that are
available in this mode. For that, you'll just have to read this
documentation, or else browse through the on-line help.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
SUMMARY OF DOCUMENTATION:
Here's a synopsis of the contents of this documentation.
Chapter 1 (page 7) describes the basic syntax for using
Palrun and some of the common terms used throughout this
documentation.
Chapter 2 (page 16) describes the hardware and software
requirements for using Palrun.
Chapter 3 (page 21) gives you simple installation
instructions for Palrun.
Chapter 4 (page 25) tells you how to use Palrun's line
editor when giving a command at the Palrun Prompt or when
providing input in other areas.
Chapter 5 (page 28) gives details on how to make a selection
from a pick list or a menu.
Chapter 6 (page 35) explains how to get a listing of files
in an archive or subdirectory so that you can pick from the list
in order to "run," edit, view or delete an entry.
Chapter 7 (page 38) tells you how to "run" a file from
within an archive or subdirectory.
Chapter 8 (page 43) tells you how to edit a file from within
an archive or subdirectory.
Chapter 9 (page 46) tells you how to view a file from within
an archive or subdirectory.
Chapter 10 (page 49) describes how to delete a file from
within an archive or subdirectory.
Chapter 11 (page 51) outlines how you can change the sort
order and level of display in the pick lists that you can get of
your archive contents and your subdirectory contents.
Chapter 12 (page 54) tells you how to recall a prior
Commandline for editing and re-execution.
Chapter 13 (page 56) describes how to point to a new
archive.
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Chapter 14 (page 61) describes Alter Egos, small programs
which substitute for a larger program which has been compressed
into your default Palhouse.
Chapter 15 (page 64) describes Palrun's Aliases, which are
like mini-batch files that you make Palrun memorize.
Chapter 16 (page 68) tells you how to create your own custom
menu with Palrun.
Chapter 17 (page 74) provides details on how to customize
Palrun's behavior.
Chapter 18 (page 104) describes the enhancements that Palrun
has made to the DOS commands of ERASE / DEL and CHDIR / CD.
Chapter 19 (page 110) tells you how to deal with DOS
redirection when using Palrun as a transient program.
Chapter 20 (page 113) describes how Palrun manages the
hidden Swap Files that Palrun sometimes uses.
Chapter 21 (page 116) tells you how to navigate the on-line,
context-sensitive help system.
Chapter 22 (page 119) summarizes all of the commands that
Palrun recognizes internally.
Chapter 23 (page 126) is a glossary of frequently used
terms.
Chapter 24 (page 131) contains common questions and answers
in operating Palrun.
Chapter 25 (page 138) describes how to register, and the
benefits thereof.
Chapter 26 (page 139) indicates the complete terms of your
license to use Palrun.
Chapter 27 (page 141) tells you how to obtain user support.
Chapter 28 (page 142) describes the Ombudsman procedures of
the Association of Shareware Professionals.
6
CHAPTER 1: BASIC TERMS AND PURPOSE
The main purpose of Palrun is to provide a simple user
interface through which you can navigate through your computer
usage, making archives almost as transparent as an ordinary
subdirectory. You can run a program or batch file located within
an archive or subdirectory. You can also view or edit a file
within an archive or subdirectory, using your favorite file
viewer or word processing program. Palrun will work with every
archive format in common usage.
By placing most of your commonly used programs and batch
files into an archive that you designate as your Palhouse (see
Section 17.6.1 at page 94), you can save huge amounts of space on
your hard disk at the cost of only a minor speed penalty when the
programs are invoked for execution.
Palrun provides a sophisticated shell which sits on top of
DOS, providing you with many enhancements to the DOS interface.
1.1 Basic Syntax
The basic syntax for using Palrun as a transient program is:
PALRUN [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE
The basic syntax for using Palrun as a shell program is:
PALRUN /P [@ARCHIVENAME] [COMMANDLINE]
In both syntax descriptions above, the terms which are
surrounded by square brackets are optional. Do not type in the
brackets.
1.2 Palrun as a Transient Program
Running Palrun as a transient program is as simple as:
PALRUN [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
"ArchiveName" (don't forget to add the "@" before the name
of the archive, no spaces between them) is the name of the
archive in which the executable file resides. Remember to
include the extension of the archive. The brackets above
indicate that specifying the archive is optional; don't type the
brackets when giving the command.
"Commandline" is the full command you would have given to
DOS if the executable file had been directly available to DOS.
For instance, if your WP.EXE file is in a WPSTUFF.ARC
archive, you can have Palrun extract and run it with the command:
PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP
If you want to feed to WP the name of a file you want to
edit, you could issue the command:
PALRUN @WPSTUFF.ARC WP MYFILE
Here's what happens after you give the command.
Palrun will search the designated archive -- or, if you do
not specify an archive, then Palrun will search the Palhouse
archive that you have previously designated in the Setup
procedure.
If Palrun finds in the archive the program you want to
execute, it will extract the program and run it with the
parameters that you specified on the Commandline. If Palrun
cannot find the program in the archive, then it will search your
DOS path. You can use the Setup procedure to tell Palrun to look
in your DOS path before looking in any archives.
At the completion of execution, Palrun will return you to
the DOS prompt after having deleted the program that it
temporarily extracted from the archive.
1.3 Palrun as a Permanent Shell
A more sophisticated method of using Palrun is to invoke it
so that you call up Palrun's very own command line interface with
the command:
PALRUN /P
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
This brings you to what we call the Palrun Prompt. The "P"
is a mnemonic for Prompt.
An alternative to the above syntax is:
PALRUN /P [@ARCHIVENAME] COMMANDLINE
which will first run your Commandline before returning you to the
Palrun Prompt.
The terms ArchiveName and Commandline have the same meaning
as described in section 1.2 above.
To get back to DOS from the Palrun Prompt, just type
QUIT
and tap the
It is from the Palrun Prompt that you will be able not only
to run a program from within an archive but also to view, edit or
delete a component file of an archive.
In addition to making archives transparent in this way,
Palrun provides you with a host of DOS enhancements. These
include, for instance:
Easy editing of your Commandline
Up to several commands on a Commandline
Recall any of your 20 most recent Commandlines to edit
and/or invoke once again
Simple navigation through your subdirectories,
including point and shoot operation
Memorize a series of commands for playback at a later
date with Palrun's Alias facility
Create your own custom menu of up to 50 entries
Use an enhanced version of the ERASE / DEL command
Use an enhanced version of the CHDIR / CD command
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1.4 The Palhouse
The term "Palhouse" refers to an archive that Palrun will
look into to determine whether it can find a program that you
want to run.
You specify a default Palhouse in the Setup procedure, as
described in section 17.6.1 on page 94. You may change your
Palhouse at any time, as outlined in section 1.8 below.
1.5 The Palrun Prompt
The Palrun Prompt consists of two lines --
(1) a status line
(2) an entry line
Here's a picture of what you might see:
PALRUN E:\WP E:\UTIL\PALHOUSE.ZIP 12:17
>
The status line is divided into four boxes. The first box
displays the program name. The second box displays your current
drive and subdirectory. The third box displays the name of your
Palhouse, which is the currently active archive. Lastly, the
fourth box displays the current time, which continues to be
updated while Palrun awaits your input on the entry line.
The entry line begins with the ">" character, our old friend
from the DOS prompt. The rest of the line is a work area for you
to enter and edit your Commandline. You may enter as many as 255
characters for your Commandline. The text of your Commandline
will shift as the visible portion (79 characters) gets filled up
and more characters are typed.
Palrun provides you with a powerful line editor. The
commands for the line editor should be self-evident for anyone
familiar with either WordStar or WordPerfect commands. See
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
Chapter 4 starting on page 25 for details about the Palrun Line
Editor.
The Palrun Prompt will always present you with the
Commandline that you most recently executed (with DOS, you would
have had to hit
Prompt, you have a few simple choices:
1. Entering a New Commandline
Just start typing your new Commandline. Hitting any normal
character key (other than the space bar) will cause the old
Commandline to disappear and to be replaced by what you choose to
type. As you prepare your new Commandline, you may edit it with
the line editor.
2. Editing the Most Recently Executed Commandline
You can edit the Commandline that Palrun shows you. This is
done by means of the line editor that Palrun provides for your
convenience.
3. Recalling Prior Commandlines
Palrun remembers your 20 most recently executed
Commandlines. These prior Commandlines are held in what we refer
to as the Commandline Queue. For details on how to recall the
Commandline Queue, see Chapter 12 starting at page 54. Once you
have recalled a prior Commandline, you may then edit it and re-
execute.
1.6 The Commandline
The term Commandline refers to any normal command that you
could execute at the DOS system prompt. But Palrun provides a
tremendous enhancement beyond DOS's meager capabilities, in that
you can pass several commands at a time, each separated by a
Commandline Separator. This is described in greater detail in
section 1.7 at page 12.
With each command on your Commandline, Palrun goes through
the following sequence of tests, and initiates action based on
whichever test is first satisfied:
1. Is this an Alias that the user has created?
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
2. Is this one of Palrun's internal commands?
3. Is this a DOS command?
4. Is this an executable file found within the
Palhouse?
5. Is this an executable file found on the DOS path?
Steps #4 and #5 can be reversed with a customizable
parameter available in the Setup procedure (See section 17.6.3 at
page 95).
HINT: The fact that Palrun checks for internal Aliases
before anything else provides you with a convenient mechanism for
overriding DOS commands and Palrun's internal commands.
For instance, Palrun uses "F" as an abbreviation for its
FRESHEN command, but you may prefer to use "F" to mean something
else. You can do this by creating a new Alias with that name and
define it to initiate the series of steps that you desire.
Similarly, you can create an Alias by the name of "DIR" which
will invoke a program or initiate a series of commands quite
different from what DOS would do.
1.7 The Commandline Separator
One very special improvement that Palrun offers compared to
DOS is that your Commandline may consist of many subcommands,
joined together by a '^' character. We refer to the '^' as the
Commandline Separator.
How many subcommands can you pass in a single Commandline?
As many as you can fit in the space allotted. When editing a
Commandline at the Palrun Prompt, you have 255 characters to play
with, which means that you can have well over a hundred commands.
Commandlines issued from the DOS prompt have a bit less than half
the capacity of Commandlines issued from the Palrun Prompt.
Each instance of the Commandline Separator acts as if you
have hit the
execution while the remaining commands wait their turn.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
This feature allows you to issue several commands at once
from the DOS prompt, initiating all of the commands with a single
press of the
For instance, you could issue the command
PALRUN CD \ ^ DEL *.BAK ^ CD \COMM
and Palrun will complete three operations for you in quick
succession without your intervention. This is a convenient
method for you to create an on-the-fly batch file.
Each and every command on a Commandline can use the "@"
pointer operator to point Palrun to a new Palhouse. Thus, the
following would be a legal Commandline:
@THISSTUF.ARC DOTHIS ^ @THATSTUF.ZIP DOTHAT ^ FRESHEN
If you need to use the "^" character for other purposes
which conflict with its employment as the Commandline Separator,
you may designate a different character for this purpose in the
Setup procedure.
1.8 Pointing to a new Palhouse
The term ArchiveName, as used in the syntax diagrams in this
chapter, refers to an archive to which you may explicitly point
using the "@" character. The method of describing a pointer to
an archive is to use the "@" character (think: pointing "at")
followed by the specification of some archive or archives. The
archive to which you point will become your new Palhouse until
you point to another archive or until you use the FRESHEN
command. This is described in greater detail in Chapter 13 at
page 56.
If you do not specify an ArchiveName, then Palrun will use
the default Palhouse which you have specified in the Setup
procedure (see section 17.6 at page 94).
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
1.9 Alter Egos
An Alter Ego is a small program that substitutes for a
larger program that you have placed into your default Palhouse.
We supply you with the program PALTER.EXE for this purpose. If
you move a program (e.g., HELPER.EXE) into your Palhouse and then
copy PALTER.EXE to a new file named the same as that program, the
renamed PALTER.EXE will serve as an alter ego for HELPER.EXE. If
you now invoke HELPER from the DOS prompt, it will in turn summon
Palrun in its transient mode to extract the real HELPER.EXE out
of your default Palhouse and then run it.
Alter Egos are helpful in at least two situations.
First, if you find yourself rarely using Palrun in its
permanent shell mode and would like to utilize its transient
features simply by typing the name of the program to be executed,
then Alter Egos are for you.
Second, many applications delegate some of their tasks by
calling on other programs. An Alter Ego will hide from the
application program the fact that its helper program resides in
compressed form in your Palhouse.
For details on working with Alter Egos, see Chapter 14 below
at page 61.
1.10 Aliases
An Alias is a Commandline which you make Palrun memorize and
which may be invoked with a short name of not more than 8
letters. Aliases are described in detail in Chapter 15 at page
64.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
1.11 Examples
PALRUN WP MYFILE
-- Executes WordPerfect, with WordPerfect
retrieving MYFILE from your disk to edit, then
Palrun returns to the DOS prompt. If WordPerfect
had been found in your Palhouse, Palrun would have
extracted it and run it from there; otherwise,
Palrun would have looked in your DOS path for
WordPerfect.
PALRUN /P WP MYFILE
-- Same as the foregoing, except that Palrun comes
to rest at the Palrun Prompt for continued
operation.
PALRUN /P
-- Palrun loads and stops at the Palrun Prompt,
without executing any program.
PALRUN @\WP\WPFILES.LZH WP MYFILE
-- Same as the first example, except that instead
of looking in your Palhouse, Palrun looks in the
archive with the specification of \WP\WPFILES.LZH.
PALRUN WP MYFILE ^ DEL *.BK!
-- Palrun looks in your Palhouse or DOS to execute
WordPerfect to edit MYFILE. Then, after you leave
WordPerfect, Palrun will delete your backup files
and return to DOS.
PALRUN MYALIAS FIRSTPARAMETER SECONDPARAMETER
-- Assuming that MYALIAS is one of your Aliases,
Palrun will run the commands in MYALIAS, passing
FIRSTPARAMETER and SECONDPARAMETER to those places
in your definition in which you inserted "%1" and
"%2," then returning to DOS.
15
CHAPTER 2: REQUIREMENTS
One requirement which you should observe immediately is to
look among your distribution files for one which is named
PALRREAD.ME. This file will include any changes to this
documentation that may require your attention.
2.1 Hardware Requirements
Any IBM-PC or compatible computer running DOS 2.0 or higher
will work fine with Palrun. If you want to use Alter Egos (see
Chapter 14 below at page 61) you will need DOS 3.0 or higher.
The amount of RAM in your computer is not ordinarily a
consideration, since Palrun requires less memory to load itself
than most application programs. Palrun needs about 215K of free
RAM in order to load. When running another program from Palrun,
Palrun swaps most of itself out of memory, leaving only a small
kernel behind, so Palrun takes up only a few kilobytes at that
time.
If you're thinking about loading Palrun into a window of
multitasking or task-switching software, the size of your window
ought to be (1) the largest size requirement of any program that
you intend to run from Palrun, plus (2) about 4K for the kernel
that Palrun leaves behind, plus (3) whatever overhead your
multitasking software needs to do its own work.
A hard disk is very highly recommended. Even though using
Palrun on a floppy-only system is possible, it is very
impractical given Palrun's temporary disk space requirements.
For instance, whenever Palrun performs an operation to extract
from an archive or to run any program, it requires about 170K of
free disk space for its swap file on the current drive, unless
you have EMS and have instructed Palrun to swap itself to EMS.
If you do not have sufficient free disk space on the current
drive, Palrun will warn you that it cannot proceed.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
2.2 The Benefits of Expanded Memory
Expanded memory (EMS) is not required, but if your system
does contain EMS, Palrun can take advantage of it in three ways.
First, when Palrun executes a program, it removes most of
itself from memory to free up RAM. If EMS is available, Palrun
will automatically swap itself to EMS. Otherwise, the swap will
go to a swap file on your disk. Using EMS will substantially
speed the process. A customizable parameter in the Setup
procedure (see section 17.5.2 at page 89) permits you to instruct
Palrun NOT to use EMS for swapping if you want to retain the
greatest amount of EMS for other programs. At this writing,
swapping to EMS will take up about 180K of EMS, while swapping to
disk will create a swap file of about 170K.
Second, much of Palrun's activity requires extraction of
files so that you can run them, edit them or view them. Another
customizable parameter (see section 17.4.1 at page 81) is the
ability to specify an output path for the extraction process. If
you create a RAM-disk of sufficient size to accommodate the
largest file that you might extract, then operations will proceed
much faster than if the extractions are made directly to your
hard disk. To create a RAM-disk, you need either EMS or extended
memory and appropriate software (not furnished with Palrun).
Third, in order to reduce Palrun's memory requirements and
the amount of code which needs to be swapped to disk or EMS, we
have compiled Palrun with a separate overlay file. Palrun dips
into the overlay file from time to time as it picks up portions
of code that it needs in different circumstances. If you have
EMS, the entire overlay file will be brought into EMS so that
fetching the overlaid code does not require any disk access at
all. At this writing, the overlay code will take up about 213K
of EMS. Another customizable parameter in the Setup procedure
(see section 17.5.2 at page 89) allows you to disable loading the
overlay code into EMS if you desire to reserve EMS for other
purposes.
2.3 Required Palrun Files
Palrun comes distributed with the following files:
PALRUN.EXE The program file
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
PALRUN.OVR The overlay file
PALRUN.HLP The help file
PALRUN.DOC This documentation
PALRREAD.ME Updates PALRUN.DOC
PALWP.BAT Sample BAT file referred to in
Chapter 7
ORDER.FRM Order form to register Palrun and
to order Pal and Palarm
VENDOR.DOC Disk vendors must read this file
SYSOP.DOC Special offer to BBS Sysops
PAL21.INF Info file on PAL version 2.1
PALRUN20.INF Info file on Palrun version 2.0
PALTER.EXE Program to create Alter Egos
NOIBMPRN.EXE Program to print documentation
w/o IBM graphics characters
Only the EXE, OVR and HLP files are needed to use all the
capabilities of Palrun. Place them in a subdirectory which
resides in your DOS path. It is not absolutely necessary to use
the HLP file, but in its absence you will not be able to access
the on-line, context-sensitive help.
2.4 Required Compression/Extraction Programs
Palrun does not accomplish the extraction of files from
archives all by itself. Instead, it relies on the original
extraction and compression programs which pertain to the type of
archive with which you are dealing.
Thus, in order to work effectively with a particular type of
archive, you will need the original extraction program that is
designed for that archive. For instance, if you want to run,
view, edit or delete a file from inside a ZOO archive, then you
must have ZOO.EXE available on your system.
Make sure that the compression/extraction programs that you
will be using are located in a subdirectory which resides in your
DOS path. Palrun will do all the rest of the work.
It is important to note that there is no requirement that
you have access to ALL the archiving programs referred to here.
You only need the archiving program or programs that work with
the type of archive or archives that you intend to use.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
The programs for which Palrun is preconfigured to extract
from archives include the following:
Normal
Program Archive
Name Extension Author
ARC ARC Systems Enhancement Associates
ARCE ARC Vern Buerg
DWC DWC Dean W. Cooper
LHARC LZH Haruyasu Yoshizaki
PAK PAK,ARC,ZIP NoGate Consulting
PKUNPAK/PKPAKARC PKWare
PKUNZIP/PKZIPZIP PKWare
ZOO ZOO Rahul Dhesi
Since a number of different programs can extract from ARC-
type archives, you may specify any of four different extraction
programs for this purpose. They are ARC.EXE (the original ARC-
type compression program), ARCE.EXE, PAK.EXE and PKUNPAK.EXE.
Palrun's Setup procedure permits you to choose any of these four
to handle ARC archives (see section 17.4.3 at page 87). Although
PKWare ceased marketing PKPAK and PKUNPAK in January, 1989,
pursuant to an agreement with the authors of ARC, many users may
still own these programs.
PAK, from NoGate Consulting, will handle ZIP archives
starting with PAK version 2.5. Therefore, we give you the option
of using either PKZIP or PAK (See section 17.4.4 at page 87) for
ZIP archives.
ARCE.COM is a bit of an anomaly in that its normal companion
compression program, ARCA.COM, is not suitable for everyday use
to freshen an existing archive. Thus, you will have to select
one of the three other ARC compression programs if you select
ARCE.COM as your extractor of choice. This selection is made in
the Setup procedure (see section 17.4.2.2 at page 84).
2.5 Optional Editing and Viewing Programs
Palrun gives you the chance to edit or view files from
within an archive using your favorite word processor and/or file
viewing programs.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
If you want to activate Palrun's ability to edit or view a
file from within an archive, you must use the Setup procedure to
designate each program that you want to use for those two
purposes.
See section 17.7 at page 95 for information on setting your
file viewing program. See section 17.8 at page 98 for guidance
on specifying your editor.
In addition to specifying the name of the word processor
and/or file viewer within the Setup procedure, you must make sure
that the designated program resides in a subdirectory in your DOS
path.
2.6 Optional Timed Events With Pal and Palarm
PAL (the Personal Appointment Locator) in conjunction with
its companion resident program Palarm allows you to create an
infinite variety of alarms, and these alarms may be created for a
once-in-a-lifetime occurrence or to repeat in a pattern of your
design.
Each alarm has the ability to set in motion an event on your
computer. In particular, if your computer is resting at the
Palrun Prompt (or the DOS prompt) you can issue a command with an
alarm. Furthermore, if your computer is resting within an
application program at the time of the alarm, Palarm can test
whether conditions are right for the event to commence. In all
cases, you can have keystrokes issued as if you were sitting
right there at the keyboard, even though you may be continents
away at that moment.
This timed event capability is available only with PAL and
Palarm versions 2.1 and above. PAL and Palarm are products of
PAL Software NY. You may order them by printing out the
ORDER.FRM file which is included with the distribution files of
Palrun. For more details about PAL, see the file PAL21.INF
included with the distribution files.
20
CHAPTER 3: INSTALLATION
3.1 Basic Installation
Installation of Palrun is extremely simple.
Take the following three files:
PALRUN.EXE
PALRUN.OVR
PALRUN.HLP
and copy them to a subdirectory in your DOS path.
Next, if you intend to utilize a Palhouse (see section 1.4
at page 10, above) so that Palrun can automatically run programs
that have been compressed into an archive, you must specify your
default Palhouse. If you choose not to utilize a Palhouse, you
can still use the other features of Palrun, but you will be
missing out on one of the features that makes Palrun so powerful.
To set up a Palhouse, the first thing you need to do is
create an archive for this purpose in a subdirectory in your DOS
path. For instance, on distribution Palrun assumes that the name
of your Palhouse is PALHOUSE.ZIP. Use your favorite compression
program to create such an archive. You might wind up with
MYHOUSE.ARC or ARCHIVE.LZH depending on what program you use and
what your whims tell you to call the base name of the archive.
The actual process of creating an archive with your program
is beyond the scope of this documentation; please consult the
documentation of your compression program if you are unsure of
the process.
Now that you have created an archive, you need to tell
Palrun its name and where to find it. For this purpose, you will
need to enter the Setup procedure. From the DOS prompt, issue
the command:
PALRUN SETUP
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
Palrun will load and bring you to the main Setup menu, which
will look like this:
Palrun Setup
Aliases and Menu
Colors
Extractor information
Miscellaneous information
Palhouse information
Viewer information
Wordprocessor information
File Save and Load
Restore distribution defaults
Save changes into Palrun & exit
This session only
Use the cursor keys to highlight the entry that says
"Palhouse information" and then strike the
be presented with a new menu similar to the following:
Palhouse Information
Name of file for Palhouse:
PALHOUSE.ZIP
Path where Palhouse is located:
Anywhere in the DOS path
Search DOS before Palhouse?:
NO
If the archive that you created to act as your Palhouse is
named other than PALHOUSE.ZIP, then make sure the phrase "Name of
file for Palhouse:" is highlighted and then press
may then provide the name of the archive that you created, Press
above menu and see that the name has changed.
You may also change the second entry on the menu to indicate
a specific location of your Palhouse. This is not necessary so
long as your Palhouse is in the DOS path, but specifying a
particular directory will increase the speed of Palrun's
operation by a fraction of a second.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
For now, leave the third entry on the menu as it is.
When you have completed your changes to the "Palhouse
Information" menu, press
menu. Move the highlight bar to the entry on the menu that reads
"Save changes into Palrun & exit" and press
You will be asked whether you want to save to a file of a
different name -- just strike the
the question. The PALRUN.EXE file will now be physically changed
to include the information that you supplied.
The very last step in your basic installation is to make
sure that the compression and extraction programs that you need
(see section 2.4 at page 18, above) can also be found in your DOS
path.
3.2 Advanced Installation
Section 3.1 describes all you need to do for basic operation
of Palrun, but if you want to be able to edit or view a file from
a PCKHOUSE or PCKDIR pick list, you will have to enter the Setup
procedure to specify the editor and/or file viewer that you
prefer to use. See section 17.7 at page 95 for information on
setting your file viewing program. See section 17.8 at page 98
for guidance on specifying your editor.
To utilize the "Super" CHDIR feature, Palrun needs to have
stored all your subdirectory information to disk. If you would
like to initialize that information, see the hint at page 108.
Other than that, there's no additional installation for you
to utilize all of Palrun's features.
You may wish to browse through the Setup Chapter (Chapter 17
beginning at page 74) to see the extensive possibilities for
customization, but no other changes are required.
3.3 Colors
A note about color -- on distribution of Palrun, you will
witness that colors are set in basic black and white. Although
this is clearly the most boring choice, it is also the safest,
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
particularly for persons with laptop computers that do not
produce color distinctions well.
You may change the colors in the Colors section of Setup.
If you happen to have reset the colors to something that makes
your screen difficult to read, you can always return the colors
to black and white in the Colors section, or you can use the
Restore command from the Setup menu to return everything to its
state upon original program distribution.
HINT: If you have received this program for evaluation
from another user, and the colors set by the prior user are so
unreadable on your machine that you cannot even understand how to
make it through the Setup procedure to restore the original black
and white colors, here's the sequence that you need to follow
from the DOS prompt (Don't type the "
to press the "Enter" key, which might be described on your
keyboard as the "Return" key):
PALRUN S
R
S
24
CHAPTER 4: THE LINE EDITOR
Palrun's line editor permits you to enter and edit commands
easily at the Palrun Prompt as well as to provide input in
creating Aliases, menus and answering questions posed to you in
the Setup procedure.
Ordinarily the line editor will present you with text that
it has guessed that you want to start with. For instance, at the
Palrun Prompt you will usually be presented with the most
recently executed Commandline. For text entry in the Setup
procedure, the line editor will present you with the choice which
had previously been selected for that parameter.
You will see the cursor resting at the end of the line of
text that the line editor shows you.
If what you want to do is add to what has been presented to
you, then press
If you want to type in something entirely new, then touching
any normal character key (other than
guessed-at text and permit you to enter your new information.
If you want to retain much of the guessed-at text but want
to make modifications, then the line editor gives you a very
flexible means to do this, as described below.
You can get by very well with the line editor without
reading this Chapter simply by relying on the cursor keys, ,
intuitively would expect. However, if you want to make use of
more flexible editing commands, read on.
All the possible editing commands are shown in the table
below. Many of the commands in the line editor have more than
one possible way to execute them. When this is the case, the
alternatives in the table are separated by a comma.
Some keys need to be pressed in combination with the
key. For instance, the indication of
first press the
A very few commands require not only a control key
combination, but also a third key. For instance, the indication
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
of
combination, and then press thekey.
TABLE OF LINE EDITOR COMMANDS
-----------------------------
Accept the line --
, or, if using a mouse, you may click the
button.
Quit without changing line --
, , or if using a mouse, you may click the
button.
Cursor Movement --
Left:,
Right:,
Left One Word:,
Right One Word:,
Start of Line:,
End of Line:,
Insert vs. Overwrite --
The line editor almost always starts in overwrite mode (For
the one case in which the line editor starts in insert mode,
see Section 5.5.2 at page 32). If you move the cursor to a
position already occupied by a character, any new key that
you type will overwrite the pre-existing character.
If you would like to insert a character or characters, then
you can change from overwrite mode to insert mode by
striking the key. Your cursor will change to a large
block cursor to signify that you have entered insert mode.
Now, any key that you type will be inserted at the position
of the cursor, without overwriting the existing character.
You may toggle back and forth between overwrite mode and
insert mode with successive presses of the key. You
can always tell which mode you are in by looking at the
cursor. A fat block cursor signifies insert mode, while a
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
thin line cursor below the characters signifies overwrite
mode.
Deletions --
Delete Char at Cursor:,
Delete Char before Cursor:, ,
Delete Word:
Delete to end of line:,
Delete entire line:, ,
Restore original contents of line --
,
Pop up on-line, context-sensitive help --
, or, if using a mouse, click the buttons
simultaneously.
Summary of mouse control --
Accept Entry -- same as
Make No Change -- same as
Help -- same as
In general, throughout Palrun, thebutton on your
mouse will be the equivalent of, while the button
is equivalent to, and is equivalent to .
For 3-button mice, the following commands are initially
defined for the additional button combinations. You may change
these definitions in the Setup procedure.
MENU
QUEUE
PCKDIR
PCKHOUSE
27
CHAPTER 5: SELECTING FROM PICK LISTS
There are several circumstances in which Palrun will present
you with the opportunity to select from a group of choices set
forth in a pop-up window. These circumstances include:
1. Selecting a target file from within an archive for
running, editing, viewing or deleting (the PCKHOUSE or
PH commands). See Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
2. Selecting a target file from a subdirectory for
running, editing, viewing or deleting (the PCKDIR or PD
commands). See Chapters 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
3. Selecting a previously executed Commandline from your
Commandline Queue (the QUEUE or Q commands). See
Chapter 12.
4. Selecting among a group of archives to choose one to be
your current Palhouse after having used a nonspecific
pointer on your Commandline, such as "@\COMM\DOWN\*".
See Chapter 13.
5. Selecting an Alias to be placed on your Commandline
(the PCKALIAS or PA commands). See Chapter 15.
6. Selecting an action from your custom menu. See Chapter
16.
7. Selecting an Alias to edit within Setup. See Chapter
15.
8. Selecting a menu item to edit within Setup. See
Chapter 16.
9. Selecting a subdirectory to change to when using the
CHDIR / CD command in a nonspecific way or when using
"Super" CHDIR. See Section 18.1 at page 104.
In all the pick lists, you use the same methods for placing
the highlight bar over your selection. Strikingwill
initiate a default action in each instance. In some
circumstances, the window header will set forth function key
definitions for additional actions that may be taken.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
When the pick list pops up, you will be presented with a
sequence of choices. In all but one of the possible pick lists,
Palrun is set up to display your choices in alphabetical order;
you can change the sort order in your PCKDIR and PCKHOUSE pick
lists. When examining the Commandline Queue, your choices will
always be presented in the order in which your Commandlines were
previously executed.
If there are more choices available than can comfortably fit
in the current window, then the window will let you know.
You have three methods of making a selection from a pick
list. One is using the cursor keys. The second is using a name
search technique. If you have a mouse, then you have a third
method of selecting, as described in Section 5.4 at the end of
this Chapter.
5.1 Choosing With the Cursor Keys
One of the choices will be highlighted when the pick list
pops up.
The highlight bar will move around the window as you press
any cursor key. When the highlight bar is resting on the entry
that you would like to select, you are ready to initiate the
action, usually with thekey.
5.2 Choosing With Name Search
Besides using the cursor keys to move through the list, you
can also move the highlight bar to a specific choice by using
your keyboard to begin typing the name of the choice. Usually,
you will move the highlight bar to your choice with a minimum of
keystrokes in this fashion.
When the first alphabetic character is entered, the
highlight bar moves to the next item which starts with that
character. Another alpha character moves the highlight bar to
the next item that starts with the two characters entered, and so
on. As you type, a record of your keystrokes will be displayed
at the lower left corner of the window.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
Character matching is not case sensitive, and searching is
performed in a circular fashion -- if no item beyond the current
one matches, the search continues at the start of the list.
When the highlight bar is placed on the item that you want,
you can then initiate your action, usually by pressing.
5.3 Exiting the Pick List
You can always exit the pick list, without making any
choice, by pressing.
5.4 Using a Mouse
If you use a mouse, selecting a file takes two clicks.
First, you move the highlight bar by placing the mouse cursor
over a choice and pressing.
Once the highlight bar has moved to the position of the
mouse cursor, to activate the choice hita second time.
When function keys other thanare set forth at the top
of the pick list window (e.g.through ), you may select
those functions by moving the mouse cursor to the "chicklet"
corresponding to that function at the top of the window, then
clicking with thebutton. Alternatively, if you have a
three-button mouse, the following button combinations are the
equivalent ofthrough :
Theis used as the equivalent of . It will
drop you out of the pick list without making any selection.
Hitting thebuttons simultaneously is the
equivalent of, which calls up the on-line, context-sensitive
help.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
If there are more items available for selection than can fit
in the window, a scroll bar will appear within the right hand
frame of the window. The scroll bar has several capabilities.
At the upper and lower corners of the frame, vertical arrows are
displayed. The list will scroll by one row whenever the mouse
cursor has been positioned over one of these arrows andis
pressed.
The scroll bar will also display a block character within
the vertical frame to indicate the approximate position of the
current item within the overall list. If you place the mouse
cursor at a different position within the scroll bar and press
then Palrun will display a different set of items
corresponding to the range at which you placed the mouse cursor.
5.5 Activating Your Selection
Once you have placed the highlight bar on the selection of
your choice, you may activate the selection, usually by pressing
.
The effect of making a selection will vary depending on the
particular pick list:
5.5.1 PCKHOUSE Pick Lists
When you select a target file from within an archive for
running (using the PCKHOUSE or PH commands) the name of that file
will be placed at the Palrun Prompt. You can execute that
program immediately with a second strike of, or you may
wish to add some parameters with the line editor before
executing.
You have three additional actions that may be taken with a
selected file.will permit you to edit the file, will
permit you to view it, andwill permit you to delete it.
Strikingpermits you to control the sort order and level of
detail of the pick list display and also change the filemask.
With editing and viewing, the action is initiated as soon as
you press those keys. There is no interim placement of the
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
target file onto the Commandline as there is when you select a
program or batch file for execution.
With the delete function, you are requested for confirmation
before deletion is accomplished.
5.5.2 PCKDIR Pick Lists
When you select a target file from within a subdirectory
pick list (the PCKDIR or PD commands), what happens with that
file will depend on its nature.
If the file is an executable file (COM, EXE or BAT
extension), then the name of that file will be placed at the
Palrun Prompt. You can execute that program immediately with a
second strike of, or you may wish to add some parameters
with the line editor before executing.
If the file is a subdirectory name, then Palrun will present
you with a new pick list displaying the contents of that
subdirectory.
If the file is an archive, its name will be brought to the
Palrun Prompt, preceded by the "@" character, so that one more
press of thekey will make that archive your current
Palhouse.
If the selection is any other type of file, Palrun assumes
you want to DO something to that file, so its name is brought to
the Palrun Prompt, with the cursor at the beginning of the line
in insert mode.
You have three additional actions that may be taken with a
selected file.will permit you to edit the file, will
permit you to view it, andwill permit you to delete it.
Strikingpermits you to control the sort order and level of
detail of the pick list display and change the filemask.
With editing and viewing, the action is initiated as soon as
you press those keys. There is no interim placement of the
target file onto the Commandline as there is when you select a
program or batch file for execution.
With the delete function, you are requested for confirmation
before deletion is accomplished. If the selected entry is a
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
subdirectory, it will be removed if it is vacant. If the
selected file is a protected file, you will be warned that the
file is protected, but Palrun will also give you the option to go
ahead and delete the file if you really want to.
5.5.3 Archive Pointer Pick Lists
If you use the "@" pointing operation to select from among a
group of archives, making the selection will immediately make
that archive active, and Palrun will read a list of its contents
into memory.
When you return to the Palrun Prompt, the command PCKHOUSE
will already have been placed there for you, so that with a
second strike ofyou can quickly get another pick list of
the contents of that active archive.
5.5.4 PCKALIAS Pick Lists
When you select an Alias with the PCKALIAS or PA commands,
your Alias will be placed on the Palrun Prompt. You can add
parameters, if desired, prior to execution with a second strike
of.
5.5.5 QUEUE Pick Lists
When you select a previously executed Commandline from your
Commandline Queue (with the QUEUE or Q commands), the selected
Commandline will be placed on the Palrun Prompt so that you can
edit and/or re-execute.
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5.5.6 Custom Menu Pick Lists
When you select an action from your custom menu, the command
associated with that menu item will be executed immediately. If
your command anticipates the possibility that you might want to
add parameters (i.e., it is an Alias which contains "%1" and/or
"%2" etc. or you specified the need to pause when you created the
menu entry), it will pause to give you an opportunity to supply
additional parameters.
5.5.7 Setup's Aliases and Menus Pick Lists
In the Setup procedure under "Aliases and Menus" you will be
using pick lists to add, edit, delete and rename Aliases and menu
items. Actions are initiated with the function keys as set forth
at the top of the pick list window.
5.5.8 CHDIR Pick Lists
When using a pick list to select a subdirectory with the
CHDIR / CD command, accepting a subdirectory will result in an
immediate change to the drive and subdirectory of your choice.
You can use thekey to change drives, and you can hit
to force Palrun to rebuild its directory tree information.
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CHAPTER 6: OBTAINING A DIRECTORY (PCKHOUSE & PCKDIR)
Palrun provides a common user interface for examining the
contents of an archive or a subdirectory. Using this interface,
your archive contents will not seem very much different from the
contents of a subdirectory.
PCKHOUSE (which may be abbreviated to PH) is the internal
command to summon a pick list of your current Palhouse.
PCKDIR (which may be abbreviated to PD) is the internal
command to summon a pick list of a subdirectory.
The syntax for using both commands is identical:
PCKHOUSE [filemask] [/sortoptions]
PCKDIR [filemask] [/sortoptions]
The items in brackets refer to optional parameters.
"Filemask" refers to the wildcard specification to describe
the files you would like to show. If you do not provide a
filemask, then PCKHOUSE will show all files in the current
Palhouse and PCKDIR will show all files in the current
subdirectory. The "Filemask" for PCKDIR may begin with a drive
and subdirectory designation.
"Sortoptions" refers to the manner in which files are sorted
and the level of detail provided. You specify these options by
typing the "/" character, followed by a character for the sort
order and/or a character for the level of detail. The applicable
characters are:
N - Sort by name
E - Sort by extension
D - Sort by date
S - Sort by size
B - Brief detail
R - Regular detail
L - Lengthy detail
If you specify more than one sort order or more than one
detail level, then only the last-specified one will take effect.
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If you do not specify any sort options, then those which are
specified in the Setup procedure will be used. Once you specify
sort options with a PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE command, or by using
from within a directory or archive pick list, these options will
hold throughout the remainder of your current Palrun session or
until the next time you make a modification.
Examples:
PCKDIR
-- Provides a pick list of all files in the
current subdirectory.
PCKHOUSE
-- Provides a pick list of all files in the
current Palhouse.
PH *.EXE /d
-- Shows only EXE files in the Palhouse, sorted
by date.
PD c:\dos /nl
-- Shows the entire contents of C:\DOS, sorted
by name, showing lengthy detail.
PH /nelb
-- Shows all files in your Palhouse, sorted by
extension and showing brief detail. The "n" and
"l" sort instructions are overridden by the later
"e" and "b" instructions.
PD B?.*
-- Shows files in the current subdirectory whose
name starts with "B" and is followed by one
additional character. It may or may not have an
extension.
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Once you obtain your pick list, you have the following
options:
Select a file for "running"
Summon on-line help
Edit the file
View the file
Delete the file
Change sort order, detail or filemask
Leave the pick list
"Running" files is covered in Chapter 7 at page 38.
Editing files is covered in Chapter 8 at page 43.
Viewing files is covered in Chapter 9 at page 46.
Deleting files is covered in Chapter 10 at page 49.
Changing the sort order or level of detail is covered in
Chapter 11 at page 51.
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CHAPTER 7: "RUNNING" A TARGET FILE
You can "run" a file from a pick list of the contents of
your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you
can do any of the following:
*Select a file for "running"
Summon on-line help
Edit the file
View the file
Delete the file
Change sort order, detail or filemask
Leave the pick list
To choose a file for "running," use the cursor keys, the
name search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar
over the entry of your choice. Then tap thekey.
As used in this chapter, the term "to run" means many
things. When selecting a file from an archive pick list with the
PCKHOUSE or PH command, the sole purpose is to extract an
executable file (EXE, COM or BAT extension) automatically in
order to execute it. When selecting a file from a subdirectory
pick list, the action taken depends on the nature of that file.
7.1 Running Files From an Archive
There are two ways to run a file from within an archive.
One uses Palrun as a transient program and the other uses Palrun
as a permanent shell program. These methods are described in
detail in Chapter 1 at page 7. The purpose of this section is
to provide further details and guidance.
Once you get the hang of using Palrun, you may be tempted to
throw every single EXE, COM and BAT file into your Palhouse.
Don't.
Some files are simply inappropriate for inclusion in a
Palhouse. Here's a listing of what we think you ought to keep
outside: (1) files that you will need available just to run
Palrun, (2) programs that install themselves as resident
programs, (3) programs which are called by other programs, (4)
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
programs which you use all the time and for which you do not want
to pay a speed penalty, and (5) programs whose setup routines
permanently modify the program file.
Here's a discussion of each of these types of files:
1. Files that you will need available just to run Palrun:
PALRUN.EXE, PALRUN.OVR, PALRUN.HLP
Your compression/extraction programs
Your editor and viewer configured in Setup procedure
2. Programs that install themselves as resident programs,
for instance:
SK.COM SideKick
PALARM.EXE Resident alarm handler for PAL
CAUTION: Do not load a resident program from Palrun. Your
system has a good chance of locking up.
3. Programs which are called by other programs. We'll
refer to this type of program as a helper program.
For instance, your compression/extraction programs are
helper programs for Palrun. Similarly, DSZ.EXE (a widely used
communications protocol program) could be considered a helper
program for your communications program. Any program which will
be invoked by one of your application programs should be
considered a helper program. If a helper program were to reside
within a Palhouse, then the main application program would not be
able to find it.
Hint: Helper programs may be placed into your default
archive if you create Alter Egos for them. See Chapter 14 below
at page 61. An Alter Ego hides from your application program the
fact that the program it needs to invoke is compressed within an
archive.
4. Programs which you use all the time.
Notwithstanding our use of WordPerfect as an example in our
sample batch file PALWP.BAT, you may be a heavy WordPerfect user,
going in and out of WordPerfect several times a day. Each time
you invoke PALWP.BAT with Palrun, you might become impatient at
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
the repetitive extraction of WordPerfect. The time penalty may
not be worth the disk savings. Only you can balance that
decision.
5. Programs whose setup routines modify the programs
themselves, as Palrun does.
Examples of this type of self-modifying programs include
Vern Buerg's LIST, and PAL Software's PAL, both of which permit
you to clone new versions of the program to include changes that
you have made to start-up defaults and information. Since the
very last thing that Palrun does after executing such a program
is to delete that program from your disk, any changes which have
been made to that program will be lost. This may not be a major
problem with LIST, since you may not change it often, but for a
program like PAL, which you may modify daily to change the
appointments records contained internally, this could be a real
hassle.
HINT: One way of getting around this problem with self-
modifying programs while still obtaining the benefits of
compression is simply not to store them within your Palhouse.
Instead, store them in a separate archive and summon the program
from a batch file that IS stored in your Palhouse. The batch
file itself would handle the task of issuing commands to extract
the program, etc. Then when you have finished executing the
program, have the batch file use the switches that your
compression program needs to move a changed file back into the
archive. See the included sample batch file PALWP.BAT for an
example.
7.2 Running Files From a Subdirectory
You can always run an executable file from the Palrun Prompt
merely by typing its name at the Palrun Prompt and striking
. So long as the program or batch file can be found in
the current subdirectory or in your DOS path, Palrun will find
and run the file.
What Palrun does to enhance this capability is give you the
ultimate flexibility of the PCKDIR command. Remember that you
can use PD as an abbreviation. When using the PCKDIR command,
the term "run" takes on new meaning.
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Palrun 2.0 Documentation
When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it
and striking, what happens with that file depends on its
nature.
7.2.1 Selecting Executable Files
If your selection is an executable file (with extension of
EXE, COM or BAT), its name will be brought to the Palrun Prompt
for adding additional parameters or editing if you like. One
more tap of thekey will execute it.
7.2.2 Selecting Archives
If your selection is an archive, then its name will be
brought to the Palrun Prompt, preceded by the "@" character.
This signifies the pointing operation.
If you want Palrun to use that archive as its currently
active Palhouse, then all you need to do is strikea
second time. Palrun will update its internal table of contents
of your Palhouse, and the status line will reflect the selected
archive as your new Palhouse. You will find yourself at the
Palrun Prompt with the word "PCKHOUSE" as the assumed command.
If you would like to view the contents of your newly selected
Palhouse, then all it takes is a third press of thekey.
Palrun will present you with a pick list of the contents of your
new Palhouse, from which you can accomplish any activity that is
available in an archive pick list.
HINT: If you want to choose an archive from a
subdirectory pick list and move to a pick list of that archive's
contents, all you need to do is place the highlight bar on the
archive name, then pressthree times in succession.
7.2.3 Selecting Directories
If your selection is a subdirectory, then Palrun will bring
up another pick list showing all the files in that subdirectory.
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HINT: If you sort your pick list by size, you will find
that all your subdirectories will bubble to the top of the list,
since they have zero size. This makes it easy for you to
navigate through pick lists of all the subdirectories on your
disk by using the technique of highlighting a subdirectory entry
and tapping thekey. You will notice that in all but the
root directory of your disk the display will show as your first
entry ".. (Parent)" -- which, you guessed it, refers to the
parent subdirectory of the one you are presently viewing. If you
highlight the ".. (Parent)" entry and pressyou will be
taken to a new pick list of the parent subdirectory which will be
headed up with all the subdirectories that lie beneath it.
7.2.4 Selecting Other Files
If your selection is anything other than an executable file,
an archive or a subdirectory, Palrun assumes that you want to use
that file as the object of some operation. Thus, when the Palrun
Prompt appears, the name of the file will appear there, but you
will find the cursor at the beginning of the line in insert mode,
ready to accept the name of a command to which you may desire to
feed the selected file as a parameter.
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CHAPTER 8: EDITING A TARGET FILE
You can edit a file from a pick list of the contents of your
current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do
any of the following:
Select a file for "running"
Summon on-line help
*Edit the file
View the file
Delete the file
Change sort order, detail or filemask
Leave the pick list
To choose a file for editing, use the cursor keys, the name
search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over
the entry of your choice. Then tap thekey.
To edit a file from within an archive or subdirectory pick
list, you need first to make sure that you set up Palrun to use
your favorite editor or word processing program. This you need
to do only once. For details on how to do this, see section 17.8
at page 98.
8.1 Editing Files From an Archive
Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to
bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the
highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to edit,
then touch thekey.
Palrun will now extract the target file from the archive,
then run your word processing program in order to edit the file.
Once the editing is completed, Palrun will move the changed file
back into the archive, supplanting the original version.
If you want Palrun to delete any backup files that your word
processor creates, then be sure to designate in the Setup
procedure the extension that the program uses for backups.
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When Palrun runs your editor, it does so with the following
command:
EDITPROGRAM [PREFIXPARAMS] EXTRACTEDFILE [SUFFIXPARAMS]
where EditProgram is the name of the editor you specified in
Setup, ExtractedFile is the name of the file on which you placed
the highlight bar, and PrefixParams and SuffixParams are the
optional prefix and suffix information, if any, that you may have
specified in the Setup procedure.
HINT: Just because thekey is associated with the
word "Edit," that doesn't mean that you have to use it for an
editing program. You can designate any other type of program
that you want. For instance, if you develop software, instead of
filling in the name of a word processor in Setup, you could
provide the name of a debugging program. Then, when you place
the highlight bar over a file inside an archive and press,
Palrun will run your debugger instead of a word processor.
As a further example, if you do want to edit a program but
want to do several operations that you have set up in a batch
file, you can feed Setup the name of your batch file instead of
the word processor. Naturally, you would want the batch file
itself to call the word processor. In setting up your batch
file, be aware of the order in which parameters will be passed by
Palrun, as set forth in the syntax just above.
8.2 Editing Files From a Subdirectory
Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the
subdirectory of your choice.
When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it
and striking, the editor or word processor that you
specified in the Setup procedure will be summoned to edit that
file.
The action taken is quite similar to that which happens when
you strikewhen selecting a file from within an archive pick
list. The major difference is that Palrun does not automatically
delete the backup file when you are editing from within a
subdirectory. The decision whether to get rid of a backup file
is left to your manual discretion in this situation.
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You cannot edit a file whose attributes mark it as a
directory entry, a volume label or read-only, and most editors
and word processors will not be able to detect the presence of a
system or hidden file, even though the file may appear in
Palrun's subdirectory pick list.
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CHAPTER 9: VIEWING A TARGET FILE
You can view a file from a pick list of the contents of your
current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you can do
any of the following:
Select a file for "running"
Summon on-line help
Edit the file
*View the file
Delete the file
Change sort order, detail or filemask
Leave the pick list
To choose a file for viewing, use the cursor keys, the name
search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over
the entry of your choice. Then tap thekey.
To view a file from within an archive or subdirectory pick
list, you need first to make sure that you set up Palrun to use
your favorite viewing program. This you need to do only once.
For details on how to do this, see section 17.7 at page 95.
9.1 Viewing a File From Within an Archive
Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to
bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the
highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to view,
then touch thekey.
Palrun will now extract the target file from the archive,
then run your file viewing program in order to browse the file.
Once the viewing is completed, Palrun will delete the extracted
file from your disk.
SUGGESTION: One very useful application for the ability
to view files from an archive is that you might want to move all
your *.DOC and *.TXT files into a single archive. If you make
that archive the current Palhouse by pointing to it, you can get
a listing of its contents with the PCKHOUSE command, center the
highlight bar on the documentation file of your choice, and then
pressto view the documentation.
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HINT: If you are looking to do some housecleaning of
your archives, you will find that the ability to view a file from
the pick list fits together nicely with the ability to delete a
file (see Chapter 10 at page 49, immediately below). Once you
have finished viewing the file, you will see that the highlight
bar remains on that target. If you want to delete it, just
strike thekey.
When Palrun runs your file viewer, it does so with the
following command:
VIEWPROGRAM [PREFIXPARAMS] EXTRACTEDFILE [SUFFIXPARAMS]
where ViewProgram is the name of the file viewer you specified in
Setup, ExtractedFile is the name of the file on which you placed
the highlight bar, and PrefixParams and SuffixParams are the
optional prefix and suffix information, if any, that you may have
specified in the Setup procedure.
HINT: Just because thekey is associated with the
word "View," that doesn't mean that you have to use it for a file
viewing program. You can designate any other type of program
that you want. For instance, if you develop software, instead of
filling in the name of a file viewing program in Setup, you could
provide the name of a debugging program. Then, when you place
the highlight bar over a program inside an archive and press
, Palrun will run your debugger instead of a file viewing
program.
As a further example, if you do want to view a program but
want to do several operations that you have set up in a batch
file, you can feed Setup the name of your batch file instead of
the file viewing program; naturally, you would want the batch
file itself to call the viewer. In setting up your batch file,
be aware of the order in which parameters will be passed by
Palrun, as set forth in the syntax just above.
9.2 Viewing a Target File From a Subdirectory
Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the
subdirectory of your choice.
When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it
and striking, the file viewer that you specified in the
Setup procedure will be summoned to view that file.
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The action taken is quite similar to that which happens when
you strikewhen selecting a file from within an archive pick
list.
You cannot view a file whose attributes mark it as a
directory entry or volume label, and most file viewing programs
will not be able to detect the presence of a system or hidden
file, even though the file may appear in Palrun's subdirectory
pick list.
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CHAPTER 10: DELETING A TARGET FILE
You can delete a file from a pick list of the contents of
your current Palhouse or subdirectory. From the pick list, you
can do any of the following:
Select a file for "running"
Summon on-line help
Edit the file
View the file
*Delete the file
Change sort order, detail or filemask
Leave the pick list
To choose a file for deletion, use the cursor keys, the name
search technique, or your mouse to center the highlight bar over
the entry of your choice. Then tap thekey.
10.1 Deleting a File From an Archive
Use the PCKHOUSE or PH command from the Palrun Prompt to
bring up a pick list of your current Palhouse. Place the
highlight bar over the name of the file that you want to delete,
then touch thekey.
Palrun will ask you to confirm that you want to delete the
file. Strike thekey to go ahead, or hit the key to
return to the pick list.
10.2 Deleting a File From a Subdirectory
Use the PCKDIR or PD command to obtain a listing of the
subdirectory of your choice.
When you select a file by placing the highlight bar over it
and striking, the action taken depends on the nature of the
file you selected.
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10.2.1 Deleting a Directory Entry
If your selection is itself a directory, then it will be
removed if it is empty.
If the subdirectory you specified for deletion cannot be
removed because it contains files of its own, then the
subdirectory will not be removed.
HINT: If you want to inspect the contents of that
subdirectory, just tap thekey once to get a pick list of
the files that reside therein.
10.2.2 Deleting Protected Files
If the file you selected has an attribute of system, hidden,
volume label or read-only, it is considered by Palrun to be
protected. The DEL or ERASE command of DOS would not be able to
delete the file. When you ask Palrun to delete such a file, you
will be warned that it is a protected file, but will be asked if
you want to delete it anyway. If you answer "Y"es, Palrun will
go ahead and change the file's attributes and proceed to delete
it. Answering "N"o, or just hitting thekey, will avoid
deleting the protected file.
CAUTION: Use this capability with great care, since a file
is usually, though not always, protected for a good reason.
10.2.3 Deleting Other Files
If you select for deletion any file other than a
subdirectory or a protected file, then Palrun will request you to
confirm your decision by answering "Y"es. Answering "N"o, or
just hitting thekey, will avoid deleting the file.
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CHAPTER 11: SORT AND DISPLAY CONTROL FOR FILE PICK LISTS
You can control the filemask, the sorting order and the
amount of information displayed in a pick list of the files in
your current Palhouse or subdirectory. As distributed, Palrun
sorts your files alphabetically by name and gives an intermediate
level of detail. You can sort in any of four ways and provide
three levels of detail. You may make these changes temporarily
within the pick list, or you can make the changes more permanent
in the Setup procedure.
While in a PCKHOUSE or PCKDIR pick list, striking the
key, which is designated as "Show" at the menu situated at the
top of the pick list window, will bring up a menu for controlling
the display. From this menu, you can choose to change the order
in which the files are sorted, the length and detail of the file
description, or the filemask.
When you escape from this menu, if you have changed either
parameter from its setting before you entered the menu, then
Palrun will immediately put the changes into effect.
Your selections for the sort order and level of detail will
last until you exit Palrun. If you would like to change the
default parameters permanently so that Palrun comes up with those
assumptions whenever it is loaded, you may do so in the Setup
procedure, where you can bring up a similar menu from the
"Miscellaneous Information" section.
11.1 Changing the Sort Order
You have four possibilities for the sort order, each of
which may come in handy for different situations. You can sort
by file name, by extension, by size and by date. A sort of your
archive components by size will key on the uncompressed size of
the file, not the smaller size it has while residing in the
archive.
Sorting by name is the most natural way of looking at your
files in the broadest circumstances, but sorting by the other
methods can be extremely useful.
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HINT: For instance, sorting by size will bring all your
subdirectories to the top of the list, since they have zero size.
A volume ID will also bubble up to the top. This makes it easy
for you to navigate through pick lists of all the subdirectories
on your disk by using the technique of highlighting a
subdirectory entry and tapping thekey. You will notice
that in all but the root directory of your disk the display will
show as your first entry ".. (Parent)" -- which, you guessed it,
refers to the parent subdirectory of the one you are presently
viewing. If you highlight the ".. (Parent)" entry and press
you will be taken to a new pick list of the parent
subdirectory which will be headed up with all the subdirectories
that lie beneath it.
HINT: If you're looking to save space on your disk, you
might want to sort by size and then tap thekey to see what
files are taking the greatest amount of space so that you can
examine likely candidates for deletion.
HINT: Sorting by extension will bring all your COM files
together, all your EXE files together, all your BAK files
together, all your ZIP files together, and so forth. Use this,
for instance, to find that EXE or COM file whose name you have
forgotten. Or you can successively highlight all your *.BAK
files so that you can view them withand then delete them
with.
11.2 Changing the Level of Detail
There are three levels of detail that you can request from
Palrun in any PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE pick list.
As distributed, Palrun provides you with a "Regular" level
of detail. You can also request "Brief" or "Lengthy" detail.
"Regular" detail provides you with two columns of file entries,
with an intermediate level of information. The "Brief" level
provides you with 5 columns of file names, with no information
other than the names of the files. The "Lengthy" level gives you
one file per line, with extensive detail.
Experiment with the various levels of detail so that you can
become acquainted with the benefits and disadvantages of each.
In this way, you will know which level is appropriate for your
specific needs at any moment.
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11.3 Changing the Filemask
This part of the menu that appears when you tappermits
you to change the wildcard specifications for Palrun to match in
the pick list.
When viewing an archive, you may specify any valid filemask,
utilizing the normal DOS wildcard characters.
When viewing a directory, your new filemask may include a
directory specification, so that you can view files in an
entirely different directory.
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CHAPTER 12: RETRIEVING A PRIOR COMMAND
Palrun remembers 20 of your most recently executed
Commandlines and lets you easily recall any of them for editing
and re-execution. This facility is in addition to the feature
that your last executed Commandline will ordinarily be left at
the Palrun Prompt for you to edit and re-execute.
Although the queue has a maximum of 20 slots, it can refer
back to more than 20 Commandlines. This is because Palrun is
designed not to add to the queue any Commandline which is already
in the queue, nor will Palrun add the QUEUE or Q commands
themselves to the queue.
The Commandline Queue should be thought of not as a
chronological history of your prior activity but as a repository
of previously executed commands. Your most recently executed
command will be situated at the end of the queue, but if it was
also executed earlier, it will not appear in the queue more than
once.
There are three methods for recalling prior Commandlines.
Both methods place a previously executed Commandline onto the
Palrun Prompt so that you may re-execute it, editing it first if
you so desire.
12.1 Using the Cursor Keys
Use the up and down cursor keys for running back up through
previously issued Commandlines. The up arrow key will take you
back one Commandline at a time. The down arrow key will bring
you down to the present moment, one Commandline at a time.
12.2 Choosing From a Pick List
Issue the command QUEUE or Q from the Palrun Prompt. You
will be presented with a pick list containing your most recently
executed Commandlines. Select one of the Commandlines using the
normal methods of selecting from a pick list. This will place
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your selected Commandline onto the Palrun Prompt for editing and
execution.
12.3 Searching With
This method of retrieving a prior command may be the fastest
and most convenient for you. At the Palrun Prompt, type in the
first letter of a Commandline that you previously executed and
then strike. Palrun will search the Commandline Queue to
see if there are any stored Commandlines that match.
If Palrun finds one (and only one) Commandline whose first
letter matches the letter you typed, the old Commandline will
magically pop onto the Palrun Prompt.
If Palrun finds no matches, it will beep at you once.
If Palrun finds multiple matches, it will show you the most
recently executed match, and will beep at you for the number of
times that it has found matches in the queue. If the match that
Palrun shows you is not the one you want, then just keep hitting
to cycle through the matches until you find the right one.
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CHAPTER 13: POINTING TO A NEW ARCHIVE
When Palrun starts up, it uses the Palhouse that you specify
in Setup. The "@" character may be used at the beginning of any
command to point to a new archive to act as your Palhouse.
You may target a specific archive on the Palrun Prompt as
follows:
@MYARCHIV.ARC COMMANDLINE
Palrun will use MYARCHIV.ARC as your Palhouse in executing
the remainder of your Commandline. MYARCHIV.ARC will remain as
your current Palhouse until you point to another archive with the
"@" symbol, or until you use the FRESHEN or F command to restore
your default Palhouse.
You may use the pointing operation at the beginning of any
command on your Commandline. Remember that you can have several
commands on a single Commandline, each separated by the
Commandline Separator. For example:
PALRUN @THISARCHIVE DOTHIS ^ @THATARCHIVE DOTHAT ^ FRESHEN
is an example of a Commandline containing three separate
commands. The first two commands utilize two different archives,
and the third command points Palrun back to your default
Palhouse.
The pointing operation may be used in a specific or
nonspecific way. By specific, we mean that the pointer operation
is seeking a single archive. The term nonspecific means that you
are asking Palrun to display a pick list of all archives which
match the wildcard specification you provide.
13.1 Specific Pointing
Specific pointing is used when you know the name of the
archive that you want to use as your Palhouse. In the following
examples, the term "Archivespec" refers to the name of the
archive, without the extension.
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@ARCHIVESPEC
-- When you point to an archive without including its
extension, Palrun will automatically append the
extension which is used by your default Palhouse in the
Setup procedure. Palrun will look in your DOS path for
the specified archive and immediately make it your
Palhouse if found.
@ARCHIVESPEC.EXT
-- As an alternative to the first example, you may
explicitly state the extension of the archive. If
found in the DOS path, the archive will become your
Palhouse.
@\DIRECTORYSPEC\ARCHIVESPEC
-- When you start with a directory specification,
Palrun will look only in that directory for the
archive. In this particular case, Palrun will add the
default extension for the archive. If the file exists,
it will become your Palhouse.
@ARCHIVESPEC DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS
-- Same as the first example, except that Palrun will
not only make ARCHIVESPEC your Palhouse, it will also
immediately proceed to execute the program "DOTHIS,"
passing to it the parameters "WITH THESE PARAMETERS."
If your pointer operation does not include a Commandline as
does the last example, then Palrun will drop to the Palrun Prompt
after having made the archive your Palhouse. You will see that
Palrun has placed the word PCKHOUSE on the Palrun Prompt so that
you can examine the archive's contents with a single stroke of
thekey.
On the other hand, if you do place additional instructions
after the pointer operation, Palrun will immediately try to
execute those instructions, using the new Palhouse that you
specified. Following that, Palrun will place the PCKHOUSE
command on the Palrun Prompt for your convenience.
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13.2 Nonspecific Pointing
Nonspecific pointing is used when you do not know or do not
recall the name of the archive that you want. When pointing in a
nonspecific manner, Palrun will show you a pick list of all the
archives that match the wildcard specification you provide.
Once you select an archive from the pick list, it will
become your current Palhouse immediately. If you do not want to
change your Palhouse, justfrom the pick list.
If your pointer operation is not followed by an optional
Commandline, then when you exit the pick list you will find that
the word "PCKHOUSE" is resting at the Palrun Prompt, so that you
can examine the contents of your new Palhouse with a single
stroke of thekey.
If you do append an optional Commandline after the pointing
operation, then Palrun will attempt to execute that Commandline
after you have selected an archive from the pick list. Following
completion of the command, you will see the word "PCKHOUSE"
resting at the Palrun Prompt.
Some examples will help to clarify nonspecific pointing:
@*.*
-- This will provide you with a pick list of all
archives residing in the current subdirectory. All
normal archive extensions (ARC, DWC, LZH, PAK, ZIP,
ZOO) will be recognized as archives and displayed in
your pick list.
@
-- Same as the first example.
@\DIRECTORYSPEC\*.*
-- This is the same as the first example, except you
will be provided with the names of all archives in the
directory that you specify.
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@\DIRECTORYSPEC
-- Same as the preceding example.
@\DIRECTORYSPEC\*
-- Same as the preceding example, except that Palrun
will append the extension of your default Palhouse, so
that instead of showing all archives Palrun will show
only those archives of the same type as your default
Palhouse.
@*.DWC
-- Shows all DWC archives in the current subdirectory.
@B*.*
-- Shows all archives in the current subdirectory
beginning with the letter "B."
@B*
-- Shows all archives in the current subdirectory
beginning with the letter "B" and which are the same
type of archive as your default Palhouse.
@ DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS
-- Same as the first example, except after you exit the
pick list, Palrun will attempt to execute the
Commandline "DOTHIS WITH THESE PARAMETERS."
13.3 Resolving a Potential Ambiguity
Please observe that a pointer operation could result in an
ambiguity if you have an archive with the same name (sans
extension) as a subdirectory.
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For instance, suppose that in your \COMM subdirectory you
have an archive by the name of DOWN.EXT, where "EXT" is the same
extension as your default Palhouse. Suppose, further, that you
also have a subdirectory below the \COMM subdirectory which has
the name of DOWN, so that the complete specification of that
subdirectory is \COMM\DOWN.
In the foregoing circumstance, what is meant by the
following pointer operation?
@\COMM\DOWN
The "@ARCHIVESPEC" construct ought to catch your DOWN.EXT
archive, but the "@\DIRECTORYSPEC" construct would seem to
require Palrun to give you a pick list of the contents of the
\COMM\DOWN subdirectory.
The way that Palrun resolves this ambiguity is that it will
treat your command as a nonspecific request for all the archives
in the "\COMM\DOWN" subdirectory.
If you want to make sure that you are pointing at the
specific archive known as "\COMM\DOWN.EXT," then you must
explicitly include the file extension in your command.
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CHAPTER 14: ALTER EGOS
We have provided you with a small program by the name of
PALTER.EXE. Its sole purpose is for you to create copies of it
and rename the copies to the same name as a program that you have
compressed into your default Palhouse. When you invoke the copy
of the program from the DOS prompt, it will determine its own
name (as you have changed it) and then invoke Palrun in transient
mode to extract the real program from your default Palhouse and
run it.
For this feature to work properly, you need to be using DOS
3.0 or higher.
For example, suppose your communication program is Procomm
Plus. It has a number of auxiliary programs for setting up its
configuration, for changing keyboard emulations, and so forth.
If you were to compress all of the auxiliary programs into your
Palhouse, no trace would be left of their existence, and Procomm
Plus would not be able to find its helper programs when it needed
them. You would be forced to leave these seldom-used programs on
your hard disk, in an uncompressed state, wasting precious space.
Enter PALTER.EXE.
Using the example of Procomm Plus's setup program
PCSETUP.EXE, you would first move it into your default Palhouse.
Once that has been accomplished, issue the following command:
COPY PALTER.EXE PCSETUP.EXE
You will now have a file by the name of PCSETUP.EXE in your DOS
subdirectory, and you will have another within your Palhouse.
The real one is in the Palhouse, and the Alter Ego is in your DOS
subdirectory.
The next time that Procomm Plus seeks to invoke PCSETUP.EXE,
it will go ahead and invoke what is really the Alter Ego.
Procomm Plus won't know the difference. The Alter Ego that it
launches will itself shell to DOS and issue the command:
PALRUN PCSETUP [parameters]
You don't have to type in the above command. The Alter Ego
does this by itself. The "[parameters]" referred to above are
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whatever additional parameters the calling program has passed to
the Alter Ego. They will in turn be passed to the real program
by Palrun.
By the way, this procedure works equally well for .COM
files.
There are four things we ask you to think about when dealing
with Alter Egos:
1. It is not appropriate to use Alter Egos for programs
that write configuration information to their own .EXE files,
such as LIST.COM, PALRUN.EXE and PAL.EXE. Since the Alter Ego is
not an exact replica of the real program, any attempts at
configuration will end in failure.
2. Do not use Alter Egos for programs that stay resident,
such as SideKick or PALARM. You are sure to lock up your
computer if you execute a resident program from Palrun.
3. Some programs just will not work as Alter Egos. For
instance, the main application program might require access to
certain information contained in the EXE file or might need to
communicate with its helper in some other way which the Alter Ego
cannot handle. If you find that your application program and
helper program behave in an erratic fashion or your computer
locks up after creating an Alter Ego, simply replace the Alter
Ego with the original file out of your Palhouse and then delete
the original file from your Palhouse. It was worth a try, wasn't
it?
4. Consider your memory requirements. The Alter Ego, when
it shells to DOS, leaves about 2K of itself in RAM, followed by
3K-6K of DOS (depending on your version). When Palrun is
invoked, it needs a minimum amount of memory just to load, as
indicated above at page 16. Once loaded, Palrun swaps most of
itself out, leaving a 4K kernel, followed by another 3K-6K for
another portion of DOS. Consequently, assuming that Palrun has
enough free RAM to load when called by the Alter Ego, the total
RAM available in the shell procedure for your helper program will
be reduced by 12K - 18K.
5. Don't let your Alter Ego get stomped on by the real
program when Palrun extracts it from your Palhouse. If the
Extraction Information portion of the Setup procedure shows that
extraction is to be made to the current subdirectory and your
Alter Ego is situated in the current subdirectory when you call
it, then the real program will overwrite the Alter Ego; when the
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real program is finished executing, Palrun erases it from your
hard disk -- in effect, your Alter Ego will disappear. The
second time you try to run the Alter Ego, DOS (or your
application program) won't be able to find it. The cure for this
situation is either to place all your Alter Egos in a separate
subdirectory in your DOS path or to change the Extraction
Information to require extraction of the real program to a
separate subdirectory.
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CHAPTER 15: ALIASES
15.1 Introduction to Aliases
An Alias is a shorthand name (not more than 8 characters)
given to an entire Commandline, so that by typing just a few
keystrokes you can initiate a complex series of events. You can
define up to 50 Aliases.
Any Alias can be summoned on any Commandline, whether you
are using Palrun as a transient program or as a permanent shell.
Aliases are internal to Palrun, so that, while they
may seem like mini-batch files, they are faster and take up no
disk space because they're already in memory, and they can
invoke any of Palrun's own internal commands.
One special quality of Palrun's Aliases is that Palrun first
tests every command on every Commandline to see whether it is an
Alias before executing that command in any other way. In that
way, you can create your own Alias named "DIR" that will initiate
the action that you desire instead of going to DOS's version of
DIR, or you could create an "F" Alias that will do whatever you
want instead of being interpreted as Palrun's internal
abbreviation for the FRESHEN command.
15.2 Creating Your First Alias
Aliases are created in the Setup procedure by choosing the
"Aliases and Menu" selection from the main Setup menu, and then
selecting the "Aliases" choice.
When you first enter the "Aliases" choice, assuming that you
have not yet created any Aliases, you will be immediately offered
the possibility of creating an Alias. This is a simple two-step
process.
First, you choose a name of 8 characters or fewer. Strike
to register your choice.
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Then you are asked to type in the Commandline that you wish
to associate with that name. Palrun's line editor is at your
service for this purpose.
15.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Aliases
Now that you have created your first Alias, the next time
that you enter the "Aliases" section of the Setup procedure, you
will be provided with a pick list showing all of your defined
Aliases.
To edit an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your
choice and pressor .
To add a new Alias, press. You will go through the
same procedure as that which is outlined above.
When either adding or editing an Alias, you may copy from
another existing Alias by hitting thecombination while on
the edit line. This will bring up a pick list of all your
existing Aliases. If you select one, the contents of its
Commandline will be brought onto the edit line. This feature
simplifies the creation of Aliases which perform similar
functions and whose Commandlines must be very much alike, but
which require minor differences.
To delete an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your
choice and press. You will be asked to confirm the
deletion.
To rename an existing Alias, move the highlight bar to your
choice and press.
15.4 Batch-type Behavior
In creating a Commandline for your Alias, there are two
facilities which we have transplanted from the way DOS batch
files are created.
One is the PAUSE command. If you insert PAUSE as one of the
commands on your Commandline, when that command is encountered
Palrun will stop processing and wait for you to strike a key.
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The other transplant is the ability for you to use the "%"
character, followed by a number, to indicate that this spot in
the Commandline should be occupied by a parameter that is
specified by the user when the Alias is invoked.
For instance, if you create an Alias by the name of
"MyAlias" and assign to it the following Commandline
DOTHIS %1 ^ DEL %1.BAK ^ PAUSE ^ DOTHAT %2 %3
then you can issue the Commandline
MYALIAS ONE TWO THREE
and Palrun will do four separate commands in the following order:
1. Dothis one
2. Del one.bak
3. Pause
4. Dothat two three
15.5 Nesting and Chaining Aliases
Since any Commandline may include an Alias as one of its
commands, one of the most powerful aspects of Palrun's Aliases is
their ability to nest within one another or call one another.
The only limitation on nesting and chaining Aliases is that
each call to another Alias requires Palrun to use a portion of
memory in order to keep track of how to find its way back to the
initial Commandline that set everything in motion.
When Palrun detects that it is executing an Alias (and
assuming that you have not used the Setup procedure to turn off
Palrun's verbose reporting), Palrun will preface the
execution of each command with a report of what level of nesting
you are at. For instance, an Alias called from your initial
Commandline will always be reported as "Level 1." If it calls
another Alias, then when the second Alias is called, Palrun
reports that you are at "Level 2," and so forth.
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15.6 The PCKALIAS Command
If you issue the PCKALIAS command from the Palrun Prompt,
you will be presented with a pick list of all your currently
defined Aliases.
If you place the highlight bar over any Alias in the list
and strike, the name of that Alias will be placed on the
Palrun Prompt so that you may edit or add parameters. You may
then execute the Alias with another tap of thekey.
You may use the abbreviation PA in place of the PCKALIAS
command.
15.7 Selecting an Alias Name
In selecting the name for your Alias and in designing the
Commandline, be aware that Palrun will not permit you to have an
Alias name which is identical to one of the commands that you
include on the Commandline attached to it. Otherwise, the Alias
would wind up calling itself in an endless loop.
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CHAPTER 16: CREATING AND USING CUSTOM MENUS
You can create a customized menu containing as many as 50
menu entries. Each entry is attached to a command of 8 or fewer
characters. That command may be one of your custom-designed
Aliases, or you may attach the menu entry to any Palrun internal
command, a program or a batch file.
Let's take a gander at what a menu looks like. From the
Palrun Prompt, issue the command
MENU
or if you want to go directly from the DOS prompt into the menu
then issue the command
PALRUN /P MENU
from the DOS prompt.
Assuming that you have not yet made any changes to the
distribution version of Palrun, a menu will pop up for you,
looking something like this:
Your Custom Menu
Change Directory
Change Palhouse
Choose an Alias
Directory Contents
Edit This Menu
Freshen Palhouse
Help
Palhouse Contents
Palrun prompt
Quit to DOS
Setup
5/11/90 3:44
These are the menu items that Palrun provides you as it is
distributed. You can turn off these menu entries with the Setup
procedure (See section 16.6 below at page 73). You may also add
your own menu items (See section 16.2 below at page 69).
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All of the items that you find on the above menu provide a
method for accessing Palrun's internal commands. Where
appropriate, Palrun will pause after you initiate the selection
in order to provide you with an opportunity to feed additional
parameters to the internal command.
Notice that the bottom left corner of the menu window
provides you with the current date and time. Your current
subdirectory and Palhouse will be indicated at the top of the
screen.
16.1 Selecting From a Menu
To make a selection from a menu, treat it just like any
other pick list available in Palrun. That is, using the cursor
keys, your mouse, or the name search technique, move the
highlight bar to your choice. Then pressor click the
button on your mouse.
When you make your selection, Palrun will go right ahead and
execute the Alias that you have connected to your choice.
Suggestion: Since your menu will pop up again immediately
following execution of the sequence described in your Alias, you
may want to place a PAUSE command at the end of your Alias if you
want to view information that would otherwise disappear.
If you designed your menu entry to pause for additional
parameters, or if your menu entry is connected to an Alias and
that Alias contains a "%" character, Palrun will pause to permit
you to specify additional parameters.
While in a menu, if you want to get back to the Palrun
Prompt, just pressor the button on your mouse.
16.2 Creating Your First Menu Entry
Let's go through the steps of creating a menu entry.
To create a menu entry, you'll need to get into the Setup
procedure. There are several methods of getting to the menu
editing section of Setup.
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First, from the Palrun Prompt you can go directly to
the section of the Setup procedure that you need by
issuing the command
MENUSET
Second, you can get into the Setup procedure by issuing
the command
SETUP
then selecting "Aliases and Menu," then "Menu" then
"Edit."
Third, if you call up "Menu" and the screen shown at
the beginning of this Chapter appears, you can select
the "Edit This Menu" choice.
Palrun will ask you the name you want to use for your menu
entry. Type in the way you would like the menu entry to appear
in your menu. Let's say that you want to add a line in your menu
for "Word Processing." Go ahead and type those words in, then
hitfor your entry to be registered.
Next, Palrun will ask you the name of the command that you
want to attach to the menu entry. Here you can supply the name
of a previously defined Alias, a Palrun internal command, or any
program or batch file.
Lastly, if the command you are attaching in not an Alias,
Palrun will inquire whether you want the menu entry to pause for
additional input whenever the menu item is selected. If you
answer "YES" Palrun will always give you the opportunity to add
parameters to the attached command before it is executed. If you
have attached an Alias to the menu entry, Palrun will determine
whether to pause for additional input simply by checking whether
the Alias contains a "%" character.
To complete the process, you have to make sure that your
changes are saved. After all of your previous input has been
registered, pressuntil you come back to the main Setup
menu. Move the highlight bar to the entry that allows you to
save your results into PALRUN.EXE, or you can save the results
just for the current computing session if you prefer. The
process of saving your changes is discussed in greater detail in
the Setup Chapter, commencing on page 102.
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That's all you have to do to add a menu entry. To test out
what you've done, return to the Palrun Prompt and issue the
command
MENU
Your menu should pop up, and there will be a new menu entry that
you just recorded. If you select that entry, then the command
that you attached to that entry will be executed.
16.3 Adding, Editing, Deleting and Renaming Menu
Entries
The discussion on creating a menu entry in section 16.2
assumed that you had not previously created any menu entries.
Once you already have menu entries, when you choose to edit a
menu within Setup, Palrun will provide you with a pick list of
your existing entries.
If you want to edit an existing entry, center the highlight
bar on your choice, then strikeor . Palrun will
permit you to change the way your menu entry appears and will
allow you to change the command to which it is attached.
If you want to add a new entry, then hit, and Palrun
will take you through the same procedure outlined earlier for
creating an entry.
If you want to delete an existing entry, center the
highlight bar on your choice and strike. You will be asked
to confirm your decision to delete the menu entry.
To rename an existing menu entry, center the highlight bar
on your choice and strike.
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16.4 Additional Customization of Menus
There are two additional modifications that you can make to
your menu from the Setup procedure. When you make the "Aliases
and Menu" selection, you will get the following mini-menu:
Aliases and Menu
Aliases
Menu
Select "Menu," and you will be presented with the following:
Menus
Edit menus
Header for menu
Your Custom Menu
Show Palrun internal menu items?
YES
The first choice permits you to edit your menu, a topic
which was thoroughly explored above. A discussion of the other
two choices follows.
16.5 Supplying a Header for the Menu Window
With this parameter, you can give your menu a heading of
your choice to supplant the "Your Custom Menu" description with
which Palrun initially heads up the menu window. Instead of
reading "Your Custom Menu" at the top of the window, you could
change it to "John Q. Public."
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16.6 Showing Palrun Internals
This parameter is a toggle switch. Say "Y"es if you want to
include in your menu the internal commands that are reflected in
the menu shown at the beginning of this Chapter. Say "N"o if you
want your menu to include only the entries that you yourself
design.
16.7 Saving Your Customized Changes
All the changes that you have made in your menu system must
be saved from the main Setup window. Hitfrom any place
within the Setup procedure, and eventually you will wind up back
at the main Setup menu. From there, you can either "Save" the
changes permanently into the PALRUN.EXE file, or you may save it
for "This session" only.
If you do not save your changes, then Palrun will not
remember them.
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CHAPTER 17: CUSTOMIZING PALRUN: SETUP
17.1 Introduction to the Setup procedure
Palrun's Setup procedure provides you with the opportunity
to customize the program to your own patterns of usage.
To reach the Setup procedure, issue the command SETUP from
the Palrun Prompt. Alternatively, you may invoke the Setup
procedure directly from the DOS command line with the command
PALRUN /P SETUP
The SETUP command may be abbreviated as S.
Please note that the changes you make in the Setup procedure
will not be made permanent unless you save them. You can either
save them permanently to the program file itself, or you can save
them for the current computing session only. You can also save
your parameters to a disk file.
If you prefer to exit the Setup area without saving your
changes into Palrun, you may do so by tapping thekey. If
you try to escape from the Setup main menu even though you have
made changes, Palrun will ask you to confirm that decision.
To remind you of the areas in which you have made changes
during a session in the Setup procedure, Palrun will provide you
with status information on the right side of your screen to
indicate to you which areas have changed. If you were to have
made changes in all possible areas, then the status box would
appear as follows:
You have made changes in:
Aliases and Menu
Colors
Configuration File Names
Extractor Information
Miscellaneous Information
Palhouse Information
Viewer Information
Wordprocessor Information
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When you call up the Setup procedure, you will be presented
with the following main menu:
Palrun Setup
Aliases and Menu
Colors
Extractor information
Miscellaneous information
Palhouse information
Viewer information
Wordprocessor information
File Save and Load
Restore distribution defaults
Save changes into Palrun & exit
This session only
The main menu operates just like all the pick lists used in
Palrun. That is, you can place the highlight bar on the
selection of your choice by using the cursor keys, the name
search technique, or your mouse, then activate the selection by
pressingor clicking the button of your mouse.
Note that there are two basic sections in the main menu.
The top section consists of seven basic areas in which changes
can be made. The bottom section provides you with the means of
leaving the Setup procedure.
17.2 Aliases and Menu
The first selection from the Setup main menu is for "Aliases
and Menu." Making this selection presents you with the following
submenu:
Aliases and Menu
Aliases
Menu
Aliases are covered in detail in Chapter 15 at page 64.
Menu creation is covered in detail in Chapter 16 at page 68.
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17.3 Colors
Although Palrun is distributed in a basic black and white
color combination, you may readily customize the colors to your
liking. In many areas of color customization, you may select
extremely vivid background colors that are ordinarily not
available to you in most other application programs. When you
request the Colors choice from the main Setup menu, you are
presented with the following submenu:
Color Customization
Help System
Message Boxes
Palrun Prompt
Pick Lists
Standard Operations
Border
When you select any of the five choices from the colors
menu, you will then be presented with a sample of the type of
situation that you might encounter and for which you may now
design the color combinations.
Color choices are made from a color bar presented near the
top left of your screen. When choosing background colors, the
color bar will contain up to sixteen colors, labeled "A" through
"P." With the Palrun Prompt, message boxes and standard
operations, you will have only eight choices of background color,
while you can choose up to sixteen background colors for your
help system and your pick lists. Try out the additional vivid
background colors in the help system and pick lists, for you may
find them very pleasing.
When choosing a foreground color, the color bar will consist
of one long bar on which characters are written to show you the
appearance of sixteen possible foreground colors against your
chosen background color. Each of the sixteen combinations is
labeled with a unique letter from "A" to "P." Since a foreground
choice will be very much affected by your background choice, you
may find it most efficient to make your background choice first.
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To make a selection of either a background or a foreground
color, just tap the alphabetic key which corresponds to your
choice as it appears on the color bar and then hitto
register your selection. To leave a color bar without changing
the selection, just tap thekey.
As you make color selections, the on-screen example will
change so that you can see the effects of your manipulations.
Remember that color changes will not take permanent effect
until you save your changes from the main Setup menu.
17.3.1 Help System
For the help system, you may designate seven color
combinations -- normal colors, frame colors, header colors,
referenced colors, selected colors and accent colors.
Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window
will appear.
Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window.
Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of
the window will appear.
Referenced colors describe the appearance of text which
denotes an additional help topic to which you can move the
highlight bar. Make sure that this color set contrasts with your
normal colors. You might like to try the same background as your
normal colors, but with a contrasting foreground.
Selected colors display the highlight bar for your help
system. Make sure that this color set contrasts well with your
normal colors and with your referenced colors. You might like to
try a color set which uses an entirely different background
color.
The accent colors refer to the appearance of certain text
which is set off in the help system to attract your attention,
such as "EXAMPLE:" or "SEE ALSO:."
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17.3.2 Message Boxes
Message boxes are those little pieces of information that
Palrun pops up with in order to inform you of an error or some
other condition.
There are three areas you need to set for message boxes --
normal, frame and header colors.
Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window
will appear.
Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window.
Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of
the window will appear.
17.3.3 Palrun Prompt
When choosing colors for the Palrun Prompt, you choose
colors separately for the status line and for the line editor.
Whatever colors you select for the Palrun Prompt will also be
used in the Setup procedure whenever you are asked to provide
input.
With the status line, you may separately indicate the colors
for the current colors, the border colors and the program name
colors. We recommend that you use the same background color with
all three of these selections on the status line.
The "current" colors refer to the information displaying
your current subdirectory, your current Palhouse and the current
time. The "border" colors are the colors for the graphic lines
which separate the current information boxes. The "program name"
colors describe how the program name will appear in the leftmost
box on the status line.
For the edit line, you choose a single background color and
a single foreground color.
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17.3.4 Pick Lists
Pick lists are found throughout Palrun. The colors you
select here will affect all of the following:
Setup menus
Your customized menu (MENU)
The commandline queue (QUEUE or Q)
Picking from within an archive (PCKHOUSE or PH)
Picking an Alias (PCKALIAS or PA)
Picking from a list of archives (@)
Picking from a list of subdirectories (CHDIR or CD)
Picking from a list of files in a directory (PCKDIR or PD)
There are four areas you need to set for pick lists --
normal, frame, header and selected colors.
Normal colors are the colors in which most of your window
will appear.
Frame colors depict the border which surrounds the window.
Header colors indicate how the text on the very top line of
the window will appear.
Selected colors display the highlight bar for your pick
list. Make sure that this color set contrasts well with your
normal colors.
17.3.5 Standard Operations
"Standard Operations" refers to the colors in which your
screen will appear whenever commands are being executed. This
effect occurs only when Palrun is used as a permanent shell
program. When using Palrun as a transient program, your normal
DOS colors will remain.
You need to make just two color selections for your standard
operations colors -- a background color and a foreground color.
Whatever color you choose for the background will also be
used as the border around the perimeter of your screen if you
allow Palrun to control the screen border color (see 17.3.6,
immediately below).
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17.3.6 Border
If you allow Palrun to control your screen border colors,
then Palrun will extend the background color of the standard
operations through the border of your monitor.
This works most noticeably on a CGA monitor, with a less
spectacular effect on VGA monitors, and hardly any effect at all
on an EGA monitor.
After having set the colors, you will notice that whenever
Palrun is in the process of executing a program the border will
shrink. The border will then grow again when control is returned
to Palrun. What is happening here is that Palrun is restoring
the border to the condition in which it was found when Palrun
first loaded, usually black. In this way, you can be assured
that the border color that you choose for Palrun does not linger,
and possibly clash, with the colors for another program that
Palrun executes.
17.4 Extractor Information
When you select the "Extractor Information" choice from the
main Setup menu, you are presented with the following submenu:
Extractor Information
Output path for extraction
Current subdirectory
Customize parameters for extraction programs
Extraction program to use with *.ARC archives
ARC
Extraction program to use with *.ZIP archives
PKUNZIP
On distribution, Palrun provides that the output path for
extraction is your current subdirectory, and this is so noted
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below the output path menu selection. Similarly, on distribution
Palrun is set to use ARC as the program for use with *.ARC
archives and PKUNZIP to use with *.ZIP archives. These default
parameters are also revealed right within the menu. If you make
changes to any of these three parameters, the changes which you
make will be shown here.
17.4.1 Output Path for Extraction
On distribution, Palrun is set up so that the files which
are temporarily extracted from your archive are extracted to the
subdirectory in which you are presently active at the time the
extraction takes place, overwriting any instance of that file
that is already located in the present subdirectory. The
extracted file is then erased at the completion of the process.
You may wish to designate a different directory for the
temporary extraction by using this facet of the Setup procedure.
There are at least two possible reasons for designating a
special output path for extraction:
(a) You want to make sure that you do not overwrite any
existing instances of the files that you extract from your
archive.
In particular, if you intend to use Alter Egos (see Chapter
14 above at page 61), you would not want your Alter Egos to
disappear after being overwritten by the real program coming
out of the Palhouse. An alternative method of protecting
your Alter Egos would be to place them in a separate
subdirectory in your DOS path which is unlikely ever to be
the current subdirectory when an Alter Ego is called.
(b) You want to have the extraction made to a fast RAM-
disk.
If you want to restore Palrun's default behavior of
extracting to the current subdirectory, then instead of entering
a drive and directory specification, leave the edit line blank
before tapping.
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17.4.2 Customize Parameters for Extraction
Programs
Palrun, as distributed, is already set up to handle all of
the commonly available shareware compression programs. This
section of the Setup procedure permits you to alter those
parameters.
Caution: The prefix information should not be changed
unless you are confident that you know the effects of the change.
When you make the "Customize Parameters" selection, you will
be presented with the following submenu:
Customize Standard Extractor Programs
ARC - Systems Enhancement Associates
ARCE - Vern Buerg
DWC - Dean W. Cooper
LHARC - Haruyasu Yoshizaki
PAK - Nogate Consulting
PKUNPAK - PKWare
PKUNZIP - PKWare
ZOO - Rahul Dhesi
Once you select one of the programs for customization, you
will be presented with a simple submenu which permits only two
choices. For instance, here is what you see if you select "ARC"
for customization:
Customize ARC Parameters
Extraction parameters
Compression parameters
Details on dealing with extraction parameters and
compression parameters are described separately below.
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17.4.2.1 Extraction Parameters
On selecting extraction parameters for customization, you
will be presented with the following menu. Although the
information that you see below the choices may differ for each
program, the class of items that may be changed will be identical
for all of the programs:
Customize ARC Extraction Parameters
Extraction program name:
ARC.EXE
Path where extraction program is located:
Anywhere in the DOS path
Prefix:
eo
Suffix:
> nul
Minimum RAM Required:
128K
The ability to change the extraction program name is there
so that you can change the name of your program if you so desire.
The path parameter is set forth so that you can make Palrun
save some time by going directly to the subdirectory rather than
searching through the DOS path.
The prefix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your
extraction program BEFORE giving it the name of the file to
extract. This information is different for every program, and
you should not change it unless you are confident that you know
the effects of the change. The information provided with Palrun
as it is distributed sets up the extraction program to overwrite
existing files of the same name without requesting the user's
intervention.
Note: If you have made changes to the prefix information
and want to find out what Palrun thinks is the correct
information, you can take a gander by using the "Restore" choice
from the Setup menu. To make sure that the restore operation
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does not overwrite all your prior changes, either save your
original information to a configuration file before using the
"Restore" selection, or else simplyfrom the Setup menu
after having used the "Restore" selection.
The suffix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds to your
extraction program AFTER giving it the name of the file to
extract. On distribution, Palrun uses the text ">nul" which has
the effect of silencing the status information that your
extraction program would otherwise write to your screen. If you
want to see the status information, then leave the suffix
parameter blank.
The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum
RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to
do a quick shell operation when using the extraction program. A
"quick shell" invokes the extraction program in a speedier
fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for
normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it
frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun
determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your
extraction program with at least the amount of RAM that you
specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun
will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of
itself behind in RAM.
17.4.2.2 Compression Parameters
On selecting compression parameters for customization, you
will be presented with the following menu. Although the
information that you see below the choices may differ for each
program, the class of items that may be changed will be identical
for all of the programs, with just one exception.
The exception is that ARCE's normal companion program, ARCA,
is not suitable for use by Palrun, since its usage can lead to
multiple files of the same name residing within an archive.
Consequently, instead of customizing compression parameters for
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ARCE's companion, you are instead prompted to select a companion
program with the following submenu:
To Recompress with ARCE
ARC
PAK
PKPAK
The remainder of the discussion in this subsection applies
to all programs other than ARCE. When you choose to modify the
compression parameters, you are presented with the following
submenu:
Customize ARC Compression Parameters
Compression program name:
ARC.EXE
Path where compression program is located:
Anywhere in the DOS path
Compression prefix:
fm
Compression suffix:
> nul
Deletion prefix:
d
Deletion suffix:
Minimum RAM Required:
128K
The ability to change the compression program name is there
so that you can change the name of your program if you so desire.
The path parameter is set forth so that you can make Palrun
save some time by going directly to the subdirectory rather than
searching through the DOS path.
The compression prefix parameter is the text that Palrun
feeds to your compression program BEFORE giving it the name of
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the file to compress. This information is different for every
program, and you should not change it unless you are confident
that you know the effects of the change.
The compression suffix parameter is the text that Palrun
feeds to your compression program AFTER giving it the name of the
file to compress. On distribution, Palrun uses the text ">nul"
which has the effect of silencing the status information that
your compression program would otherwise write to your screen.
If you want to see the status information, then leave the suffix
parameter blank.
The deletion prefix and suffix parameters are used when you
delete a file out of a PCKHOUSE pick list with thekey.
The deletion prefix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds
to your compression program BEFORE giving it the name of the file
to delete. This information is different for every program, and
you should not change it unless you are confident that you know
the effects of the change.
The deletion suffix parameter is the text that Palrun feeds
to your compression program AFTER giving it the name of the file
to delete. Note that Palrun, as distributed, does not include
">nul" as a suffix when deleting from your archive. We felt that
the deletion process is important enough that you should be given
the messages that the compression program writes to the screen.
If you prefer, use ">nul" for your suffix.
Note: If you have made changes to the prefix information
and want to find out what Palrun thinks is the correct
information, you can take a gander by using the "Restore" choice
from the Setup menu. To make sure that the restore operation
does not overwrite all your prior changes, either save your
original information to a configuration file before using the
"Restore" selection, or else simplyfrom the Setup menu
after having used the "Restore" selection.
The "Minimum RAM Required" parameter refers to the minimum
RAM, expressed in kilobytes, that Palrun must be able to find to
do a quick shell operation when using the compression program. A
"quick shell" invokes the compression program in a speedier
fashion than the way in which Palrun does its disk swapping for
normal operations. The disadvantage of a quick shell is that it
frees up less RAM than the disk-swapping method. If Palrun
determines that it can do a quick shell and provide your
compression program with at least the amount of RAM that you
specify with this parameter, it will do so; otherwise, Palrun
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will swap most of itself to disk, leaving only a small kernel of
itself behind in RAM.
17.4.3 Extraction Program to Use With ARC
Archives
Since there are several programs available which can handle
archives having an *.ARC extension, Palrun offers you the freedom
of choice. You may select among the programs ARC, ARCE, PKUNPAK,
and PAK.
17.4.4 Extraction Program to Use With ZIP
Archives
Since there are two programs available which can handle
archives having an *.ZIP extension, Palrun offers you the freedom
of choice. You may select among the programs PAK and ZIP.
17.5 Miscellaneous Information
There are three basic groups shown on the submenu displayed
when you make the "Miscellaneous Information" selection. Each of
them shows the current settings for the information described.
You may select any of the three groups for change, and you will
be presented with a separate sub-menu so that you can change any
individual parameter in that sub-group. Below is an example of
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the Miscellaneous Information submenu, displaying the settings
that Palrun uses as it is initially distributed.
Miscellaneous Information
Character substitutions:
DOS output redirection character: )
DOS input redirection character: (
DOS pipe character: !
Commandline separator character: ^
Toggle switches:
Use EMS for swapping? YES
Use EMS for overlays? YES
Quiet down the comments? NO
Force pause before return? NO
Keep tree info on disk? YES
Storage directory for tree info:
C:\
Directory sort and display control:
Sort by: Name
Length of display: Regular
3-Button Mouse Definitions
17.5.1 Character Substitutions
This subgroup allows you to change the characters that
Palrun looks for in special situations.
17.5.1.1 DOS Redirection Characters
The first three entries in the character substitution
subgroup provide a method to feed DOS redirection characters to
Palrun from the DOS system prompt. See Chapter 19 at page 110.
The substitute characters which Palrun uses on distribution
are physically suggestive of those which DOS expects to see. The
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only reason that you may desire to change these translations is
if they interfere with your normal computer usage.
DOS Symbols Palrun Substitution
> )
>> ))
< (
| !
17.5.1.2 Commandline Separator
Character
The Commandline Separator character is the character that
you may use on the Palrun Commandline to signify the separation
between subcommands. You may have several commands on any
Commandline. The Commandline Separator character is interpreted
as if you had tapped thekey. Change this only if the
"^" character is needed for other purposes.
17.5.2 Toggle Switches
These are the parameters that you can turn on or off by
answering "Y"es or "N"o when Palrun asks what you want to do.
17.5.2.1 Use EMS for Swapping?
When Palrun shells to DOS to execute a program, it removes
most of itself from memory so that most of your computer's RAM is
made available for the desired operation. Palrun leaves just a
precious few thousand bytes of itself in memory so that it can
reload when it needs to regain control.
For speed in accomplishing this swap, Palrun is set up to
use EMS memory if your system has it available. If you prefer
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that Palrun does NOT use EMS, then change this parameter. In
such a case, Palrun will swap to a disk file instead.
You may want to tell Palrun not to use EMS if, for instance,
you want to make sure that your application program has the
maximum EMS memory possible for its own usage.
17.5.2.2 Use EMS for Overlays?
This parameter permits you to designate whether or not
Palrun should use EMS for its overlay file. Ordinarily, you want
to leave the answer "YES," so that dipping into the overlay file
is done with greatest speed. However, if you want to preserve
EMS for other purposes, you can set this parameter to "NO." At
this writing, the overlay code will take up about 213K of EMS.
17.5.2.3 Quiet Down the Comments?
On distribution, Palrun is set up to provide you with fairly
verbose comments about the status of what is going on. If you
prefer a more quiet screen display, then change this parameter.
17.5.2.4 Force pause before return?
Answering "YES" for this parameter will force Palrun to
pause after an operation, waiting for a keypress, before
returning to the Palrun Prompt. This could be useful, for
instance, if the Palrun Prompt forces information on your screen
to scroll off before you have time to study it. On distribution,
this parameter is set to "NO" for more seamless operation. If
you need to pause only in some, but not all situations, consider
using an Alias and the internal "PAUSE" command to make the
screen await your keypress only when clearly necessary.
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17.5.2.5 Keep tree info on disk?
This parameter indicates whether or not Palrun retains on
disk the structure of your subdirectory tree. This information
is used in the CD and CHDIR commands; e.g., when using CD in a
nonspecific way so as to bring up a pick list of all
subdirectories on a particular drive, or when using the "Super"
CD ability of Palrun to move you to a subdirectory when you
specify just a few keystrokes of the subdirectory to which you
want to move.
The "Super" CD function depends on the disk-based
information created when you set this parameter to "YES." If you
do not retain the tree structure information on disk, then the
"Super" CD function will be disabled.
The tree information is saved to a subdirectory which you
specify in the parameter discussed in the next section. Each
drive will have its own disk file with the name "PALRUN.?," where
the "?" character is filled in with the letter corresponding to
the drive.
On distribution, this parameter is set to "YES." If you
change the parameter to "NO," Palrun will not save the drive
information to disk files, and will read you tree structure each
time you need a CD command. For speed of operation, we recommend
that you keep this parameter at "YES."
The information in the disk files will be modified each time
you use the MD, MKDIR, RD or RMDIR commands from the Palrun
Prompt, or when you delete a subdirectory withwhile in a
PCKDIR pick list. Note, however, that Palrun cannot be aware if
you remove or create a subdirectory from within a resident
program, from within an application program, or when shelling to
DOS from an application program. If you suspect that the
information in Palrun's tree info files is stale, you can always
force Palrun to reread the structure by striking thekey
while within a CD pick list, or by using the "CD /F" syntax when
initially invoking the CD command.
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17.5.2.6 Storage Directory for Tree
Info
Although this parameter is not strictly a "toggle switch,"
its logical relationship to the previous parameter dictates that
it be juxtaposed to it.
With this parameter, you may specify the drive and
subdirectory in which you would like Palrun to keep the file in
which the tree structure information is stored.
17.5.3 Directory Sort and Display Control
These parameters control the manner in which the files in
your directory are displayed with the PCKDIR or PD command and
the manner in which the component files of your Palhouse are
displayed with the PCKHOUSE or PH command.
Changing parameters here will set how Palrun will display
your files by default each time you execute Palrun. Within each
Palrun session, you may temporarily change these parameters by
strikingwithin a PCKDIR or PCKHOUSE pick list, or you may