
                               Zap 1.40 FAQ
                               ============

This FAQ covers common issues raised by the current version of Zap only - it
is not intended to be a general Zap FAQ.  Answers to many of the frequently
asked questions about Zap are addressed in the relevant !Help files. This
document does not attempt to address questions such as "Can I get a program
like Zap for other operating-systems?" either.

If you don't understand any answer we've given in this FAQ, please ask. If
you think that we've missed out some important question, tell us. Your
feedback is needed to help us to further improve this FAQ.

 1. Where can this FAQ be obtained? 

 2. Where can Zap be downloaded? 

 3. Why doesn't OLE from Fresco work? 

 4. OLE now works, but why does it give errors messages? 

 5. Why does !Edit gets loaded these days and not !Zap? 

 6. Will other programs which use ZapRedraw work OK? 

 7. Can I use my old '!Config' file with the new version? 

 8. Where do I put my '!Config' file, then? 

 9. Can I use my old 'Keys' file with the new version? 

10. Can I use my old 'Menus' file with the new version? 

11. Can I use my old 'External' file with the new version? 

12. Why isn't 'HidePtr' loaded with Zap these days? 

13. SoftWrap mode is missing! What have you done with it? 

14. Why does Zap sometimes fail to take notice of Shiftand Ctrl? 

15. I hear Zap has a problems when run on the A7000+? 

16. Why doesn't OLE from ArcWeb work? 

17. Zap mode x isn't included - can I plug it in?

18. What are the recent changes? 

19. What is planned for future versions? 

20. Is there a list of known bugs somewhere? 

21. Why does Zap 1.40 take up more memory than Zap 1.35? 

22. Why does Zap 1.40 load more slowly than Zap 1.35? 

23. Can I delete Zap 1.35? 

24. Are there mailing lists where people discuss Zap? 

25. I've found a bug! What should I do? 


  1. Where can this FAQ be obtained? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It normally resides at http://www.zap.uk.eu.org/faq.html and it is included
in the main distribution as !Zap.Docs.FAQ. 

  2. Where can Zap be downloaded? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.zap.uk.eu.org/ is the main Zap web site. 

  3. Why doesn't OLE from Fresco work? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you tick Options.Misc.Be Tolerant in Zap's icon bar menu then it will
work. This is necessary because Fresco supports a slightly unorthodox
variant of the OLE protocol. 

  4. OLE now works, but why does it give errors messages?
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They're as unobtrusive warnings as is possible. It is felt that some kind of
warning is necessary otherwise programmers might not notice that their
programs have problems which will cause them to fail to work properly with
some existing OLE clients. 

  5. Why does Edit gets loaded these days and not Zap? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Zap gets booted by the filer it no longer claims shift-double-clicks on
files, text files, task windows, OLE, or 'external edits', if these have
been claimed by another application. 

The simplest solution to the problem of Edit loading is simply not to boot
Edit in the first place. Unfortunately, on machines with Editin ROM, this
may not be a simple process. 

As a consequence of this difficulty in uninstalling Edit, an 'Obey' file is
provided which 'unboots' any other editors which the filer has seen. 

There is a call to this file at the top of !ZapUser.Config.!ZapBoot. It is
commented out by default. 

Some applications have been known to start up the resident text editor
manually and the method used does not always work with this version of Zap. 
Sometimes contacting the author of the application can resolve such
matters. 

  6. Will other programs which use ZapRedraw work OK? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They should do. The new interface was designed to be backwards-compatible
with the old one and there are no known problems. 

If, however any such applications expect to find bitmap fonts within the
!Zap application directory structure, then they may find themselves looking
in the wrong place. 

There appear to have been some problems with people using multiple copies of
ZapFonts on their system - sometimes the one which gets booted first does
not contain all the expected fonts.  ZapFonts is intended to be a central
resource and it is best to ensure that you maintain a central copy of it;
$.!Boot.Resources is a good place to put it. 

  7. Can I use my old !Config file with the new version?
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes. If you do this then some of the new options will be turned off by
default, though. There are plans to make Zap store its version number in the
!Config file and switch on new options if it recognises that the file was
last used with an old version of Zap. 

  8. Where do I put my '!Config' file, then? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the !Zap.!ZapUser.Config directory. All files which might need to be
edited are now stored there. 

  9. Can I use my old 'Keys' file with the new version? 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Generally speaking, yes, but it's probably best to copy only the bits you
need. There are significant additions which make discarding the new Keysfile
less than attractive. 

The old Keys file has been split up into Keys, Settings, TypesHigh and
TypesLow files. 

Note also that brackets in key definitions are treated slightly differently
from Zap 1.35. 

 10. Can I use my old 'Menus' file with the new version? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This isn't recommended. If there are specific bits of the menu file that
you've added then by all means copy these across (carefully). The Menus file
has been significantly added to. Using an old file would be a huge waste. 

 11. Can I use my old 'External' file with the new version? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No. External files are generated automatically as part of Zap's
plug-and-play extension installation scheme. The External file still exists
but now never needs to be edited by the user. 

 12. Why isn't 'HidePtr' loaded with Zap these days? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because it's not universally popular. Loading it automatically is an
option available from the Options.Misc.Autoload menu. 

 13. SoftWrap mode is missing! What have you done with it? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's no SoftWrap mode any more because soft-wrap is now a wrap option for
most modes. As Text mode can now perform soft-wrap, there's no longer any
need for a separate SoftWrap mode. 

 14. Why does Zap sometimes fail to take notice of Shift and Ctrl? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zap must wait until it is told about the keypress before it can attempt to
distinguish between various different key combinations which produce the
same character codes, eg. Ctrl-A and Shift-Ctrl-A, Retturn and Shift-Return,
Ctrl-H and Backspace. 

If an application decides that it needs to single-task for even a few
seconds, it may happen that you release the keys fractionally too early (Zap
thinks that they're not being pressed) or that you presss another key before
Zap has processed the previous one. 

(It's worth mentioning that Zap doesn't check for ambiguities where there
can be none, eg. when it's told that you've pressed a function key.) 

The problems can be fixed, for Zap at least, by using the 
KeyboardExtendmodule, which logs Shift, Ctrl and Alt keypresses and also the
key to which they apply. 

However, there are some applications which do not correctly process the key
up/down event (upon which KeyboardExtendrelies) will cause synchronisation
problems. To fix any such problems, simply issue *RMReinit KeyboardExtend.
(The problem apps need to have a more recent claim on EventV in order to be
able to cause this problem, which is why that *command fixes the problem; it
forces KeyboardExtend to have the more recent claim.) 

Known problem applications and modules:
Module: 386Support 1.90 (14 Sep 1995)
Location:!PC.DivaRM
Fix:Load into Zap, goto address &3E4 (LDMFD R13!,{R0-R4,R14,PC}^), press
 Return, delete the ,R14, press Return, then save. 
Other versions may be similarly affected. 

 15. I hear Zap has a problems when run on the A7000+? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A7000+s (and possibly some other computers), appear to have corrupt versions
of some of the ROM fonts, notably Homerton.Medium.Oblique. Viewing these can
cause the desktop font to be reset to the system font. 

Unfortunately the default Zap template set uses some of these; the best
solution is to switch to a different template set if it bothers you. 

 16. Why doesn't OLE with ArcWeb work? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It /should/ do, but you have to make sure that you save files in the same
spot that ArcWeb told Zap to load them from. If you save them elsewhere, Zap
dutifully informs ArcWeb of this, but it doesn't appear to become aware that
the file has moved. 

 17. Zap mode x isn't included - can I plug it in? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Probably.  Plugging in SoftWrap mode, or ZapOLE, is not recommended though.
The functionality of these has been taken over by Zap internally. 

Versions of the old 'CMode', and the old Email mode and 'ZapUtils' which
should work with Zap 1.40 exist. If anyone still wants to use them for some
reason, they can try the versions distributed with Zap 1.35, or they can try
mailing us. 

 18. What are the recent changes? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The changes since the first 1.39 beta release are covered by the recent
changes file (web only).

The changes since 1.35 release are covered in the Docs.Changes file. 

Zap's history prior to version 1.35 will hopefully be made available on the
Zap web site at some point. 

 19. What is planned for future versions? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, there is an extensive list of wished-for features and possible
improvements, though this is not publicly available at this stage. 

Some of the plans have been documented as a component of a discussion phase
prior to their implementation and these documents may be made available on
the Zap web site at some stage. 

 20. Is there a list of known bugs somewhere? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not yet - again this may be made available on the web site . 

 21. Why does Zap 1.40 take up more memory than Zap 1.35? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because it has more features than Zap 1.35. Where possible these have been
put into extension modes, but some things are best placed centrally. In
particular, OLE, window wrap, soft-wrap, and support for the global
clipboard are now all present in the core. 

Anyway, Zap is still pretty slender. If you're using a Zap bitmap font and
you want to minimise memory usage, you can try using fewer font sub-styles,
switch to using a VDU-drawn font or change to a mode with fewer colours. 

 22. Why does Zap 1.40 load more slowly than Zap 1.35? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two main reasons:

* CreateConf and ConfigScan. 

  Between them these programs automatically generate Zap's configuration
  files if any files have been modified since last time Zap was run. This
  involves scanning the Modules directory to see if anything has changed
  since the last time Zap was run, which can take a second or so. It allows
  plug-and-play installation of extension modules. It is fairly easy to
  revert to manual Zap 1.35-style configuration (by removing the calls to
  CreateConf and ConfigScan in the !Run file), but this really isn't
  recommended.

* Loading extra bitmap font styles. 

  When you double-click on a file, if Zap loads a file which needs
  additional fonts which aren't in its bitmap font cache, then it has to
  load these from disc and cache them in the current screen mode. This can
  take a moment or two, and obviously wasn't a problem on Zap 1.35 where it
  wasn't possible to have different modes defaulting to using different
  fonts, or to have multiple font-styles in a single view. 

 23. Can I delete Zap 1.35, then? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're short of space. 

 24. Are there mailing lists where people discuss Zap? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes; originally we had zap-devel, which you may have heard something about.
However this has now been replaced by several lists for different purposes.
There is a page about the lists on the web site. 

 25. I've found a bug! What should I do? 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tell us about it. Please send bug reports to bugs@zap.uk.eu.org , and not to
any of the mailing lists.

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© Copyright Zap Developers 1998. All rights reserved. 
Updated: $Date: 1998/10/19 12:50:13 $. webmaster@zap.uk.eu.org
