
                              
















                             OPERATIONS MANUAL



                         THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE











          COPYRIGHT DOUGLAS P. WEBB 1993,1995. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
              



















                                                            1


       Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, AD&D, Monster Manual, Fiend Folio,
       Monster Manual II, Dungeon Masters Guide, Player's Handbook,
       Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, Dragonlance, Spelljammer, Ravenloft, 
       Al-Quadim, Planescape, Dragon Kings and Dragon Magazine are
       Trademarks of TSR, Inc.

       This software package may incorporate and/or may be based on
       and/or derived from copyrighted material of TSR and/or may
       contain trademarks of TSR.  Any use of TSR's trademarks in
       this file should not be viewed as a challenge to those
       copyrights or trademarks and are used without permission.
       This item is not authorized or endorsed by TSR.


       IBM, PC/AT, PS/2 are registered trademarks of International
       Business Machines Corporation.


       VADDCHAR is Copyright of Micheal Hermann 1992,1993,1994,1995.


































                                                            2





                Warranty and Disclaimer of Warranty


     THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE) ARE PROVIDES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
FURTHER, DOUGLAS P. WEBB DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE
OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY,
CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE
OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN MATERIALS ARE
DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT DOUGLAS P. WEBB OR HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS,
OR EMPLOYEES, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR
CORRECTION. THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY
DOUGLAS P. WEBB, ON THIS DOUGLAS P. WEBB PRODUCT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN
INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY DOUGLAS P. WEBB, HIS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS,
AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE
SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR
ADVICE. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

     NEITHER DOUGLAS P. WEBB NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE
CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES
FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS
INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH
PRODUCT EVEN IF DOUGLAS P. WEBB HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES.




                           ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

BY USING THE FREEWARE VERSION OF THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE
BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY
IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND
SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE
LIMITED WARRANTY.









                                                            3


                                     Index

       Limited Warranty & Disclaimer ..............................  3
       Contacting the Author & Technical Support ..................  5
       1     Introduction .........................................  6
       2     Installation & the Setup Program .....................  7
       2.2.1 Installing the Tome on a Hard Disk ...................  7
       2.2.2 Installing the Tome on a 2 Floppy System .............  7
       2.2.3 Adding Programs to the External Programs Menu ........  8
       2.2.4 Printer Configuration ................................  9
       3     The Top Level (Main) Menu for the Tome ............... 10
       3.1   The Spell Menu ....................................... 10
       3.1.1 List Searching ....................................... 11
       3.1.2 Keyword Searching .................................... 12
       3.2   The Monster Menu ..................................... 13
       3.2.2 Terrain Based Monster Searches ....................... 15
       3.2.3 Random Monster Determination ......................... 17
       3.3   The Magic Item Menu .................................. 18
       3.3.3 Random Magic Item Determination ...................... 21
       3.4   The Various Topic Menu ............................... 22
       3.5   The Utilities Menu ................................... 22
       3.5.1 The Sword Builder .................................... 23
       3.5.2 The Hoard Generator .................................. 23
       3.5.3 The NPC Maker 1st Ed. ................................ 23
       3.5.4 The NPC Maker 2nd Ed. (ADDCHAR) ...................... 25
       3.5.5 Auto Spell ........................................... 25
       3.6   External Programs .................................... 27
       3.7   Keyboard Macros ...................................... 27
       3.8   Electronic Dice ...................................... 29
       4     Last Word ............................................ 30

       Appendix A - Writing Your Own Printer Driver ............... 31
       Appendix B - Changing the Default Backup key ............... 35






















                                                            4





                 Contacting the Author & Technical Support


      Don't expect too much, this is freeware, and I'm a pretty busy, 
      but any suggestions, bug reports, etc. would be appreciated,
      and will handled as quickly as possible.



      Internet: dwebb@cetac.com (for a while anyway)

      Write me (until at least Feb 1996):
      Douglas Webb
      803 Hackberry Court, Appt# 2204
      Bellevue, Nebraska, USA
      68005








































                                                            5





                              1 Introduction


            The Tome of Vast Knowledge is designed to help Dungeon
       Masters (DM's), and/or players keep track of the large amounts
       of rules, spells and monsters that are an integral part of the
       Advance Dungeons & Dragon (AD&D) game.  The number of essential
       books has increased greatly over the last 12-14 years and the
       number of articles, modules and accessories that have been
       published is almost beyond counting.  This program should help
       you find what you are looking for, and make it easy and fast.

            This product is not a substitute for the various official
       AD&D reference books, it is rather a complementary tool.  You 
       will want to use this with your other books, rather than instead
       of them.

            This version of the Tome was designed as an accessory for 1st
       edition AD&D, however much of the information contained herein is
       compatible with the 2nd edition AD&D system.




































                                                            6


                   2 Installation & the Setup Program



       2.1 System Requirements:


            The Tome of Vast Knowledge requires that you run it on
       an IBM PC/XT/AT,PS/2 or 100% compatible with 512K of memory,
       an MDA/CGA/EGA/VGA/Hercules Monochrome or 100% compatible
       video card, and one floppy disk drive and a hard disk drive,
       and DOS version 2.11 or later. It is recommended that the
       Tome be used with 640K of memory.


       2.2 Installing the Tome of Vast Knowledge


            The first thing you should do is backup the Tome. This
       can easily be done using the DISKCOPY program that comes with
       DOS.

            The Tome will be unable to run properly and may work
       improperly if the following line does not appear in your
       CONFIG.SYS file:

            Files=20

         (For more information on the CONFIG.SYS file consult your
       DOS manual.)



            2.2.1 Installing the Tome on a Hard Disk

            Once you have backed up your copy of the Tome you can
       install the Tome by copying all files that come with the Tome
       (these are listed in the FILES.DOC file) into their own
       directory on your hard disk.


            2.2.2 Installing the Tome on a 2 Floppy System

            It is theoretically possible to run the Tome on a computer
       with 2 floppy disks.  On the program disk must appear:

            All the .EXE, .INI, .PRD, .DAT, .IDX, .KDX, .KDT, both the
       SPELTITL files and the .TXT files that VADDCHAR depends on.

            The .PAK files which contain the actual database texts can
       be placed on Data floppies in any arrangement deemed to be
       convenient.  The Tome will prompt for the appropriate Data disk
       when it is required.

                                                            7



            Once you have successfully installed the Tome, you can
       run it by using DOS to go to the directory it is installed
       in and type 'VAST', then press the <Enter> key.


       NOTE: This program will run faster if more memory is
       available to it.  It is recommended that you have as few
       memory resident programs, like keyboard enhancers, loaded as
       is possible to allow the Tome to run as fast as it was
       designed to.



            2.2.3 Adding Programs to the External Programs Menu


            The Tome has the facility to run user designated
       programs from a menu, see section 3.6 for more information.
       You must add programs to this menu using the installation/
       setup program. The setup program can be accessed from the
       External Programs menu (see section 3.6). If you wish to add
       a program (or batch file) to this menu you must know the 
       PATH to the program, which must be supplied when it is added
       to the menu.  Parameters which are to be passed to the program
       should appear after the PATH. (For example: Suppose you have a
       program called 'NOTEBOOK.EXE' in another directory that you
       want to run from time to time.  If NOTEBOOK accepts the
       filename to be edited as a command line parameter you can
       place the command line parameter after the program name.  In
       this case you should use a PATH of

       C:\NOTE\NOTEBOOK.EXE ADD.TXT

       NOTE: You should designate the program's file extension (EXE
       or COM), as this will allow the external program to be loaded
       faster, and use less memory.

       You can rerun the Tome's setup program to add or delete
       external programs from this menu at any time.

       You can run a DOS batch file as an external program (assuming
       the COMMAND.COM file is in the root directory on the C: drive)
       by using a PATH as follows:

       C:\COMMAND.COM /C BATNAME

       (where you should replace BATNAME with the name and path to
       your batch file). It should be noted that there may be no more
       than 9 external programs installed at any one time. (Information
       on what a PATH is can be found in your DOS manual.)


                                                            8



             2.2.4 Printer Configuration


             The Setup program, which can be accessed from the
        External Programs menu (see section 3.6), has the facility
        to change the currently selected printer.

             When running the Tome, it will undoubtedly become
        necessary to print out information from time to time.  The
        Tome has accompanying it printer drivers for many of the
        most commonly used printers.  However, if you want to take
        advantage of this capability you must run the printer
        configuration utility which is part of the installation
        program.  You will be asked what port your printer is
        attached to (sorry serial printers are not supported at this
        time), and then you will be presented with a scrollable list
        of printers which are supported.  Move the highlight bar
        (with the arrow keys) until the printer which is most similar 
        to yours is highlighted, then press <Enter>.

             NOTE: I have written printer drivers for as many
        printers as I could get my hands on, but there are
        undoubtedly more than a few which cannot emulate any of the
        commonly available printers that I have tried to support.
        Appendix A of this manual describes what is involved in
        writing a printer driver (not for the faint of heart). If
        you are having trouble doing so, mail me the appropriate
        sections from your printer manual I will try and write a
        driver in my copious free time. Conversely, if you write a
        nice driver for a heretofore unsupported printer, please
        send me a copy (with your name prominently embedded) so
        others may benefit.




















                                                            9


                           3 The Top level Menu


            When first encountering the Tome of Vast Knowledge you
       will be greeted by the Main Menu, as pictured below.

         Insert TOME1.EPS picture here if you have printed it.

       From this menu you must select the area of information you
       wish to explore.  If you are interested in perusing the
       texts of any of the many types of spells, you should type
       'S'.  If you want to examine the specifics about any of the
       monsters in the Net Monstrous Compendium or other monster
       database you should type 'M'.  If you want to take a look at
       the descriptions of any of the many magic items, you should
       type 'I'.  If you want to look at any of the other
       miscellaneous texts collected, including a collection of
       new character classes/kits, or a list of optional rules every
       dungeon master should know about, you should type 'V'.  A small
       collection of utilities have been assembled and these can be
       accessed by typing 'U'.  If you want to run an external
       program, or need to shell out to DOS you must type 'E'.  You
       can quit the program from this menu by typing 'Q'.

            You will notice that here, as well as in many other
       locations in this program, you can get help by pressing the
       <F1> key.  The help screen presented will tend to describe
       your current options, and how to accomplish them.  To return
       from a help screen to where you were before you called it
       up, press the <F10> key.


       3.1 The Spell Menu


            If you press 'S' on the main menu you will be presented
       with this second tier menu.  From here you have two options.
       You can browse through complete lists of spells, or you can
       search for specific types of spells by keyword, by pressing
       'S' and 'K' respectively.

            You can return to the program's main menu by pressing
       <F10>, or you can get help by pressing <F1>.  You will find
       that just about anywhere in this program you can press <F10>
       and return to the previous menu.

            NOTE:  The spells listed in this section are not
       official, and Dungeon Masters are encouraged to disallow the
       use of any spell that you think will unbalance your campaign,
       remember you are the final arbiter of what is allowed in your
       campaign.


                                                            10


             3.1.1 List Search


             If you select 'S' from the spell menu, you will be
        presented with a list of the various types of spells that are
        available to browse: Net Wizard, Net Priest, and possibly others,
        as illustrated below.

        Insert TOME2.EPS picture here if you have printed it.

        You can use the up and down arrow keys to move the scroll
        bar onto the type of spell you are interested in and then
        press the <Enter> key.  You will then be presented with a
        scrollable list of all spells of that type.  Pressing the
        <Home> and <End> keys will move the cursor to the first and
        last entries in the list, respectively.  (You can press the
        first letter of each of these as a shortcut, 'W' for example
        will pop up a list of all net Wizard spells.)

             If you are, for example, searching through the list of
        wizard spells, as pictured below, you will notice that
        there are several options available to you:


        Insert TOME3.EPS picture here if you have printed it.

             As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
        previous menu.  You can use the up and down arrow keys to
        move the scroll bar over the list of spells.  In addition
        you can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll the list
        faster (15 items at a time).  As previously, pressing the
        <Home> key returns the scroll bar to the top item in the
        list, and the <End> key places the scrollbar on the last
        spell in the list (in this case Zephyr).  In addition you
        can speed your way through the list by pressing the first
        letter of a known spell you are interested in and then
        scrolling using the arrow keys once you are close to the
        desired spell.  For example, suppose you were interested in
        examining the Sonic Barrier spell, you could, when browsing
        the list of net wizard spells, press 'S' which will advance
        the scrollbar to the first spell starting with 'S', and you
        can then quickly scroll down to Sonic Barrier with the arrow
        keys.  Futhermore, by pressing <F9> you access a shortcut
        option which will allow you to speed your way directly to
        the spell of your choice.  As in our previous example, you
        want to examine Sonic Barrier, press <F9> and a window will
        pop up asking you what spell you want, you then type in as
        much of the spell name as you want (usually enough to allow
        unambiguous spell determination).  In this case type 'SONIC
        BA' (to avoid confusion with Sonic Blast), then press <Enter>.
        The scroll bar will be advanced to the first spell


                                                            11



        that matches completely with your input.  With a little
        practice you'll discover what method best allows you to find
        your favorite spells rapidly.

             Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the spell you
        are interested in, you can then press <Enter>, this will
        cause the complete text of that spell to be presented to you
        on screen.

                  3.1.1.1 Browsing a spell


             Suppose you had scrolled down to Sonic Barrier as in the
        previous example and pressed <Enter>.  You would now find
        the first 21 lines of the spell presented on the screen.
        You can use the up and down arrows or the <PgUp> and <PgDn>
        keys to scroll through the text.  You will notice that in
        many spells important words and phrases are highlighted to
        draw your attention.  In some spells you will see that there
        are words that are green (or underlined on monochrome
        monitors), these are hotlinks.

             Usually these hotlinks are names of other spells that
        you are referred to for further information.  You can use
        the <Tab> key to move the cursor to the first hotlink.  If
        there is more than one hotlink, repeated pressing of the
        <Tab> key will move the cursor to the 2nd, 3rd and so on,
        and finally back to the first hotlink.  Once the cursor is
        on the hotlink you can press the <F2> key and the text
        associated with that hotlink will be called up on screen
        immediately.  You can continue on in this fashion to a depth
        of 5 calls, or until you run out of memory.  For example,
        while browsing Pobithaker's Protection call the hotlink to
        Pobithaker's Placer, from there call the link to Pobithaker's
        Tracer, you are now 3 levels deep.  You can return to the
        previous spell, or ultimately, the spell menu you were
        browsing by pressing <F10>.


             3.1.2 KeyWord Search


             If you pressed 'K' from the spell menu you will find
        yourself in the keyword search menu, as illustrated below.
        From here you can search for a specific type of spell.
        Suppose the 9th level wizard Non-Player Character (NPC)
        you are preparing to challenge your party with needs a few
        good offensive combat spells to round out his arsenal, you
        could use this menu to find out what his options are.


                                                            12



        Insert TOME4.EPS picture here if you have printed it.

             First, you should move the highlight bar onto 'Caster-
        Type' using the left and right arrows, then press <Enter>
        (or as a shortcut type 'C').  You will then be presented
        with a scrollable list of the types of spells there are.
        Using the arrow keys move the scrollbar onto 'net Wizard'
        (if it isn't already on it) and press <Enter>.  You should
        notice that 'net Wizard' just appeared in the window in the
        upper left-hand corner of the screen, this is to help you
        keep track of what you have selected.  You can remove a
        single spell type from this search window the same way you
        entered it in the first place.  Move the highlight bar onto
        the name of the spell type you wish to remove and press
        <Enter>.  Once you have all the spell types you want to
        search through, press <F10> to return to the keyword search
        menu.

             Now select the level of spells which you are interested
        in by moving the highlight bar onto 'Level' using the left
        and right arrow keys then press <Enter> (or type 'L' as a
        shortcut).  Continuing with the example of a 9th-level
        wizard, 1st-5th level spells should be considered, because
        9th level wizards can cast 1st-5th level spells, so add '1',
        '2', '3', '4' and '5' to the 'Level' search criteria window.
        Press <F10> when you are finished to return to the keyword
        search menu.

             Finally the keywords describing the types of spells you
        are interested in should be added.  Move the highlight bar
        onto 'Keywords' using the arrow keys then press <Enter> (or
        type 'K' as a shortcut).  Then, as described above add the
        keywords desired, in this case 'Offensive, Active' and
        'Offensive, Passive', and when you have done this press
        <F10> to return to the keyword search menu.  (You will find
        most of the keywords self explanatory, but in some cases you
        may have to experiment to see what type of spell you get
        using different search criteria.)  NOTE: There is an option
        to use 'Any Keyword', which returns all spells matching
        caster types and levels selected.

             NOTE: When in the keyword search menu you can press
        <F3> to clear a single search window.  For example, if the
        highlight bar is on 'Levels' and you then press <F3> the
        window indicating which levels should be considered for the
        search will be cleared.  <F4> Clears all three windows.






                                                            13


             To perform the search, you can then move the highlight
        bar over to the 'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as
        a shortcut).  If any of the 3 search criteria windows is
        empty this operation will be unsuccessful.  You must specify
        what you are looking for in terms of level, caster type and
        keyword.  Once a search has been done, you will be presented
        with a scrollable list of all spells that match at least one
        criterion for each of caster type, level and keyword.  In
        the above example, any net Wizard spells which are of level
        1-5 and are fundamentally combat-offensive in nature would
        appear.  You can then use the up and down arrows and the
        <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll through this list.
        Pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
        spell which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
        before.


        3.2 The Monster Menu


             If you type 'M' in the main menu you will be presented
        with this second tier menu.  From here you have three
        options.  You can browse through complete lists of monsters
        (section 3.2.1), you can search for specific types of monsters
        by terrain (section 3.2.2), or you can generate random
        encounters (Section 3.2.3), by typing 'S', 'K' and 'R'
        respectively.

             You can return to the program's main menu by pressing
        <F10>, or get help by pressing <F1>.


             3.2.1 List Search


             If you select 'S' from the monster menu, you will be
        presented with a list of all commonly known monsters.  As
        you are searching through the list of monsters, you will
        notice that there are several options available to you:

             As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
        previous menu. You can use the up and down arrow keys to move
        the scroll bar over the list of monsters.  In addition you
        can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll the list faster
        (about 15 items at a time).  Pressing the <Home> key returns
        the scroll bar to the top item in the list, and the <End>
        key places the scrollbar on the last monster in the list.
        In addition, you can speed your way through the list by
        pressing the first letter of the monster you are interested



                                                            14



        in, which will advance the list to the first monster which
        matches the letter pressed, and then scrolling using the
        arrow keys once you are close to the desired monster.  For
        example, suppose I was interested in examining the Dragon
        Fisher I could, when browsing the list of monsters, press
        'D' which will advance the scrollbar to the first monster
        starting with 'D', you can then quickly scroll down to
        Dragon Fisher with the arrow keys. Futhermore, by pressing
        <F9> you access a shortcut option which will allow you to
        speed your way directly to the monster of your choice.  As
        in our previous example, you want to examine Dragon Fisher,
        press <F9> and a window will pop up asking you what monster
        you want, you then type in as much of the monster name as
        you want (usually enough to allow unambiguous monster
        determination).  In this case type 'DRAGON F' (to avoid
        confusion with Dragons of various types), then press
        <Enter>. The scroll bar will be advanced to the first
        monster that matches completely with your input.

             Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the monster
        you are interested in, you can then press <Enter>.  This
        will cause the complete text of that monster to be presented
        to you on screen.  You can then browse the text in the
        fashion described in section 3.1.1.1.


             3.2.2 Terrain Search


             If you pressed 'K' from the monster menu you will find
        yourself in the keyword search menu very similar to that
        described in section 3.1.2.  From here you can search for
        monsters, based on the terrain which they inhabit.  Suppose
        that you are preparing to challenge your party with some
        monsters, but you would like the monsters to be appropriate
        to the terrain they will be crossing. You can use this menu
        to find out what the appropriate monsters are.

             In this case the monster search automatically
        encompasses all available monsters, these will be listed in
        the monster-type window in the upper left hand corner of the
        screen.

             You must select the level of monsters that will be
        appropriate, say 3rd level. Then select the keywords
        describing the terrains you are interested in, for example,
        Temperate Desert and Temperate Plains.  You will find most
        of the terrains self explanatory.  Some of these keywords
        are descriptors, that is they describe what the monsters
        are, not where they are found.  'Undead' encompasses all


                                                            15


        creatures which have most or all of the general
        characteristics of undead.  'Constructs' are monsters that
        can be built, and will therefore likely only be found where
        they have been placed by powerful NPC's.  NOTE: There is an
        option to use 'Any Terrain', which returns all monsters
        matching the levels selected.


             SPECIAL NOTE: You will notice that 'Underdark'
        describes creatures which will, as often as not, be found
        only underground.  If you want all monsters that can be
        found underground in a certain terrain, it is a good idea to
        select the terrains above ground in the area of the
        caves/tunnels, as well as 'Underdark'.  For example, suppose
        you wanted to populate a cavern in a topical mountain, you
        would select 'Tropical, Wilderness Mountains' AND
        'Underdark, Land'.  You might discover some creatures which
        are incompatible with underground existence, but this will
        mostly be obvious.  It should be noted that some monsters
        (eg. dragons) can progress through various levels, ie.,
        young dragons may only be 3rd or 4th levels, while ancient
        dragons may be 7th or 8th level.

             You can, when in the terrain search menu, press <F3> to
        clear a single search window. For example, if the highlight
        bar is on 'Levels' and you then press <F3> the window
        indicating which levels should be considered for the search
        will be cleared.  <F4> Clears both windows.

             You can then move the highlight bar over to the
        'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as a shortcut).
        If any of the 2 alterable search windows are empty this
        operation will be unsuccessful, you must specify what you
        are looking for in terms of level, and terrain.  Once all
        this has been done, a search will present you with a
        scrollable list all monsters that match your search
        criteria.  You can then use the up and down arrows and the
        <PgUp> and <PgDn> key to scroll through this list.
        Pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
        spell which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
        before.






                                                            16


             3.2.3 The Random Search Menu


             If you press 'R' from the monster menu you will arrive
        at this random monster search menu.  Here you must specify
        what type of monsters you are interested in, both in terms
        of level, and in terms of the terrain they inhabit.  You can
        then have the program randomly select the specific monster
        that, for example, might be part of an encounter in that
        terrain.

             There are two types of immediate random monster
        searches: weighted, and unweighted.  A weighted search will
        have monsters that are 'Common' more likely to be
        encountered than those that are 'Uncommon', which are more
        likely to appear than those that are 'Rare', and those that
        are 'Very rare' and 'Unique' will appear the most
        infrequently of all.  Unweighted search allows all types of
        monsters which match the search criteria an equal chance of
        being selected.

             If either of these two options is employed, (by moving
        the highlight bar with the left and right arrow keys to
        highlight the desired search and then pressing <Enter>, or
        by typing 'W' or 'U' respectively,) a single monster from
        all those that match the search criteria you have specified
        will be selected, and presented with complete text, on
        screen.  You can then browse the text in the fashion
        described in section 3.1.1.1.

             If the 'RE-Table' option is selected, you will be
        presented with a whole new menu (pictured below) which
        allows you to build a random encounter table for the
        terrains and level of monsters you are interested in.

        Insert TOME5.EPS picture here if you have printed it.

             Note: A table is impossible to build if there are not
        at least 19 monsters which match the search criteria you
        have selected, and you will be unable to proceed to this
        menu.

             Random encounter tables are useful if you want to
        prepare wandering monsters for your campaign, and have the
        monsters match the terrain in which the campaign is
        occurring.  A random encounter is a list of 19 monsters.  To
        determine which monster is encountered you roll a 12-sided
        dice and an 8-sided dice and sum the two rolls, then index
        the result to the table.

             Note: If a unique being appears in your encounter table
        and it is encountered, you may wish to scratch it off the
        table so that it is not encountered more than once, repeated
        random encounters with a unique creature are very unlikely.

                                                            17



             You have several options in this menu.  Most likely you
        will want to build a random encounter table, press 'B'.  If
        you don't like the table at all try again.  (The variation
        in the tables generated will depend on how many matching
        monsters there are.)

             If you are unfamiliar with the specifics of a monster
        or two in the table and you want to examine them, press 'E'
        and you will then be able to scroll through the list.
        Pressing <Enter> when the highlight bar is on a monster will
        allow you to view the entire description of that monster.
        Press <F10> when you are finished examining monsters.

             If one (or more of the monsters) does not fit what you
        had in mind, press 'R'.  You will then be able to scroll
        through the list of monsters, pressing <Enter> will replace
        the currently highlighted monster with a new, randomly
        determined monster that matches the search criteria.
        Pressing <F10> will return you to the RE-Table menu.

             You have the option of printing this table if you have
        any supported printer attached to your computer.  (See
        section 2.2.2 for further details on printer configuration).

             There is a brief reiteration of the information found
        herein which can be viewed by selecting the 'How to use this
        table' option.


        3.3 The Magic Item Menu


             If you press 'I' from the top level you will be
        presented with this second tier menu.  From here you have
        three options.  You can browse through complete lists of
        magic items (section 3.3.1), you can search for specific
        types of magic items by keyword (section 3.3.2), or you can
        determine random magic items (as may be found in treasure
        troves)(Section 3.3.3) by typing 'S', 'K' and 'R'
        respectively.  You can return to the program's main menu by
        pressing <F10>, or get help by pressing <F1>.

             NOTE: The magic items in the databases acompanying the
        Tome are not official, and their experience point value
        (where given) and gold piece value are also not official.
        The DM is encouraged to change these as he or she see's fit
        and to disallow the use of any magic items that you feel will
        unbalance your campaign.





                                                            18


             3.3.1 List Search


             If you type 'S' in the magic item menu, you will be
        presented with a list of the various types of magic items
        that are available to browse: Potions & Oils, Scrolls,
        Rings, Wands, Rods & Staves, Miscellaneous Magic items,
        Armor & Shields, Swords, and Miscellaneous Weapons.  You can
        use the up and down arrow keys, and the <PgUp>, <PgDn>,
        <Home> and <End> keys to move the scroll bar onto the type
        of magic item you are interested in, then press the <Enter>
        key.  You will then be presented with a scrollable list of
        all magic items of that type.  (You can press the first
        capitalized letter of each of these as a shortcut, 'P' for
        example will pop up a list of all potions.)

             If you are, for example, searching through the list of
        miscellaneous magic items, you will notice that there are
        several options available to you:

             As always, pressing <F10> will return you to the
        previous menu.  You can use the up and down arrow keys to
        move the scroll bar over the list of magic items.  In
        addition you can use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to scroll
        the list faster (about 15 items at a time).  Pressing the
        <Home> key returns the scroll bar to the top item in the
        list, and the <End> key places the scrollbar on the last
        spell in the list.  In addition you can speed your way
        through the list by pressing the first letter of the magic
        item you are interested in and then scrolling using the
        arrow keys once you are close.  For example, suppose I was
        interested in examining Cloak of Thespis I could, when
        browsing the list of miscellaneous magic items, press 'C'
        which will advance the scrollbar to the first item starting
        with 'C', and I can then quickly scroll down to Cloak of
        Thespis with the arrow keys. Futhermore, by pressing <F9>
        you access a shortcut option which will allow you to speed
        your way directly to the magic item of your choice.  As in
        our previous example, you want to examine Cloak of Thespis,
        press <F9> and a window will pop up asking you what magic
        item you want, you then type in as much of the magic item
        name as you want (usually enough to allow unambiguous magic
        item determination).  In this case type 'CLOAK OF TH' (to
        avoid confusion with other types of cloaks), then press
        <Enter>. The scroll bar will be advanced to the first magic
        item that matches completely with your input.

             Once you have positioned the scrollbar on the item you
        are interested in, you can then press <Enter>, this will
        cause the complete text of that item to be presented to you
        on screen.  You can then browse the text as described in
        section 3.1.1.1.

                                                            19



             3.3.2 Keyword Search


             If you pressed 'K' from the magic item menu, you will
        find yourself in the keyword search menu.  From here you can
        search for a specific type of magic item.  Suppose the 9th
        level wizard Non-Player Character (NPC) you are preparing
        to challenge your party with needs an interesting staff
        with which to confound the party.  You should use this
        menu to find out what his options are.  You move the
        highlight bar onto 'Item-Type' using the left and right
        arrows, then press <Enter> (or as a shortcut type 'I').

             You will then be presented with a scrollable list of
        the types of magic items there are.  Using the arrow keys
        highlight 'Wands, Rods & Staves' and press <Enter>.  You
        should notice that 'Wands, Rods & Staves' just appeared in
        the window in the upper left-hand corner of the screen, this
        is to help you keep track of what you have selected.
        Removing a single magic item type from this search window is
        the same as entering it, move the highlight bar onto the
        name of the spell type you wish to remove and press <Enter>.
        Once you have all the magic item types you want to search
        through press <F10> to return to the keyword search menu.

             Now select the level of magic item, in the case of a
        9th-level magic-user you might want to look for something in
        the 3rd-5th level range, and the keywords describing the
        types of magic items you are interested in, in this case,
        for example, 'Offensive, Combat'.  (You will find most of
        the keywords self explanatory, but in some cases you may
        have to experiment to see what type of magic item you get
        using different search criteria.)  NOTE: There is an option
        to use 'Any Keyword', which returns all magic items matching
        item types and levels selected.

             NOTE: Level designations given to the various magic
        items are not official, and are based on subjective criteria,
        1st level magic being the weakest and 8th level magic being
        reserved for use in very special occasions by VERY powerful
        characters.  These level designations are simply designed as
        a guideline for dungeon masters who are trying to decide how
        to equip NPC's and place magic in treasure hoards.
        Furthermore, the levels do not necesarily correspond with the
        level of character that should be wielding the magic item
        (otherwise 8th level characters would be wielding vorpal
        weapons).





                                                            20


             You can press <F3> to clear a single search window.
        For example, if the highlight bar is on 'Levels' and you
        then press <F3> the window indicating which levels should be
        considered for the search will be cleared.  <F4> Clears all
        three windows.

             You can then move the highlight bar over to the
        'Search' and press <Enter> (or press 'S' as a shortcut).

             If any of the 3 search windows is empty this operation
        will be unsuccessful, you must specify what you are looking
        for in terms of level, item type and keyword.  Once all this
        has been done, a search will present you with a scrollable
        list all magic items that match your search criteria.  In
        the above example, any rods, wands or staves which are of
        level 3-5 and are fundamentally combat-offensive in nature
        would appear.  You can then use the up and down arrows and
        the <PgUp> and <PgDn> key to scroll through this list and
        pressing <Enter> at any time will put the full text of the
        magic item which is highlighted on screen as you have seen
        before.

             3.3.3 The Random Magic Item Menu


             If you type 'R' from the magic item menu, you will
        arrive at the this random magic item search menu.  Here you
        must specify what type of magic items you are interested in,
        both in terms of level, and in terms of keywords describing
        the type of item you are interested in.  You can then have
        the program randomly select the specific magic item that,
        for example, might be part of a treasure hoard.

             There are two types of immediate random magic item
        searches: weighted, and unweighted.  A weighted search will
        have less powerful magic items encountered more often than
        more powerful magic items.  You would probably expect to
        find a lot of +1 swords before you stumble upon a +5 holy
        avenger, unless it has a specific reason for being there.
        Unweighted search allows all types of magic items which
        match the search criteria an equal chance of being selected.

             If either of these to options is employed, (by moving
        the highlight bar with the left and right arrow keys to
        highlight the desired search and then pressing <Enter>, or
        by typing 'W' or 'U' respectively,) a single magic item from
        all those that match the search criteria you have specified
        will be selected, and presented with complete text, on
        screen.  You can then browse the text in the fashion
        described in section 3.1.1.1.



                                                            21



        3.4 The Various Topics Menu


             If you select the various topics menu by typing 'V' at
        the main menu you will be presented with a scrollable list
        of the databases which do not fit into the categories spell,
        monster or magic item.

             There is a database containing several new 'Classes and
        kits'.  These texts tend to offer unusual and interesting
        new roleplaying opportunities, and are by and large well
        thought out.

             There is a database which contains often sought after
        rules, descriptions of topics that are inadequately covered
        in the official AD&D references. You will find a (growing)
        selection of articles which will allow a DM to add spice
        and three dimensionality to his or her campaign.

             There is also a database listing non weapon
        proficiencies which do not appear in the official AD&D rules,
        but which could add a little more spice to an adventure.

             You can access these databases by highlighting the
        desired one using the up and down arrow keys and then
        pressing <Enter> (or pressing the first capital letter as a
        shortcut).  You will then be presented with a complete list
        of the associated topics, these can be viewed as described
        in section 3.1.1 and 3.1.1.1.


        3.5 The Utilities Menu


             If you type 'U' in the main menu you will find yourself
        in the utilities menu. You will find yourself presented with
        a scrollable list of the various handy tools which have been
        collected here for easy access.  The tool desired can be
        selected by highlighting it using the arrow keys and then
        pressing <Enter>. (Or as a shortcut, you press the first
        capitalized letter in the option you desire.)










                                                            22



             3.5.1 The Sword Builder


             The sword builder is designed to take the drudgery out
        of determining if a sword has special attributes in terms of
        intelligence, speaking ability and so on.  You press <F5> to 
        determine if a sword has special abilities.  If you want to 
        weight this process slightly towards more intelligent and more 
        powerful swords press <F6>.  If the sword you have generated 
        is perfect in every way except that the alignment doesn't fit, 
        you can change it by pressing <F7> and then selecting the 
        alignment you want.  (By highlighting the alignment of your 
        choice, and then pressing <Enter>.)  If you have any supported
        printer connected to your computer you can print out your
        sword by pressing <F3>. (See section 2.2.2 for further
        details on printer configuration).


             3.5.2 The Hoard Generator


             The Hoard Generator is designed to simplify the
        generation of monster hoards.  Pressing <F5> will present you
        with a list of 26 available treasure types and the number
        of occurances of each treasure type in the hoard, using the
        left and right arrows highlight the treasure type desired
        then press the '+' key to increment the number of occurances
        of this treasure type in the hoard. Press the '-' to decrement
        the number of occurances. When the correct treasure types have
        been selected, press <F10> and the hoard will automatically
        be generated and the results presented on screen. Pressing <F6>
        allows you to select the Treasure Table desired.  The default
        is to use the 1st Edition treasure table printed at the back of
        the Monster Manual, but the 2nd Edition and Dark Sun treasure
        tables are also supported.

        Pressing <F4> will run the Gemologist. NOTE: if the Gemologist
        is used to determine the value of a number of gems equal to the
        number in the current hoard (this is the default) then the total
        value will be returned to the Hoard generator.

        If you have any supported printer connected to your
        computer you can print out this information by pressing <F3>.
        (See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
        configuration).






                                                            23



             3.5.2.1 The Gemologist


             The Gemologist simplifies the process of determining
        the value of gems found in treasure hoards.  Pressing <F5>
        will present you with a list of the type of gems that exist.
        After selecting the type of gems you want you will be asked 
        how many you want.  Type in a number between 1 and 500, 
        then press <Enter>.  Then indicate what type of gemstones 
        are desired (an automatic random selection is possible).  
        The results are presented and tabulated, on screen.  If more 
        than 40 gems are selected then only the total value of all the 
        gems will be displayed. If you have any supported printer 
        connected to your computer you can print out this information 
        by pressing <F3>.  (See section 2.2.2 for further details on 
        printer configuration).


             3.5.3 The NPC Maker 1st Ed.


             The NPC maker simplifies what can otherwise be the
        arduous process of creating a non-player character. This tool
        is specifically developed to create NPC's which conform to 
        1st Ed. specifications.

             Pressing <F5> will present you with a list of the
        supported non-player character types.  Use the arrows keys
        to move the highlight bar to the NPC type you want to
        create, the press <Enter>.  You will then be ask whether you
        want to create the character manually, or automatically
        (actually even a manually created character is mostly
        automatic, except you are prompted for character race,
        alignment, and a few other pertinent specifics.)  When
        finished the results will be presented on-screen.

             Pressing <F6> will allow you to customize the
        characters attributes (Strength, Intelligence, etc.) after
        the character has been generated.

             If you have any supported printer connected to your
        computer you can print out this information by pressing
        <F3>.  (See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
        configuration).








                                                            24


             3.5.4 NPC Maker 2nd Ed. (ADDCHAR)

             The ADDCHAR program is both very powerful, and there is
        context sensitive help along the way, however some nuances of
        the programs use and extending the data files on which this
        program depends may be somewhat complex.  Micheal Hermann the
        creator of this program has written a comprehensive manual for
        it (look for the file ADDCHAR.DOC).  So you are referred there
        for a complete description of the operation of the ADDCHAR
        program.

        I have added an Abort keystroke combination to ADDCHAR which
        will terminate ADDCHAR from almost anywhere (almost!). Pressing
        <ALT-X> will termnate Addchar.


             3.5.5 Auto Spell


             Auto Spell allows you to (almost) instantly create a
        spell list for a non-player character automatically. It also
        allows you to create/edit/save spellbooks for any spellcaster
        that uses them.

             From the main menu in Auto Spell pressing 'A' will
        allow you to automatically generate a spell list for an NPC
        character. Spell list generation is described in section
        3.5.5.1  Other options are available for creating/editing/
        browsing and printing spellbooks. These spellbooks can, of
        course be saved on disk for later examination/modification.

             Pressing 'N' from Auto Spell's main menu will allow the
        creation of a new spellbook (this cleans up from any previous
        spellbooks that might be open, and prepares for the creation
        of a new one.) You will be given the choice of either
        creating the spellbook manually or automatically. If you
        elect to create it manually you will be asked for a name/
        title for the spellbook and returned to Auto Spell's main
        menu. If you select automatic spellbook generation you will
        be asked to select a list of databases from which the spells
        should be pulled, as well as the level and type of
        spellcaster.  Then Autospell will build the spellbook
        automatically. (NOTE: this is a very computationally
        intensive process, and in the worst case (a slow computer
        and a spell caster with many spells) this may take 5 minutes
        or even longer, so do not reboot.) You will be returned
        to Auto Spell's main menu when the spellbook has been
        generated.

             Pressing 'E' from Auto Spell's main menu allows you to 
        edit the contents of the current spellbook adding/deleting spells.
        Furthermore, the complete text of each spell can be browsed
        so that it's easier to decide whether a spell is appropriate
        for the spellcaster whose book you are editing. NOTE: No
        spellbook may conatin more than 300 spells.
                                                            25



             Pressing 'B' from Auto Spell's main menu allows you to 
        browse the contents of the current spellbook, including the 
        option of examining the complete text for each spell.

             Pressing 'P' from Auto Spell's main menu allows you to
        print the contents of the current spellbook.  There are 3 choices
        here. You can print just the list of spells, the complete
        text of each and every spell, or you can export the
        spellbook into LATEX format (a powerful document processing
        program available on most UNIX platforms.)

             Pressing 'S' from Auto Spell's main allows you to save
        the current spellbook to a disk file.

             Pressing 'L' from Auto Spell's main allows you to load
        a spellbook from a disk file.


                  3.5.5.1 Automatic Spell List Generation

             Pressing <F5> will present you with a menu of the types
        of spellcasters for whom spells are available.  Select the
        spell caster type desired by moving the highlight bar with
        the arrow key until the desired caster type is highlighted then
        press enter.  You will then be asked for the caster's level
        (and in the case of clerics, the caster's wisdom), then Auto
        Spell will create a spell list.  (NOTE: this is a very
        computationally intensive process, and in the worst case (a
        slow computer and a spell caster with many spells) this may
        take a minute or even longer, so do not reboot.)  The spell
        list generated will be displayed on-screen when the process
        is finished.

             Pressing <F6> will allow you to influence the method by
        which Auto Spell selects spells.  Normally, Auto Spell
        selects one offensive spell and one defensive spell at each
        spell level, then the remaining spells are selected
        randomly from a list of all available spells at that level.
        With this option you can list the spell type(s) which you want
        to dominate the spell list.  A menu containing all spell types
        will appear, this menu can be scrolled using the arrow keys,
        pressing the <Enter> key will cause the highlighted keyword
        to be added to the list, selecting the same keyword again
        will remove that keyword from the list.  The list remains in
        effect until it is changed, or until you leave Auto Spell.

             Once you've created a spell list, pressing <F4> will
        present you with a scrolling menu which will allow you to
        browse the complete text of every spell in the list.



                                                            26



             If you have any supported printer connected to your
        computer you can print out this information by pressing
        <F3>.  (See section 2.2.2 for further details on printer
        configuration).




        3.6 External Programs


             This menu presents you with a list of the external
        programs you can run from within the Tome (this includes the
        ability to shell out to DOS).  By default there are two
        options available: 1) Shell out to DOS; 2)Run the Tome's
        Setup Program.  Using the setup program you can add programs
        to this list.  This could for example, allow you to access a
        notepad program you use to jot down information and ideas as
        you need to, without the need to exit the Tome.

             If you shell to DOS you can return to the Tome by
        typing 'EXIT' and pressing <Enter> at the DOS prompt.


        3.7 Macros


             Built into the Tome is a macro recorder.  What the
        macro recorder does is record keystrokes, and then save them
        so that they can be played back at the touch of a key.  For
        example, I can create a macro which quickly moves me to a
        search for clerical spells by pressing <CTRL-F2>, for
        example, or almost anything else.


             3.7.1 The Macro Menu


             The macro menu allows you to view a list of the
        existing macros, add new macros, delete unused, or unwanted
        macros, and disable macros if you so desire. You can call up
        the macro menu (pictured below) by pressing <ALT-M> (the
        <ALT> key and the 'M' key at the same time).


        Insert TOME6.EPS picture here if you have printed it.






                                                            27



             3.7.2 How to build a Macro


             To build a macro you must first call up the macro menu
        then select type 'A' to add a macro, you will then be asked
        to select a key which will run the macro you wish to record.
        Press the key combination you want to activate your macro.
        (Legal macro keys are the <ALT> pressed at the same time as
        the <F1>..<F10> keys, ie., you can have up to 10 user
        defined macros.)  You will then be asked to select a
        name/description for the macro.  Type in the name you want,
        then press <Enter>.  The macro menu will now disappear and
        you can start typing the macro you want recorded.  You will
        hear a click each time you press a key to remind you that
        the macro recorder is operating.  NOTE: Macros must be 40
        keystrokes or less.  This should be fine for all but the
        most unusual circumstances.  When you have finished typing
        the macro you want recorded you again press <ALT-M> and a
        window will pop up asking you whether you want to keep the
        macro or not.  After you have made a useful macro you will
        want to save it to disk, this can be accomplished from the
        macro menu by typing 'S'. NOTE: You will only be able to
        save the macros if the disk the Tome is running on is NOT
        write protected.


        NOTE: When the macro menu is popped up you cannot activate
        any of the macros, and you cannot pop up the Electronic Dice
        (described in the next section).
























                                                            28



        3.8 Electronic Dice


             Most aspects of AD&D will sooner or later require a
        dice roll.  To avoid forcing you to use your dice at the
        computer, an electronic dice utility has been provided which
        allows easy, fast dice rolling.  To call up the electronic
        dice, simple press <ALT-D> (the <ALT> key and the 'D' key at
        the same time), and the electronic dice menu will appear (as
        pictured below).


        Insert TOME7.EPS picture here if you have printed it.


             You will be presented with a choice as to the type of
        die you want to roll, type the number corresponding to the
        type of die you want to roll. You will then be asked how
        many, type in the number you desire, then press <Enter>.
        Alternately, if you wish a single die of any type you can
        simply press <Enter> (instead of a number corresponding to a
        die type) and you will be presented with one die of each
        type, or you can press the spacebar and the last die roll
        selection will be rerolled. eg. you just rolled 6d6 and you
        want to do it again - press the spacebar. You can pop down
        the electronic dice and return to your program any time by
        pressing <F10>.

























                                                            29




                                4 Last Word


             Hopefully the Tome of Vast Knowledge will make
        searching for obscure and arcane AD&D titbits a pleasure,
        and adding spice to your campaign less of a chore.  In
        short, may your adventures always amaze your friends, and
        keep them on their toes.










































                                                            30




                                 Appendix A



        Making a Printer Driver for the Tome


             Several of the tools in this program make use of the
        printer.  To do this effectively, the TOME needs to know how
        to handle your specific printer properly.  This involves
        knowing the control codes your printer uses.

             There are about seven Printer Definition (PRD) files
        that come with the Tome.  The nice thing about these files
        is that they are stored as (mostly) readable ASCII files,
        and you can read or edit them to suit your needs.  This
        means that, if there is no PRD file for your printer, you
        can make one.

             When you install the Tome for the first time, the PRD
        file selected as the default is called EPSONMX.PRD.  This
        PRD will work with many dot matrix printers, but will not
        make use of many more advanced printer's features.  To change
        the PRD file to one matching your own printer, choose the
        Printer Setup option in the installation program.  You will
        then see a sub-menu of all the printers defined in the
        PRINTERS.DAT file.

             Select the printer driver that most closely matches
        your printer.  Once selected, data files will be updated and
        the new printer data will be loaded next time the Tome is
        run.  You will then be able to use any of the Tome printing
        functions.

             There are many printers which are not listed in the
        PRINTERS.DAT file, and a somewhat smaller number which are
        not able to emulate any of the printers listed there.  You
        can either use the EPSONMX.PRD file and hope for the best,
        or you can create your own printer driver.  To create your
        own, simply make a copy of the PRD file for the printer
        which is most similar to your own printer (if in doubt use
        the EPSONMX.PRD file).  Place the copy in a file with a name
        that resembles your printer, it MUST have a .PRD extension.
        For example, if you had an IBM Laser printer, you could make
        a copy of the LASERJET.PRD file and call it IBMLASER.PRD.






                                                            31


             Once the copy is made, all that remains is to edit the
        file.  Tome PRD files are ASCII files that can be edited
        using any ASCII word processor that supports embedding ASCII
        codes.  If you edit the file using a word processing program
        that has its own format (such as Word for Windows, Wordstar,
        etc.), you must make sure to save the file as ASCII only.

             Load the PRD file to edit into your word processor and
        take a look at it.  You'll see some comments describing each
        portion of the file.  Notice that many lines of text are
        preceded by a pound sign '#'.  A line with a pound sign as
        the first character is a comment, and is ignored by the
        Tome.  The comments are used to explain what's going on
        inside on of these files.

             Refer to the comments if you are having trouble
        understanding the PRD file.

             At the top of the file is an optional header that is
        merely informative for anyone viewing the PRD file.  You
        should change this header to indicate the name of the
        printer the new driver is designed to support.  Add other
        comments where you see fit.

             Now notice that there are a few lines that are not
        comments.  These consist of a header in square brackets
        (eg., [BOLD]), followed by one or more lines of printer
        commands.  These are the actual printer information lines.
        The info required by the Tome includes codes to make your
        printer:


        1. Define any variables which might need to be used by the
        printer driver (the postscript driver is a fair example of
        how this can be used.). [DEFINES]

        2. Setup the printer (which usually entails turning on Near
        Letter Quality mode, and possibly resetting the printer.
        [PREAMBLE]

        3. Clean up after printing (which might entail resetting the
        printer). [POSTAMBLE]

        4. Turn Bold print on. [BOLD]

        5. Turn Bold print off (and Normal printing back on).
        [NORMAL]

        6. Any information the printer should receive before every
        line. (You might want to indent a couple of spaces.)
        [PRELINE]


                                                            32



        7. Any information the printer should receive after every
        line. [POSTLINE]

        8. How to eject a page. [FORMFEED]

        9. Whether any normal text characters need to be filtered/
        modified before they can be printed out. [REPLACE]

        10. How may lines of text can appear on a page. [LINES/PAGE]


             Codes for printers are usually ESCAPE sequences, that
        is, numerical values of ASCII characters, preceded by the
        ESC character.  For example, the code to make an Epson FX
        printer change to Emphasized (Bold) mode is the ESC
        character, followed by the 'G', and the character.  The
        appropriate lines in the printer definition file would look
        like this:

        [BOLD]
        G

             This is exactly how you enter the codes in your PRD
        file.  Find out the sequence of characters needed for the
        specific code you want, and then convert them to their ASCII
        values.  You can find an ASCII chart in any DOS manual, or
        your printer manual.

             There are two exceptions to this rule.
         1) The [REPLACE] header is followed by a list of regular
         printable ASCII characters and the string which should be
         used to replace it in the printer output. For example,
         postscript output treats '(' and ')' as special (because
         they may indicate the beginning or end of a postscript
         statement so the must be replaced with '\(' and '\)'
         respectively. (Look at POSTSCR.PRD for an example.)

         2) The [LINES/PAGE] header must be followed by a line with
         the decimal value indicating the number of lines of text
         your printer can put on a single page.  For example if your
         printer puts 66 line of the page (as many dot matrix
         printers do) the following line should appear in you PRD
         file:

         [LINES/PAGE]
         66






                                                            33




        NOTE: If your printer does not support one of these
        features, or if is irrelevant for your printer (as many
        of these fields are for dat matrix printers), you can
        disable it by not putting any values after the code, such as

        [BOLD]

             In which case the default action will issued at the
        appropriate point when printing out information.  In every
        case except [POSTLINE] (what to do after a line of text) the
        default is do nothing, in the [POSTLINE] case the default is
        to issue a carriage return/linefeed.

             Once you have created your own PRD file, the Tome
        program needs to be informed of its existence.  To do this
        add 2 (or more) lines to the PRINTERS.DAT file.  The
        PRINTERS.DAT file is a plain ASCII file the format for each
        printer entry is:

        0 DRIVER.PRD
        1 Name of printer supported
        1 (optionally) other printer supported with the same driver.


             So add your driver to the PRINTERS.DAT file, then
        select the printer supported by the new PRD file from the
        Tome's installation/setup program and you'll be all set.

             If this process eludes you, and you want the Tome to
        take advantage of your printer's capabilities, send me a
        copy of the pages of your printer manual that detail the
        printer codes for the features mentioned above, and I'll do
        the best I can to write a PRD file for you.


















                                                            34



                                 Appendix B


        Changing the Default Backup key


             By default every menu (except the main menu), every 
        list box, and every utility can be backed out of by pressing
        the <F10> key.  This may distress some individuals whose
        keyboard layout places the <F10> in a hard to reach locale.

             The Tome reads the backup key from the VAST.INI file.
        Under the heading [BACKKEY] in the VAST.INI file there will
        be an integer. The Tome uses this value as the keystroke
        which will allow escape from every menu, utility, etc.

             By default this integer value is 196 decimal which
        corresponds to the secondary scan code returned by the BIOS
        when the <F10> is pressed + 128.  This number may be replaced
        by a number corresponding to the secondary scan code returned
        by the BIOS when another function key is pressed + 128
        (although this is NOT recommended) or the number corresponding
        to the secondary scan code returned by the BIOS when an
        ALT-key combination is pressed + 128 or the value returned by
        the BIOS when a CTRL-key combination is pressed or the #27
        which is the value returned by the BIOS when the <ESC> key is
        pressed.

             The recommended method for changing the backup key used
        by the TOME is to run the SETUP program and select the option
        to modify the backup key by pressing 'B', then selecting the
        keystroke you desire.

        A list of suggested backup keys are:

        F10       (The default).
        ALT-Z
        CTRL-A
        ESC













                                                            35



        NOTES: The backup key for the help screens cannot be changed
               from the default (F10).

               While the keystroke actually used as the backup key
               can be changed, the program will still display
               messages insisting that the backup key is F10. This
               cannot currently be changed.


































              I sincerely hope you enjoy this program.



              Douglas P. Webb






                                                            36

