¯rm67,tm3,bm63,lm2 €°ã€¥MiniBanners V1.1 by Allen Huffman ãCopyright (C) 1990 by Sub-Etha Software ãSupport Line: (409) 639-ETHA [3842]€ €0 ôIntroduction ------------------------- €¥Introduction€ -------------------------- Thank You for helping support the future of the CoCo! You have just purchased a program which we hope will bring new functionality from your printer. MiniBanners will allow you to print single- or multiple-line banners to any printer, including daisy wheel printers, and "non-standard" printers such as the TP-10. (Yes, there is a use for that little printer!) Also included with MiniBanners is a collection of over 30 character styles, known as "fonts" to use for your banners. These included everything from gothic, bold, computer printing, italics, inverse, etc. ôLoading Instructions ---------------------- €¥Loading Instructions€ --------------------- Note: Before using MiniBanners, we recommend you make a Backup of your master disk and use that. Refer to your Disk Basic manual if you are unsure on how to do this, or call our support line. To load the program, insert the MiniBanners disk into Drive 0 and type: ãLOADM"MINIBAN" The program will quickly load and the "OK" prompt will return. To run MiniBanners, type: ãEXEC [€¥Note:€ If you hold down the Enter key after typing 'EXEC' the program will start up using an 80 column screen.] MiniBanners will then load and you will see the startup screen with a version, serial number, and copyright notice. You will then be prompted whether or not you wish to load a configuration saved on disk. At this time press "N" (for No) and the default parameters will be used. You will then be at the Main Menu. Note: For those of you who want to get the program running as soon as possible, please consult the section called "Quick Start" at the end of this manual for complete step-by-step instructions. ôThe Main Menu ------------------------- €¥The Main Menu€ ------------------------- ã€§Changing Your Working Drive€ [D]rive - At the top of the screen it shows which drive the program is currently set to work with. If you wish to change this, press "D" then enter the new drive number. ã€§Printing a Banner€ Note: Make sure you have set the baud rate for your printer! See "Configuration" below, or the "Quick Start" section. [1] Print a Banner - Selecting this option takes you to a different screen where you will be prompted for the following information: Printer Width [ 80] : - Enter the carriage width of your printer. Most common printers are able to print 80 characters across, but MiniBanners supports anything from 32 to 132. Pressing Enter will use the default value displayed in the [brackets]. Font Width [ 1] : - Enter the width you wish the banner letters to be printed. A width of 1 is normal for multiple line banners, but a thicker width such as 3 may be more desireable for larger text. Line Spacing [ 0] : - Enter the number of spaces to skip between printed lines. While normally 0, you may want to change this for multiple line banners. Ptr Character [219] : - Enter the ASCII value of the character you want your banner letters to be made from. This may be any value from 32 to 255. On a printer in IBM mode, 219 produces a block character. In Tandy mode, you may want to try 239. If you want a banner printed with *'s try 42. After typing in any changes (or just pressing Enter to accept the default values), you are now ready to type in you text. At the ">" prompt, type in your first line and press Enter. The program will prompt you for: Height [10] Max : - The number in brackets is the maximum height your banner may be based on the width of the printer. You may press Enter to accept this value and generate one large banner, or type in a smaller value to create a banner with multiple lines. If you choose a smaller number, the line you typed is displayed in the lower portion of the screen (as well as it's height) and you are asked to enter the next line, and so on, until you quit by pressing Enter at the ">" prompt, or the program runs out of space. If you have entered a line shorter than the max. height available, the program will ask if you wish to "Center from Top to Bottom?" Select "Y"es or "N"o. (If you answer No, the banner will be printer resting on the bottom of the page.) Next you will be asked if everything is okay. If it is, and your printer is ready to print, press "Y". The program will check to see if your printer is on-line (ready) for printing. If it ins't, a message will be displayed allowing you to turn on the printer or "X"it. During printing, you may press "X" to abort. After the banner has been printed, you will return to the Main Menu. ã€§Choosing Different Fonts€ [2] Select Font - This option will allow you to select a different font (character style) for the banner. The current font is shown beside the command. The program will go to a new screen and ask you to type in the name of the font you want to load. If you are unsure of the name, you may type "D" for Directory and the program will display a listing of all font files on the current disk. (At the end of each screenful the program will pause and ask you to "Press [ENTER] for More, [X] to Stop". If you would like to see what the fonts look like, select "P" for Preview and the screen will show each font on the current drive. When the screen fills, you may press Enter for more, or "X" to stop. (Note: You will not see any prompts for this.) ã€§Configuration€ [3] Configuration - This option allows you to set printer baud rate, carriage width, font size and default font. This options may be saved to disk in a file named MINIBAN.CFG and then loaded upon startup. [E]dit - This option will allow you to change the values currently displayed. You will be prompted to enter new values for each item or press Enter to not change. Note that the baud rate display shows two values. The first is the actual baud rate and the second is the actual value (POKE 150,xx). Since MiniBanners runs in the double speed mode, this value will actually be for the baud that is half of what is listed. [L]oad - This option will load the default values stored in the MINIBAN.CFG file (if present) from the current drive. [S]ave - This will save the current parameters to a file called MINIBAN.CFG. [X]it - Exits the Configuration screen and returns to the main menu. ã€§Changing Screen Widths€ [W] Toggle 40/80 - This will switch the program between a 40 column screen and an 80 column screen. ã€§Exiting the Program€ [X]it to Basic - This will end MiniBanners and return you to Basic. You will be prompted as to whether or not you really want to exit. ôQuick Start -------------------------- €¥Quick Start€ -------------------------- ã€§For Those Who Just Can't Wait...€ The program comes setup for a printer in IBM mode hooked up at 2400 baud. Unless you just happen to have a printer in IBM mode hooked up at 2400 baud you will have to first customize the program for your setup. First, go to the Configuration menu by pressing "3". You will be shown all of the current settings. Select "E" (for Edit) then you can enter the specific information about your printer. (Note: at each prompt, pressing Enter will use the default values displayed.) Printer Width - This is how many characters your printer can print per line. Usually 80, but 132 column wide carriage printers or even 32 column printers (such as the TP-10) are supported. Printer Baud - This is the baud rate that your printer is set to. The number beside it is the actual value (POKE 150,xx) used by Basic for the baud half of what you are using. (This is because MiniBanners runs in the double speed mode.) Font Width - This will be the thickness of the letters. For now type "3". Line Spacing - This is how many lines are skipped between lines of text on a multiple-line banner. For now, leave it at 0. Banner Character - This is what character your printer uses to make the letters. On a printer in IBM mode, 219 creates a filled in block. In Tandy mode, 239 is a similar block. Other values, such as 42 (for a "*" character) may also be used. Default Font - This is the name of the Font (character style) that the program will attempt to load on startup. For now, skip this by just pressing Enter. ôA Few Words About Fonts -------------------- €¥A Few Words About Fonts€ -------------------- Some really clever users out there may notice that the fonts this program uses are standard HPRINT character sets. The fonts included are in the public domain and may be used by your own programs. (Simply LOADM"FONTNAME.FNT" then anything you HPRINT to one of the HSCREENs will be that font.) Also, if you find any alternative HPRINT fonts you can copy them to the MiniBanners disk with the extension of .FNT and use them to make banners. If you have any HPRINT fonts you have created, please let us know. We may be interested! ôFuture Enhancements ---------------------- €¥Future Enhancements€ ---------------------- MiniBanners is undergoing changes and improvements. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see added, please contact us! ôSpecial Notes ------------------------- €¥Special Notes€ ------------------------- While incredibly rare , occasional bugs creep into programs. If any error is encountered a screen will be displayed identifying the bug and what line it was encountered. If this happens and you are reasonable sure it isn't something on your end, such as a Disk Full or I/O error, make a note of this problem and contact us so we may exterminate. Thank you for supporting Sub-Etha Software and our efforts to help support the future of the Color Computer! ôDisclaimer --------------------------- €¥Disclaimer€ -------------------------- (What decent piece of software would complete without one of these?) This program is sold on an "as-is" basis. Sub-Etha Software is not responsible in any way, shape, or form for any loss or damage of any kind as a direct or indirect result of the use of this program. Print banners at your own risk! ã€¥MiniBanners V1.1 by Allen Huffman ãCopyright (C) 1990 by Sub-Etha Software ãSupport Line: (409) 639-ETHA [3842]