Buddy®: Installation and General Usage Instructions Buddy

Installation and General Usage Instructions



Contents


To Manually Load BUDDY.COM (Quick Start)

  1. Download BUDDY.COM from your host computer to your HP 100LX/200LX. You can put this file in any directory you like, but you may have to enter the complete pathname you have chosen (drive, directory, and file name) in some of the steps below.

  2. Exit the system manager by pressing "MORE MENU a t ENTER".

  3. Type "BUDDY.COM" ENTER. You may need to type the complete pathname, including the drive and directory where you put BUDDY.COM (e.g., "C:\BIN\BUDDY.COM").

  4. To restart the system manager, type "100" ENTER.

  5. If BUDDY is running, you will see battery voltage and usage information along the title bar in the Filer or at the bottom of the main Application Manager (&More) screen.

To Automatically Load BUDDY.COM At Boot Time

  1. Download BUDDY.COM from your host computer to your HP 100LX/200LX. You can put this file in any directory you like, but you may have to enter the complete pathname you have chosen (drive, directory, and file name) in some of the next steps.

  2. Put the line "BUDDY.COM" in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file before the line that starts the system manager ("100" or "$sysmgr"). You should enter the complete pathname, including the drive and directory where you put BUDDY.COM (e.g., "C:\BIN\BUDDY.COM"). Remember, the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is on your boot drive. Normally, this is drive C. If you have a RAM card, your AUTOEXEC.BAT file might be on your A drive.

Upgrading from Version 1 or 2 to Version 3

Version 1 users: If you are upgrading from version 1 of 100Buddy, please make a backup copy of your current 100BUDDY.ENV file. The new Buddy will happily read your old ENV file (if you rename it to BUDDY.ENV), and the new EXM will automatically write a new version 3 ENV file (it's larger). You'll need to use your backup copy of the ENV if you ever go back to an old Buddy, should you ever get that urge.

Version 2 users: If you are upgrading from version 2 of Buddy, please make a backup copy of your current BUDDY.ENV file. The new Buddy will happily read your old ENV file, and the new EXM will automatically write a new version 3 ENV file (it's larger). You'll need to use your backup copy of the ENV if you ever go back to an old Buddy, should you ever get that urge.

New files to install on your palmtop:

BUDDY.COM
BUDDY.EXM
BUDDY.HLP
Note that the file names do not include "100." This is because Buddy works on both the 100LX and the 200LX. When you run the program, it will configure itself according to which machine you have and then identify itself as either "100Buddy" or "200Buddy." If you are upgrading from version 1, don't forget to change the name of the COM file in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and the name of the EXM in the Application Manager. Reminder: when you modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, be sure you are editing the correct file (the one on your RAM card, for example).


To load BUDDY.EXM (Optional)

BUDDY.EXM is a system manager-compliant program that allows many parameters that affect the operation of Buddy to be viewed and changed. The EXM program is installed by adding it to the list of applications in the Application Manager (MORE). To add the BUDDY.EXM program to the application list, do the following:
  1. Download BUDDY.EXM and BUDDY.ICN from your host computer to your HP 100LX/200LX. Both files must be in the same directory.

  2. Start the Application Manager (press "MORE").

  3. Push F2 (Add).

  4. Enter "Buddy" for the name and push TAB.

  5. Set the "path" field to the full pathname of where you put BUDDY.EXM (for example: "C:\BUDDY.EXM").

  6. Push TAB.

  7. Enter a comment (optional) and push TAB.

  8. Select the "Buddy" icon (using the up/down arrow keys).

  9. Push F10 (OK).

  10. When prompted to do so, choose a hotkey for starting the EXM (e.g., ALT-F10).
To start the EXM, push the specified hotkey, or highlight the "Buddy" icon in the Application Manager and press ENTER.

If you cannot get the Application Manager to accept BUDDY.EXM, be sure you are not exceeding the limit of eight add-in EXMs.


Information About Loading Buddy

BUDDY.COM is a TSR. Start it from your AUTOEXEC.BAT or manually from a DOS prompt before starting sysmgr. It's OK to exit sysmgr (MORE MENU a t ENTER), then start Buddy and restart sysmgr (Type "100" ENTER). Example AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

C:\BIN\BUDDY.COM
100
There is one optional command-line argument, and that is the pathname of the ENV file that Buddy should load at start-up. Example:

C:\BIN\BUDDY.COM   C:\_DAT\BUDDY.ENV
The ENV file is created using the Buddy EXM program. If you do not specify an ENV file, then Buddy will try to load the default ENV file, C:\_DAT\BUDDY.ENV. If the ENV file does not exist, then Buddy will still load, but it will use a set of built-in default variables.

If you change the ENV filename to something other than "BUDDY," you must also rename the HLP file and your OWN file the same way.

Buddy will refuse to load if it is already running, and refuse to unload if any of the chained interrupt vectors has changed (such as when sysmgr or another TSR has been loaded after Buddy). Sysmgr changes some vectors while it is running. Buddy will only exit when all chained vectors are back to their original values. For this reason, before trying to unload Buddy, always unload any programs that you loaded after Buddy was started.

When Buddy is loading, it pauses for a few moments. MINUS or CTRL-MINUS just after the Buddy banner message is displayed will abort the load process. Pushing STAR will pause the load process until the next key is pressed.

If you use other TSRs, they should be loaded before Buddy. The only exception is Magnify!; that application should be loaded after Buddy.

The first thing that Buddy may do after sysmgr starts is to load a startup macro file. This causes a brief flashing of your display the first time your TOPCARD appears.


To Unload BUDDY.COM

To unload Buddy, simply exit sysmgr (via "MORE MENU a t ENTER"). Sysmgr should exit, Buddy will unload (see note, below), and you will see a DOS prompt. You can also push MENU SHIFT-DEL from any application and Buddy will do the above sequence for you. (Note: you may have to hold the SHIFT key down longer than normal.) To unload sysmgr without completely unloading Buddy, use "MORE MENU a t F8". When you restart sysmgr (via "100"), Buddy will resume normal operations. If sysmgr is not running but Buddy is, you can terminate Buddy via the keystroke MENU SHIFT-DEL. (Note: There is a switch in the EXM that will let you specify that Buddy should not unload when doing "MORE MENU a t ENTER".)

Note: If you are in DOS and sysmgr is not running, you can command Buddy to unload by pushing MENU SHIFT-DEL. Or, you can type the command:

BUDDY   -U
This will signal the active Buddy TSR to exit.


ENV Database

This section is provided for those of you who are especially interested in the relationship between the COM, EXM, and ENV files

The ENV file is read at startup by the COM program. The default file pathname is C:\_DAT\BUDDY.ENV. (In version 1, the ENV file was named 100BUDDY.ENV.) The COM program can modify its internal copy of the ENV database, but it cannot write it to disk. The EXM program can read the file, fetch the current settings from the COM, send new settings to the COM, and save the ENV file to disk. Note that the EXM can write the ENV file to disk, but the COM cannot.

ENV ----> COM <----> EXM <----> ENV
Thus, if you change any values using the COM (e.g., set a new file-key pathname using SHIFT-Fx or a default directory using SHIFT DEL), you must at least start and quit the EXM to have your ENV file on disk updated with the new data. You may want to do that before you reboot if you have changed many values using the COM.

If you specify an ENV filename on the BUDDY.COM command line, then the EXM will operate on that file, otherwise the EXM will use the default pathname, C:\_DAT\BUDDY.ENV.

When BUDDY.COM loads, it will read the default ENV file or the ENV file that you have specified as an argument on the BUDDY.COM line.

To revert to the default ENV settings,

  1. quit the EXM,
  2. delete your ENV file from the disk,
  3. disable BUDDY.COM by pushing CTRL-MINUS,
  4. restart the EXM, and (5) push CTRL-PLUS.
An easier way is to quit the EXM, delete the ENV file, and reboot.

If you start the EXM and later decide you would like to undo your changes, quit the EXM via MENU Abort. That will revert your settings back to their state at the time the EXM was last started (not just when it was re-activated).


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Updated: March 26, 1997