HEADLINE
                                    --------
        What it does
        ------------
        HEADLINE is a message display program which accepts command  line
        parameters to  print text on your screen in large characters. You
        can  choose  the  foreground and background colours and character
        construction,  change the text mode,  position the  text  on  the
        screen,  scroll  it and add delays and sound effects by including
        escape sequences within the text  message.  In  addition,  a  key
        press  or  the    monochrome  text  mode  can  be detected by the
        ERRORLEVEL returned from the program.

        To see what it can do, run the DEMO batch program


        What it is for
        --------------
        As you can see by running the DEMO program,  HEADLINE is designed
        to  allow  you  to  easily produce eye catching displays with the
        minimum of programming skill.  These displays  can  be  used  for
        advertising,  demonstrations etc. or simply to enhance your batch
        files.


        How to use it
        -------------
        In its simplest form,  typing HEADLINE HELLO will place the  word
        HELLO  on the screen eight times the normal character size at the
        current cursor position.  Typing HEADLINE  HELLO  FRED  will  put
        HELLO on one line and FRED on the next,  however, typing HEADLINE
        "HELLO FRED" will put the lot on one line.  You can put  as  many
        strings  as  you  like  on  the command line up to DOS's 128 byte
        limit,  each string will  normally  be  placed  on  a  new  line,
        scrolling  up  the  screen  if  necessary.  Attempting to print a
        string greater than the width of the screen will cause  the  line
        to scroll to the left.

        Alternatively,  you  can  create  a macro file with a text editor
        containing all the strings that would normally  be  used  on  the
        command line.  This circumvents DOS's 128 byte command line limit
        and reduces the amount of disk access.  Each string should  start
        on a new line and should not be enclosed within quotes. The macro
        file  name  must  have  an  extension  of .HDL and is executed by
        typing HEADLINE @filename.

        To enhance the display there are escape sequences  which  can  be
        included in the strings.  An escape sequence is identified by the
        character \ followed by a  special  character  then  one  or  two
        decimal numbers and lastly a terminator character ;
        e.g. "\&15,0;"


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        Colour
        -----
        Format: \&fgd,bdg;

        fgd=foreground colour       bdg=Background colour

        Colour numbers:

        0 ... Black     1 ... Blue      2 ... Green     3 ... Cyan
        4 ... Red       5 ... Magenta   6 ... Yellow    7 ... White
        Foreground  colours  can  be enhanced by adding 8 to brighten the
        colour and/or adding 128 for flashing.

        e.g. HEADLINE "\&15,4;ABC" will print ABC in bright white on red.

        Default: white on black.


        Construction
        ------------
        Format: \$fgd,bdg;

        fgd=foreground character    bdg=Background character

        Each  large  character  is  made  up  from  sixty   four   normal
        characters,  one  character  for  the  foreground and one for the
        background. These can be selected using this escape sequence.

        e.g.  HEADLINE "\$2,58;ABC" will print ABC made  up  from  smiley
        faces on colon background.

        Default: Block on space.


        Goto Line
        ---------
        Format: \@lin;

        lin=line number 1,2 or 3

        This allows you some control over the position of the text on the
        screen. There are only three large text lines on the screen.

        e.g. HEADLINE "\@2;ABC" will print ABC on large line 2.

        Default: Next line.


        Text Mode and Detection
        -----------------------
        Format: \!mod;


                                        2






        mod=Text mode number 0 to 3

        Select  modes  0 or 1 for 40 column (5 extra large characters) or
        modes 2 or 3 for 80 column (10 large characters).  When a new  or
        existing text mode is selected the screen will be cleared and the
        next  character position is set to the top left.  If the computer
        is operating in the monochrome text mode (7) and this sequence is
        used then the screen will simply be cleared and the program  will
        return an ERRORLEVEL of 1.

        e.g.  HEADLINE "\!0;ABC" will clear the screen, set the text mode
        to 40 column (5 extra large characters) and return an  ERRORLEVEL
        of  0 if the computer is operating in colour mode.  Otherwise the
        screen will be cleared and an ERRORLEVEL of 1 will  be  returned.
        See  the  DEMO  program  for  an  example  of  how  to  use  this
        ERRORLEVEL.


        Delays and Keys
        ---------------
        Format: \#dly;

        dly=Delay in 100ths of a second

        To achieve the best effect,  your  demonstration  program  should
        contain delays to allow the viewer time to read the screen.  This
        sequence will pause the program for a period of time, the maximum
        being 65535 which is about 11 minutes. If a key is pressed during
        the delay,  then the delay is aborted and the program will return
        an ERRORLEVEL of 1. Otherwise the program will complete its delay
        time and return an ERRORLEVEL of 0.

        e.g.  HEADLINE  "\#300;"  will  pause for 3 seconds and return an
        ERRORLEVEL of 0 or terminates if a key is pressed and returns  an
        ERRORLEVEL  of  1.  See the DEMO program for an example of how to
        use this ERRORLEVEL.


        Sound Effects
        -------------
        Format: \*frq,dur;

        frq=frequency in Hertz      dur=duration in 100ths of a second

        Sound effects can be added to further enhance your  demonstration
        program.  The  duration is not interruptable so be careful not to
        use a time which is too long, the maximum duration is 65535 which
        is about 11 minutes.  The audio frequency range is  about  20  to
        18000 hertz.

        Here  is  a  list  of  recommended  frequencies to use for notes.
        Double or half the frequency to move up or down an octave.

                                        3






                             262 ... MIDDLE C
                             277 ... C#
                             294 ... D
                             311 ... D#
                             330 ... E
                             349 ... F
                             370 ... F#
                             392 ... G
                             415 ... G#
                             440 ... INTERNATIONAL A
                             466 ... A#
                             494 ... B

        e.g. HEADLINE "\*262,100;"  will play middle C for one second.


        Cursor On/OFF
        -------------
        Format: \_flg;

        flg=0 for cursor off or 1 for cursor on

        With this  command  you  can  disable  the  flashing  cursor  and
        re-enable it when necessary.

        e.g. HEADLINE "\_0;"  will disable the cursor.


        Scrolling
        ---------
        Format: \^dir,cnt;

        dir=direction 0-up, 1-down, 2-left, 3-right.     cnt=count.

        This  command  will scroll the current large line sideways or the
        whole screen up or down.  The amount of  movement  is  in  normal
        character  size  increments.  Scrolling the sceen up or down will
        cause a new line to be moved in from the top or bottom. This line
        will be blank,  however scrolling a line left or right will cause
        the  new  area  to  be  in  the  current background character and
        colour.

        e.g.  HEADLINE "\^3,8;"  will scroll the  current  large  line  8
        characters to the right.


        Remarks
        -------
        Format: \'rem;

        rem=any text you want ignored by program


                                        4






        This command is useful only in macro files.  It allows you to add
        comments to the text file which will be ignored by  the  program.
        It can also be used to indicate the end of a line of spaces.

        e.g. HEADLINE "\' Hello World ;" is completely ignored.


        The  DEMO  batch  file  program plus the three macro files DEMO1,
        DEMO2 and DEMO3 use  all  the  above  escape  sequences  to  good
        effect.


        The program is copyright (C) S.Thomas 1989.  All rights reserved.


        Steve Thomas
        March 1989




































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