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Windows .PIF File Helpful Hints |
The information in this document applies to:
WordPerfect® 5.1 for DOS
Problem
Solutions: This handout goes over the basic PIF information for running WordPerfect 5.1 under the Microsoft Windows (3.0) graphical environment in 386 Enhanced mode. Most of the steps listed below pertain only to the 386 Enhanced mode and cannot be found if you are running under either Real mode or Standard mode. You can verify the mode by selecting About Program Manager from the Help menu. Even though this information is specifically for WP 5.1, it can be used with all of the WPCorp DOS programs. PIFs (Program Information Files): Since Windows is an operating environment, many of the features, advantages, and disadvantages of DOS 4.X (and earlier) do not exist in the same context with which users are familiar. Windows has certain procedures that help maximize the computing capabilities of each computer. How a user accesses DOS programs falls under this stipulation, and a .PIF file is needed for each DOS program that a user has. Without a .PIF file you will not be able to utilize all of the advantages of Windows, and you will run into several conflicts (often causing lock-ups, printing problems, computer slowdowns, and many others.) To edit or create a .PIF file, the first step is to launch the PIF Editor program. 1. Open the Accessories group 2. Find the PIF Editor program (usually the last icon in the group) and then launch this program by either double clicking on the icon, or use the cursor keys until the PIF Editor is selected (the words themselves will be in reverse text). Press Enter. You are now in the PIF Editor program. 3. Retrieve the WP 5.1 PIF by selecting Open from the File menu. The Open File dialog box will then appear. Change to the WP 5.1 directory by selecting [..] from the Directory list box (to move to the previous directory), and then select the appropriate directory where WP.EXE resides. 4. In the WP 5.1 directory, a listing of PIF will appear in the Files list box. WP 5.1 ships with three different .PIF files (WIN30-WP.PIF, WP51-286.PIF & WP51-386.PIF). Note: Only the WIN30-WP.PIF file is for use with Windows 3.0. The other two are for older versions of Windows and will not function with Windows 3.0 (WP51-286.PIF is for Windows 286 and WP51-386.PIF is for Windows 386 [not 386 Enhanced mode!]). 5. Retrieve the WIN30-WP.PIF file by double clicking on the filename (or select it with the cursor keys, and then press Enter). At this point you will see information in the PIF Editor that is slightly different than the information displayed below. You will need to change the information so that WordPerfect 5.1 will function best. 386 Enhanced Mode PIF Options: Program Filename: The drive, path and executable filename (.EXE, .COM or .BAT) Window Title: The name you want to display below the icon on the Windows screen (ie: WordPerfect 5.1). Optional Parameters: Startup options that are specific to that particular program (i.e., /W=*,* or /PS=Y:\WPCORP\SET). Start-up Directory: The initial directory for that program (i.e., C:\WP51) Memory Requirements: KB Required: The total amount of conventional memory that must be free in order to start the application. With most of WPCorp products this should be a minimum of 384K. Note: Windows will only start the application if there is at least as much free memory as the KB Required option specifies. Upon launching that application, Windows will check free memory, and if it is not equal to or greater than the specified amount, an error dialog box will appear indicating the lack of memory. Closing, not minimizing other applications that are currently running, will free up memory. KB Desired: Limits the amount of conventional memory that Windows will allocate to the program. Changing this to a lower number may effect the speed of 5.1, but under most circumstances you will want to leave this at 640K. Display Usage: This lets you designate how Windows will display the application when you start it. Since most of the WPCorp products are hardware intensive, you will want to have this set to Full Screen. Note: WP 5.1 will run into several conflicts when running under Windows and may lock causing loss of documents, print jobs, etc. Execution: Background: With this option marked, Windows will allow the application to run while you are using another application. For example, if you were printing a document from WordPerfect and need to do a quick calculation with the Windows Calculator, you could minimize WP 5.1, do the calculation and Windows would allow WP to continue sending the print job to the printer. Exclusive: When this option is marked, Windows suspends all other applications while WP is running in the foreground. Thus the application in the foreground will get more memory as well as processing time. Generally speaking, you will want to have the Execution option set to Exclusive, but under certain situations this may cause conflicts. Try both ways and see which one works best under each situation. Close Window on Exit: Normally Windows closes a non-Windows application's window automatically upon exiting that application. Deleting the check from this option will force Windows to leave that application's window open (on the screen) after you quit the application. Under most circumstances, you will want to leave this option checked. Some of the options are variable depending upon each situation (Window Title, Optional Parameters, Start-up Directory, and Execution). Others need to always be set with the settings above (Program Filename, Memory Requirements, Display Usage, and Close Window on Exit). Advanced Options: Multitasking Options: The multitasking options determine how much attention the processor gives to the application. The values that are input into the two separate sections (Background Priority and Foreground Priority) are used to determine a ratio. For example, if you put 1000 as the Foreground Priority for WP 5.1 and a 1000 as the Background Priority for DrawPerfect, the ratio would be 1 to 1 (when DR was running in the background). Thus for every two processor cycles, WP would get one cycle for itself and one cycle would go to DR. Background Priority: Used to determine how much processor time the application should receive when it is running in the background. Must be a value from 0 to 10000 (with 10000 being the highest priority). Foreground Priority: Used to determine how much processor time you want the application to receive when it is running in the foreground. The value will be between 0 and 10000. NOTE: This figure is only meaningful when compared to other applications' background and foreground priorities. Detect Idle Time: When this item is selected, Windows will try to detect when the application is idle. When it does detect that the application is idle, Windows will transfer processing time to other applications and processes. Under most circumstances, you will not want this option marked. When this is marked, Windows may incorrectly consider the active application to be idle. Memory Options: When running in 386 Enhanced mode, you are able to control how the application uses the computer's available memory. EMS Memory: Even though Windows itself can only use extended memory, it is able to "simulate" expanded memory for applications that use expanded memory. KB Required: The value entered into this text box tells Windows how many kilobytes of expanded memory the application must have in order for it to function. Windows will allow this program to be launched only if there is sufficient memory to fulfill both the conventional memory requirements as well as the EMS required memory. KB Limit: This value is the maximum amount of expanded memory that will be given to the application. Windows will give the application as much expanded memory as the application "asks" for up to this limit, or until there is no more memory available. Thus, if you have the KB Required option set to 1024 and the KB Limit option set to 2048, Windows will give the application at least 1024K but no more than 2048K. Locked: When this check box is marked, Windows will not swap the application's expanded memory to the hard disk. Locking an application's memory may improve that application's performance. XMS Memory: The options (KB Required, KB Limit and Locked) are the same as defined under EMS Memory except they are defining how much Extended memory the application needs. Since WPCorp products do not use extended memory, you can leave this at the default settings (0K, 1024K, and not selected). Uses High Memory Area: This option tells Windows that the application is allowed to use the high memory area of RAM (the first 64K of RAM above 640K). Lock Application Memory: This option will lock the conventional memory that the application is using, thus Windows will not swap that memory out to the hard drive. This will improve the performance of the application but will slow down the rest of your system. Display Options: The display options settings will determine how the application appears on the screen and how Windows handles memory for the application's display. Video Memory: The video memory option determines how much memory Windows provides for the application's display when you start the application. These settings only effect the memory needed upon startup of that application. After the application is running, Windows can adjust the application's display memory depending on the application's current video mode. When running the application, if you have the Video Memory set to Text, and switch to a higher mode, Windows will try to provide the needed memory. If the memory is not available, the display might be partially or totally lost. Thus, set Video Memory to High Graphics unless you get out of memory errors when trying to launch the application. If this occurs, try switching to a lower setting. Monitor Ports: These options (Text, Low Graphics, and High Graphics) tell Windows to monitor that application's interaction with the hardware ports. This will ensure that upon switching from this application and then back, Windows will be able to properly restore the application's display. All of WPCorp products (that use graphics such as Print Preview) should be set to High Graphics, this will ensure that Windows will monitor all video operations when running in high-resolution graphics mode. Emulate Text Mode: With this option selected, you can increase the rate at which the application displays text. Unless the text is garbled, the cursor appears in the wrong place, or the application will not run, leave this option selected. Retain Video Memory: This option will lock the memory that Windows has set aside for the application's display. Under most circumstances, you will not want this option selected. Only if you are having problems with the display (such as garbled text or graphics, or if the display is lost when changing to another video mode) should you select this option. Other Options: Allow Fast Paste: This item should be selected only if the application is capable of accepting information pasted from the Windows Clipboard using the fastest method. Most of the WPCorp products shouldn't have a problem, but if you do not have this selected, there is less chance of losing data pasted in from the Windows clipboard. Allow Close when Active: When this option is selected, Windows will not require you to exit out of this application if you are exiting out of Windows. This option should not be marked since WP 5.1 needs to close out all temporary files before exiting. With this option marked and upon exiting Windows with WP running, you will get the prompt "Are other copies of WordPerfect running?" the next time you launch WP. Reserve Shortcut Keys: This option allows you to tell Windows to ignore the key combinations listed. If the application uses any of the keys listed, mark the key and Windows will then ignore it. For example, marking PrtSc will allow you to use the Print Screen button to print a screen's worth of text to the printer. If this key is not marked, Windows will copy a screen's worth of text to the Windows Clipboard. Application Shortcut Key: This option allows you to designate a key combination that will bring up this application to the foreground. The key combination must include either the Alt or Ctrl key. For example, if you designate Ctrl-W as the WordPerfect Shortcut key, when that key combination is pressed, WordPerfect (which must be loaded but running in the background) will become the active application. There are no clear "right and wrong" settings since each system is setup differently and thus needs different settings. |
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