        
                         The Revenge Document Displayer
        
                   Copyright (c)1990,91,92,93,94 Stuart Coates
        
                                  Version 3.10
        
                                29th January 1994
        
        *****************************************************************
        NOTE:  Magazine editors,  if you're thinking about including  the 
        RDD  on  a cover disk then read on for  distribution  conditions. 
        Failure to do so may prove to be very costly!
        *****************************************************************
        
        Welcome  to  the  Revenge  Document  Displayer  v3  (RDD3).   The 
        objective  with the release of RDD3 is to provide a text  viewing 
        utility  for  the  Atari ST/TT/Falcon range  of  micros  that  is 
        powerful  and easy to use.   Previous versions of RDD had a  vast 
        number of options available to the user, RDD3 has omitted some of 
        the  less  used  features of previous  releases  but  has  gained 
        several very powerful ones.
        
        
        A Brief History
        
        The  RDD v1.00 was released on 15th April 1990 in response  to  a 
        request from a friend of mine for a text viewing utility that was 
        more flexible than the GEM Desktop's own.  RDD1.00 was written in 
        Hisoft  Basic  and didn't contain many features.   I  decided  to 
        develop the idea of the RDD from this base with several  releases 
        throughout  the  year  resulting in RDD  1.93  released  on  28th 
        October 1990.   That Xmas I purchased Lattice C v5.00 and decided 
        to learn C - no better way than to port RDD to C.
        
        RDD  v2.00 was released on 3rd February 1991 and  contained  many 
        more features and was a lot faster.   RDD2 was a lot more  stable 
        than RDD1 because of this rewrite.   During 1991 and 1992 no less 
        than  21  versions were released and 14  organisations  purchased 
        custom copies.   Several other text viewers sprang up during this 
        time  which  I'm grateful for as they gave me new ideas  for  the 
        RDD,  this  also gave the ST community greater  choice.   Version 
        2.30  was released on 27th September 1992 and was the  last  RDD2 
        release. 
        
        I received a large amount of feedback from RDD2 which  encouraged 
        me  to  start  work on RDD3 in December  1992.   The  first  beta 
        release  was shipped to testers in January 1993.   Very few  bugs 
        were found in this although many features were missing.  The RDD3 
        that you see today has taken many months to develop and has  been 
        thoroughly  tested.
        
        
        Using The RDD3
        
        Loading a document:
        
        There are several way to load documents into the RDD3,
        
        1.   Double click on RDD.PRG from the desktop and use the GEM file 
        selector to pick a document.
        
        2.   Rename  RDD.PRG to RDD.TTP and enter a document name on  the 
        command line when running.
        
        3.   Install RDD.PRG as an application on the desktop so that  it 
        is loaded every time that you click on a text file.
        
        4.   If  you have TOS2 installed or one of the  many  replacement 
        desktops that allow you to place items on the desktop then  place 
        the RDD3 on the desktop and you can simply drag documents to  it. 
        (I strongly recommend Terradesk for this).
        
        5.   Machines running Neodesk 3 can have the RDD installed as the 
        default  text  viewer so that any docs are  displayed  using  the 
        RDD3. 
        
        6.   (For programmers only..)  Launch the RDD from your own shell 
        using the GEMDOS Pexec function.   On the command line you should 
        pass  a  list  of documents that you wish to  load  separated  by 
        spaces.  The RDD3 supports the ARGV protocol for extended command 
        lines.
        
        
        Loading Multiple Documents:
        
        The  RDD3 has support for multiple documents in memory,  in  fact 
        currently  up  to 200 docs can be resident at once,  this  is  of 
        course dependent on available memory.   To load more than one doc 
        you  can  either  specify individual filenames  or  use  wildcard 
        matches,  for  example if you wanted to load all .TXT files  then 
        tell  the RDD3 to load *.TXT.   The RDD3 also understands  folder 
        structures,  so to load all of the documents within a folder just 
        specify  the  folder  name.   The  RDD3  does  not  scan  folders 
        recursively.
        
        
        Compressed Documents
        
        RDD3 supports documents that have been compressed using  Pack-Ice 
        2.40,  this allows you to have an archive of compressed documents 
        that don't eat up huge amounts of disk space.
        
        Archive Files
        
        RDD3  can  recognise  most popular archive formats  and  has  the 
        ability  to  perform a verbose listing of the  archive  contents.  
        The  current release of RDD supports  ZIP,ARC,ZOO,ARJ,LZH  files.  
        To  make  use of this feature simply load the  archive  file,  to 
        bypass the automatic listing feature hold down the Alternate  key 
        while loading the archive.
        
        Pictures
        
        RDD3  has very limited support for Degas PI?  picture  files  and 
        will  only display pictures that are compatible with the  current 
        screen resolution - normally ST resolutions only.  When a picture 
        is  loaded a document will be created with  the  line:  'PICFILE: 
        <filename>', press Alt-V to view this picture.
        
        Document Formatting
        
        Before  a  document  can  be displayed by the  RDD3  it  must  be 
        formatted,  this  is done whenever a doc is  loaded.   Formatting 
        causes any long lines within that doc to be wrapped to fit on the 
        screen  and tab characters to be expanded.   Lines can be  either 
        wrapped  at the edge of the screen or at the end of the line  (up 
        to 512 characters) - this option is configurable within the RDD.
        
        
        On-Line Help
        
        The  RDD3  has built in help that gives you a  list  of  keyboard 
        controls, to gain access to this press HELP while you are viewing 
        a document.
        
        
        Main Features
        
        I'm  not going to go through every feature in the RDD3  in  great 
        detail as that would take far too long and you probably  wouldn't 
        want to read it anyway,  so I'll just list the main features  and 
        give a small explanation for each.
        
        Scrolling:  Probably the most important feature, to scroll up and 
        down use the arrow keys or move the mouse up and down.   You  can 
        also  move  a screen at a time by holding down either  shift  key 
        while  scrolling.   If  the current document has lines  that  are 
        longer  than  than  the  screen  width  and  they  haven't   been 
        automatically  wrapped  then pressing the left/right  arrow  keys 
        will  scroll  the  whole  screen  left/right.    Pressing  Shift-
        Left/Right will cause the screen to move to the start/end of  the 
        longest line.
        
        Move  to Top or Bottom of Doc:   Press Alt-T to go to the top  or 
        Alt-B to go to the bottom
        
        Goto a line: To go to a particular line press Alt-G and enter the 
        line number that you want to go to.
        
        Find a word:  Press Alt-F to search for a piece of text.  You can 
        also set up case-sensitive and global searches using this option.  
        Pressing  Alt-N and Alt-P allow you to find the Next or  Previous 
        occurrence.
        
        Load a document:   To load another document press Alt-L or  click 
        the  right mouse button,  you will then be presented with a  file 
        selector,  select the file that you wish to load and the RDD will 
        do the rest.   The contents of the Atari clipboard can be  loaded 
        by pressing Ctrl-A.
        
        Close a document:  When you've finished with a document hit Alt-C 
        to close it.  All documents will be automatically closed when the 
        RDD terminates.
        
        Switching Documents:  If you've got several documents loaded then 
        you can switch between them in several ways:
        
             Keypad -       Move to previous document
             Keypad +       Move to next document
             Tab            Show list of loaded documents
             F1-10          Move to document 1-10
             Shift F1-F10   Move to document 11-20
        
        Changing tab width:   Press Ctrl-T to change the tab setting  for 
        the current document.   Tab settings are stored on a per document 
        basis.
        
        Printing a Document:   Press Ctrl-P to print the current document 
        and Ctrl-C to configure the printer.  Ctrl-W will let you print a 
        marked block.
        
        Marking  a block:   Alt-S and Alt-E allow you to start and end  a 
        block,  pressing Alt-H will hide any block.  A block can be saved 
        to disk by pressing Alt-W,  or to the Atari clipboard by pressing 
        Alt A.
        
        Locate RDD:  Pressing Ctrl-L will allow you to locate the RDD.PRG 
        file  to  allow a configuration file to be saved in  the  correct 
        directory.   Press Ctrl-L and the file selector will appear, find 
        the  RDD.PRG file and select it.   The RDD.PRG file will  now  be 
        loaded and its location encoded within it.
        
        Save settings: The configuration can be saved by pressing Ctrl-S.  
        Before  using  this option for the first time you  must  run  the 
        'Locate RDD' option.
        
        Bookmarks:  You  can store the current position in a document  by 
        setting  a  bookmark.   RDD3 supports 26  bookmarks.   To  set  a 
        bookmark simply press Shift and any letter A-Z.   You can  return 
        to  a stored bookmark by hitting just the letter  A-Z.   You  can 
        also set bookmarks by pressing Ctrl-B.  Bookmarks can be accessed 
        easily by pressing Alt-M.
        
        ST/IBM Characters:  RDD3 supports both ST and IBM character sets, 
        you can toggle between them by pressing Escape. 
        
        Feature  menu:   RDD3  features  a  menu  that  you  can  perform 
        operations from without using any strange key combinations.  This 
        menu  can  be  accessed  by clicking the  left  mouse  button  or 
        pressing Insert.
        
        Toggle Text Size:  To switch between the two available font sizes 
        press Ctrl-G. 
        
        50/60Hz:   On some screens you can toggle between 50/60Hz refresh 
        rates  by pressing Keypad *,   not all monitors/machines  support 
        this feature.
        
        Locate  external editor:   The RDD has the ability of support  an 
        external editor program to manipulate documents.  To tell the RDD 
        the location of this program press Ctrl-D.
        
        Execute  external editor:   To load the current document into  an 
        external  editor press Alt-D.   The current document will be  re-
        loaded after editing.
        
        Document  Information:   To  obtain  statistics  on  the  current 
        document press Clr Home.
        
        View Picture:  If a line with the structure 'PICFILE: <filename>' 
        is at the top of the screen, pressing Alt-V will display it.
        
        Sorting  Documents:   If you have many documents loaded into  the 
        RDD you can sort them into alphabetical by pressing Alt-O.  Using 
        this option will result in all bookmarks being cleared.
        
        Running  External Programs:   The run an external  program  press 
        Alt-X  and select the program that you require.   If the  current 
        document  is an executable file then you can press Ctrl-X to  run 
        it.
        
        Utilities:   The  RDD has the ability to store up to 20  external 
        utilities  that are accessible with a  single  keystroke.   These 
        programs can be set up two ways.   Press Ctrl-U or Ctrl-0 to 9 to 
        locate a utility.  A utility can be accessed by either picking it 
        from  a  menu by pressing Alt-U or by  pressing  the  appropriate 
        number key, 0 to 9. 
        
        Mouse Control:   The mouse plays an important role in the use  of 
        the RDD.  You can scroll through documents by moving the mouse up 
        and down and call up the feature menu by pressing the left  mouse 
        button.   The  mouse  can  also  be used  within  menus  to  make 
        selections.   In fact,  although the RDD is a text based program, 
        all of its features can be accessed via the mouse.
        
        Getting  Help:   If  you require help while using the  RDD  press 
        the Help key for a list of available help topics.
        
        Toggle Line Wrap:   The RDD can handle documents with long  lines 
        in two ways:   Firstly,  it can wrap all lines at the end on  the 
        screen  causing the remainder of the text to appear on  the  next 
        line.   Secondly, lines can be kept intact and the RDD can scroll 
        sideways to view all text.  Press Alt-R to toggle this feature.
        
        Exiting:  To exit from the RDD press the UNDO key twice.
        
        
        Compatibility
        
        The RDD3 was written on a 16MHz Atari 520STe with 4MB of RAM  and 
        TOS 1.62,  therefore it should be 100% compatible with a  similar 
        platform.    The   beta   testers  of  the  RDD3   have   varying 
        configurations ranging from a 1040STFM up to a 16MB Falcon030 and 
        have  not  reported any problems in the many months  of  testing.  
        The  code for the RDD3 does not make any illegal calls  and  does 
        not rely on any special hardware being present (blitter, hardware 
        scrolling,  etc...) so should work on most configurations.   With 
        the  release  of version 3.10 support has been added  for  non-ST 
        screen  resolutions  including  those  on the  TT  and  Falcon  - 
        previous versions would only work in an ST resolution.
        
        The  RDD3  should not conflict with any other programs  that  are 
        running  on  your  machine as it only  accesses  memory  that  it 
        allocates itself.  The RDD3 has not been tested extensively under 
        MultiTOS although it should work.
        
        
        System Requirements
        
        The RDD3 will run on anything from a 520ST upwards.   If you plan 
        to make extensive use of the multi-document features then  you'll 
        be needing plenty of memory.  To gain extra speed from a basic ST 
        the RDD3 uses highly optimized text routines for all of it's text 
        output  and scrolling.   If you have a screen accelerator  loaded 
        such as Warp 9,  NVDI,  QuickST,  or TurboST, you will not notice 
        any  speed change at all while using the RDD3 as my routines  are 
        faster  and completely bypass the TOS routines.   The  RDD3  will 
        only  run  correctly  on screens that  support  a  resolution  of 
        640x200 or higher.
        
        
        RDD3 Program Details
        
        Design and Coding            Stuart Coates
        
        Install Program              Mark Matts
        
        Beta testers                 Mark Matts
                                     Keith Frisby
                                     Trev Ward
                                     Gordon Meyer
                                     John Charles
                                     Robert Darling
                                     Stuart Richards
                                     Daron Brewood
                                     Don Williams
        
        Development Tools            Lattice C v5.60
                                     Devpac 3.10
                                     Harlekin 2/3
        
        Development Hardware         Atari 520STe
                                     16MHz Accelerator
                                     4MB Ram
                                     48MB Seagate 157N
                                     Atari SM124
                                     ZyXEL U-1496E+
        
        Useful Reference Manuals     Atari ST Internals
                                           - Abacus
                                     The Atari Compendium
                                           - SDS Publishing
                                     M68000 Programmer's Reference Manual
                                           - Motorola Semiconductors
                                     Programming the 68000
                                           - Sybex
        
        Support
        
        The  RDD3  is a complex program and therefore  may  contain  some 
        bugs.  I would be very grateful if you could report any bugs that 
        you  find direct to myself via email (addresses below) or if  you 
        don't have email access then via my support BBS sysop Mark  Matts 
        at the address below:
        
                                 Mark Matts
                                 66 Telford Way
                                 Leicester LE5 2LX
                                 England U.K.
        
        My email addresses:
        
          (preferred)      Internet      : scoates@filesys.demon.co.uk
                                           scoates@eurobase.demon.co.uk
                           Compuserve    : 100010,2106
                           NeST          : 90:100/304
                           Atarinet      : 51:6/204
        
        Official support BBS:
        
                           System ST BBS
                           Inside UK     : 0533 413443
                           International : +44 533 413443
                           Times         : 2200-0700 GMT
                           Speeds        : 300-14400
                           NeST          : 90:100/300
                           Atarinet      : 51:6/200
        
        The  very  latest version of RDD can always  be  downloaded  from 
        System ST first,  and from Compuserve within a couple of days  of 
        release in the ATARIPRO forum.
        
        
        Registration
        
        The  RDD is distributed as shareware which means that if you  use 
        it then you're expected to register.   The registration fee is  5 
        pounds  sterling (or US$10) and should be sent to my support  BBS 
        sysop, Mark Matts (his address is mentioned earlier in this doc).  
        All  registered users will receive a copy of the latest  version.  
        The  latest  version of the RDD will also be made  available  via 
        various BBS's and on-line systems.  If you don't have access to a 
        modem then you can obtain a copy of the latest version by sending 
        a blank disk and 3 pounds sterling (or US$5) to Mark Matts.
        
        The  RDD may be distributed freely by any PD Library or  BBS  but 
        MAY  NOT  be used on any magazine cover disk  without  permission 
        from  the  author,  any  magazine failing to  comply  with  these 
        restrictions  will  have action taken against  them.   Disk  only 
        magazines are free to use the RDD without the authors  permission 
        on  the condition that a copy of the relevant edition is sent  to 
        Mark Matts in advance of publication.
        
        
        Why no direct support?
        
        I'm not publishing my postal address as it is currently  changing 
        every  few  months and this would result in  some  correspondence 
        being lost.   Mark Matts has offered to handle all  registrations 
        and correspondence on my behalf and will forward any bug  reports 
        direct to myself.  I do have several email addresses available if 
        you do require to contact me.
        
        
        Thanks go to:
        
                       Mark Matts
                            - for handling subscriptions, having the 
                              occasional good idea, and for writing the
                              installation program.
        
                       Daron Brewood
                            - Falcon030 testing
        
                       All of the Beta Testers
                            - Thanks for the bugs guys!
        
                       Atari ST Review
                            - Excellent review of v3.00 (Jan94)
        
                       HiSoft
                            - Great Dev Tools
        
                       All those who have registered.
        
        
        Future plans for RDD:
        
        The RDD is undergoing continual development, some of the features 
        that  are  likely to be included in future  releases  are  listed 
        below:
        
        Greater  support  for picture files - really  dependent  on  user 
        feedback  -  do  you  really need  a  doc  displayer  to  display 
        pictures?
        
        Support  for MultiTOS / Geneva / Mag!X - background printing  and 
        document formatting.
        
        Full  support  for the Falcon 030/040 including the  DSP  -  just 
        imagine the scrolling speed that this would be capable of -  need 
        to get my hands on a Falcon!
        
        
        Program History:
        
        
        Version 3.00 - 23 October 1993
        
             Complete re-write.
        
        
        Version 3.10 - 29 January 1994
        
             Support for higher resolution screens - Overscan/TT/Falcon.
                  -   complete re-write of text/scrolling routines 
                      resulting in a 5% speed up in screen output.
        
             Sideways scrolling for documents with long lines.
        
             Screen colour toggle.
        
             Small amount of redundant code removed.
        
             Numerous bug fixes.
        
        
