DVX
===

DVX is a graphical desktop for DOS: windows, a Program Manager, a File
Manager, a Notepad, a Terminal, DVX BASIC, and more.


What you need
-------------

  * DOS on a 386 or newer (486 recommended, Pentium for the best speed)
  * A video card with a VESA BIOS and a 640x480 mode at 256 colors or
    more; many older cards need their VESA driver loaded first, such as
    UNIVBE (Scitech Display Doctor), S3VBE20 for S3 cards, or M64VBE for
    ATI Mach64 cards
  * 4 MB of extended memory (8 MB or more recommended)
  * A two-button mouse and its DOS driver
  * About 14 MB of free space on the hard disk for all of DVX (10 MB
    without its optional parts), 8 MB more for the base set of fonts,
    and more for the add-ons on the CD: about 8 MB for More Fonts and
    4 MB for the General MIDI SoundFont


Installing
----------

From the CD: change to the CD drive and type SETUP, for example

    D:
    SETUP

From floppy disks: put Disk 1 in drive A: and type

    A:
    SETUP

After the licence, Setup asks what you would like to do: Install DVX,
Upgrade or repair DVX, or Remove DVX. To install, choose the folder
(C:\DVX unless you change it; type it, or click Browse... to pick it),
then what to install: the fonts, the parts of DVX, and the add-ons you
want. Setup checks the free space and unpacks DVX. With floppies it asks for each disk it needs in
turn. Setup can also add a line to AUTOEXEC.BAT so DVX starts with the
computer; it shows the line first and keeps a copy of the old file as
AUTOEXEC.DVX.

The fonts: None keeps DVX to its own font; the base set adds DejaVu
Sans, Sans Mono, and Serif in all their styles, in sizes for the screen
and for printing (about 8 MB). A program that asks for a font you did
not install shows its text in DVX's own font, unless it carries that
font itself. Each font file holds the licence of the font it was made
from. With None, Setup does not ask for the last floppy disks, which
hold only fonts; the base set can be added later from the package
server (Software lists it as DVX Fonts), or by running Setup again.

The parts of DVX: the desktop, Program Manager, File Manager, Notepad,
the Help Viewer, Control Panel, Software, and the other everyday
programs are always installed. These parts are optional, all ticked to
start with: DVX BASIC (the editor, compiler, and debugger for writing
your own programs, and BASCOMP to build them at the DOS prompt), Databases (SQLite databases for BASIC programs, with
the Data control and the DBGrid), Networking (network cards, the web,
and the package server), Communications (the Terminal: modems, serial
and secure links, Telnet, and file transfers; it needs Networking),
Media (the Media Player and the Sound Recorder), Developer Tools (the
Icon Editor, Resource Editor, Help Editor, Package Builder, and Widget
Showcase, with DVXRES and DVXHLPC for the DOS prompt), and
Demos (the DVX Demo and the BASIC Demo). Point at a part to see what it
holds. A part left out takes no disk space and leaves more memory for
your programs. Software lists each part you install as one package; run
Setup again to add or remove parts.

The add-ons, in the ADDONS folder of the CD: More Fonts (more than
forty more typefaces: condensed DejaVu, Arimo, Tinos, Cousine, display
faces, and pixel fonts; about 8 MB) and DVX General MIDI (instruments
for MIDI music on a Gravis UltraSound or a Sound Blaster AWE32 or
AWE64; about 4 MB). Setup installs the ones you tick. They are packages
like any other: Software, in Program Manager, lists them, removes them,
and installs them later from the CD (File, Install from File, then the
ADDONS folder) or from the package server. The floppy disks have no
add-ons.

Setup never writes to the CD or the floppy disks.


Upgrading or repairing
----------------------

Run Setup again, choose Upgrade or repair DVX, and choose the folder
DVX is in. Your settings and saved files (the USER folder) are kept;
tick Start over to remove them instead. Setup starts with the fonts,
parts, and add-ons the folder already has; choose others to add or
remove them. A part that other software in the folder needs is kept.


Removing DVX
------------

Run Setup, choose Remove DVX, and choose the folder DVX is in (or run
SETUP.EXE in the DVX folder, for example C:\DVX\SETUP, which removes
DVX from that folder). Setup removes the files it installed and, if you
ask, your settings; files you added yourself stay. It can also take the
DVX line out of AUTOEXEC.BAT.


Starting DVX
------------

Type C:\DVX\DVX (or the folder you chose). If DVX cannot use the
display mode in its settings, hold down Shift while it starts, or type
DVX /SAFE, to start it in 640x480.


Unattended install
------------------

    SETUP /AUTO=C:\DVX [/FONTS=NONE|BASE] [/PARTS=ALL|NONE|names]
          [/ADDONS=ALL|NONE|names] [/LOG=C:\SETUP.LOG]

installs without asking (the licence is taken as accepted, a folder
that has DVX is upgraded with its USER folder kept, and AUTOEXEC.BAT is
not changed). /FONTS chooses the fonts; without it Setup installs the
fonts the folder already has, or the base set in a new folder. /PARTS
chooses the parts of DVX by name: BASIC, DATA, NET, COMM, MEDIA,
DEVTOOLS, and DEMOS, such as /PARTS=BASIC,COMM (a part brings the parts
it needs: COMM brings NET); without it Setup keeps the parts the folder
has, or installs them all in a new folder. /ADDONS
chooses the add-ons by their file names, such as /ADDONS=MOREFONT,DVXGM;
without it Setup keeps the add-ons the folder has. The exit code is 0
when DVX was installed.


DVX is free software under the MIT licence (see the licence in Setup).
Copyright 2026 Scott Duensing.
