
                     HotVu Demo Version 1.0

   Copyright (C) 1993, by David Talmage.  All rights reserved.


                           Trademarks

ASAP is a trademark of MicroTalk.

MS-DOS V6.0 is a registered trademark of MicroSoft Corporation.


                                               September 27, 1993

     The accompanying files on this disk represent the
demonstration version of a pre-release of HotVu V1.0.  The pre-
release version of HotVu is provided to supply users of MicroTalk's
ASAP screen access program with a pop up help facility.  This does
not mean however, that HotVu is a product of MicroTalk, nor will
they provide technical support for this program.  The sole reason
I am releasing this pre-release is due to the desire expressed for
such a product, by ASAP users of which I am one.  I would like to
express my gratitude to MicroTalk for graciously allowing me to
distribute a copy of the ASAP manual with this product.


     The primary differences between the pre-release and the full
blown version of HotVu are:

1. The pre-release works only with the ASAP manual, while the full
   version will work with any standard text file.

2. The pre-release version must be in the same directory as your
   ASAP files, while the full version will work from any location.

3. The pre-release must be run from the directory containing both
   the HotVu and ASAP files, while the full version can be run from
   anywhere.

4. The pre-release version comes with only one rendition of HotVu,
   while the full version will come with 5 programs for developing
   reference utilities of different sizes.  These will allow the user
   to select a version whose memory allocation is the most appropriate
   for each application of HotVu.

5. The pre-release version's install will only setup HotVu to work
   with ASAP.REF, while the full version will allow the user to select
   memory models, develop your own pop-up references, and create menus
   to use existing text files.

6. The menu items in the pre-release must be in the same order as
   they appear in the data file.  In the full version, the menu
   headings can be in any order, as long as the .MNU file is built
   with the Install program.

7. In the pre-release the /B option is deactivated, and will always
   use the second occurrence of the first menu item to start
   calculating offsets; while, in the full release, you can tell HotVu
   how many times to skip the first menu item before calculating
   offsets.  This feature is useful for skipping over table of
   contents entries, preambles, etc.

8. The pre-release creates HV.BAT to run your ASAP hotvu
   application; while, the full edition will create a .BAT file by the
   same file name prefix as your data file to run your application.

9. The HotVu ASAP reference version is ready for release; while,
   the full version's install utility is still under development.


     The only difference between the demonstration version and the
registered version of the pre-release is a demo notice is displayed
for 20 seconds each time you exit HotVu.  If you use the demo
version, and find it useful, you can receive a licensed version by
sending $22.50 to:

                          David Talmage
                       869 Fireplace Road
                     East Hampton, NY 11937

      (please stipulate disk format, i.e. 360K, 720K, etc.)

Otherwise, please delete the HotVu files if you do not wish to
register it after trying it for 15 days.


     Currently, the install utility for the full version of HotVu
is under development.  If when the full version is released, anyone
who has licensed the pre-release version wishes to upgrade to the
full program, the initial $22.50 will be credited towards the new
registration fee.  This should not be construed however, to
indicate any commitment as to the release date of the full version
of HotVu.


**Please note: ASAP users will find it helpful to have most
punctuation turned on from this point to better understand the
examples.  This can be accomplished by entering: keypad zero,
Alt-M, Y.


     The files on this disk are:

1. (ASAP.MNU)  The list of menu choices for HotVu.  This is an
   ordinary text file, and if the user wishes to have fewer categories
   you can use any text editor or word processor to delete lines as
   long as the file is written back in a standard text format.  Please
   note however, it is critical that no blank lines appear in your
   ASAP.MNU file.  If you modify the ASAP.MNU file it will be
   necessary to  build a new offset file.

2. (ASAP.OFF)  The offset file for HotVu.  This file is a binary
   file, not a text file, which tells HotVu the location of all the
   menu categories within the ASAP.REF file.  These offsets provide
   HotVu much faster access  to the information contained in ASAP.REF.
   The presence of the .OFF file also makes loading HotVu much faster.
   If you used the install program to setup your ASAP HotVu
   application, you can cause a new offset to be built by passing the
   HV.BAT batch file a /B option when you run HotVu.  The format is:

                                 HV /B

   If you want to run HotVu manually, the correct syntax to create
   this offset file for use with ASAP.REF is:

   HotVu3 ASAP [hot-key] /B

   This tells HotVu to use the ASAP.REF file as your data file;
    ASAP.MNU as your menu file; use the indicated hot-key (if given,
   see the manual or use the install program for legal hot-keys); and,
   to build a new ASAP.OFF file.  Another way to cause HotVu to build
   a new offset file is to delete or rename ASAP.OFF.  HotVu should
   also build a new offset file if the number of menu categories in
   your .MNU file is fewer than the number of offsets in your .OFF
   file, but it will take slightly longer.

3. (ASAP.REF)  The ASAP manual which the accompanying
   ASAP.MNU menu file was developed for.  This version of the ASAP
   manual was the newest as of September 27, 1993.
  *NOTE: as I have no idea which version of ASAP each user of HotVu
may have, your version may not support all the commands indicated. 

4. (HOTVU3.EXE)  The medium memory model of the HotVu program.

5. (HOTVU3.SET)  An ASAP set file for use with HotVu.

6. (HOTVU.TXT)  The HotVu manual in text format.

7. (INSTALL.COM)  A limited version of the HotVu installation
   program.  (see below for information on using this rendition of the
   install program)

8. (README.TXT)  This file.


     The INSTALL.COM program contained with this version of HotVu
was developed solely for installing the pre-release version.  To
run HotVu Install, make the drive and directory containing the
install program the default drive and directory and enter: 

               INSTALL [Target-Drive][Target-Path]


The [target-drive] and [target-path] are optional in most cases,
and refer to the drive and directory where your ASAP files are
located.  The one exception is, if you have multiple copies of the
ASAP software on your target disk.  If this is the case, and you do
not specify a target path, the HotVu Install program will put the
HotVu files in the first directory containing the ASAP files it
finds.  By stipulating both a target drive and path you can control
which ASAP directory HotVu is installed to.  In cases where this is
not a concern, you can just stipulate the target drive or exclude
it and the program will prompt you for this information.

     You can also run the HotVu install program from anywhere by
entering:

 [source-drive][source-path]INSTALL [target-drive][target-path]

Where the [source-drive] is the drive where INSTALL.COM is; and,
[source-path] is the directory path where INSTALL.COM is.  

     If you are installing HotVu from the distribution disk, and it
is in drive "A:", a typical command to run the install program
would be:

                       A:\INSTALL C:\ASAP

That is of course assuming your ASAP files are on your "C:" drive
and in a directory named "ASAP".

     Upon completion of the installation process, you should have
a file called "HV.BAT" both at the root directory of your boot
drive, and in the ASAP directory containing your installed copy of
HotVu.  To run HotVu, simply enter HV[Return] from your root
directory of the boot drive, or switch to the directory containing
the HotVu and ASAP files and enter HV[Return].  

     As previously noted, if you wish to rebuild your .OFF offset
file you can pass HV.BAT the "/B" argument as:

                              HV /B

     In addition to copying the HotVu software to your ASAP
directory, the install program will also allow you to select a
valid hot-key combination.  You can also select a new hot-key
combination and create a new batch file to run HotVu without
copying the files.  This is done by either running the INSTALL
program from the directory containing your installed copy of HotVu,
or by responding "N" to the prompt asking if you wish to copy the
HotVu files to your target disk and directory.

                         **Special Notes

     Please be aware that the portions of the manual dealing with
rebuilding offset files, the Install program, and references to the
example files as well as HotVu1 through HotVu5 do not pertain to
this pre-release version.

     Users should be careful to run ASAP prior to running the HotVu
program.

     For users of MS-DOS 6.0 a problem has been detected with the
use of the FORMAT command while HotVu is loaded.  If when
attempting to format a disk, you keep receiving an error message
saying, "Invalid media or Track 0 bad",
you will need to unload HotVu with the Ctrl-Q
command prior to issuing the format command.  It is
expected that by the time the full release version is available,
this problem will be corrected.


     Individuals, educational institutions, clubs, and other
organizations are granted permission to freely copy this
demonstration version of HotVu and its associated files and share
them with others, as long as: 

1. No price other than a reasonable copy fee is charged for the
   software or its accompanying files.  This fee should not exceed the
   expenses associated with the software's distribution.

2. Neither the program nor its accompanying files are modified in
   any way and are distributed together.


     As this is a pre-release, and I recognize that some of the
explanations can be confusing, if after reading the manual you are
still experiencing difficulty please feel free to contact me for
further information.  I can usually be reached from 9:00 A.M. to
5:30 P.M. Monday through Friday at (516) 324-1183, or via e-mail on
the MicroTalk SouthEast BBS, (1-404-296-0485), as David Talmage,
GENIE as D.TALMAGE and on COMPUSERVE as 73007,3144.  Please note,
as I do not check my e-mail on a regular basis, my response is not
guaranteed to be prompt.


Glossary

Please note the following definitions refer to the terms as used in
this document and the manual.

Application- A program or software package that performs specific
functions or tasks (i.e. word processing, telecommunications,
spread sheet, etc.).

Argument- A string or item, with a leading space, passed to a
program when it is run by including it on the same line as the
command which runs the program.  If more than one argument is to be
passed, they should be separated by spaces.

ASCII- American Standard Code for Information Interchange. 
Refers to the method of representing characters as a standardized
set of numbers, for storage and communications between computers
and other devices.  

Batch File- An ASCII text file ending with a file name extension
of ".BAT".  These files are used to direct the computer to
perform a number of operations, in sequence, which could
otherwise be accomplished one at a time from the command line. 
The file "AUTOEXEC.BAT" when located in the root directory of
your boot drive, is automatically executed at system startup.

Binary File- A file that consist of computer code and/or data,
which is not in a standard format as is a text file (i.e. there
are not lines of characters of 80 or less).  Binary files should
not be edited with a text editor or word processor.

Boot Drive- The drive, which at system startup, the computer
loaded DOS from.

Byte- A storage unit equivalent to one character.

Command Line- The line of text entered at the computer's system
prompt instructing it what to do next.

Command Line Argument- See argument.

Command Line Prompt- See System Prompt.

CPU- Central Processing Unit.  The part of the computer system
that controls all actions.

Data File- A standard ASCII text file which contains the
reference material you wish to access.

Default Drive- The drive the computer automatically accesses when
storing or retrieving data unless another has been specifically
referenced.

DOS- Disk Operating System.  The program that is loaded at system
startup, which controls how the computer performs operations such
as storing and retrieving data, as well as running programs.  In
the case of systems running HotVu, the DOS is either PC-DOS,
MS-DOS, or a derivative.
Enter- See Return.

ESC- The escape key on the keyboard.

File Name-The combination of the file name prefix and extension.

File Name Extension- The portion of the file name after the
period.  The extension can be from zero to three characters long
and cannot contain any spaces.  It is usually used to indicate
the type of file (i.e. .TXT for text, .EXE for programs, etc.).

File Name Prefix- The portion of the file name preceding the
period.  The prefix can be from one to eight characters long and
cannot contain any spaces.  It should be meaningful to the user
and should give some indication as to the content or function of
the file.

INS- The insert key on the keyboard.

Graphics Mode- Being in a state where the computer puts items on
the screen by many individual pixels (dots) instead of as whole
text characters.  The computer is said to draw the display.

Graphical Interface- A program that uses text mode for its
displays.

Hot Key- A key, or combination of keys, used to pop up a TSR.
Usually consist of one or more modifier keys, such as the Alt,
Ctrl, Shift, etc., which usually do nothing when pressed by
themselves.  A typical hot key would be Alt-H which would be
enterred by holding down the Alt key and pressing the H key.

K- See Kilobyte.

Kilobyte- A unit of measure consisting of 1024 bytes. 

Lowercase- A small letter.

Memory Resident- See TSR.

Menu Category- One of the lines contained in your [my-data].MNU
file which is used to build your HotVu menu, and refers to the
reference material associated with it in your data file.

Offset- Refers to the location of data as calculated from the
beginning of the file.

Path Name- The full directory reference to where a file is stored
(i.e. \DOS\ or \HOTVU\DATA\).

Path Statement- A DOS feature which allows users to direct the
computer where to look for programs and batch files if it does
not find them in the current directory.  For more information on
this topic please see your DOS reference manual.

RAM Disk- Sometimes referred to as a virtual disk.  Not an actual
disk drive, but instead a portion of upper memory that has been
allocated for use as temporary storage.  For all practical
purposes it appears to the system as a drive and can be used for
data files to speed up data recovery.  Accessing memory is much
quicker than true disks.  Caution: never leave files on a RAM
disk that you have not copied to a real disk unless you don't
want them anymore.  When you turn off your system the contents of
a RAM disk are history.

Return- Key on the keyboard sometimes marked as Enter or with a
backwards L with a left pointing arrow at the end.

Standard ASCII Text File- A file with not more than 80 ASCII
characters per line terminated by a carriage return.

String- A sequence of letters, numbers, spaces, or special
characters such as punctuation marks, brackets, asterisks, etc.

System Prompt- The message that appears on the screen indicating
the computer system is waiting for you to input data or instruct
it what to do next.  In the case of DOS the prompt is usually
something like "C:" or "C:\>", which indicates that the system is
using your "C" drive as its default drive.

Text File- A file containing ASCII characters.

TSR- Terminate and Stay Resident.  Programs that load and stay in
memory after they are exited.  This allows them to be "popped up"
from within other programs.  The TSR is "popped up" usually by
hitting a specific combination of keys simultaneously.  When you
exit the TSR they restore the screen and place you back in your
application right where you were.

Uppercase- Capital letters.
