***** ME.EXE *****

Version 1.50,  16. Nov. 1993

by

Martin Doppelbauer
Am Spoerkel 17
44227 Dortmund
Federal Rep. of Germany

UET401 @ unidozr.hrz.uni-dortmund.de     (internet)
UET401 @ DDOHRZ11                        (bitnet)		
 
 
This archive contains the files:
 
ME.EXE          the editor
ME.DOC          a german description
README          a short english description (yes, you're reading it
                now!)
 
 
ME is FREEWARE, which means you can copy and distribute the program
freely, but the copyright remains with the author.  You are not
allowed to sell the programm for a price more than the cost of the
media (5$ for floppy-disks and 25$ for cd-rom).
 
It is *not* SHAREWARE or CRIPPLEWARE (I don't like these too much).
You get a full copy and don't have to pay a huge amount of money after
a period of time.
 
It is also *not* PUBLIC DOMAIN.
 
If you like ME, just send me a note to my e-mail account or (better
yet) send a postcard with a nice picture and stamp.  If you don't
like it, delete it from your disk.
 
If you encounter any problems (bugs), drop me a note.
 
 
What is ME ?  ME is a small but powerfull hex and ASCII editor.  It
can handle up to three different files at the same time, but is
currently limited to DOS memory (the often referred to 640 KB barrier).
Some future versions will be designed to use XMS memory.  ME can
display (edit and print) files in HEX and ASCII format.
 
To start the editor simply type:
 
ME

You will see a file-selection window. It contains the names of all text-
files in the current directory (ME internally uses a list of 15 common
file-extensions to guess which files are text-files, see below).
If you want to edit one single file, move the cursor (arrow) to that
file (use <ARROW UP> <ARROW DOWN> <PAGE UP> <PAGE DOWN> <HOME> or <END>),
then press <ENTER> (or <ESC> to quit). 
You can edit multiple files (up to three) at once. Mark any files you want
with <space>.
If you want to edit a new file, move the cursor to the '<new file>' line.

The first entry '<last files>' is somewhat special. If you mark this entry,
ME will automatically load the last used files, restore the jump tags,
video mode, colours and other stuff (if 'Save-setup' is enabled in the set-
up-menu).
ME uses a file ME.SET to remember all these things. '<last files>' is the 
default entry if you enter ME without command-line arguments.

 
If you want to edit a certain file (without using the file-selection
window), type:
 
ME <filename1> <filename2> <filename3>
 
You don't need to supply the extension, if it's one of:
.C .H .ASM .BAT .FOR .PRG .PAS .SYS .BAS .TXT .ME .DAT .INI for ASCII
texts, or .COM .EXE .OVL for HEX-data.   Furthermore, wildcards
(* and ?) may be used.
 
For example, "ME AUTOEXEC CONFIG" will load both AUTOEXEC.BAT and
CONFIG.SYS in the editor (use the <o> key to switch between these two).
 
The editor knows three different modes:
 
- Insert - mode       (press <i> or <ins> to enter)
- Exchange - mode     (press <x> or <ins> <ins> to enter)
- Command - mode      (press <esc> to enter).
 
The first two modes don't need further explanation.  All keys simply
enter text and the cursor keys act as you'll expect them to do.  The
only special text-characters are 08 (Tab), 10 (Line-Feed), and
13 (Return).  All other characters are displayed.
 
In Command-mode every key (nearly) has its purpose.  Enter <?> to
see a list of valid commands.  All commands are listed in three
headlines.  Use <space> to switch between these three (the headline
is only to remind you; you can type any command at any time,
regardless of what is shown in the heading).
 
You can determine which mode you're in by looking at the headline or
at the cursor.  A small line means 'Command-mode', a square means
'Insert-mode', and finally a rectangle means 'Exchange-mode'.
 
The <s> command is somewhat special.  It calls the setup-menu.  Enter
<esc> to come back to command-mode.  Within the setup-menu you can
change the colours, the video mode and various other settings.  If you
would like to enable the editor to remember all the settings, even
if you quit and come back some time later, then set "SAVE-SETUP"
to "YES".
 
Now everytime you leave (press <q> in command-mode) the file "ME.SET"
is written. It contains all information of the current editor-status.
Later you can simply enter "ME" and the editor will automatically
reload all the files, jump tags, colour and video-mode settings you 
have used before.
By default, ME.SET is written in the current sub-dir. This enables you
to work on different projects. But you can also have a default ME.SET
for all subdirs.
Define an environment variable MEDIR like 'SET MEDIR=C:\DOS'.
Now the settings will be loaded and saved from the file C:\DOS\ME.SET
unless there is a certain ME.SET in the current subdir (Note: if you
open a *new* subdir and want to create a *local* copy of ME.SET, you
will have to delete the MEDIR setting first: enter 'SET MEDIR=' from
the DOS prompt before you invoke the editor. Once the local ME.SET has
been written, it will be used instead of the global MEDIR settings).
 
ME can handle both MSDOS-files (13 10 at end of line) and UNIX-files
(a single 10 at end of line).  When printed (command <n>) all
UNIX-files are automatically sent to the printer in MSDOS format.
 
Use the <u> key to switch between ASCII and HEX editor.  In HEX you
can use the <tab> key to toggle between ASCII and HEX entry (this
sounds complicated, but is very easy.  Just give it a try).  Nearly
all commands work the same in both editors.
 
 
If you need further help, use the <?> command or read the description
(sorry, at this time only available in German).
 
 
 
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Doppelbauer
