MicroText The Premium Document Cruncher Version 4.0 by George Campbell INTRODUCTION ============ MicroText lets you print up to 4 pages worth of text on a single sheet of paper. It does this by tricking your printer into using a tiny (3 to 4 point) font. Before printing, the program reformats the text into a temporary file. Your original remains unchanged. When re-formatting, MicroText automatically wraps lines which are too long, but never breaks words. If a document has large blank spaces in it, caused by excess blank lines, MicroText removes them, saving even more space. It leaves one blank line for easy readability. Your printouts include MicroText's own page numbering, with the filename included in a header on each of the four pages on the sheet. You have complete control over the process. You can add a left margin, decide whether you want to print graphics characters, or select one or two columns. You can also set custom line widths and page lengths to match your particular needs. There's even more you can do with MicroText. You can run MicroText from the command line, by simply adding a filename to the command. MicroText will then automatically crunch and print the file, using the default settings. You can also create a special configuration file which loads when MicroText runs. This file contains information on all aspects of the print format, and allows you to set the program up as you like it. It will start that way each time, unless you delete the configuration file. You can also use DOS environment variables to control MicroText, setting line width, lines per page, and the path for MicroText's data files. This is especially useful if you use the program in command-line mode. More information on each of these options is provided below. This program is almost 3 years old, and is now in Version 4.0, which has a completely new interface, complete with intelligent drop-down menus. Many other features are new to this version of MicroText, so if you have used a previous version, be sure to read this file completely, or you might miss something. INSTALLATION ============ To install MicroText, copy all the files on this disk to a floppy disk or (better yet) to a directory on your hard disk. If possible, copy the files into a directory named in the PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. This, combined with other features I'll describe later, will allow you to run the program from any system prompt. For more information on the PATH statement, see your DOS manual. MicroText Files: COLOR.DAT -- Screen color data MICROTXT.CFG -- Created by MicroText MICROTXT.DOC -- Manual (try crunching this one first) MICROTXT.EXE -- Main program MTMAN.COM -- MicroText help file (view inside program) PRINTER.DAT -- Created by MicroText PROGRAMS.COM -- Information on other products To complete the installation, use the CD command to change to the directory containing the MicroText files. Then start the program with this command: MICROTXT You'll first see an error message, telling you that the printer driver is missing. Just press a key. Next, you'll see a message telling you to turn your printer on. NOTE: Due to all the different types of printers available, you MUST have your printer on at all times when running MicroText. If not, you'll experience unexpected results. Next, you'll be asked to choose a printer from a list. Choose the closest match for your printer. If you have a 9- pin dot-matrix printer, try either selection no. 1 or 2. 24- pin dot matrix printer should try selection no. 3. Hewlett- Packard LaserJet-compatible users should try no. 4. Selection number 5 takes you to a special printer setup menu, which shouldn't be needed about 99% of the time. NOTE: Microtext does not currently support the HP DeskJet or any variety of PostScript printer. Once you choose a printer, installation is complete, and the program begins. From now on you won't see that screen. THE MICROTEXT INTERFACE ======================= MicroText, Version 4.0, uses a simple drop-down menu system which is always on the screen. The top row indicates the overall function of its submenus. A box drops down from each of the main menu selections, offering additional choices. You can select a menu choice by pressing a cursor key to move the highlight bar to your selection. Press to carry out the command. As an alternative, you can also press the first letter of a main menu option, or the number for a submenu option. Use the technique which suits you best. If a menu command requires input from you, an input box will pop up on the lower part of the screen. Read the box, then supply the information requested. Menu Intelligence ================= MicroText always tries to anticipate your next action, moving the highlight bar to the most logical operation. It doesn't always get it right, but you'll find that it guesses pretty well. MENU DETAILS ============ FILE MENU CHOICES 1. Display Directory of Files [directory] This option displays a list of the files in the current directory. It uses the file mask described below. The current directory is displayed in the menu. 2. Select file mask [*.*] Here, you can specify the type of files you want to display with the command above. For example, to see .DOC files, type in *.DOC in the input box. To see only files with the filename LETTER, use LETTER.* 3. Change Directory Use this command to move to a different directory. In the input box, type in the directory information. It will then appear in item 1 above. You can use the trailing backslash or not. Examples: C:\DOS D:\WP\LETTERS\ NOTE: MicroText always returns you to the original directory when you exit the program. 4. Select a file for crunching [] This command will ask you for a filename of the document you want crunched. If it's in the current directory, as shown on line 1, just type the filename. If its elsewhere, enter the full path and filename. Your filename will appear inside the brackets. 5. Select an output file [MICROTXT.TMP] Before printing, MicroText reformats your document into a temporary file. MICROTXT.TMP is the default, but you can change that filename by using this command. Most often, you won't need to. 6. Shell to DOS If you give this command, MicroText will allow you to give normal DOS commands, within the available memory. You can give as many commands as you like. To return to MicroText, give this command: EXIT 7. Quit program Exactly that. HP LaserJet users will be asked if they want to reset the printer. This removes the TINY3 font and ejects the page. If you don't do this, your later printing may be unusual. PRINTER MENU CHOICES 1. Print current crunched file This command sends your crunched document to the printer. Use it only after crunching your file from the Crunch menu. While printing proceeds, you can abort at any time by pressing . 2. Send Formfeed to printer Ejects a page from the printer, or advances the paper for tear-off. 3. Send Reset to printer On dot-matrix printers, this command restores the printer's defaults. (No action for LaserJet) 4. Preview first page This command presents a graphical preview of your crunched document, more or less as it will appear on paper. Margins and line lengths are included. (Requires a CGA, EGA, or VGA display) Monochrome users will see an error message. 5. Create custom printer driver MicroText allows you to create a file containing codes for other printers not supported internally. If you give this command, you'll see an explanation of the codes. See the PRINTER CUSTOMIZING section at the end of this document. 6. Load custom printer driver If you've created a special driver, this command loads it into MicroText. 7. Print alignment page Most often, you won't need to use this feature. It prints an alignment pattern on your printer. It includes one line of numbers to let you count characters across the screen and line numbers for the rest of the page. Use this to set appropriate values in the Setup Menu. LAYOUT MENU OPTIONS 1. One or two columns [2-COL] This command is a toggle. Each time you press it, you change from one-column to two-column mode and vice-versa. Two- column mode is the default and produces 4 pages on one sheet of paper. This value can be saved in a configuration file. See entry under Setup menu. 2. Print graphic characters [ON] This toggle determines whether you print the extended ASCII characters in a document. When it's [ON], MicroText prints all graphics characters. If it's [OFF], it replaces them with asterisks (*). Not all printers can handle the extended characters. Set this toggle the way you like. NOTE: the TINY3 font for the HP LaserJet has no graphics characters. This toggle is ignored. This value can be saved in a configuration file. See info on Setup menu. 3. Add left margin [OFF] This toggle adds a margin to the left of the page. The margin width is fixed, and varies from printer to printer, but allows for hole punching. It's fairly small, to allow as much text as possible on the page. This entry can be saved in a configuration file. See info on Setup menu. SETUP MENU OPTIONS 1. Choose Printer Use this option if you get a new printer, or just need to change your selection. You'll see the same menu you saw when you first ran MicroText. 2. Set wrap point [0] You probably won't need this option. It allows you to customize the width of each column. If your printouts look like they could hold a few more letters on each line, you might want to change this value. When you first start the program, the number will be zero. After crunching, the current value is shown in brackets. 3. Set Maximum lines per page [0] As above, this figure lets you choose a customized number of lines on each page of your printout. Use it if your printer doesn't paginate properly, or if you're using non-standard paper. The figure in brackets is zero until a document has been crunched. 4. Set screen colors MicroText can display any colors you like. If you have a color monitor, use this command to set it up for your favorites. Just follow the screen instructions. At the end of the color-setting routine, you can save your choice in a file, and MicroText will always start with those colors, unless you change them here. 5. Set path for MicroText data files MicroText normally looks for its data files in the directory from which you started the program. You can change that directory here, if you like. 6. Save configuration (becomes default) Under normal circumstances, you won't need this command. Use it only if you need to alter the MicroText defaults. This creates a file (MICROTXT.CFG) containing information on: 1. Wrap point (see 2. above) 2. Lines per page (see 3. above) 3. Data path (see 5. above) 4. Number of columns (1 or 2) 5. Graphic character toggle 6. Path for data files MicroText looks for this file each time it runs and, if found, makes those values the defaults. Use this feature to customize the program. NOTE: you must manually set EACH of the first three values before saving a configuration. Here's what a typical MICROTXT.CFG file looks like: 90 (Wrap point. Leading space necessary) 110 (Lines per page. Leading space necessary) C:\MT\ (Data path. Must include backslash (\)) ON] (Graphic character toggle. Must include bracket.) 2-COL] (Number of columns (1 or 2.) OFF] (Left margin. Can be ON or OFF. Include bracket) NOTE: Make sure to use upper-case if you modify the file outside of MicroText. NOTE: See also the section below on Environment Variables. 7. Delete old configuration file Use this command if you've made a mistake in your configuration, or if you want to revert to the MicroText defaults. Also, if you use environment variables, you should delete the file. If you change configuration, then re-save it, the old file will automatically be replaced. CRUNCH MENU OPTIONS 1. Crunch current file [] This command is at the heart of MicroText. Once you've selected an input file, this command reformats it for printing. The current filename appears in the brackets. As crunching proceeds, you'll see a count of the lines processed. On completion, a report will appear with information on pages saved, etc. NOTE: If you change parameters for crunching, after crunching a file, you must give this command again to re- crunch your file. 2. Delete temporary file [MICROTXT.TMP] This command deletes MicroText's temporary file. Normally, you won't need this command, since MicroText prompts you to delete the file after printing. If you want to exit the program without printing, however, use this command to get rid of the file. If you re-crunch a file, MicroText automatically over-writes the temporary file. 3. View crunch report Gives you another look at the report you saw after crunching. SPECIAL MENU OPTIONS 1. View input file [] This command lets you look inside the file you're planning to crunch. You'll see the file on the screen, one screen at a time. Press any key to view more of the file. Press to return to the main menu. This viewing utility only moves forward in the file. 2. Information on other products I offer a number of other shareware programs. This command, which calls the file PROGRAMS.COM, will give you detailed information on those programs. Just follow the screen prompts. 3. MicroText registration information MicroText is a shareware program. If you use it regularly, please register your copy. This screen offers details. HELP MENU OPTIONS 1. Command-line options MicroText can print documents automatically from the command line. This command provides details. Essentially, you give the command this way: MICROTXT [filespec] The filespec must include all drive and path information. MicroText will load the file, crunch it, and print it, using the defaults or your custom configuration. It's easy and fast. 2. Read manual This command displays an abbreviated version of this manual, focusing on the menu options. You can use this command any time to refresh your memory. OTHER MICROTEXT FEATURES ======================== Those are just the basic features in MicroText. It can do much more than you'd think, though, and there are many other options available. Here are just a few: ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES MicroText recognizes three DOS environment variables: MICROTXT Tells the program where to find its data files. MTLENGTH Tells the program the maximum length of a line for re- formatting. MTLINE Tells the program the maximum number of lines per page MicroText checks your DOS environment each time it runs. If these variables are found there, it sets the figures in the variable as the defaults. To place the variables in the environment, use the SET command. Here are examples: NOTE: Do not add any spaces before or after the equal (=) sign. SET MICROTXT=C:\MT This tells MicroText to always look for data files in the C:\MT directory. Substitute your own directory information. SET MTLENGTH=65 Tells MicroText to wrap lines at the 65th character when reformatting. Of course, the wrapping is intelligent and never breaks a word. SET MTLENGTH=120 Tells MicroText to send a page break after each 120 lines. Be careful with this one, since too large a number will cause lines to bleed to the next page, destroying pagination. Experiment with this figure. You can use one or more of these variables. You can include these commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or in a batch file which starts MicroText. Here's a sample batch file. Naturally, you'll substitute your own data. MT.BAT ================================= SET MICROTXT=C:\MT SET MTLENGTH=65 SET MTLINE=110 CD C:\MT MICROTXT ================================= NON-ASCII DOCUMENTS MicroText can also crunch many non-ASCII documents. It can handle files created by Microsoft WORD, WordStar, and many other word processors. You may see some asterisks in the file, but the text will be there. Unfortunately, MicroText can't cope with WordPerfect files, unless you use the - (Text In/Out) command. It can also print DBASE files, but doesn't format them neatly. Spreadsheets are another specialty. Just tell your spreadsheet to print to a file, instead of to the printer. MicroText can print these files, in single-column mode, up to 180 columns. Source code files from programming languages are another good use of MicroText. By choosing one-column mode, you can see long lines of code without breaks. Just crunch the source code file and print. Print all your shareware documentation with MicroText. Set the margin on and you can put the printouts in a three-ring binder. Just imagine how much paper and space you'll save. Consider using MicroText to print archival copies of all kinds of documents. If you have a collection of short documents, you can combine them into a single file and create a crunched printout. Use the DOS COPY command to merge your files. Here's a good example: COPY/A filename1 + filename2 + filename3 +.... MERGE.DOC Then just load MERGE.DOC into MicroText and print away. HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS --------------------- MicroText requires DOS 2.0 or later, 256K of RAM, and CGA, EGA, or VGA ONLY for the page preview. If you have a monochrome system and try to use the page preview feature, you'll see an error message. COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- MicroText is protected under the copyright laws of the United States. The program and this document are Copyright, 1990, by the author, George Campbell. All rights reserved. SHAREWARE NOTICE ---------------- MicroText is not in the public domain. It is shareware. If you use this program, please register your copy by sending the $10 shareware fee to: George Campbell 1472 Sixth St. Los Osos, CA 93402 The latest version of this program is always available on the SLO BYTES BBS. (805) 528-3753. BBS SysOps and shareware distributors are welcome to distribute this program, as long as no changes are made without my written permission. Users of MicroText are welcome to share the complete program with their friends and others. Please keep the program and documentation together. Registered users will receive the latest version, without the shareware screen at the end of the program. They are also entitled to mail and BBS support. SPECIAL NOTICE: Any user who contributes a new printer driver is entitled to free registration for MicroText, and will receive a complimentary copy of the registered version. Just send your driver to the address above or upload it (with your address) to the BBS number listed above. HINTS ----- 1. Since MicroText creates a scratch file, you must have enough disk space to hold that file. Typically, it will be somewhat larger than the original text file. Allow for it. 2. If you're designing printer drivers, test them with short files. It saves lots of time. 3. Any time you're testing MicroText, work with short files. Working With Print Enhancers: ----------------------------- Various programs are available to enhance print quality for most Epson-compatible 9-pin printers. MicroText interfaces perfectly with these program. My favorite is "The Image Printing Utilities." LETTRIX is another good bet. Using one of these programs, you can produce near-laser quality printing. USING MicroText with Laser Printers: ------------------------------------ HP LaserJet, Series II printers use some special techniques for printing with MicroText. A soft font, TINY3.SFP is downloaded by MicroText to your printer. It remains in the printer until you shut the printer off. In order not to conflict with other soft fonts, this font uses the font number, 1333, as an identifier. You can even specify that font number for other printing chores, if your software can handle soft fonts. The font, TINY3.SFP is a fixed-space font at 3.8 points, with 21.5 characters per inch. It has only the normal keyboard characters, ASCII 33 to ASCII 127, and takes up very little memory. As used in MicroText, line spacing is set at 12 lines per inch. NOTE: since TINY3 doesn't have any graphics characters, MicroText turns graphics filtering OFF automatically if you choose the HP printer. You may download the font to your printer outside of MicroText for other uses. Use the command: COPY /B TINY3.SFP LPT1: The font number, 1333, is built into the font itself, as is the 12 lpi line spacing. To access the font in an external document, just include a line in your document containing the following HP printer control information: Esc(1333X Where you see "Esc," include the actual ASCII character 27. In most editors, you do this by holding down the key while you type 27 on the NUMBER PAD on your keyboard. The command above makes TINY3 the primary font. Send EscE to the printer to reset it when you're done printing with TINY3. I just wanted to add that information for LaserJet junkies.