Some of us still use GV on Win XP or Vista (?). I thought it would be worthwhile for those who do to share their settings (pif file settings, supplementary software, etc.) that make GV more user-friendly in Windows.

I'll post my settings as soon as I find them.

-c

Here are the shortcut file properties) I've been using in XP. I make NO claim that they are the best. I tried TAME software; it made some things easier, but other things seemed harder. Newer versions of TAME (www.tamedos.com) may work better. (I should try...) A Jan. 2008 TAME version is in downloadable beta.

cmd line: C:\PROGRA~1\GRANDV~1\GV.EXE /A/V/L/T/W
font: TrueType only; 9x15
memory: All auto; uses HMA; protected -> off
screen: use window; all options checked
misc: Foreground, mouse and background: unchecked
Fast pasting and all Windows shortcut keys: checked
Compatibility: all unchecked

In Win 2000 I also used an intermediate batch file, but it didn't seem to gain me anything in XP.

In case you didn't know: Alt-Spacebar, E,P does the pasting from windows programs to GV (or another dos box file), and is much quicker than right-clicking on the title bar and using the context menu.

-c

Cassius -

My pif settings are very much the same as yours, but a bit sloppier :-) - i.e. I haven't got rid of all the settings I used when I ran it under WIN98. Here's a brief rundown of where I differ from you:

cmd line: I don't use /L/T/W - but probably should
memory: uses HMA - checked (don't think it helps)
misc: Background - "always suspend" is checked
font: 9x15: "both" is checked. (probably because I am using special fonts - see below)

On fonts: I am using (I think they are still working) Uwe Sieber's modified DOS fonts. I have his NewDOS Fullscreen (Licence version) installed. They can be found at http://www.uwe-sieber.de/dosfon_e.html

I recall having to do some experimenting to find the best match to my laptop. And I think that further fiddling about with Tame may have wrecked my original settings. That said, I have GV running in a DOS window on XP that nearly fills my Thinkpad A31 screen.

On Tame - great idea with lots of settings for DOS windows under XP - including much better copy/paste routines and so on - but I could never get GV to scroll smoothly or quickly enough when using it. Tame is a complicated program and really needs a user forum plus an attempt by the developer to provide some guidance about settings for important DOS programs. The other problem was that getting the settings right for one program tended to screw up all my other ones. Again, I think I could have made program-specific settings but just could not work out how - in 10 seconds, that is! - to do so. So blame my lack of patience rather than Tame, I think.

In case you didn’t know: Alt-Spacebar, E,P does the pasting from windows programs to GV (or another dos box file), and >is much quicker than right-clicking on the title bar and using the context menu.

Yes, I did, but only found out about a couple of years ago. It's very useful and others will be helped a lot to know this. It's the small but irksome problems like pasting that put people off continuing to run DOS programs under XP.

Derek

I haven't had any problems running GV under XP. Not running it in TAME. When a DOS program won't run under XP, I've had good luck running them in DOSBox.
http://www.dosbox.com/

jimspoon wrote:

I haven't had any problems running GV under XP. Not running it in TAME. When a DOS
program won't run under XP, I've had good luck running them in
DOSBox.
http://www.dosbox.com/

Would the programs in question be mainly games? I can't say I've had many problems running non-games DOS software in XP - but perhaps I've just been lucky. Thanks for reminding me about DOSBox, though. I'll add it to my toolkit.

Derek

Hello (my first post)

I also use GV under XP and don't have any issues. However, I got the disks for GV via Ebay several years ago but I didn't get a manual.

Can someone please post the command line options or point me to where I might find them? I'm not sure if they would give me anything I don't already have, but it might be useful to know them.

I love GrandView and use it for my fiction writing. One of the main reasons I like it is that I'm a die-hard WordStar command system user and that makes GV very pleasant to use. It's pretty much impossible to find windows outliner programs that have a WS keyboard option.

Thanks,
JeePea

Cassius wrote:

Here are the shortcut file properties) I've been using in XP. I make NO claim that they
are the best. I tried TAME software; it made some things easier, but other things
seemed harder. Newer versions of TAME (www.tamedos.com) may work better. (I should
try...) A Jan. 2008 TAME version is in downloadable beta.

cmd line:
C:\PROGRA~1\GRANDV~1\GV.EXE /A/V/L/T/W
font: TrueType only; 9x15
memory: All
auto; uses HMA; protected -> off
screen: use window; all options checked
misc:
Foreground, mouse and background: unchecked
Fast pasting and all Windows shortcut
keys: checked
Compatibility: all unchecked

-c

JeePea wrote:

Hello (my first post)

I also use GV under XP and don't have any issues. However, I got
the disks for GV via Ebay several years ago but I didn't get a manual.

Can someone
please post the command line options or point me to where I might find them? I'm not sure
if they would give me anything I don't already have, but it might be useful to know
them.

Welcome JeePea - Here goes (the command line parameters are all caps):

/B: forces black and white screen

/D: makes the mouse inactive

/I: skips autoexec macro

/K1: uses plain, non-enhanced keyboard driver (i.e., skips GV's extended keystrokes and all special keyboard handling)

/K2: as above, but allows use of extra function keys F11 and F12

/K3: disables use of the shift-cursor keys in GV but allows access to the other extended keys

/L loads the last saved window setup

/Pxxx ...send printer initialization code to printer before printing

/S ...uses fast video without snow protection (only needed for CGA)

/T ...disables network support

/V ...displays 43/50 lines per screen (but only on EGA or VGA)

/X ...skips saved start-up directory and uses current one instead

/W ...disables GV commands Alt-Tab and Alt-Spacebar for compatibility with MS Windows

/F=filename ...uses a macro file other than GV.MAC (use only filename, including extension; do not include path or drive)

/Z=macroname ...executes a specified macro on opening GV

filename ...opens the outline whose filename you specify (up to 9, separated by spaces)

"window setup name" ...opens outlines the way they were arranged when last saved as a window setup (the name must be in quotation marks)

As you probably know the parameters can be entered - with spaces between each: /L /W /S etc - either at the command prompt in the VDM window, or in the GrandView pif's command line (under the "program" tab), after "GV.exe" if you are going to be using them every time. Hope that helps.

Derek

JP,

I don't think that there's an electronic version of the manuals. Without manuals, you are probably missing some "hidden" features.

I'm sure you know that Alt-F1 awakens the menu bar. Under the Settings menu, Key Options/ Customize includes some keys that are not on any menu, such as the very useful Force Left and Force Right which move one item without affecting any others. You can also use Customize to remap almost the entire keyboard. Keyboard macros, under File Menu, are also useful.

If there is any special functionality you wish GV had, ask about it. Maybe it's there, but hiding.

-c

Derek:

Thanks so much for posting the command line switches. I do see a couple that I can use. I am an old DOS user and like to have the kind of low level control that is impossible with most modern programs.

And Cassius, thank you for the suggestions and the offer to answer questions. I have made good use of the customization menu and, because I'm lazy and I think its fun, I've made a number of macros that help me do what I want to do. This again due to my experience with any number of old DOS programs where macros were common (back in the good old days.)

I've read a number of posts here and this is really a great goup of intelligent people. I have the same affection for outliners as I see expressed here and hope to contribute when I can.

Thanks again,
JeePea


Derek Cornish wrote:

Welcome JeePea - Here goes (the command line
parameters are all caps):

Cassius wrote:

If there is any special functionality you wish GV had, ask about it. Maybe it’s there, but hiding.

Was 2.0 the last version of GrandView?

Chris Thompson wrote:

Was 2.0 the last version of GrandView?

---------------
Yes.

The following is the last ReadMe.GV file I have. It is dated 11/30/1990. (The formatting may not survive the Internet.):

I. Last Minute Notes for GrandView 2.0 Users
A. DOS Environment Variables
1. The Location of GrandView's System Files♦
Under DOS Version 3.0 and above, GrandView will automatically look
for all of its system files (macro files, configuration files,
printer drivers, etc.) in the same directory as GV.EXE. ♦
♦
If you are running DOS Version 2.x, or you want GrandView to use
an alternate directory for its system files, you may specify that
directory with the command:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVSYS=♦
♦
(Do not include the angle brackets.)
2. The Location of the Help Files♦
If you wish to keep the Help file (GV.HLP) in a directory or drive
other than the directory that GrandView uses for it's other system
files (see GVSYS above), you may specify that drive/directory with
the DOS command:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVHELP=♦

(Do not include the angle brackets.)
♦
For dual floppy systems, the GrandView Setup utility automatically
installs the Help files on drive B: instead of drive A:, and
creates an AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the DOS command:♦
♦
→ SET GVHELP=B:\♦
♦
If you plan on keeping the Help files in the same drive/directory
as the GV.EXE file (as you would on most hard disk based systems),
3. The Location of the Main Speller Dictionary♦
If you wish to keep the main dictionary for the spelling checker
in a directory other than the directory that GrandView uses for
it's other system files (see GVSYS above), or perhaps on a RAM
disk, you may specify that drive/directory with the DOS command:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVMAIN=♦
♦
(Do not include the angle brackets.)♦
♦
The path must end with a backslash. In a dual floppy drive
system, you can use this command to specify a different drive for
the spelling checker dictionary.
4. The Location of the Personal Dictionary♦
If you wish to keep your personal dictionary for the spelling
checker in a directory other than the directory that GrandView
uses for it's other system files (see GVSYS above), you may
specify that drive/directory with the DOS command:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVPERS=♦
♦
(Do not include the angle brackets.)♦
♦
The path must end with a backslash. It is not recommended that
you keep the personal dictionary on a RAM disk because changes to
the personal dictionary will not be written permanently to disk.
5. The Location of the Print Drivers♦
If you wish to keep your print drivers in a directory other than
the directory that GrandView uses for it's other system files (see
GVSYS above), you may specify that drive/directory with the DOS
command:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVPDV=♦
♦
(Do not include the angle brackets.)♦
♦
If you enter just a path (ends in a backslash), GrandView will
look for the currently installed print driver in that directory.
For example:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVPDV=C:\GV\PDV\♦
♦
If you enter just a filename (no path), GrandView will look for
that filename in the same directory that GrandView looks for its
other system files. For example:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVPDV=OKI292.PDV♦
♦
If you enter both a path and a full filename (including the file
extension), GrandView will load that complete filename as the
current print driver. For example:♦
♦
→ C>SET GVPDV=C:\GV\PDV\OKI292.PDV♦
♦
B. Editing the Spelling Dictionary
1. The user spelling dictionary (GVPERS.DCT) is stored in plain ASCII
format, with one word per line. To delete words, just load it
into a text editor program, and delete the desired words and then
re-save it again in ASCII format. ♦
♦
In order to function properly, the user dictionary must remain
sorted in alphabetical order. If you add words, you must either
add them in the correct alphabetical order, or you must sort the
dictionary after adding the words.♦
♦
To sort the dictionary using the DOS SORT command:♦
♦
1.→Rename the dictionary with the following DOS command:♦
♦
→ C>RENAME GVPERS.DCT GVPERS2.DCT♦
♦
2.→Sort the dictionary with the following DOS command:♦
♦
→ C>SORT GVPERS2.DCT >GVPERS.DCT♦
♦
See your DOS manual for more information on the SORT command.
C. Working with Windows 3.0
1. A new /A command parameter (to go along with the /W parameter) has
been added so that you may disable GrandView's opening logo screen
when running under Windows 3.0.♦

2. The /W command parameter has also been modified to include
disabling ALT - RETURN, since Windows 3.0 uses this key for
putting a DOS application into a window.

-c

If anyone's interested, I found Grandview 2.0 on one of the abandonware sites:
http://vetusabandonware.com/download/Symantec%20Grandview%202.0/?id=3631
The files inside have to be uncompressed with something that reads .ima files.

Runs fine on DOSemu for me.

Posted by Chris Thompson

Runs fine on DOSemu for me.

Thanks. That's very useful to know.

Derek