A-Shell documentation is provided in several formats and has evolved over the years as MicroSabio tries to provide the best viewing/reading environment for the person using the materials. The preferred format for help documentation is HMTL (on-line) files, though other formats are provided as well. The idea is that you will select and use the format that best suits your needs. See "File Formats," below, if you have problems or want more information about file types.

Available as:  HTML (on-line)   Windows help (.chm)   Text (.txt)   Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)   Microsoft Word (.doc)  

Note that all of the docs are current, meaning they are the up-to-the-minute editions that describe the "Developer Version" of A-Shell. See the Downloads page for version information.

Description Available As A-Shell Reference This is the main A-Shell reference documentation, and is the only file most users and programmers will need. The following four documents, which are available separately but only for historical reasons, describe the major sections of the A-Shell Reference.    Setup Guide Installation, configuration, system parameters, printer configuration, launching A-Shell, using A-Shell, troubleshooting. This is the basic user's manual.    Command Reference Command processing (how commands are processed), LIT commands, CMD and DO files. This is a good reference for programmers and "power users."    Development Guide This is an in-depth discussion of virtually all aspects of A-Shell operation and programming, written specifically for developers and programmers.    XCALL Reference Detailed descriptions of all A-Shell subroutines, of value only to programmers.    Development Notes A record of all changes to A-Shell since the last major release, organized by both date and subject.       ASQL Reference (A-Shell's SQL module)    ATE Reference (A-Shell Terminal Emulator)    APEX Reference (A-Shell Preview and EXport); now included in A-Shell Reference and ATE Reference   AshLPD Reference (A-Shell network print server)     ATSD Reference (A-Shell Telnet Service)     COM Reference (A-Shell's Component Object Model)    EMAILX Reference (A-Shell's add-on EMAIL component); now included in A-Shell Reference     INMEMO Reference Full INMEMO.SBR documentation. Although the XCALL Reference contains an abbreviated description of INMEMO.SBR, this doc has the original and complete story.     PDFX Reference (A-Shell's integrated PDF report generator)

File Formats

Although web-based HTML help files are recommended for most readers in most circumstances, other file formats may be applicable to some situations. Sometimes, for historical reasons or by special request, the A-Shell documents may be available in other file formats. If you would like to get the documentation in a format you don't see, it may be available on request. Continue reading for information about document formats and files types, and why you might prefer one or another.

• HTML: These help files are standard web pages, with hyperlinks, tables of contents, and linked indexes. They reside on the MicroSabio servers, are always up to date, and require no downloading, other than that individual pages are downloaded and displayed on your PC as requested. As long as you have a good internet connection, this is the preferred format for help/documentation files.

 CHM (Compiled HTML, standard Windows help files): CHM files are compilations of HTML pages into a single document which includes an expandable table of contents, hypertext index entries, and graphics, and which has been significantly compressed. This makes CHM files ideal for downloading to and accessing from your computer, and are the preferred help file format when you do not have a good internet connection. CHM files are opened using built-in components of Windows, so no additional programs are required to view them. If you are running Windows 98 or later, you have what you need in order to read CHM files. If you download them to your Windows computer and then double-click on them, they should be properly opened and displayed in the familiar help-file context. Important note: for security reasons, recent versions of Windows may block CHM files from displaying their contents properly. Right click on the CHM file, select "Properties," and then "unblock" the file.

 Adobe Acrobat / PDF (Portable Document Format) : Various A-Shell docs have been available as PDF files in the past, and may be available on request; inquire if you are interested. Files of this type consist of exact replicas of printed pages, just as they appear in a printed manual. If you plan to print a copy of the document, this is the best type of file to download.  PDF files are not hypertext documents or pure help systems, but most documents (including all the PDF files on this site) come with an interactive table of contents. This file format and the program(s) needed to read these files are the property of Adobe Systems. If your computer does not already have a copy of Adobe® Acrobat®, which you will need in order to read the files, you may download a free copy from the Adobe Acrobat download page. 

PDF Printing - Important note: If you intend to print the PDF documents, be sure that your printer is configured to interpret colors as either black or white; if the printer tries to interpret colors as shades of gray, all the color printing in the document will appear as gray--i .e., light and not very readable black. The PDF documents do not have extensive color printing, but they do have some. On pure black and white printers, configured as black and white printers, the colored text prints fine.

 TXT: Text files are universally readable by all computers and all operating systems, so you can download or display them regardless of your system. They do not contain any formatting, however, and are therefore the most difficult file type to read.

 DOC:  This is the native file format of Microsoft Word, and is the original source of most MicroSabio documentation files. We write the docs in Word, in other words, and translate into all the other formats with various types of conversion and authoring programs. So all of the documents are readily available in Word format; if you want them, just ask.

Printing

HTML and CHM files are not particularly well-suited for printing. They are fine if you want to print a few pages or even a full section, but not if you want to print an entire doc/manual for reading and reference. The best format for printing is PDF. If you wish to print the docs, therefore, make sure to get a PDF version of the doc(s) you want to print. If you don't see them here, contact us and ask about a PDF for the doc in question.