This is a sample application intended to 
facilitate distribution of the runtime module VBDRT10.EXE
with which you may run other Visual Basic for MS-DOS
applications (a la VBRUN200.DLL used with VB Windows).


This program is freeware, the only "payment" requested
is that you respond with your comments as to what worked/
didn't work, what bugs (if any) you found, and your
comments/suggestions as how to improve this application.

You have my express permission to distribute this application
as far and wide as you like, so long as any modified .EXE
files created with the source code are properly identified
and credited to the person doing the modifications.

Program Features
1.Edit up to 3 small documents concurrently.
  (Please note that the text windows in this application
  will not load text exceeding 32K in size.I am working
  on eliminating this limitation.)
2.Convienent hotkeys for entering Spanish,Portugese and 
  International Currency symbols and characters (such as 
  ¨śť¤,etc.) and the much needed › character as well.
3.Shell to DOS or run DOS program from convienient pick list.
  (Programs to be run should require less than 500K memory)
  Try this trick if you ever need to send a fax that requires
  Spanish or international characters- type up the text on 
  the Notepad, then Save and run the fax program from the
  Run Program list to send it. Much easier than remembering
  ASCII codes.
4.Special Network features to access network mail, etc.,
  from menu. Specific support for Artisoft Lantastic, 
  however most others should work. Even more specifically, it
  enables use of the Artisoft LANPUP utility without requiring
  it to be loaded memory-resident.
5.Alarm Clock with free DOS memory display.

Things You Need to Know:
1. Start this program only from the directory in
   which VBDRT10.EXE is stored. Otherwise, when you
   shell to DOS or run another program, you will get
   an error message asking where VBDRT10.EXE is at.
   You can use a batch file to accomplish getting to
   the correct directory if your menu system does not do 
   it automatcally.
   Example, let's call it TRIED.BAT, will do the trick:
   ECHO OFF
   C:
   CD\UTIL
   TRIEDIT
   Some may question the wisdom of making a program
   that requires this module, however the side benefit
   is that it allows about 200K more free memory when
   shelling to DOS than a stand-alone program.
   What's more, numerous programs than require VBDRT10.EXE
   can feed like pirahnas off one copy, thus saving you 
   valuable disk space compared to stand-alone .EXE files.
2. The Run Program menu as of yet does not accept command-line
   parameters for the programs you wish to run.
   However, it will put you in the correct directory where
   the program is located prior to running it..just in case
   your program is like this one and must be started from
   its home directory. 
3. Text files containing international symbols will have a
   few errors when imported to a Windows program because
   Windows uses the ANSI rather than the ASCII character
   set, which is slightly different. You can use the 
   Character Map (CHARMAP.EXE) supplied with Windows to
   correct these errors, or there is a freeware utility
   (ASC2ANSI.EXE) which converts a whole file at a time.
4. Some programs do not like to be run as shelled out from
   another program, particularly certain games. You will
   undoubtedly find out which ones on your own. The only
   answer at this point is to exit the program completely 
   before trying to run these programs rather than running 
   them from the menu.
   Do not attempt to load or run memory-resident programs
   from the Run Program menu or when shelled to DOS.
   Doing so will hang your computer when you try to exit.
5. The Free Program Memory display indicates the approximate
   amount of free memory available for programs you run
   from the menu. The number includes a "fudge factor"
   to allow for operating-system overhead. Depending on 
   which version of DOS you use and your preference of 
   command processor, you will almost always have 5 or 10K
   more than displayed.
6. Network Features/Command Line Parameters:
   Command line is:
   TRIEDIT [LAN or NET] [Mail/MessageProgram + Parameters]
   The command line:
   TRIEDIT
   by itself runs TRIEDIT minus the network features.
   The command line:
   TRIEDIT LAN 
   runs Triedit with Artisoft defaults, NET.EXE as your network
   access program and LANPUP in stand-alone mode (not memory
   resident,however, LANPUP will "pop-up" over the screen as if 
   it was memory resident anyway!) as mail/message program.
   If you load LANPUP memory resident prior to running TriEdit,
   using the Send Net Message menu command will usually 
   generate an annoying but harmless error message. 
   The LAN parameter also enables the Display Last Message
   menu item which will retrieve your last pop-up message 
   in case you missed it.
   You can use different network and mail/message programs.
   TRIEDIT looks for the DOS environment variable NETMNU
   and if it finds it will use the one specified in that
   variable instead of NET.EXE,
   for example, put this in your AUTOEXEC.BAT or STARTNET.BAT:
   SET NETMNU=D:\OINKER\OINKNET.EXE
   and TriEdit will invoke OINKNET.EXE instead of NET.EXE.
   You can also use the NETMNU variable to speed up access
   to the NET.EXE program, for example:
   SET NETMNU=D:\LANTASTI\NET.EXE
   will allow TriEdit to locate the program directly rather
   than forcing DOS to run the search path ("PATH" variable)
   looking for it.
   You can use the command line to specify a different mail
   or message program than LANPUP.
   For example:
   TRIEDIT LAN OINKMAIL /parameter1 /parameter2
   and TriEdit will invoke OINKMAIL with /parameter1 and 
   /parameter2 as commandline parameters, instead of LANPUP.
   Using TRIEDIT with the NET parameter (meaning you don't
   have Lantastic) requires a few extra steps.
   It is required for you to set the NETMNU variable or 
   have a program called NETMNU.BAT in your Dos PATH to invoke
   your network interface program. You must also provide
   the name of your Mail or Message program on the command line,
   otherwise the Send Net Message menu item will shell you
   out to the command prompt.
   Probably the best way is to use a batch file to run TRIEDIT,
   let's call it TRIEDNET.BAT, for example:
   ECHO OFF
   C:
   CD\UTIL
   SET NETMNU=G:\OINKNET\OINKNET.EXE
   TRIEDIT NET /OINKMAIL /parameter1 /parameter2
   SET NETMNU=
   The last line releases the environment space used by the
   SET NETMNU=G:\OINKNET\OINKNET.EXE command.
   The Display Last Message menu item will disappear if
   you use the NET commandline parameter.
At some point I will rewrite this program to read/write to a
startup file (aka TRIEDIT.INI) and eliminate all this
commandline nonsense.There's still a little work to be done
but overall it works pretty well.

­Adios!
   
Ned Carlson (Compuserve 70524,1605)
Triode Electronics (worldwide electron tube distributors)
Box 578751, Chicago, IL 60657 USA
Fax 312-871-7938 Phone 312-871-7459