

			 how to use dpgnbel8



	what's it for?

	this program will 

	1)  beep a user-specified number of times and then cycle 
	    silently until any key hit, or

	2)  cycle silently until any key hit

	it also returns an errorlevel = to the ascii value of the key hit.
		e.g., if your keystroke is A it returns errorlevel 65, 
		which is the ascii value of A

	it's called from a batch program or from the dos command line

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	any restrictions on this program?

	ms-dos/windows/xp operating system
	386 cpu or better
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	how do i call it from a ms-dos batch file?


	to beep 15 times and then cycle silently until any key hit, 
        see (and run) demo8.bat for example.  the batch code lines should read:




	echo [your menu]
	echo 15|dpgnbel8    
	if errorlevel b[ascii-keystroke-value-2] call subroutine-2
rem --------------------------------------------------
rem errorlevel = ascii value of keystroke = 65 = A
rem see ascii.txt for ascii values
rem --------------------------------------------------
	if errorlevel 65 call subroutineA
rem --------------------------------------------------
rem errorlevel = 1 means bad call to dpgnbel8.  dpgnbel8 displays error msg
rem goto end of program so that error message does not scroll off screen
rem --------------------------------------------------
	if errorlevel 1 goto end_of_batch_program




>>>>negative test for keystroke = A or to do more than 1 thing ...

	if not errorlevel 65 goto notA
rem --------------------------------------------------
rem errorlevel = ascii value of keystroke = 65 = A
rem see ascii.txt for ascii values
rem --------------------------------------------------
	        call subroutineA
	        call subroutineAA
:notA





	to cycle silently [beep 0 times] until any key hit, 
       	see (and run) demo88.bat.  the batch code line should read:

	echo 0|dpgnbel8    

        all the rest of the code is the same as the above example

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	what happens when i call it?

	it beeps a user-specified number of times, then cycles 
	silently until you hit any key.  the beeps should be about 
	2 per second regardless of your cpu clock speed.  it returns
	the ascii value of the key you hit as an errorlevel.  after 
	you hit any key, it goes to the next line in the batch program

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	what errorlevels does it return?

	it returns an errorlevel equal to the ascii value of the key hit
	(e.g., if A is hit, it returns an errorlevel of 65, which is
	the ascii value of A.)

	for ascii values of selected keys, see ascii.txt, included
	in this package.

	for an example of using returned errorlevels, see (and run)
	demo8.bat and demo88.bat
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	how can i use dpgnbel8 like the ms-dos pause command and still
	display my custom message instead of 'press any key to continue ...'

	see (and run) demo88.bat, included in this package
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	any warnings about this program?

	THE BEEP IS NOT VERY LOUD.  you may not hear it if tv or radio
	is playing loudly.

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	can i control the sound volume?

	no.  the chip does not allow it.
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