Copyright 1995, Hyperion Softword ************************************* * Orpheus 2, beta release 2.00.17 * ************************************* Comments and queries to: Hyperion Softword, 535 Duvernay, Sherbrooke, QC J1L 1Y8, Canada tel/fax - 819-566-6296 (Rod Willmot) email - willmot@interlinx.qc.ca Contents of this file: Purpose Usage Requirements Licence User Interface OHREAD.CFG & Colors Supported Features Missing Features Notes to Beta Testers PURPOSE: ======== For reading compiled/assembled hypertext documents created with Orpheus 2. These consist of one .HTX file, optionally accompanied by one or more numbered subfiles (filename.001, filename.002). USAGE: ====== OHREAD [filename][.HTX] The filename can be given with or without the ".HTX" extension. If no filename is given, looks for any HTX file in the current directory. Command-line switches: /g - force grey-scale color values instead of color. Use this if you have a CGA monitor that displays 16 shades of one color (grey, green, amber). /c - force color instead of grey-scale, in case a CFG file somewhere says you don't have a color monitor and you do. /ns - force no saves of Reader CFG files or other files /nm - force no mouse, in case standard mouse-initialization causes trouble on your machine (or you don't like mice) /v - get the version number Switches can be given before or after the filename, separated by a space, and you can use "-" instead of "/": -b -ns. REQUIREMENTS: ============= Requires DOS 3.1 or higher. Runs fine under Windows 3.1 and OS/2. Desqview users: define as a full-screen application that writes directly to the screen. RAM requirements depend on the size of the HTX, but a 1-megabyte HTX should be handled fine in under 350K free RAM. AUTHORS: If you need a text-only version that runs in under 130K free RAM (similar to OHHELP.EXE), give me a call. LICENCE: ======== Registered users of Orpheus 2 are licensed to distribute the Orpheus Reader (this program) together with their finished works. Unregistered users must NOT distribute finished works with this program. When the Reader detects an HTX created with an unregistered copy of Orpheus, it displays a warning message. USER INTERFACE: =============== Orpheus 2 is designed to give power and flexibility to hypertext authors. The user-interface that appears with any given HTX depends entirely on that work's author; this includes keyboard behavior. If the author of an HTX has disabled the standard Exit key (Alt-X in the English version), he must provide you with an Exit command of his own, either through an onscreen button or a scripted menu. If you have to hit Ctl-Alt-Del to get out of this program, complain to the author! OHREAD.CFG & Colors: ==================== As of version 2.00.17 the Reader includes a Color Dialog that can save a configuration file to disk. However, access to the Color Dialog depends entirely on decisions made by the author of each hypertext! Note that the Reader will accept an OHREAD.CFG file that is simply a copy of an OH.CFG -- i.e. a configuration file saved by OH.EXE. If the Reader detects such a file it uses the stored color values rather than any built into the HTX, and uses the stored print setup rather than the defaults. In the absence of a valid CFG file, the Reader uses either the colors stored in the HTX (the author's) or default colors -- again depending on the author. Even for projects that do not give the end-user access to any Reader functions pertaining to configuration, there are some situations in which an author may wish to provide users with ready-made OHREAD.CFG files. However, unless the author knows the hardware (monitors and printers) being used by each person, this could lead to confusion. SUPPORTED FEATURES: =================== Supports all features documented in the same release of OH.EXE's online Help, including PCX/GIF/FLI/FLC display, printing, and running external programs via script commands. Features you actually see depend on what the author of a given HTX has provided. MISSING FEATURES: ================= There are no built-in menus in this release, nor certain features that you may have used in previous versions of Orpheus: a Notebook, Bookmarks, self-running Tour. Some or all of these will be added in future releases, but will only be visible/accessible in a given HTX if the author of that work has enabled them. There is no OHREAD.HLP with this release; however, the author of a given HTX may have provided a Help screen of his own. NOTES TO BETA TESTERS: ====================== 1: Debugging With Memcheck 2: Debugging under Windows 3: Checking Memory Use 1: DEBUGGING WITH MEMCHECK -------------------------- Beta versions of Orpheus incorporate the Memcheck (tm) debugging tool. Besides helping you discover bugs, Memcheck will protect your work and your system from unexpected behavior. To activate Memcheck, your DOS environment must include the MEMCHECK variable, which is done by giving the following command at the DOS prompt, =before= running this program: SET MEMCHECK=1 This command can be placed in your autoexec.bat file, or in a batch file used only for running the beta. The following batch file could be named READ.BAT and would receive an HTX filename parameter. If you are only working with a single document, change the line "OHREAD %1" to specify the name of your HTX file. @ECHO OFF SET MEMCHECK=1 OHREAD %1 SET MEMCHECK= The last command removes the MEMCHECK variable from your DOS environment, and can also be given manually. If Memcheck encounters a serious memory-related error while you are running this program, a message pops up reporting the problem. Please note what the message says, along with some indication of what you had been doing before the error occurred. When you press to clear the message, Orpheus will safely exit. 2: DEBUGGING UNDER WINDOWS -------------------------- I find that debugging is especially convenient under Windows, i.e. in a DOS box. If the program appears to freeze -- no disk activity, no response to the keyboard -- you can safely terminate it using the Windows trick of pressing Alt-Space, selecting "Settings", then "Terminate". 3: CHECKING MEMORY USE ---------------------- If you press while in any Text card, the beta Reader will display a message indicating available free memory. The item of interest to you is the last one, "far heap free". To determine the amount of memory used by this program (with a given HTX), note this number down, then exit the Reader and use the DOS "MEM" command (or any similar utility) to find out the amount of conventional RAM available in your DOS environment. For example, in my generic Windows DOS box (opened through the "DOS Prompt" item in the Main group) MEM tells me that I have 577,136 bytes free RAM. Running the current beta with my test HTX, pressing tells me there are 326,480 bytes free in the far heap. 577,136 DOS environment -326,480 free inside the Reader ------- 250,656 bytes of RAM used by the Reader The Reader's memory requirements will be reduced by 20K in the non-beta release, but adding features will of course increase the size of executable somewhat.