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PC-SIG Diskette Library (Disk #2628)
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FILE2628.TXT
Disk No: 2628
Disk Title: LessIsMore
PC-SIG Version: S1
Program Title: LessIsMore
Author Version: 1.01
Author Registration: $20.00
Special Requirements: Windows 3.0.
Windows multitasking can be a bit intimidating. But with LESSISMORE,
even the unsophisticated can handle multitasking without much problem.
This program manages simplicity of setup and use, and now anyone can do
it. Switching between applications is done with Alt-Tab. Windows
functions such as cut and paste are fully supported so that moving text,
data, and graphics from screen to screen across applications is a
breeze.
PC-SIG
1030D East Duane Avenue
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
(408) 730-9291
(c) Copyright 1991 PC-SIG, Inc.
GO.TXT
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║ <<<< PC-SIG Disk #2628 LessIsMore >>>> ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ To print instruction, type: COPY README.TXT PRN (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ To run the program, type: WIN LIM (press enter) ║
║ ║
║ Copyright 1990, PC-SIG, Inc. ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
README.TXT
LessIsMore Registration and Instructions
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
LessIsMore is NOT a public domain program. LessIsMore
is copyrighted by R*D Applied Technologies, and retains all
rights pertaining to LessIsMore. R*D Applied Technologies
grants a restricted permission to users to make and
distribute copies of LessIsMore.
If you continue to regularly use LessIsMore, you are
expected to register with R*D Applied Technologies using
the form provided below.
If LessIsMore is used for business purposes, or for
gain, then a copy of LessIsMore must be purchased for each
computer it is to be used on.
Private individuals and computer clubs are granted
permission to copy and distribute LessIsMore for evaluation
by others on the following conditions:
• You may NOT sell, rent or lease the disk for profit.
Doing so is a violation of R*D Applied Technologies
copyright.
• You may NOT charge anything for LessIsMore (except for
authorized user groups, which may charge a cost based
fee (not to exceed $10) to cover disks and handling).
• You may NOT copy the printed documentation in any
manner or form.
• You may NOT copy the graphics used in LessIsMore in any
manner or form.
• You may NOT bundle LessIsMore with any other product.
• You may NOT distribute versions of LessIsMore which
have been modified in any way.
• You must include ALL of the files which are distributed
with LessIsMore. These files must be ARCHIVED together
if you place them on an electronic bulletin board.
R*D Applied Technologies provides quantity discounts
for LessIsMore. The discount schedule is:
QUANTITY DISCOUNT PRICE PER COPY
1-10 0% $20
10-50 10% $18
50-100 20% $16
SITE LICENSE --- $1,000
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ LessIsMore Registration Form ║
╟───────────────────────────────────────────────────────╢
║ ║
║ NAME_________________________________________ ║
║ ║
║ COMPANY NAME_________________________________ ║
║ ║
║ STREET ADDRESS_______________________________ ║
║ ║
║ CITY__________________________STATE__________ ║
║ ║
║ ZIP CODE_____________________________________ ║
║ ║
║ DISK SIZE: 5¼"___ 3½"___ ║
║ ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
LessIsMore is distributed as ShareWare and is
completely supported by user registrations. You may
register your copy of LessIsMore by filling out the form
provided and mailing it along with a check or money order
for $23.00 ($20.00 + $3 s/h) to:
R*D Applied Technologies, Inc.
3209 Barkley Drive
Fairfax, Va. 22031
You will receive the latest version of LessIsMore which
is Windows 3.0 compatible, and includes additional graphic
background selections. You will also be placed on our update list
to receive automatic notification of LessIsMore updates, new graphic
backgrounds, and new software releases from R*D Applied
Technologies.
R*D Applied Technologies staff members include highly
talented graphics artists that can create or enhance a
graphic background for use with LessIsMore. They are also
able to quickly replicate a company logo, and incorporate
it in a unique graphic to customize the look of LessIsMore
for business environments. Rates for these services are
reasonable, and available upon request at (703) 641-0107 or
at the address above.
INSTALLING LessIsMore
LessIsMore is an office automation utility program that
currently runs under Microsoft Windows V.286, 386 and 3.0 real mode.
The upgrade to run LessIsMore in V.3.0 protected mode is expected to
be shipped in December 1990. Registered users will automatically
receive this upgrade. LessIsMore can be installed such that it:
• Runs automatically upon turning on your computer
• Runs automaticaly upon starting Windows
• Can be opened, along with Windows, from the DOS
command line
• Can be opened from within Windows.
The following paragraphs address installation and configuration
for each of these options.
OPTION 1. Runs automatically upon turning on your computer.
• Copy the following LessIsMore files into the Windows
directory on your hard drive: LIM.EXE, LIMSETUP.EXE,
LIMCNFG.TXT. If you use a CGA monitor, copy CGALIM.EXE
instead of LIM.EXE and CGASETUP.EXE instead of LIMSETUP.EXE.
LIM.EXE and LIMSETUP.EXE will work with all other monitor
types, including VGA, EGA, Hercules, and Super VGA.
• Open Windows and enter the Windows directory. Select WIN.INI
and open by double clicking on the file name with your mouse,
or by pressing the <enter/return> key.
• Find the line,"run= ", and type LIM.EXE (or CGALIM.EXE if
you use a CGA monitor) after the <=> symbol.
• Save the file using the Save command in the pull down
File Menu.
• Without closing the Notepad utility currently containing
WIN.INI, again use the pull down File Menu to Open your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file by typing C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT when the File
Name dialog box opens.
• Insert the Windows directory into the path statement,
e.g. PATH=C:\;C:\DOS;C:\DBASE;C:\WINDOWS;
OR, if there is no path statement
Add the following path statement: PATH=[D]:\ [D]:\[WINDOWS
DIRECTORY], where:
[D] is the letter of the hard drive or hard drive
partition containing the Windows program and files, and
[WINDOWS DIRECTORY] is the name of the directory
containing the windows program, e.g. WINDOWS.
• Add a line at the end of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the
single word "WIN" (don't type the quotes).
• Save the file
• Exit Notepad
• Exit Windows
• Reboot your computer. The computer will now open with
LessIsMore running under Windows.
OPTION 2: Run automatically upon starting Windows.
• Perform all the steps described for OPTION 1, only leave
out the added AUTOEXEC.BAT line, "WIN". When you reboot
your computer, you will be at the C: prompt. Type WIN.
Windows will open with LessIsMore running as an application.
OPTION 3: To open LessIsMore and Windows from the DOS command line.
• Perform all the steps described for OPTION 2, only this time
leave out the change to <run=> in the WIN.INI file.
To open Notepad to modify the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, pull down
the System Menu by clicking on the square button in the
upper left corner of the Notepad window. Select Run.
When the Run dialog box opens, type "Notepad". After
saving the new version of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
close Notepad and then close Windows. Reboot your computer.
At the C: prompt, type WIN LIM. Windows will open with
LessIsMore running as an application.
OPTION 4: To open LessIsMore from inside Windows.
• Perform the same steps as in OPTION 3. At the C: prompt,
type WIN. Windows will open. Either select LIM.EXE with
your mouse, or pull down the System Menu, select Run,
and type LIM.EXE. Double click or press the <enter/return>
key to open LessIsMore.
USING LIMSETUP.EXE
LessIsMore has been designed to use generic application names
in its Program Selection Menu. That is, instead of naming the
Word Processor that is accessed by LessIsMore by its commercial
product name, e.g. WordPerfect, MultiMate, MS-Word, etc., only
"Word Processor" is used. The advantage of this approach is that
it results in interface consistency regardless of the mix of
application and utility software. The approach, however, requires
the use of a configuration file (LIMCNFG.TXT) that instructs
LessIsMore which application programs to use, and where to find
them on the hard disk. The utility program LIMSETUP.EXE (CGASETUP.
EXE for CGA monitors) is used to create the configuration file.
LIMSETUP.EXE is a small Windows-based application program that
simplifies the writing of the LIMCNFG.TXT file. You can open
LIMSETUP.EXE in any of the following ways:
• At the DOS command line, type WIN LIMSETUP, then press the
<enter/return> key
• After opening Windows, select Run from the System Menu, and
type LIMSETUP.EXE
• Double click on LIMSETUP.EXE in the MS-DOS window in Windows
• Within LessIsMore, select Run in the File Menu and type
LIMSETUP.EXE.
LIMSETUP.EXE displays a form on the screen. You need to replace
the "*.*" entries with the names and, in some instances, the paths
of the programs, or PIF (Program Information File) files that will
be accessed through LessIsMore. PIF files are used to open
non-Windows programs. MS-Windows V2.x and 3.0 provide many PIF files
for popular application programs. These PIFs can be used and
customized depending on your particular hardware configuration.
In addition, you can refer to your Windows Users Guide for
instructions for creating PIF files using PIFEDIT.EXE. A sample,
text-only set of entries is provided below, and can be used as a
model for your own LIMSETUP entries.
Word Processor WORD.PIF
Spreadsheet D:\EXCEL\EXCEL.EXE
Database DBASE.PIF
Draw DESIGNER.EXE
Paint PBRUSH.EXE
Publish WRITE.EXE
Project PS4.PIF
Communications BITCOM.PIF
Calendar CALENDAR.EXE
Clock CLOCK.EXE
Card File CARDFILE.EXE
In this example, all of the PIF files and all of the Windows-based
programs, with the exception of Excel, should reside in the Windows
directory. If your programs and PIF files do not reside in the
Windows root directory, then you must either provide the path
information in your LIMSETUP entry (as shown in the case of the
Windows application Designer), or else include the path information
in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
NOTE: If you don't have a program in your computer that corresponds
to one of the named applications or utilities, leave the "*.*" in
the text entry box for that selection. Failure to do so can result
in a system error.
After you have completed your entries using LIMSETUP.EXE, click on
the screen's OK button. This action will automatically save your
entries in the LIMCNFG.TXT file, making them immediately available
for selection by LessIsMore. The LIMCNFG.TXT file can be updated
at any time using LIMSETUP.EXE, or the Windows Notepad utility.
OPENING APPLICATIONS FOR THE FIRST TIME
Depending on how you have your computer configured for Windows
and LessIsMore, open LessIsMore. LessIsMore will open with the
Program Selection menu highlighted. Use the mouse, <tab> key, or
<cursor> keys to point to the application or utility program in
the menu that you wish to run. After pointing, click the left mouse
button, or use the <spacebar> to select the program. Repeat these
steps for each program you wish to run in the same session. (Note:
Pressing the mouse button, or the <spacebar> a second time will
deselect your choice.) After all the programs have been selected,
use the mouse to click on the OK button in the Program Selection Menu,
or press the <enter/return> key. Either of these actions will create
program selection icons that will line up, left-to-right, along the
bottom of the Windows screen. Non-Windows programs will not actually
run until they are launched from the icon line. Windows applications,
however, will launch and run as soon as the OK button or <enter/return>
key is utilized. Some Windows application programs will open in full
screen mode. When this happens, you can iconize the program by
selecting Minimize from within the Windows application's File drop
down menu, or by clicking on the downward pointing arrow in the upper
right corner of the Windows screen.
RUNNING NON-WINDOWS APPLICATIONS
The following steps are required to launch and run non-Windows
application programs from the icon line. Programs such as WordPerfect,
Lotus 1-2-3, dBase III+/IV, Harvard Graphics are examples of non-
Windows programs that are launched from icons. Icons that have been
placed by LessIsMore on the icon line can be easily accessed using
either the mouse or the keyboard. These procedures are discussed below.
Using the Mouse: Place the arrow cursor over the icon belonging to
the program to be launched. Click once with the left mouse button to
expand the Windows pop-up menu. Select and click once on Restore or
Maximize to launch the program. Alternatively, place the arrow cursor
over the icon and double click. This action will also launch the
program.
Using the Keyboard: Press the <alt> and <tab> keys simultaneously.
This will cause one of the icons to highlight its program name.
Continue to press and release the <tab> key while holding down the
<alt> key. This will cycle the Windows focus from one icon to the
next and then across the LessIsMore screen and Program Selection Menu.
Removing your finger from the <alt> key will launch whichever program
is highlighted at the time.
RUNNING WINDOWS APPLICATIONS
As mentioned earlier, Windows application programs are launched
when the OK button or the <enter/return> key is used after program
selection. Because programs that are launched utilize precious computer
memory even when they are not in use, it is good practice not to
select Windows programs until they are actually needed. It is easy
to return to the Program Selection Menu to select and launch a Windows
program when it is needed. This and other related procedures are
addressed in the section which follows.
SWITCHING AMONG PROGRAMS
Using the steps described above, let's assume that we have
selected a word processor (WordPerfect), a spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3),
and a database management system (dBase III+). We next use the
<alt><tab> key combination to launch and run WordPerfect. After a
few seconds for Windows to store away in a temporary disk file
information concerning the status of the computer, the opening
WordPerfect screens will appear on your monitor. You will find that
the program behaves the same as always, only now Windows has added a
few, important new capabilities to WordPerfect that allows WordPerfect
to share text and data on your monitor's screen with other programs,
and vice versa. These capabilities will be addressed in some detail
in the section on cutting and pasting between application programs.
For now, we are primarily interested in moving among application
programs. To do this we use the same <alt><tab> keys we used to
initially launch and run WordPerfect.
Now, while you are still in WordPerfect, hold the <alt> key down
and tap the <tab> key once or twice. Notice that a menu bar appears at
the top of the WordPerfect screen, and that the names of the Application
Programs that you selected earlier, as well as LessIsMore and the
Program Selection Menu also appear in succession in the menu bar.
When you find the program that you want to run, lift your finger from
the <alt> key. This will launch and run a new program, or will reactivate
a program that has already run, such as LessIsMore. Choosing the Program
Selection Menu when it appears in the menu bar will allow you to use
LessIsMore to select and launch additional programs at any time during
your computer session. Once a new program comes to the screen as an
icon or as a running program, you can return to WordPerfect by again
using the <alt><tab> key combination method. If the current running
program is not a character-based program such as WordPerfect or
Lotus 1-2-3, i.e. it is a Windows-based GUI program, there will be no
menu bar. Instead, selection icons will be placed on the screen. On the
other hand, if a Windows program is selected that was running prior to
program switching, a window showing the last state of that Windows
program will be brought to the forground for inspection and possible
selection.
Additional information concerning the use of Windows for program
switching can be found in the Windows User's Guide that comes with the
Windows program.
CUTTING AND PASTING BETWEEN APPLICATION PROGRAMS (Windows 2.x)
MS-Windows provides a clipboard for transfering data, text and
graphics between application software program files. Even in
programs that do not normally use a mouse, the mouse can be
activated for marking areas on the screen prior to copying (writing)
and pasting (reading) the data into a file in another application
program. The typical sequence of steps when using the clipboard is to:
• Mark the area to be copied to the clipboard
• Copy the highlighted area to the clipboard
• Switch to another application program (using
<alt-tab> key combination)
• Paste the contents of the clipboard into the
current file.
The clipboard is accessed using the Clipboard menu which is
displayed using the keyboard by holding down the <alt> key and
pressing the <spacebar>. Once the menu has been displayed, there
are several items in the menu that can be selected, and other
items that are not active. The selections that are used to transfer
data between application programs are:
• Mark: This selection is made when you want to select
an area of data, text or graphics for copying to the
clipboard.
• Copy: This selection is made when you want to copy the
marked data, text or graphic to the clipboard.
• Paste: This selection is made when you want to paste
the contents of the clipboard into the current file
displayed on the screen.
Transfering requires that the items to be copied must first
be selected, or marked. This is done by bringing up the Clipboard
menu and selecting Mark on the menu. Either a mouse can be used
to make the selection, or pressing the <K> key will also cause
Mark to be selected. The next step is to identify the area that
is to be marked, holding the left mouse button down, and
dragging the mouse over the area until all the data, text or
graphic is highlighted. It is also possible to use the cursor
keys to Mark an area on the screen for copying to the
clipboard. Use the cursor keys to move the cursor to the
beginning of the information that you want to copy. Hold
down the <shift> key and then use the cursor keys to highlight
the selected information. To cancel the selection, press <escape>.
Once the area has been marked, the next step is to redisplay
the Clipboard menu and select Copy on the menu either with the
mouse or by pressing the <Y> key. This action causes the
highlighted area to be written to the Clipboard, which makes
the information available for pasting into another application
program file. Next, either start or switch to the application
program that is to receive the data that is in the Clipboard.
Position the cursor where you want the data to be placed. Pasting
the contents of the Clipboard is done by displaying the Clipboard
menu and selecting Paste. The data previously copied into the
Clipboard will be written to the screen starting at the
current position of the cursor.
Review the Windows Users Guide for additional information and
tips on how to use the powerful Clipboard feature of MS-Windows.
CLOSING PROGRAMS
Windows and, hence, LessIsMore will not let you close non-Windows
programs from inside Windows. You must first return to the Application,
and then close your program in the normal manner. In this fashion, you
are always assured of the opportunity to save the latest version of
whatever file you are working on, as well as any configuration
information that may have changed during the latest session with the
program. On the other hand, Windows programs may be closed in any one
of three ways. First, you may close the program from within, just as
you would close a non-windows program. Second, you may select to close
the program from its icon. Windows programs will ask you if you want to
save your latest changes before closing without actually reopening the
program. Last, you can close your Windows session. Windows will again
ask you if you want to save changes made to each and every Windows
program that has run and not been closed prior to closing itself.
It is important to close programs thoughtfully rather than by using
quick and dirty methods, such as rebooting your computer, or simply
turning the power off when you have completed a session. Failure to do
so will leave large temporary Windows files on your designated or
default hard drive. These files are typically hundreds of thousands
of bytes long, and will probably need to be cleared out prior to
initiating another LessIsMore work session. In any event, it is good
practice to check the Windows temporary file directory periodically to
clear out file residue that may have accumulated over time. The Windows
User's Guide describes how to configure and manage temporary files and
the temporary file directory.
EXITING LessIsMore
To exit from LessIsMore, pull down the File Menu and select Exit.
This action will put you in the Windows MS-DOS directory that contains
LessIsMore. To exit Windows entirely, either simultaneously depress
the <alt><F4> keys, or select Close from the System Menu. Press the
<enter/return> or click on the OK button to respond to the Windows
dialog box asking if you are sure you want to leave Windows. This action
will return you to DOS.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #2628
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
CGALIM EXE 21776 10-01-90 10:08a
README TXT 25203 10-02-90 4:03p
LIM EXE 21776 8-10-90 2:35p
LIMSETUP EXE 12480 8-10-90 2:59p
CGASETUP EXE 12480 10-01-90 11:07a
GO BAT 38 6-21-91 2:37a
GO TXT 771 7-22-91 2:54a
FILE2628 TXT 718 7-22-91 3:01a
8 file(s) 95242 bytes
62464 bytes free