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 Screen Toggle v1.0     [Documentation - SS.EXE]         1996 MSH Softworks
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Recommended Min. Requirements: 386-sx16, 384K Ram, Dos 5.0, any ol' HD, EGA.
    Bare Minimum Requirements: 8088-4.77, 64K Ram, Dos 2.1, 360K Floppy, EGA.


  "Screen Toggle" (I'll call it "SS" from now on) is a simple straight-
forward command that 'Toggles' your screen between 25 and 50 line modes, very
much like flipping a switch.  Typing SS(and Enter) will flip the "switch".

NOTE:  Your video card MUST be either EGA or VGA.  If you have an EGA card,
       50 Line mode will actually be 43 Lines.

FOR:  MSDOS, PCDOS, Windows 95/98, MacOS Dos prompt, and OrangePC.


FOREWARD:

  If you're an avid computer user like myself, and if you prefer working in
DOS over Windows, then you would probably like the idea having better control
over your environment, right?  Well, we all like that idea, and here is a
small contribution towards our lofty goal.

  A lot of times, I prefer being able to see as much info as will fit on the
screen.  Other times, I like to have it in plain ol' 25 line mode, or when
I'm using a program that only supports 25 line mode.  The only problem was,
I had to have ANSI.SYS loaded so I could use the MODE command to switch video
modes.  It was alright for a while, but it irked me whenever I went to
switch modes only to discover than I forgot to put ANSI in the config.sys, or
a game I just played had screwed with the settings enough that ANSI wouldn't
recognize the mode I was in, and refused to switch modes...  So, I wrote SS.


INSTALLATION:

  Simply copy the SS.EXE file into your DOS directory, or anyplace that is
specified in your computer's PATH statement.  Also, you can rename it to
anything you wish, such as SCREEN.EXE, SB.EXE, etc...

  Now whenever you type SS (or what you renamed it) at a DOS prompt, your
screen will instantly switch between 25 and 50 line modes.


About SS:

  SS is a hardware/software switch that actually knows what it's doing,
quite unlike the multitudes of others out there... (ie:  programs that switch
your video card into 50 line mode without telling DOS...so it will only use
the top 25 lines of the screen...useless.  Others require drivers that take
up memory AND processor time.)  SS makes use of the VESA standard for EGA/VGA
devices, and it is built-in to your video card (It MUST be EGA or VGA).  SS
sets the new mode in DOS, and tells DOS to tell the video card to switch to
the new mode.
   
  SS is very simple, quick, and quite effective at switching between modes.  
Many programs will support 50 line mode (Like DOS's Edit and Qbasic), but
there are quite a lot that also don't.  If you run a program than doesn't
support it, it will work fine but it looks funny.  You can exit the program,
type SS, then run the program again.

  SS does not require ANSI.SYS to be loaded.

  SS will work at any DOS prompt:  MSDOS, PC-DOS, DR-DOS, OS/2 DOS session*,
Windows DOS prompt, Windows95/98 DOS prompt, etc...  SS does not care if you
are in a Windows DOS Full Screen prompt or a DOS prompt window.  If you are
in a window, and you type SS, the window will instanly re-size itself to
compensate for the extra/less screen space.  I discovered the quality by
accident, since SS was not written for Windows.


Limitations:

  SS can (and probably won't) be limited by the video card you have.  It
gives your video card a simple command, and your video does the rest.  SS
may work in different ways on different types of cards, but it accomplishes
the same ultimate task.

  SS is not effective under Windows NT.  WinNT reverts to the video mode in
effect before you run any program, hence:  SS changes your video mode, then
WinNT changes it back after SS exits.  So, SS is not needed under Windows NT.


Options:

  SS currently has two options:

  SS 25       -Sets your screen to 25 Line Mode.
  SS 50       -Sets your screen to 50/43 Line Mode.

  These options are useful if you have any Batch files to set up your screen
before running a program.  If a program requires the screen to be in 25 Line
Mode, then you can execute SS 25 in the batch file BEFORE the commands that
run it.  Alternatively, if you know a program supports 50 line mode, and you
would like to use it that way, you can write a batch file to use SS 50 before
running that program.

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I Hope you will find this program useful!
                                                        -MSH Softworks
                                                        -Michael S. Hooper


   If you have any suggestions or comments concerning this program, feel
free to contact me on the internet at msh@c-shore.com.

THIS PROGRAM IS FREEWARE!  COPY IT, DISTRIBUTE IT, GIVE IT AWAY, MASS PRODUCE
IT, BUT DO NOT SELL IT!  IT IS FREE TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE.
