Contents
 ED Help

ED 1.1 - Visual Editor Interface Written in Microsoft Visual Basic (tm)

Version 1.1  01/25/94 - Network Resources - 73472,1543

Version 1.0  06/23/91 - Randy Neal - 72315,16

(Please don't bother Mr. Neal unless you have a question pertaining to the 1.0 version!)

What is ED?

ED is a Windows "front end" for use with your favorite text editor.  It provides an easy way to access your  DOS or Windows based text editor at any time while in Windows.

How does it work?

When you start ED, it displays a form that lists the files in the root directory of the current drive.  You can switch between drives and directories using the familiar file list commands.  Once you locate the file you want to edit, you just "double click" the file and ED runs your editor, passing the file name to the editor startup command you specify on the ED Options menu.

How do I setup ED?

 Installation and setup is easy:

Note: ED requires the Visual Basic run-time DLL.  Before you continue, make sure you already have the Visual Basic run time DLL (VBRUN300.DLL) in your WINDOWS directory.  VBRUN300.DLL is available on CompuServe in the Microsoft Languages Forum.

1. Copy all the ED files to wherever you wish.

2. Activate the Windows Program manager, select the program group to which you wish to install ED, and select "File", "New", and "Program Item".

3. On the "Program Item Properties" form, enter a description, then enter the ED startup command.  For  example, if you installed ED into a directory called "C:\WINDOWS\ED", then you would enter:

     Description:  Text Editor

     Command line: C:\WINDOWS\ED\ED.EXE

4. Copy the Windows Help file ED.HLP to your WINDOWS directory, or any other directory on your PATH.

5. Now you should be able to start ED by clicking on the ED icon.  If you get an error message saying "Bad File Name" or "File Not Found", verify the information you specified in ED's Program Item Properties.

6. The first time you use ED, you must select the "Options" menu to specify the command ED will use to start your text editor.  Enter your editor startup command exactly as you would enter it on the Windows "Run" option or in the Windows Program Item Properties form for your text editor.

When you select a file to edit using ED, ED will append the selected file name to the command you enter here.

Example:

If you normally use the DOS 6.x EDIT command to edit files, you would enter:

C:\DOS\EDIT.COM

Then, when you select a file using ED, ED will execute the command:

C:\DOS\EDIT.COM x:\path\filename.ext

Note:

You can specify any standard Windows style startup command, such as a .PIF file, a .COM file, an .EXE file, or a .BAT file.

6. If you want ED to terminate after starting your MSDOS editor, you must select the "Options" menu and click on the option "Exit After Editor Starts".  Click on it again if you decide to deactivate this feature.

The complete Visual Basic source files, as well as the complete Windows Help source files are included for your study and/or modification.  The ED program is "public domain" and you are free to use it or distribute it any way you want.