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SPF/PC 4.0 Items of Interest

SPF/PC looks and functions like the popular mainframe editor, ISPF/PDF, but it runs on IBM compatible personal computers with 80386 or higher processors. SPF/PC requires either DOS Version 3.0 or greater, Windows 3.1 or greater, or OS/2 Version 2.1 or greater. Copied directly from SPF/PC User's Guide and intended only to indicate that ISPF/PDF can be extended into the PC world.
SPF/PC® is a registered trademark of Command Technology Corporation.

SPF/PC 4.0 can Browse .ZIP files

The contents of individual files that have been zipped can be viewed using SPF/PC. In order for this to work you must have installed PKUNZIP.

Minor problem -- possibly bad Maintenance

If you cannot examine the .ZIP files make sure that the following files are in their correct libraries, and not in the root library. Not a problem in latest maintenance.

     c:\spfpc40\pan\ZIPLIST.pan
     c:\spfpc40\rexx\ZIPBROW.isp
     c:\spfpc40\rexx\ZIPDIR.isp
     c:\spfpc40\rexx\ZIPLIST.isp

The above problem was encountered after reinstalling SPF/PC 4.0 out of the box and using the 400-6.zip maintenance from the CTC site.

The latest SPF/PC maintenance available at the CTC web site

4.0.a is the latest maintenance available at the CTC web site in the FTP area. [not there anymore contact CTC for latest fix]

As far as I can tell none of the problems I reported to CTC against the original release of 4.0 concerning macro use have been fixed with the latest maintenance. Though a lot of useful features have been added.

How to invoke the .ZIP browser

On the main menu, select option "S" for Samples
On the ZIPBROW panel, enter your zip file or pattern.
i.e. *.zip
Note there is a Y or N to include subdirectories.

Using PKUNZIP to look at filenames without unzipping or using SPF/PC

   PKUNZIP                          to see PKUNZIP options
   PKUNZIP  file.ZIP  -vb           to look at files names
   PKUNZIP  file.ZIP  -vbn            in name order
   PKUNZIP  file.ZIP  -vbn C*         only files beginning with C
   PKUNZIP  file.ZIP  -vbn A* B* C*   files beginning A,B, or C

My own customizations of PFKEYS in SPF/PC include

    PF4          F4     :ts                      RETURN
    PF12         F12    CURSOR                   RETRIEVE
    PF23   Alt + F11    find x'0d';f p'=';:ts    RIGHT
    PF24   Shift+F12    RETRIEVE                 RETRIEVE
    PF36   Ctrl +F12    RETRIEVE back            RETRIEVE
    PF47   Alt + F11    find last ";";tsplit;change last ";" ""
                                                 RIGHT
    PF48   Alt + F12    [CURSOR]                 RETRIEVE

There is a difference between CURSOR and [CURSOR]. I do not remember what it is but the above works for me. If PF12 does not work on a non-Edit panel use Alt+PF12 to return to the command line. I found that CURSOR works best in EDIT.

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Terminal Display Colors for BWHITE, my own usage

I found the standard 3270 colors to be hard to read. So I am trying the following variation which is basically Blank on a White background.

Option =0.4 will get you to the Color Definition Schemes. Once there write down your Active Colors: DEFAULT or whichever. Use Copy to create a new scheme named BWHITE and code as follows: After you have created your new scheme S - Select it to make it your active color scheme.

The colors 0-15 are 16 widely understood color names from the VGA color palette. The colors themselves are not changed just how or where they are used.

 SPF/PC(1) ------------------- DISPLAY CHARACTERISTICS ---------- ROW 001 OF 029
 COMMAND ---?                                                  SCROLL ---? PAGE

 NAME: BWHITE     DESCRIPTION: Black on White Screen

   0    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10   11   12   13   14   15

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
000000 Black	000080 Navy	008000 Green	008080 Teal	800000 Maroon	800080 Purple	808000 Olive	C0C0C0 Silver

8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
808080 Gray	0000FF Blue	00FF00 Lime	00FFFF Aqua	FF0000 Red	FF00FF Fuchsia	FFFF00 Yellow	FFFFFF White

    FIELD DESCRIPTION            FOREGROUND BACKGROUND
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Screen Border                       15         --
 Protected Normal                    0          15
 Protected High                      9          15
 Unprotected Normal                  9          2
 Unprotected High                    12         15
 Status Line                         2          15
 Panel Split Separator               9          15
 Short/Long Message                  9          15
 Short/Long Message with alarm       12         7
 Browse Text                         0          15
 Edit Text                           2          15
 Top/Bottom of Data Text             12         15
 Note Lines                          0          15
 Msg Lines                           9          15
 Insert Lines                        9          15
 Prof Lines                          4          15
 Line Commands                       4          15
 Line Labels                         2          15
 Line Numbers                        0          15
 Line Type Markers                   4          15
 Line Active Indicator               12         15
 Selected Text                       10         15
 Colorization Word Class 1           13         15
 Colorization Word Class 2           0          15
 Colorization Word Class 3           3          15
 Colorization Word Class 4           9          15
 Colorization Source Strings         9          15
 Colorization Source Comments        12         15
 Special Characters                  4          14
 ------------------------------ BOTTOM OF DATA --------------------------------

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Sample SPF/PC Screen using the above colors

The original 3270 default screen looked like

Considering that you may be looking at the screen all day, you should make the colors comfortable for you.

SAMPLE SPF/PC 3270 SCREEN ...

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Properties for DOS session in Windows NT, my own usage

Referred to as Console Properties in HELP. First create a shortcut on the desktop. Having created the shortcut, right click on the shortcut, then Properties. You want to make the changes to the shortcut.

These are MY choices if you change your shortcut write down what you change them from in case you do not like mine. Make changes to shortcut only, do not touch the original in c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe or whatever yours is, obviously I am using Windows NT.

If not using WinNT see if Color F0 will work for the DOS window.
I have added a color command to my Autoexec.bat file (color F0) under WinNT to help with keeping screen white. Color changes to black upon exiting SPF/PC but can be changed back to white by just entering Color, it is not necessary to include the attribute that was set in autoexec.bat

CMD.EXE properties on desktop (Windows NT, Windows 95)
Shortcut on desktop created from original in c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe
Modify the shortcut as follows:
Shortcut Target: c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe
The target (application executed) remains unchanged
Start in: c:\
Shortcut Key: None
Run: Normal window

Options Cursor Size: small
Display options: Window
Command History: Buffer size 50, Number of Buffers 4
Font Font: True Type Lucida Console (BOLD FONTS checked)
Size: 12 -- each character is 8 pixels wide x 12 pixels high
Layout Screen Buffer size: width = 80, Height = 50
Largest dimension handled by SPF/PC 4.0.A on NT
Window Buffer size: width = 80, Height = 50
Window Position: (checked) Let system position window
Colors Each selection is by choosing the correct colored rectangle -- DO NOT CHANGE THE RBG VALUES.

Screen Text, Black (0,0,0)
Screen Background, White (255,255,255)
Popup Text, Purple (128,0,128)
Popup Background, Aqua (0,255,255)

Optionally rename shortcut to "cmd.exe (DOS)"

CMD.EXE properties on desktop (Windows NT, Windows 95)
Shortcut on desktop created from original in c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe
Modify the shortcut as follows:
Shortcut	Target: c:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe The target (application executed) remains unchanged Start in: c:\ Shortcut Key: None Run: Normal window
Options	Cursor Size: small Display options: Window Command History: Buffer size 50, Number of Buffers 4
Font	Font: True Type Lucida Console (BOLD FONTS checked) Size: 12 -- each character is 8 pixels wide x 12 pixels high
Layout	Screen Buffer size: width = 80, Height = 50 Largest dimension handled by SPF/PC 4.0.A on NT Window Buffer size: width = 80, Height = 50 Window Position: (checked) Let system position window
Colors	Each selection is by choosing the correct colored rectangle -- DO NOT CHANGE THE RBG VALUES. Screen Text, Black (0,0,0) Screen Background, White (255,255,255) Popup Text, Purple (128,0,128) Popup Background, Aqua (0,255,255)
Optionally rename shortcut to "cmd.exe (DOS)"

As an alternative, the above can be performed in the control settings.
Desktop Start => Settings => Control Panel => (Console) => Rclick Properties

Font

Even though the 12 TT Lucide Console (Bold) will show the difference between parenthesis and less than greater than (<>) and the 8x12 Raster fonts do not, I found myself at first going back to the Raster fonts as being easier on my eyes, but not anymore. If you choose 12 TT Lucide Console don't forget to check off bold or they will be very thin. I could go up to 16 TT Lucide to fill up the entire screen width, but choose not to. My monitor is 17in (15.9 viewable) set to 65,536 colors, 1024x768 pixels, 85 Hertz refresh, small fonts.

Layout (#doscoolors)

Enlargement of the DOS Window to match the size used in SPF/PC.

Screen Buffer Size: Width 80, Height 50 -- increased from 80, 25
Window Size: Width 80, Height 50 -- increased from 80, 25

Colors

Change colors only by selecting the colored rectangles, and NOT by changing the values. If you inadvertently change the values for the colored rectangles your color selections will no longer work properly for SPF/PC (This implies that I did this once, which is true). The colors for the rectangles (0-15) are the standard colors and you should not change them.

Original Colors

Screen Text, Red(192), Green(192), Blue(192) -- C0 C0 C0 grey
Screen Background, Red(0), Green(0), Blue(0) -- 00 00 00 black
Popup Text, Red(128), Green(0), Blue(128) -- 80 00 80 purple
Popup Background, Red(255), Green(255), Blue(255) -- FF FF FF white

My choice. One thing to keep in mind if you do change your console (DOS) colors is that you will be entering CLS when you leave SPF/PC in order to see the entire background of your choice, and not just part of line.

Screen Text, Black
Screen Background, White
Popup Text, Silver
Popup Background, Aqua

The original colors for the rectangles should remain unchanged. But should you inadvertently change them the colors are show below.

0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
000000 000 000 000 Black	000080 000 000 128 Navy	008000 000 128 000 Green	008080 000 128 128 Teal	800000 128 000 000 Maroon	800080 128 000 128 Purple	808000 128 128 000 Olive	C0C0C0 192 192 192 Silver

8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
808080 128 128 128 Gray	0000FF 000 000 255 Blue	00FF00 000 255 000 Lime	00FFFF 000 255 255 Aqua	FF0000 255 000 000 Red	FF00FF 255 000 255 Fuchsia	FFFF00 255 255 000 Yellow	FFFFFF 255 255 255 White

Viewing .HTML, .HTM code with SPF/PC

Once in edit, if you do not like the color mapping, note what colormap is in use and then change it to HTML.

      COMMAND ==> PROF 7

You should see COLORMAP HTML

Things NOT to do when using SPF/PC

Line lengths are limited to 255 bytes in TSO Edit. The line limit under SPF/PC is 32,096. The following command may never finish if you enter it.

x all ' '

If the intent was to leave only SPECIAL lines visible, the following will work better with SPF/PC:

x p'=' 1 all

SPLIT, FSPLIT, VSPLIT (#end)

These are the commands to split the screen into two, to provide multiple full screen splits, and to provide vertical splits. More information is available in HELP entered on the SPF/PC commands line.

Spliting the screen is not the only method available. I split (SPLIT) the screen, but I also create additional DOS sessions using my cmd.exe shortcut from the desktop whose creation was previously described.

Additional SPF/PC Topics of Interest -- Not on Tour

SPF/PC Bugs Encountered in SPF/PC.
SPF/PC parameter settings for my own use, including PostScript only printer.
Dave's SPF Editor page, by Dave Alcock with a history from Gilbert Saint-flour.

Continue with tour directions at bottom of this page. The next stop is main area for The REXX Macros Toolbox, consisting of an alphabetical listing with brief descriptions and hypertext to more complete descriptions, instructions, and coding.

Visitors to this page, since May 30, 1997.

Comments

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