1. About MultiGEM MultiGEM is a true multitasking system for the Atari ST/STE/TT lines of computers. Multitasking is not a new idea, it has been available on other computer systems for many years now. IBM PC (and clones), Macintosh and Amiga DOS all have the ability to multitask. Now the Atari ST has the Ability to multitask using MultiGEM. MultiGEM is a full featured Multitasking system that will allow you to run up to six TOS/GEM programs at once. Using MultiGEM is as easy as using your Atari GEM "Desk Top", there are no special commands to know, just double click on the programs you want to run. MultiGEM allows almost all current Atari ST programs to multitask. MultiGEM supports current Atari ST system calls, which means that programs that uses GEM windows and or menu bars usually have no problem multitasking. Even TOS programs have the ability to multitask under MultiGEM. 2. Installing MultiGEM Installing MultiGEM is very simple to do. Locate the MultiGEM distribution disk and insert it into drive "A". If you intend to install MultiGEM on a floppy disk, please pre-format a disk and have it ready. Formatting the disk as a single sided disk will be enough space to install MultiGEM. If you are installing MultiGEM on a hard drive (recommended) make sure you have at least 350kb of disk space available on the partition you intend to install MultiGEM on. After you have put the distribution disk into drive "A" double click on the drive "A" Icon on your Atari GEM "Desktop". When the Drive window has opened locate the file named INSTALL.PRG Once you have located this file please double-click on it. The installation program will prompt you to select a logical drive to install MultiGEM on, please enter the logical drive that applies to you. If you are installing MultiGEM on a floppy system select drive "A" (EVEN IF YOU HAVE A TWO DRIVE SYSTEM), for hard drive users you may select any of your logical drives ("C" is recommended), MultiGEM will automatically pick your boot partition. Notice the highlighted box called "copy DESKTOP/NEWDSK.INF also", if you want MultiGEM to automatically configure a MultiGEM altered DESKTOP.INF (NEWDESK.INF if your using a MEGA STE or TT computer) file, leave this highlighted. I recommend that you first make a backup copy of your current DESKTOP.INF file and let MultiGEM create a new one. Once you have entered the correct logical drive click the "OK" box. NOTE: If you are using a floppy disk to boot your hard disk follow the steps for a floppy based system. Copy all the files from your new MultiGEM work disk to the disk you boot your hard disk with. MultiGEM will now begin to install all the necessary files on your hard disk or floppy disk. The MultiGEM installation program will customize MultiGEM for your version of TOS. As the installation program proceeds floppy drive users will be prompted to swap disks, just follow the directions given by the installation program. Hard disk users will not have to do anything until the installation program has finished. When the installation program is finished you should click on box called "QUIT". If you are using a floppy based system make sure your new MultiGEM work disk is in drive "A". You can now re-boot your computer, MultiGEM will now load into memory. Your Atari GEM "Desk TOP" will appear on the screen, if you left the "copy DESKTOP/NEWDESK.INF also" highlighted your "Desk Top" will look different than normal, you can re-install any disk drive icons, colors and resolutions at this point, then save the "Desk Top". 3. Understanding MultiGEM Once you have installed MultiGEM you are now ready to learn how MultiGEM works. MultiGEM basically enhances GEM so that it can multitask. Most Atari ST programs use a menu bar or GEM window and these kinds of programs work well with MultiGEM. Why? Because programs that use these GEM features use a GEM "system call" called "Event_xxxxx" which checks with GEM to see if an event has happened. Things like a window was moved, a menu bar was activated or the mouse was moved. Since these are very common in Atari ST programs most programs work well with MultiGEM. Unfortunately some programs do not use GEM system calls very well. These kinds of programs WILL work under MultiGEM, but may not multitask or may prevent other programs from Multitasking. The good news is that these kinds of programs are not to common. What About TOS and TTP programs? Most Atari users are familiar with TOS and TTP programs. These kinds of programs do not use GEM windows or menu bars, so do they multitask? YES! We have included a special utility program called "MULTIWIN.PRG" that allows TOS programs to run in a GEM window. If you allowed the installation program to create a new DESKTOP.INF (NEWDESK.INF on MEGA STE and TT) file, the "MULTIWIN.PRG" program will automatically be used when you run TOS programs. This a is very nice feature of MultiGEM, TOS programs usually clear the screen and use text only. Because MultiGEM puts these TOS programs into their own GEM windows, they can now multitask with other GEM programs and not interfere with your view of other programs running on the screen. The "MULTIWIN.PRG"program will also let programs called TTP run in their own GEM window. We will go into more detail on the "MULTIWIN.PRG" latter in this manual. Printing, Formatting, and File Copying. MultiGEM does not affect the Atari "Desk Tops's" Format, Print or File Copying features. When these features are used from your "Desk Top" they for the most part will not multitask. GEM programs however are a different matter. Programs that use these features CAN multitask, but are dependant on the way the program was written. If the program does not make an "Event_xxxxx" system call during one of the above features it will usually suspend multitasking during its operation. For example when a program goes into print mode, it will multitask while printing if the programmer used an "Event_xxxxx" system call in the section that causes printing. If the programmer did not check with GEM by using an "Event_xxxxx" system call, multitasking will be suspended until the program has finished printing. Tip: To help with programs that do not multitask while printing, use a print spooler. Time Sharing and Priority Multitasking environments such as MultiGEM use a time sharing system among all the programs currently running in memory. The programs that are running in memory are given slices of time by MultiGEM's Event Manager. Generally the window or program that is currently being used will get top priority. This means that any free time left by the program your currently working with will be equally shared among any other existing programs currently running in memory. The Event Manager in MultiGEM will handle up to six GEM/TOS/TTP programs at once. As you add more programs the Event Manager has more things to do and requires more time to handle the added programs. This will cause a slight slowdown in the program your currently working with. Viewing Files There is a file viewing utility that is called every time you double click on a file that does not have of the following file extensions; PRG,TTP,TOS,MUC and APP. A program called "MULTILIS.PRG", which is located in the folder called "MULTIGEM", is activated and loads the file double clicked on from the "Desk Top" into a GEM window. This program serves to help view files and not interfere with any Multitasking programs. The "Desk Top's" "SHOW" function will stop Multitasking while it is being used. Using MultiGEM After installing MultiGEM and running it for the first time, look under the "DESK" menu selection on your "Desk Top". You will notice that there are now six MultiGEM Slot's ("MultiGEMslot"). If you had some accessories in your boot partition you may see those desk accessories and some "MultiGEMslot's". Every time you run a PRG, APP, TTP or TOS program MultiGEM will load your program into one of these slots (see pic 1). In the illustration above you can see that we have loaded in PageStream. To launch (run) a program, just use your Atari "Desk Top" normally. Once you have launched a program it will be loaded into memory and displayed on the screen. If the program uses a GEM menu bar and a GEM window for output, you will still have access to your Atari "Desk Top". Just resize the GEM window so that you can see the "Desk Top" behind it. Once you have re-sized the GEM window move your mouse pointer to the accessory area of the menu bar (usually the far left menu selection) click on any slot that says "MultiGEMslot". The menu bar will now change to your Atari's regular GEM "Desk Top". Once at the "Desk Top" you can launch another program or use any of the regular "Desk Top" functions. you may repeat this process as many times as needed or until all six "MultiGEMslot's" have been used. If you would like to activate a program that is currently running in memory, you can use a combination of the following methods. You may have noticed that when you launch a program it's file name replaces one of the "MultiGEMslot's" in the desk accessory area. In the above illustration you can see that PageStream's file name has now replaced one of the "MultiGEMslot's". It will remain there until you "Quit" from PageStream. To activate a program just click on its file name now listed in the desk accessory slot (MultiGEMslot). The menu bar will now change to the menu bar used by the program selected. In our example of PageStream the menu bar would change from the "Desk Top's" menu bar to PageStream's menu bar. If the program also uses a GEM window, the program's output window(s) will become active. Any graphic or resource used by the program will be re-drawn on the screen. The other way to activate a program that uses GEM windows is to click on its output window. Once you click on a GEM window belonging to a program the menu bar will change accordingly. Again in, our example of PageStream, if you were to click on PageStream's GEM output window the menu bar would change to PageStreams. Programs that do not use GEM windows can still work with MultiGEM. As long as the program you are using has a menu bar you should be able to get to the Atari "Desk Top" by clicking on one of the empty "MultiGEMslot's". If the menu bar changes to that of your "Desk Top" but the screen does not change, you can try pre-loading other programs. Once you have pre-loaded the other programs you can simply click on a file name that appears in the desk accessory area. You should be able to switch between all the programs you have loaded into memory. Some programs like Degas Elite will not allow its screen to be erased by MultiGEM. You can however bring programs forward that are in memory by clicking on their file name in the desk accessory area of the menu bar. This should put the program on top of the one currently running. With some programs you may have to experiment a little before you are able to see other programs running in memory. TOS and TTP programs in a Window TOS and TTP programs are run VIA a program called "MULTIWIN.PRG" located in the "MULTIGEM" folder on your boot partition or floppy disk. This program allows TOS and TTP programs to run in a GEM window. When you ran the MultiGEM installation program it created (if selected) a new "DESKTOP.INF" (NEWDESK.INF on TT/MEGA STE) file with certain lines added which automatically loads the "MULTIWIN.PRG" every time you try to run a TOS or TTP program file. If you did not create a new "DESKTOP.INF" file you can add the missing line to your current "DESKTOP.INF" file. Follow the instructions outlined in chapter 6 "Altering your Desk Top Information File. To run a TOS or TTP program just launch the program normally from your Atari "Desk Top". Once you have launched the program it will automatically be loaded by the "MULTIWIN.PRG" and displayed into a GEM window. If the program was a TTP file, the file name of the program will be listed in the upper left hand corner. You can now type in the parameters for this program. For example you could run "ARC.TTP and that file name would be listed in the upper left hand corner. With this particular program you would type in some commands and a path and a file name, then hit return. "ARC.TTP" would now start its operation with all its output being placed in it's GEM window. Most TTP programs we have tested multitask with no problems. TOS programs are run the same way except they do not require any parameters. TOS programs are automatically loaded into the "MULTIWIN.PRG". All output to the screen will be placed in it's own GEM window. Many TOS programs will multitask. Some TOS programs do not use print line commands. These programs will sometimes Write over the GEM window created for them. We recommend that you test run TOS programs once to see how they react to the "MULTIWIN.PRG". Most TOS programs we have tested work well with MultiGEM. Running Desk Accessories Like Programs MultiGEM will allow you to run accessories just like you run other program files right from your Atari "Desk Top". The MultiGEM installation program created a new "DESKTOP.INF" (NEWDESK.INF on MEGA STE/TT) file that allows you to run accessories with the file extension "MUC" (MUltiaCcessory). All accessories have the extension "ACC". Many Atari users rename an accessories not in use with the file extension "ACX". If you would like to have MultiGEM run accessories with this extension instead of "MUC" please see chapter 6, Altering The Desk Top Information File. Accessories can be used normally with MultiGEM. Accessories that boot up with you system will however take up a "MultiGEMslot". You can tell the difference between an accessory that was loaded upon boot up and a program or accessory thaT WAS LAUNCHED THEM THE "Desk Top". You will see a ">" (greater than sign) next to program or accessory that was loaded from the "Desk Top". When accessories are loaded normally (loaded during the boot up) they can not be removed, but will act like normal accessories. Some programs run both as accessories or regular programs, these of course work very well with MultiGEM. Again we suggest test running accessories to see how they will react under MultiGEM. Some accessories can only be run as accessories and not launched from your "Desk Top" like a program. As a rule accessories that allocate memory or load other accessories should be run normally and not loaded like program files. Most accessories we have tested work very well with MultiGEM. Since accessories are designed to multitask via GEM, the usually multitask fine. 5. Using The Configuration Utility The configuration utility is a very important part of MultiGEM. It allows you to customize MultiGEM to work with all the various programs you may use. The configuration utility sets up a file called "MULTIGEM.INF" which lets the MultiGEM Event Manager know how to treat all the individual programs and accessories you may run. There are two ways to call the MultiGEM utility program. The best way if possible is to hold down the Shift Key, Control or Alternate key and at the same time click on one of the empty MultiGEM slot's (MultiGEMslot). This will bring up an alert box with three selections. Desktop Clicking on this selection will take you out of the program you are currently working with and bring up the "Desk Top". There are times you may not be able to use this function. If all six "MultiGEMslot's" have been used or the current program is running in single mode. Pref.. This selection will bring up the MultiGEM configuration program. Mouse on Some programs my not handle the mouse correctly. Selecting this function will help these programs display the mouse better. Pam's MultiGEM Configuration Program If you do not use or are unable to use the above method you can run the configuration program from the "Desk Top". You can run the program file called "MULTICON.PRG" located in the "MULTIGEM" folder on your boot disk or boot partition. Once you have run the configuration program the following options are available; Memory:______Bytes This option will allow you to allocate or limit the amount of memory that can be used by a program or accessory. Many programs want to allocate all available memory to themselves. When this happens there is no memory left to run other programs. By limiting the amount of memory that can be used by a program, you can more efficiently manage your computers memory. The default setting is 1mb (1,000,000) but you can set it for as much or as little as you feel necessary. Programs vary in the size of memory they require, so you will have to experiment a little to get the best results. Remember that most programs that work with a 520ST (512K memory) actually use 400k or less. NOTE: After you "Quit" a program running under MultiGEM all memory used by that program will be returned to GEM for later use by other programs. Insert This function allows you to select a program (TOS/TTP/APP/PRG/MUC) and set up information on it. Just click on the box called "Insert" and the file selector will appear. Using the file selector find and select the program file you would like to set up. Once selected click "OK". The file name of the program you selected will appear in the box under insert. Delete This function will delete the currently selected program. Arrows Clicking on either arrow with scroll through the program names already recorded by the configuration program. Single Mode This will function will set the selected program to a non- multitasking state. When this program is run all programs will stop Multitasking, they will stay resident in memory. This option is intended for programs that require as much speed as possible or interfere with the operation of programs that are running. critical This selection will cause MultiGEM to give you a warning before the selected program is launched. Some programs like games, demos and PC or Mac emulators will take complete control of the system. When these kinds of programs run all the programs running in memory and their data will be lost. This warning function will let you know what is about to happen so that you can save your data before it is lost. ext_task This function is designed to help those programs which launch other programs. Applications like telecommunications programs and alternative "Desk Tops" often launch (run) other programs while they are still loaded in memory. When you have selected ext_task and you launch a program from one of the above MultiGEM will temporarily remove the existing application to make room for the newly loaded program. MultiGEM will change the name listed in the "MultiGEMslot" and run the new application. When you have finished using this application and exit it, MultiGEM will re-load the original program, run it and rename the "MultiGEMslot" to reflect the change. Xwind_find This function allows you to control programs that want to alter the screen when you are using another application. A good example of this is Calamus. Calamus prints the mouse coordinates in the upper right hand portion of the screen. When you are using another application (not Calamus) the mouse coordinates will sometimes print through to another application every time the mouse pointer crosses a Calamus GEM window. Using the Xwind_find function will stop programs like Calamus from reading the GEM window when they are not being used. Xwind_find may help in other programs were it's GEM windows are affecting other programs. Autostart There are two functions that the Autostart feature will provide. The first is to automatically load up to six programs when MultiGEM is started. These programs will automatically be loaded and put into a "MultiGEMslot". The next feature will allow you to automatically have your programs load in data files. For example, if you use a word processor you may want MultiGEM to load that word possessor a default text file, all at the same time. Most GEM programs support this feature. Path When you click on the word Path a file selector box will appear. You may now select the path were your program is located. Once you have selected the, click OK. File When you click on the word File a file selector box will appear. You may now select a DATA file that will be loaded into your selected program when MultiGEM Autostarts it. Once again if your going to use a word processor you can select a document that you would like to have automatically loaded for you when you word processor is Autostarted. NOTE: The File function will work even when the Autostart function is not active. GEM/TOS/TTP When you are setting up a program you should let MultiGEM know if it is a GEM, TOS or TTP program. MultiGEM will make system changes according to the choice you make. MultiGEM will run programs that are incorrectly listed or unknown as for as this function is concerned. But for the most efficient and reliable performance, make sure you have the right mode selected for your programs. Memory Info This area tells you information on memory allocation and current programs be used under MultiGEM. RAM free: This tells the amount of memory currently available under MultiGEM. Always check with RAM free and not other programs to see the amount of true available memory, other programs may give you false reading (low). Reserve: This tells you how much reserve memory is available. It is important to keep a certain amount of reserve ram available if you use the Atari "Desk Top" functions Hard Copy, accessories, TSR's (auto programs) and some alternative "Desk Tops". They may need to use memory available from the reserve. The default setting is 60k, if do not have any of the above or do not use the Hard Copy function of GEM you can reduce the amount of reserve memory. Other memory info Underneath RAM free and Reserve you will see program file names and the amount of memory currently being used them. You will also see how much memory is being used by the open "MultiGEMslot's". 6. Altering the Desk Top Information File We first recommend that you use the "DESKTOP.INF" file created by the installation program. You can alter your "Desk Top" to fit your computer system and save a new "DESKTOP.INF" file. GEM does not erase the MultiGEM created "DESKTOP.INF" file but simply modifies it. You can save the "Desk Top" as many times as you need and not lose any MultiGEM information contained in it. If you would like to change the "DESKTOP.INF" (NEWDESK.INF on TT/MEGA STE) file for any reason use the following information as a guide line. Below is a printout of a typical DESKTOP.INF file. It contains information on were and how many icons there are, if any windows are to be open and were, autorun any gem programs (TOS 1.4 or better) and on the newer versions of TOS (1.6+) even stores color information. We have added three lines to the "DESKTOP.INF" file, which allow TOS and TTP programs to run in a GEM window, text and other kinds of files will be loaded into a viewing program and accessories to be able to run like programs. Just add or delete the lines indicated to suit you needs. CAUTION: You should make a backup copy of your "DESKTOP.INF" file to be safe. DESKTOP.INF File #a000000#b000000 c#777000700060007005520050555222077055707505507703111 103 #d #E 98 12 #W 00 14 14 02 19 0E 00 @ #W 00 00 00 01 1A 11 00 @ #W 00 00 0E 09 2A 0B 00 @ #W 00 00 0F 0A 2A 0B 00 @ #M 02 03 00 FF C Hard Disk@ @ #M 00 03 00 FF A Floppy@ @ #M 01 03 00 FF B Floppy@ @ #T 04 03 02 FF TRASH@ @ #F FF 04 @*.*@ #D FF 01 @*.*@ #G 03 FF C:\MULTIGEM\MULTIGEM.PRG@*.*@ ** #G 03 FF *.APP @ @ #G 03 FF *.PRG@ @ #P 03 FF *.TTP@ @ #F 03 04 *.TOS@ @ #G 03 FF *.MUC@ @ ** #G 03 04 C:\MULTIGEM\MULTIWIN.PRG@*.TOS@ ** #G 30 04 C:\MULTIGEM\MULTIWIN.PRG@*.TTP@ ** ** Lines have been added to "DESKTOP.INF" file. Please note that path information is for a hard disk system (logical drive "C").