Read the Readme file to understand what the program is actually for - this
file just tells you how to use it.

This program supports Acorn's interactive (try altering a few of the settings with !Help still running) !Help.
It should be RISC-OS 2 compatible (if you are running Impression under
RISC-OS 2?) and should work from an archive.   Neither of these has been
tested.

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A QUICK GUIDE

Take an Impression DDF file (saved 'with styles') and drag it onto the iconbar or the box marked 'Drop file here' in the main window.   Click on the 'OK' icon.   The main window closes.   After a while an alert box comes up to tell you that Stripstyle has finally finished.   The main window re-opens.    That's it.   Your stripped file will have been saved under the default name 'Output' in the directory from which it came.   Now read the rest of this helpfile.

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THE MAIN MENU

'Info' and 'Quit' do the usual things....
Stripstyle's options are set from the main window.   The only option on the menu is one you may wish to change while the program is working and the main window is closed - 'Show working'.   This toggles on/off the display of the small 'Progress' window.   'Abort' will stop the program at whatever stage it has reached.   It cannot delete files already processed or half-finished files.
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THE MAIN WINDOW

This is displayed when the program first loads, and re-displayed when a file is dragged to the Stripstyle iconbar icon, and when processing has finished.
'Directory containing file(s)'; type in the path of the relevant directory.
'Name of input file'; type in the name of the file to strip.

'Drop file here to set defaults'
Dropping a file on this icon will set both the icons above.   If you plan to process a group of numbered files (see below) drop any one of them here.

'Name of output file'; type in the name under which to resave.
Remember to change this if stripping several files individually - Stripstyle will happily save them all on top of each other!

'Process numbered files'
This is the most complicated part - what the whole program was written to do, really....
In order to use this you need your DDF files to have been saved out of Impression with the names Name1,Name2,Name3 etc. ('Name' is just an example-  they could be called anything and need not start from 1!)   If this is not the case you could rename them. There must not be any missing numbers in the sequence, since you can only specify an inclusive range of numbered suffixes.   Harder to explain than to do....

When you select this option any numbers on the filename in the 'Input' icon will disappear, showing that the program will now process all files starting with that name - providing they fall within the range shown below, which will have been extended to include this filename.

You will also see the greyed-out icons below re-appear.

'from 1   to  1'
These icons can only be altered if the 'Process numbered files' option is on.   Type in numbers or click on the 'bump' arrows to alter the range of files which will be stripped.   They automatically update to include the currently dragged file as soon as the 'numbered files' option is activated.
Note that you cannot exceed 99 files!

'Multitasking'
If you know what multitasking is, then it's obvious that these icons toggle its selection.
Otherwise, this can be considered, when selected, to be an option to speed up the program at the cost of a temporary desktop freeze.

'Create/use subdirectory'
This helps you keep your output separate from your input.   Selecting this option will un-grey the icon containing the default name and allow you to edit it.   If the directory named already exists inside the directory containing your files then the stripped files will be resaved inside it.   If it doesn't exist, it will first be created, then used.

There is no option to save output files to other directories - just to sub-directories of the original.

'OK'
This is the default icon - pressing RETURN when the caret is in a Stripstyle window (ie the titlebar is yellow) will set the program to work.   If you haven't given it input and/or output paths it may abort immediately.   

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THE PROGRESS WINDOW

The purpose of this window is merely to confirm that Stripstyle is in fact doing something, and to show which file of a group it has reached.   'Show working' from the main menu will toggle it open and shut, even while the program is processing files.

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THE INFO WINDOW

Chris Coe is entirely innocent of anything to do with this program, other than writing the WIMP library of which I have used parts.   However, he asks to be credited with this 'somewhere visible to the user' and I can't find anywhere else to do it, so sorry, Mr Coe, you get equal star billing.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

The reason why there is a directory called 'Utils' inside the application
with a utility called 'IfThereIs' inside it is that Stripstyle's !Run file
alters the value of the system variable Run$Path so that IfThereIs will
work from BASIC without a full pathname, in effect making this directory
into an additional LIBRARY directory.   Since I didn't want to create a
LIBRARY full of files with common names like !Run etc., I've put it in a
directory by itself....

I've heard that later versions of RISC-OS (35+?) have this utility in ROM -
if so, you can delete the relevant line in the !Run file and the directory
Utils altogether.

Stripstyle is a null-polling task.   As a result, it
 (a) slows down dramatically in the presence of other null-polling tasks, like my screensaver 'Horizon'.
 (b) may slow your desktop, depending on the speed of your computer.   I'm using an ARM250 and have no discernable problems...
 
The cure for both is to use the non-multi-tasking mode - unless you are stripping vast numbers of files, you'll find this takes no longer anyway than, say, waiting for Impression to load.

On a really serious error - one that causes the program to quit immediately - Stripstyle will issue a CLOSE#0 to clear up after itself.   'Normal' errors only close files opened by Stripstyle.

Identifying DDF files
First Stripstyle checks if they are text files, then if they start with a '{' character and finally searches for '}' not at the end of a line (i.e. the end of the last style definition) before stripping from that point.   Any file not meeting these conditions will (eventually) be rejected.   Any files which meet these conditions will be stripped whether they are DDF files or not.
A side-effect is that feeding Stripstyle its own output will result in its stripping the file down to its first {"style" on} statement.

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There is no legal disclaimer - you can sue me if you can find me....
There are no thanks, because they are boring and meaningless to anyone but
the author.
If I get hold of Ben Summers' HelpReader application and use it, I shall put
in an acknowledgement here... otherwise you'll have to read this in a text editor.

If anyone other than me ever reads this, the program Stripstyle is FREEWARE.
Feel free to delete any bits you don't need - like this file for example!
Passing it on to other people without any helpfile is not very friendly, though....

Harriet Bazley 30th January 1998