Runner -- A Desktop Alternative QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS Copyright (C) 1993 by Dave Thorson Version 1.61 November 18, 1993 Welcome to Runner! Runner is designed as a replacement for the standard Atari desktop, providing additional capabilities and ease of use. It gives you a very different, yet powerful and customizable computing environment. Many of the features Runner offers are easy to learn and should be helpful to most users right away. Others are a bit more obscure and may not seem to have any purpose other than adding length and complexity to the documentation. I suggest you read the following Quick Start instructions and get to know Runner on a basic level, then read the other help (.HLP) files as needed. You should probably read all of them at least once, and maybe several months later to see if anything new pops up. Legalese: Runner may be distributed freely as long as all original files are included, unchanged. Dave Thorson is not responsible for any damages (lost files, loss of time, etc.) caused directly or indirectly by this software. Users of this software assume all responsibility for risk. This program is Shareware and is NOT released to the Public Domain; Copyright ownership remains with Dave Thorson. The companion programs Mini-Run, Regions and Rpicsel are NOT shareware and are included in the shareware version of Runner in a disabled form. Users of Runner who register for $10 or more will receive a serial number and security code to fix these programs and make them fully working programs. Once "fixed", they may NOT be distributed to others in any format. The disabled versions MUST be included with any copies of Runner that you give away. If you need to get started right away and don't want to read everything, follow these steps: 1. If you received a RUNRxxxx.ARC file, extract all the files from RUNRxxxx.ARC to the same folder or directory, using a command similar to: ARC E RUNR160C A:\*.* The version number (160C, for 1.60c, in the above example) may be different. Note: from the desktop, double click on ARC.TTP and on the command line, enter: E RUNR160C A:\*.* Alternate Note: if you received a RUNRxxxx.LZH file, then use LHARC instead of ARC! The same command line works! If you received RUNNER with the files already extracted (not inside of a .ARC file) simply copy them to the same folder (a folder name of RUNNER works well, but is not required). If you run out of space, the only file NEEDED for RUNNER is RUNNER.PRG. The file RUNNER.CFG can be created from within Runner (or use my example file). It contains your menu setups and other stuff, so you'll want to keep it with RUNNER.PRG. You may want to copy any pictures you want for the current screen resolution, their corresponding picture config files (picname.CF1/.CF2/.CF3), any text files you need (RUNNER.HLP is a good choice if space is limited), as well as MINI_RUN.TTP, RPICSEL.PRG, and REGIONS.TTP. Be sure to read OTHERS.HLP for more info on these last files. 2. Double-click on RUNNER.PRG to load Runner. 3. Press the Help key from Runner for more info. Help can be exited by pressing the Q or Return key (this assumes RUNNER.HLP is in the same folder as RUNNER.PRG) Note: The configuration file (RUNNER.CFG) included is what defines all the program and menu structures, and it's close to what I use. You won't be able to run the programs listed unless by some weird chance your drive is set up exactly like mine, but you can get a feel for how I use Runner and you can add your own programs to try things out. To start from a clean slate, rename RUNNER.CFG to RUNNERDT.CFG ("DT" are two of my initials, and Runner normally looks for RUNNER.CFG). I M P O R T A N T : If you want to keep any menu changes made within Runner, be sure to use the "Save config" commmand in the "File" menu at the top of the screen! This should be enough to get you browsing around, but you probably won't understand or know about everything without reading all the various .HLP files. You may want to print them for reference. They're in ASCII format but I've made no effort to put page breaks in the right places -- you may want to load them into your favorite word processor and place page breaks where you like before printing. For easier reference, you may want to place these in Runner's HOME directory (where you put RUNNER.CFG), create a "Runner Help" menu within Runner, and add these files to that menu within Runner. Then help for Runner is only a mouse click away! You should also know that Runner is SHAREWARE. If you decide to use Runner I expect you to pay for it. I'm asking $10 to $15 (Yes, other users have sent in even more!) to be sent to me: Dave Thorson 4040 East Flower Street Phoenix, AZ 85018 USA (602) 954-6033 Anyone who sends $10.00 or more, along with a disk and return address, will receive a serial number and security code to "fix" the following programs (the shareware versions are disabled one way or another -- see OTHERS.HLP for more info) * Mini-Run, a Runner companion program that frees up to approximately 80% of the memory needed by Runner when running an external program. * Regions, a Runner companion program that lets you create and edit active screen regions to perform most any Runner function and others as well, simply by clicking within one of up to 32 definable screen regions. Lets you assign picture filenames to the shifted numeric keys to load pictures and associated config files with a keypress or mouse click. Lets you save the current picture, including any palette changes made in Runner, to a Degas-compatible file. Regions lets you create demos or applications using Runner with keyboard, GEM menu bar and file selector locked out. It also lets you translate picture config files from one picture to another, even across different screen resolutions. * Rpicsel, a Runner utility program that lets you create a list of pictures for each screen resolution; Runner pics one of them at random when you start Runner or load the list instead of a specific picture file. * The newest versions of Runner and documentation. * If space permits, additional background pictures others have sent in (send in any you create also and I'll try to find a good way to share them with others). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Be sure to specify if you only have a single-sided disk drive. The files are too large now to fit without ARCing (compressing) them, so you will either get an ARC'ed set of files or two disks if you're limited to single sided (let me know your preferences, and please send two disks if you think one is not enough). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * See the .HLP files for lots more details! Feel free to distribute RUNNER to any person or electronic bulletin board as long as: a) ALL files are included in original form. b) Only the disabled versions of MINI_RUN.TTP, REGIONS.TTP and RPICSEL.PRG are distributed. Any copies you fixed using RUNR_REG.PRG are registered by embedded serial numbers and are NOT shareware!