- INSTALLING MSC IN WINDOWS

 So, you've got Windows and you want to use msc, huh?
 Ok - If you are reading this, I assume you already unpacked
the distribution, and you are almost ready to use it. So, a
few informations before starting:

 - I have only tested msc in Windows NT 4.0, with Cygwin and
  ActivePerl - I really don't know if there is any other way
  of installing this thing in Windows 98,95,Me, whatever.
  In fact, if you are trying to install it in one of these
  systems, you are on your own - but please tell me if you
  were successful (and how) - so I can put that information
  here.
 - I really don't know if there is any way to install this
  if you don't have Cygwin or Active Perl. One thing is for
  sure: you NEED Perl. If you do not have unix utilities in
  your system, you will not be able to follow the instructions
  in INSTALL, and you will be on your own (again). Hopefully,
  a few changes to msc.in (replacing things enclosed in
  "@<whatever>@" for example) and creating a couple of PIFs
  or shortcuts will be all.
 - If you don't have the "man" utility, you will have to read
  the manual that is appended in this file to see how msc
  works.

 Well, if you HAVE Windows NT 4.0, ActivePerl, and Cygwin,
then hopefully you are ready to read INSTALL and try to
install this as usual (running 'configure').

 If 'configure' doesn't work for you, it will be safe just to
copy msc.in to msc, edit places with "@<whatever>@", and then
copy it to a directory that is in your PATH variable. After
that, copy msc.1 to a directory included in your MANPATH
variable.

 Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to test msc in
any Windows platform, so please, if you achieve success,
please let me know.

Regards
 
================================================================
MSC(1)                                                     MSC(1)


NAME
       msc - message sequence chart generator

SYNOPSIS
       msc [options][files...]

DESCRIPTION
       msc  generates  message  sequence  charts for display is a
       text based terminal.

       In other words, it  is  a  tool  that  can  parse  textual
       descriptions  to  create diagrams. These diagrams are cre
       ated as text, which can  be  printed  anywhere,  and  even
       piped through enscript to create some nice PostScript out
       put.

       The description files are very simple, and you can  create
       them using your favorite text editor. The reason for using
       text as input for msc and for diagram  output  is  simple:
       you can use diff to track differences between two designs,
       and even use patch to merge them (you  know  how  this  is
       important  if you have ever worked in a real-life project,
       with code re-use).

OPTIONS
       msc accepts the following options:

       -h, --help
              Show summary of options.

       -v, --version
              Show version of program.

       -m, --messagewidth=<integer>
              sets the width of message column in chart

       -t, --taskwidth=<integer>
              sets the width of task columns in chart

       -c, --commentwidth=<integer>
              sets the width of comment column in chart

       -p, --pagebreak
              add a pagebreak after chart

       -s, --swapstyles
              instead of using '-'s to draw messages and '='s  to
              draw function calls, use '-'s for functions and '='
              for messages.

DESCRIPTION FILES
       Description  files  contain  the  apropriate   information
       needed  to create a message sequence chart. Lines starting
       with a # will be ignored and will not  be  echoed  to  the



                           May 22, 2001                         1





MSC(1)                                                     MSC(1)


       terminal. The description file must contain only one Title
       and only one Tasks keywords. Lines beginning with  *  will
       be treated as comments in the diagram, and will be printed
       breaking the vertical chart lines (see Example).

       The general structure of a description file is:

       Title:<put your title here>
       Tasks:<comma separated list of tasks(no spaces!)>
       <message_name>:<from task>:<to task>:<Comment>
       .
       .
       .

EXAMPLE
       Here is an example of a description file:

       # This does not get printed
       Title:MSC Example Diagram
       Tasks:Home,Work,Play
       Message1:Home:Play:This is a comment
       Message2:Play:Play:Sent to itself
       :::Only a comment
       func():Play:Work:function call
       *This can be used as a separator...
       Message4:Work:Home:

       And doing "msc example.msc" generates:

       MSC Example Diagram - example.msc

                      Home    Work    Play
                      |       |       |
       Message1       |-------+------>|     This is a comment
       Message2       |       |       |<    Sent to itself
                      |       |       |     Only a comment
       func()         |       |<======|     function call
       This can be used as a separator...
       Message4       |<------|       |
                      |       |       |


SEE ALSO
       patch(1), diff(1), enscrpt(1).

AUTHOR
       Tarball <rubens_ramos@yahoo.com>.

