















                                                                       
                                                The Silicon Frog, Inc. 
                                                                       
                                                      John Hancock 3.0 
                                                                       
                                                   The JH3AUTO Program 
                                                                       
                                                           Version 1.0 
                                                                       
































            (c) 1988-92 The Silicon Frog, Inc.
                All Rights Reserved







            Table of Contents


            Introduction...............................................1
            How Duzzit Work?...........................................1
            Installing the program.....................................2
            Command-line Parameters....................................2
                The /TAG= parameter....................................2
                The /CF parameter......................................3
                The /CY parameter......................................3
            Conclusion and Best Wishes.................................4





                                                          JH3AUTO Page 1

            Introduction

            JH3AUTO was released approximately two months after JH3 in
            response to a number of JH3 users who expressed the need for
            an automated tagline selector program.  As the program name
            indicates, JH3AUTO is automatic.  As with any good camera,
            however, the program's automatic features can be selectively
            defeated.  But only up to a point.

            JH3AUTO assumes that JH3 has been installed on your system;
            it relies on the presence of JH3 configuration files.  And,
            if you're not a registered user, JH3AUTO will issue
            reminders just like JH3, but with one major difference: you
            are not charged for uses of JH3AUTO.  Reminders issued by
            JH3AUTO only reflect the level of use of JH3 itself.  As a
            result, if JH3AUTO is the only tagline selection program you
            use, it will never issue reminder messages.  Since JH3AUTO
            doesn't do a heck of a lot to begin with, I thought that a
            show of generosity might provide an even stronger incentive
            to register JH3.  I want your money, but I ain't gonna bash
            you upside the head for it (although, with *some* folks,
            head-bashing is the only thing that works when it comes to
            registering shareware).


            How Duzzit Work?

            JH3AUTO is very easy to use.  Unlike JH3, whose
            configuration is customized via the JH3CFG program, JH3AUTO
            is controlled entirely by command-line parameters.

            Some people do not like command-line parameters.  Others do
            not like configuration programs.  And there's a third group
            out there that doesn't like programs that can't read their
            minds.  To make everybody happy, the next release of JH3AUTO
            will be controlled by A) very large electrodes screwed
            directly into your brain or B) very long probes you stick up
            your nose.  Since I had to develop and test the system
            myself, you will have to be able to think backwards and in
            French.  Program bugs, if any, will manifest themselves as
            massive electrical surges which may or may not result in
            permanent damage to your cerebral cortex.  Such is the price
            of progress, folks.  eta testers are encouraged to apply.

            JH3AUTO's purpose is to select tagfiles and taglines
            automatically.  You may restrict the program to a single
            tagfile, and you may also tell it program to *cycle* through
            tagfiles, rather than to select taglines at random -- the
            program's default M.O.  Finally, you can tell the program
            that you want to confirm the choice, or merely see the
            tagline that was selected.  In fully automatic mode, JH3AUTO





                                                          JH3AUTO Page 2

            requires absolutely NO command-line parameters and produces
            no displays whatsoever -- it picks a tagfile and a tagline
            completely at random.


            Installing the program

            JH3AUTO must be defined to your reader in much the same way
            as you defined JH3 itself -- of course, you must assign a
            different activation key for JH3AUTO.  In addition, you may
            wish to use some of the program's command-line parameters if
            you do not want JH3AUTO to operate in totally automatic
            mode.  These parameters are described next.

            *How* you install JH3AUTO in your mail reader depends
            entirely on your mail reader -- see the INSTALL.TXT file
            distributed with JH3; and use the same installation
            procedure for JH3AUTO as you would for JH3 itself.  JH3AUTO
            provides no inherent advantages to a mail reader which
            already features a random or sequential tagline selection
            method.  Of course, if your reader does not have this
            feature, then you need JH3AUTO.


            Command-line Parameters

            As with any other program, JH3AUTO's command-line parameters
            follow the program's name in the reader's configuration
            entry for the program:

            JH3AUTO  [/TAG=tagfile] [/CF]  [/CY] [/NS]

            Note that parameters can be specified in any order, but they
            must be separated by at least one space.  JH3AUTO's command-
            line parameter are not case-sensitive (i.e., "/cf" is the
            same as "/CF").


            The /TAG= parameter

            /TAG= lets you restrict JH3AUTO to a single tagfile.  You
            need not specify the .TAG extension.  For example, to
            restrict JH3AUTO to the JH.TAG file, you would use:

            JH3AUTO /TAG=JH

            If the /TAG= parameter is not used, JH3AUTO will pick a
            tagfile at random.





                                                          JH3AUTO Page 3

            The /CF parameter

            /CF tells JH3AUTO to display a summary and confirmation
            message before sending the tagfile to the reader program.
            When this option is used, JH3AUTO display a summary screen
            which includes the tagfile name, the tagline, its rank in
            the tagfile, and a the following prompt:

            <Enter>=Accept  <Esc>=Cancel  R=Try Again

            Pressing <Enter> sends the tagline to the reader, while
            <Esc> immediately terminates JH3AUTO without sending the
            tagline to the reader.  Pressing R tells JH3AUTO to select a
            different tagline (the confirmation screen will be displayed
            again, of course).

            If you use the /CF parameter, you should also use the /NS
            parameter.

            If you have "questionable" taglines, or taglines which
            contain metastrings, use the /CF option so have an
            opportunity to reject the selected tagline and ask JH3AUTO
            to select a different one.  For example, if you are
            messaging in the Feminism conference, you may wish to press
            R when JH3AUTO picks:

                    "Until Eve arrived, this was a man's world"

            Similarly, you may wish to skip the following in the Macho
            Dudes conference:

                    "Man are creatures with 2 legs and 8 hands."


            The /CY parameter

            /CY (CYcle) tells JH3AUTO to select taglines sequentially
            rather than at random (the default mode).  When /CY is
            specified, JH3AUTO maintains small (2-byte) .PTR files for
            each tagfile it uses.  If you let JH3AUTO select tagfiles at
            random (i.e., you do not use the /TAG= parameter), then you
            will see a number of .PTR files appearing in your tagfile
            directory.  This is normal; JH3AUTO stores the "last used"
            tagline number in these files.  The filename of the .PTR
            file is the same as that of the tagfile it is associated
            with.

            When /CY is in effect, JH3AUTO always selects the next
            sequential tagline, based on the value contained in the
            tagfile's .PTR file.  When JH3AUTO reaches the end of a





                                                          JH3AUTO Page 4

            tagfile, the counter is reset which causes the first tagline
            to be selected next.

            If you use random tagfile selection and the /CY parameter,
            then all of your taglines will eventually be selected
            (although some may be sent more than once if a specific
            tagfile is randomly selected more times than it has
            taglines).


            The /NS parameter

            By default, JH3AUTO displays a summary message showing the
            tagline it has sent to the reader before it terminates --
            and you must press a key to return to the reader.  If you
            like suspense, or if you don't really care what tagline was
            selected, then use the /NS parameter to suppress the summary
            display.

            As mentioned earlier, you should use /NS whenever you use
            /CF, unless you REALLY WANT TO SEE THAT TAGLINE TWICE.  The
            default summary display contains the same information as the
            confirmation display, and it is shown *after* the tagline
            has been sent to the reader.  Not specifying /NS when /CF is
            in effect would yield a redundant display and would require
            an additional keystroke to terminate the program.


            Conclusion and Best Wishes

            If you are a True Gambler, then run JH3AUTO without command-
            line parameters.  And do NOT peek at the taglines it
            selected.  If you have a few risqu taglines, the suspense
            is well worth it.  On the other hand, if you are a chicken
            like me, definitely use the /CF parameter.  I definitely
            don't want that sexist tagline sent to a feminist.

            I hope JH3AUTO brings you much tagline enjoyment.  And if
            you like it and its companion JH3 programs, see REGISTER.TXT
            and please send me money.  Thank you for your support.