Re: running xy 3+ under windows xp - aarrgghhh!

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from PollyK3@xxxxxxxx on Sat, 21 Jun 2003 11:51:18 EDT


> Default saves it as a large
> cursor each time, and so does Properties, but when I reopen Properties again, the
> cursor is set on small. So where am I screwing up?

You aren't. If you shell to DOS within XyWrite, you'll see that the cursor
has, indeed, changed size according to your instructions. But within XyWrite,
the CR and IT defaults rule. Normally, cursor size only changes with font
size. Remember: XyWrite was never designed to run in a desktop window. On an
80x25 SVGA full-screen, the cursor is plenty big.

You can alter cursor size (and color) in a gross ANSI way by altering the first
value of CR from, say, 0 to 15. Problem is, you lose the visual distinction
between overstrike and insert modes. The only practical first value for CR is
zero, IMO.

The real way to change cursor size is with the IT default (which nobody ever
tinkers with, because it looks forbidding: mine is
1037,3086,8193,264,1543,8193,0,1 -- eight numeric values. That's the sort of
thing you don't adjust, *especially* when you learn that these values are
"passed to the BIOS interrupt routine" -- my god, change one decimal and you
might never see XyWrite [or even your machine] again, right?... but, what the
hell, let's change em anyway). Embed ≪VAIT≫ to see what the values are on
your system: make sure you're in draft mode with a file open, then command:
VA IT.

Here's the crux: basically you want to preserve a distinction between insert
and overstrike cursor appearance. Let's posit that insert should be bigger.
The first value of IT is insert, the second value is overstrike (and the third
value should never be changed from 8193). The rule is that a smaller number
yields a larger cursor. On my machine the first and second values are 1037 and
3085. If I cut both of those values in half, e.g. to 500 and 1500, I get a
much larger cursor. Be sure to preserve all the other values (there are 8
altogether) when you change any one value, otherwise new settings won't "take".
Command should be something like: default
it=500,1500,8193,264,1792,8193,0,1. Note that if you're not using a
25-line screen, it's the next set of three values (4, 5, and 6) that are in
effect, not the first set (1, 2, and 3).

When you find values you like, "commit" them to a hard command in your printer
files (SETTINGS.DFL in Xy4).

Let me know...

-----------------------------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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