Instinct Software 11311 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300 Dallas, Texas 75243 Orders Only! Phone Line (214) 739-5543 Bulletin Board Phone Line (214) 368-2709 1200/2400/9600 Baud, 8 data, 1 stop, no parity Release: ALT 2.08 Date: October 22, 1990 ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Introduction ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± The purpose of ALT is to provide a useful, new framework for computing with your IBM PC, PCAT or compatible. It is a multi-faceted tool containing functions and capabilities that can literally make the difference between getting the job done effectively on the computer and abandoning the computer and going back to "doing it by hand". While none of the tools ALT provides are unique in nature, it is our opinion that most of them are superior in their operation and breadth of capabilities. ALT is best classified as a memory-resident (i.e., always available) integration of major, popular utilities under a common user interface: * Context switching and management for running several tasks simultaneously with user definable menus * Appointment Calendar with alarms. * Address book with auto phone dialer. * Three calculators; Algebraic Calculator, Reverse-Polish- Notation (RPN) Calculator, and a paper Tape Calculator. * User Menus to load and run programs with a touch of a key. * A Word processor with many popular editing commands, including the ability to reconfigure the keyboard within the editor. * Ascii and Scan-Code table. * On screen clock and date display. * Command line editing and history. Recall and edit the last 10 commands entered at the DOS prompt. * Keyboard Speed-Up. * Screen blanking to protect your monitor. * Mouse control of accessories and the ALT Main Menu. * Configurable colors for all the accessories. * A DOS shell providing powerful file and directory management capabilities. * Macros and Data Transfer (Cut and Paste) * Context-sensitive help. * "Pop-up" upon Hercules/CGA/EGA/VGA/Extended VGA graphics mode programs. ALT provides all of this while using only 53K of your valuable RAM. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± ALT and ALT+ ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ALT is available in two versions: one which is shareware and the more complete ALT+ version. The Shareware version is limited in many of its capabilities because of the disk space required to distribute the program. The Shareware version is not freeware, however. If you continue to use it, you must register. When you register, you will receive ALT+. You can register and receive ALT+ by using the handy on-line order form available from within ALT: Tap: Alt Select: Info or through the Instinct bulletin board or by calling the number given below. The cost of registering is only $49.95. With the ALT+ version, you get the following extra benefits: * Ability to run eight programs (or tasks) instead of just two. Switch freely between all eight programs which each having access to all available RAM. * A 150 page printed manual containing complete documentation on all of ALT+'s power. * All three calculators. A Reverse Polish Calculator (RPN) with 3 modes (business, statistical, and computer-based), an adding tape calculator, and an algebraic scientific calculator. * Full context sensitive help. Press F1 at any time while in ALT, and a detailed help will be provided on the accessory that you are visiting. * Increased memory area for keyboard macros. Macro key area can be increased from 500 bytes to 10K bytes to handle an almost unlimited number of macros. * Address book capacity is increased from 20 names to an amount limited only by the size of your hard disk. * The appointment book can handle an unlimited number of appointments and alarms. * Many of the accessories can be run from the DOS prompt without having ALT installed or having to go through the ALT Main Menu. * Product support is available through the Instinct Bulletin Board System with extra privileges. All of this for only $49.95 !!! Orders can be made through the Instinct Order Line (214)-739-5543 or through the Instinct Bulletin Board System (214)-368-2709 (1200/2400/9600 Baud, 8 data bit, 1 stop bit, no parity). Texas Residents must add 8% Sales Tax. Foreign checks must be payable by a U.S. bank. Include Shipping & handling charges -> 48 State Contiguous US $3.00 Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, $6.00 Europe $8.00 Other $10.00 P.S. See the file MANUAL.DOC for a hands on approach to learn the power of ALT. See the file HELPME.DOC for the most commonly asked questions and answers on all parts of ALT. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Installing ALT ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± Begin the installation by inserting the ALT #1 disk into a floppy drive in your computer (usually drive A:). Type: a:install (where a: is your floppy drive) Press: ENTER Follow instructions until you see the message: Enter Source Drive Enter the drive containing the ALT #1 disk and press Enter. e.g. A:\ . You should then see the message: Enter Destination Drive and Path Respond by entering the drive and directory to contain ALT and press Enter. e.g. C:\ALT The installation programs then begins copying files in ZIP'ed form to your hard disk. Momentarily, the installation program will ask you to insert the ALT #2 disk into drive A. Do this and Press: ENTER At this point, if the installation program senses the presence of files exist in the installation directory, it will ask if you want to automatically overwrite existing ALT program files. Normally you should respond 'Y'es unless you wish or need to manually supervise which files are overwritten. To install without the INSTALL program, simply copy all the files to a subdirectory on your hard drive, e.g. \ALT. If the files are ZIPped or ARCed, then use either PKUNZIP or PKUNARC to uncompress the files, e.g. PKUNZIP ALT1 PKUNZIP ALT2 To load and run ALT: Type: c: Press:ENTER Type: cd \alt Press:ENTER Type: alt Press:ENTER Please see the file MANUAL.DOC! This will contain complete information on installation, configuring the swap drives, and details on ALT and Accessory operation. NOTE: This particular version is the initial release of ALT 2.0! We are constantly improving ALT. If you experience any problems, please check in with our Bulletin Board System (214) 368-2709 or call (214) 739-5543 for information on our latest release. Any problems you are experiencing may be fixed in the current release. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± For Users Updating Files From Version 1.xx to 2.xx ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± The important files to keep when going from version 1.xx to version 2.xx are the Address Book, Notepad, and the User Menu files. Information for these are stored in NOTES and files with extensions DAT and IND (e.g. ADDBOOK.IND, ADDBOOK.DAT, MENU1.DAT, NOTES, ... ). Either install the ALT 2.xx in the same directory as ALT 1.xx or install in another directory and copy over the above mentioned files. If you install in the same directory, you may safely delete INITMAIN.EXE, MAINEDIT.EXE, and USERMENU.EXE. They are no longer required in ALT 2.xx. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± EGA and VGA Video modes supported ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ALT 2.0 now supports task switching with EGA and VGA graphics screens. Some EGA and VGA setups provide a number of non-standard proprietary video modes, in such cases, ALT might not be able to properly save and restore the video information. It is recommended that you configure your software to use some of the more standard video modes. Listed below are the display types and graphics modes (hex) supported by ALT, Display Type Mode Pixels x Colors CGA 4,5 320 x 200 x 4 6 640 x 200 x 2 EGA D 320 x 200 x 16 E 640 x 200 x 16 F 640 x 350 x 2 10 640 x 350 x 16 VGA 11 640 x 480 x 2 12 640 x 480 x 16 13 320 x 200 x 256 Tseng 29 800 x 600 x 16 2D 640 x 350 x 256 2E 640 x 480 x 256 30 800 x 600 x 256 Paradise 58 800 x 600 x 16 59 800 x 600 x 2 5E 640 x 400 x 256 5F 640 x 480 x 256 Video Seven 62 800 x 600 x 16 66 640 x 400 x 256 67 640 x 480 x 256 69 800 x 600 x 256 Hercules 720 x 348 x 2 If your display type is not listed, but supports one of the 'Pixels x Colors' listed, try configuring your software to use one of those listed. ALT should still be able to properly save/restore the graphics screen since many other popular display types are compatible. ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± ± Other Notes ± ±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± * Novell Network Users For some network configurations, ALT may have some trouble starting a new Command.Com . ALT finds the location of Command.Com by inspecting the COMSPEC environment variable. If the COMSPEC variable points to a Command.Com on the server, try copying over Command.Com to the local user station and change the COMSPEC variable accordingly. For example, copy X:\SYSTEM\Command.Com \ALT Set COMSPEC = \ALT * Texas Instruments Business Pro ALT's detection method of AT enhanced keyboard conflicts with the TI Business Pro. The detection method causes ALT to lock up when first loading into memory. ALT can be prevented from trying to detect the presence of the enhanced keyboard by specifying "No" to the 'AT 101 Keyboard' option under the 'General Setup' of the Setup.Exe program. * 4DOS ALT will work properly with 4DOS if configured correctly. Two steps must be taken, 4DOS's command line recall and editing must be disabled, and 4DOS must be made the primary shell when the computer is started (booted). The 4DOS command line recall and editing is disabled with the 4DOS command: SETDOS /L1 ALT will have its own command line recall and editing once installed in memory. Since the SETDOS /L1 command needs to be run each time a new memory partition is opened, place the command in the 4DOS autoexec file 4START.BAT. The 4START.BAT should be placed in your root directory of your boot drive. It is very important that you create the 4START.BAT file and place the SETDOS /L1 command within the file. If not, ALT will have difficulty "popping-up" and the menuing program will also fail to work properly. See the 4DOS documentation on 4START.BAT and SETDOS /L1 for more information. To make 4DOS the primary shell at boot time, the following line needs to be in your CONFIG.SYS file, SHELL=C:\4DOS.COM /p Your drive and path may differ. This will load the 4DOS command interpreter when your computer is first booted. The environment variable COMSPEC will also be set when used in this configuration. For ALT to work properly with 4DOS, the COMSPEC variable is required to be set to the full drive and pathname of 4DOS. For example, COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM