-- 386^Max Reporting Ver. 1.0 -- SUMMARY: 386^Max Reporting is a menu utility or "front end" for the reporting functions of the commercial program 386Max. Rather than type "386MAX TIMEMEM" or "386LOAD /S" you can simply type "386" and choose the desired report from a menu by a single keystroke. You may also enter the letter of the report desired (e.g. S for Program Loading Summary) as a command line option: "386 S" (without the quotes, of course) will generate the loading summary report. FILES INCLUDED: Three files are included in the ZIP: 386RPT.TXT -- the file you are now reading 386.COM -- the main program file for 386^Max Reporting 386.BAT -- a sample .BAT file to call 386.COM EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE REQUIRED: You must have the program 386Max from Qualitas, Inc. installed and running on your computer. Either version (4.x or 5.0) will work. This program requires an 80386, 80386SX or 80486-based computer to work. You may need a color monitor (see below for comments on using a monochrome monitor). I've tested the program with several flavors of MS-DOS and PC-DOS up to versions 5.0.333á. BACKGROUND: 386Max can produce a wide variety of useful reports. They are accessed by typing 386MAX (or 386LOAD or 386UTIL) followed by the name of the report or the key letter for that particular report. In version 5.0 of 386Max (and ver. 4.x of the Professional Edition of 386Max) there are 6 possible reports. In the standard edition of version 4.x, there are 4 reports available. Many of the reports may be accessed in more than one way. For example, you could type 386LOAD MAPMEM or 386LOAD /M or 386MAX MAPMEM and get the same report. Unfortunately, remembering which report is called from which program and how is a nuisance. 386UTIL.COM, added in version 5.0, consolidates the reporting function somewhat, although the reports can still be accessed from 386MAX.COM and 386LOAD.COM. To maintain compatibility with version 4.x of 386Max, all the reports are accessed without reference to 386UTIL. EDITIONS OF 386MAX: Prior to version 5.0, there were two editions of 386Max: the "Professional Edition" and the plain, vanilla edition. The Professional Edition included 386LOAD.COM. 386^Max Reporting is compatible with both versions and both editions--a smaller menu is displayed if you are using the standard edition of version 4.x. (If 386Max Reporting is unable to locate 386LOAD.COM, it assumes you have version 4.x "vanilla edition" and displays the reduced menu.) WHAT DO I DO NOW? There are three questions which you should consider as you decide where to locate 386.COM: First, where to locate 386Max and its related files; Second, where to locate 386.COM, and Third, how to access 386.COM. Here are some suggestions. Generally, you should attempt to keep your "active path" as short as possible. That is, unless a file or directory absolutely has to be on the active path, keep it somewhere else. There is absolutely no reason why 386Max or any of its related files (with the possible exception of 386UTIL) should be on the active path. The files are generally accessed at boot-up when you can specify the exact location in the lines of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 386.COM will "look" for the files 386MAX.COM and 386LOAD.COM in several likely locations. For example, it will look in the same directory where it (386.COM) is located, in the root directory of the C: drive, in the subdirectories C:\386MAX (the standard installation directory in version. 5.0 of 386Max), C:\UTILITY, C:\DOS, and C:\MISC plus a few other places. It will also search the active path. Finally, you may set the DOS environment variable MAXADDR to specify the exact location of 386MAX.COM. Add a line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file similar to the following: SET MAXADDR=C:\SUBDIR\ where "C:\SUBDIR\" is the drive and path in which you have located 386MAX.COM and 386LOAD.COM. If 386^Max Reporting can't find the file 386MAX.COM and you haven't set the DOS environment variable, an error message will appear. (Well, what did you expect?) BTW, the Qualitas installation program will locate the 386Max files in the subdirectory C:\386MAX, which is just fine. Put 386.COM there, too! HOW TO CALL 386^Max Reporting: Once you have decided where to locate the files of 386Max and 386^Max Reporting, you must decide how to call or access the program. A simple way to do this is with a batch file similar to 386.BAT. This file MUST be on your active path. You must modify the contents of this file using a text editor (such as EDLIN) so that the lines of this file reflect the drive and path where your copy of 386.COM is located. If you have located 386.COM in the directory C:\SUBDIR, you might use the batch file 386.BAT which read as follows: C: CD\SUBDIR 386.COM Remember, there is no reason \SUBDIR or 386.COM needs to be on the active path, so don't put it there! If you are using a COMMAND.COM replacement such as 4DOS or using another DOS enhancement program with an "aliasing" capability, a better way to access 386.COM is with an "alias". A sample alias for 4DOS might read as follows: ALIAS 386= 'PUSHD ^ C: ^ PUSHD ^ CD\SUBDIR ^ 386.COM ^ POPD ^ POPD' where 386.COM is located in C:\SUBDIR. The commands to "push" and "pop" the current directories are optional, but very convenient--you are always returned to the place from which you started, with the computer just as you left it! WHAT YOU GET: Using whatever method, when you type "386" (without the quotes) you will be presented with a menu of 6 choices (or 4 choices in the small model for 386Max Ver. 4.x Standard Edition). The letters of the choices correspond to the letters in the 386^Max ver. 5.0 manual. You may also press "R" to relist the menu of choices, or press "X" or Esc to exit the program. MONOCHROME MONITOR: The program may work with a monochrome monitor, although it will not be as colorful. I simply haven't tested it on a monochrome system and I specifically coded it to display in color. If you encounter problems running this on a monochrome card, please advise. (Are you willing to admit you've got a '386 computer with a monochrome monitor? And people accuse me of being cheap! |-) PROGRAM IN PUBLIC DOMAIN: This program is released to the Public Domain. Please use and enjoy it. Pass it around to your friends and enemies. Suggestions or comments, both wise and otherwise, should be sent to: Dave Hamilton 1394 E. Siebenthaler Avenue Dayton, Ohio 45414 CREDITS: Qualitas, 386MAX, 386LOAD and 386UTIL are registered trademarks of Qualitas, Inc. 386MAX is copyrighted 1987-1990 by Qualitas, Inc. 4DOS is a trademark of J.P.Software. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PC-DOS is trademark of IBM Corporation.