If you are a registered Pscale User and need PscaleX, please contact us for a download link.
Legacy Pscale for Win and Pscale for MSDos do not run on the new Windows 7 and Windows 8 64 bit Operating Systems. Pscale for Windows was written in 16 bit code and is no longer supported by a WOW (Windows on Windows) layer.
Microsoft could have easily supported a 16 bit WOW layer but the software industry wants everyone to buy new Tuning Levers. Don’t get me started…
So, an ongoing solution was needed and that solution is the PscaleX Cross Platform Environment. It will actually run on several operating systems but most current users are running Windows 7 along with several determined Mac Users with Intel Chipsets. PscaleX is available to all registered Users for download at no charge.
This help file is a collection of tips that will help PscaleX users get the job done.
The default install file creates a folder on drive C: named pscalex. Within this folder is a folder named pscale. So, the Pscale working directory for program and data files is:
C:\pscalex\pscale (Successful Mac installations will have something different)
Note: if you need to make a Windows desktop Icon, find the file in the c:\pscalex folder named MakeIcon and double click this file.
PscaleX was created using the Open Source Dos Emulator named DosBox, which can actually run an early version of Windows.
One tiny Win glitch: When you start Pscale for Win (PscaleX Main Menu choice 1) the very 1st mouse click may move the cursor to the upper left corner of the screen requiring you to then double click the Pscale for Win Icon to start Pscale Win.
There are actually some advantages in PscaleX but the main drawback to the DosBox environment is No Direct Printng or Copy and Paste to outside programs. However, the work around for this is quite easy once you understand a few tricks. There are a few other tricks as well.
Lets start with Printing: (Mostly pertains to Win 7 and Win 8 installations)
In Pscale for Win we must always use the View Option as the core print routines fell by the wayside with the coming of USB printers. The view option writes the print output to a file and then opens the file in the Windows Notepad program for viewing and we can print directly from Notepad. However, with PscaleX running in DosBox, Notepad cannot talk to the printer.
But, we can do the following: (for text output)
Make note of the filename that is open (probably vdata$.txt)
Press the Windows button on your keyboard (may take a second or two)
This allows you to Minimize The Pscale for Win and Dosbox Windows
Navigate to your c:\pscalex\pscale folder and find vdata$.txt file
Double click this file and it will open in Notepad for direct printing
These basic steps work if you are running Pscale for Dos as well.
Printing Graphs
As for graphs, depending on your computer, you may need image editing software like Open Source Gimp, or, Paintshop Pro, Photoshop, or other program.
In Pscale, when displaying graphs in the Print Menu, you have the option to save the graph to a .pcx file (->PCX). Save the graph file. You use the same above procedure but you will be opening a .pcx file in your image software for printing or editing.
A few Other Tips:
One of the most important key combinations is Ctrl F9 (Hold down the Ctrl key and press F9 Key. The key combo immediately exits the DosBox PscaleX environment. It’s like a kill command.
Another key combination, Alt Enter, will run DosBox PscaleX in full screen mode. However, full screen mode seems to disable the use of your Windows key (for minimizing PscaleX) and also may not fully recover your desktop with a subsequent Alt Enter. It’s supposed to toggle back and forth between Full Screen and a Window.
I should also mention that running Graphics/Dos within Pscale Win will work but will not recover the video correctly on exit. This will require a Ctrl F9 to exit Dosbox. A warning message appears allowing you to cancel Graphics/Dos. The same applies to the following Pscale Main Menu options under File:
Pscale for Dos
Mscale for Dos
Run DOS Program
Finally, in PscaleX, if you want to compare graphs of two different Pscale files you should use Scale Compare which is PscaleX Main Menu option 3.