Copyright: Copyright © 1995-97 Eric G.V. Fookes


Contents

Welcome to this help file for Mini NoteTab and Super NoteTab!

This program is Freeware and may be used by all (home users, schools, government organizations, businesses, etc.) for free. No registration required.

Please note that there are four variants of this editor. As the features of the three Freeware versions are nearly identical, this help file is shared between them. Any differences between them are indicated in the text. All three programs are referred to as the editor or program in this help file.

Choose from the following topics to read more about the program...

Introduction

One Program but Four Variants

Key Features

Installation

How to Uninstall

Frequently Asked Questions

Using the Editor

Updates and Other Programs

A Note to Reviewers

Legal

Distribution License

Acknowledgments

Contributions

Contacting the Author

This editor was written with Delphi and uses components from a Shareware VCL package called the "Super Labeled Input Controls". The package, which I developed, is available for downloading from my web site at the following URL:

http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/delphi.htm

Delphi is a trademark of Borland International, Inc.


Introduction

This program is not just another Windows Notepad replacement! It is a feature-rich and user-friendly editor with some very original productivity tools. When Mini NoteTab (called Mini Notepad at the time) first became available in mid 1995, it was one of the first text editors (perhaps even the first) to use the tabbed layout instead of the cumbersome MDI interface. In December 1996, the handy Favorite Files dialog was developed. Thanks to its original features and flexibility, users no longer had trouble finding their files or directories. In January 1997, the very popular "Editor Clipbook" concept was born and integrated in version 2.0 of both NoteTab programs. Although other programs have now started introducing immitations of this innovative tool, the original Clipbook remains the uncontested leader in features, ease of use, and flexibility.

The editor is capable of opening a very large number of files (the actual limit is determined by the amount of free system resources). Each document is displayed on a tabbed page making it easy to switch between them. A separate window, called the Document Selector, makes it easy to find a specific document when a large number of them are open.

One of the most significant productivity tools integrated in the editor is the multi-featured Clipbook. The Clipbook can be used to store any item of text, from a single character to multiple lines, that you may want to paste in other documents. Each text item is identified by a short header that is displayed in the Clipbook window. When you want to paste an item in your document, you just double-click on its header or drag-and-drop it (Super NoteTab only) to the desired location. You can easily create Clipbook templates for different tasks. For example, Web masters can create various templates for groups of HTML tags.

The Clipbook is also well suited to be used as a "shorthand" glossary. For example, if you add the text "Yours sincerely" in the Clipbook and give it the header "ys" (without the quotes), then next time you type "ys" in a document and hit the F2 function key, "ys" will be replaced by "Yours sincerely" ­ what a time saver!

The editor is web enabled, which means that you can Ctrl+double-click on a link to open it in your browser. There is also a command to preview any HTML document you are working on. This feature, combined with the Clipbook, make the editor an ideal development tool for HTML experts.

The program can be configured to occupy a minimum of screen estate and stay on top of other applications. Context-sensitive shortcut menus provide access to all the editor's commands. The editor makes it easy to open frequently used files; it can even do so automatically each time you start the program. You can also open files by drag-and-dropping them from File Manager or Explorer. The editor can restore its size and position on the desktop from a previous session.

This program is Freeware! Do tell others about it if you find it useful.

And if you really like this program, why not contact the editors of your favorite computer magazine or newspaper, or web sites that review software, and tell them about it! That's a great way to make the author's work better known.


One Program but Four Variants

Please note that there are four variants of this editor:

1.	NoteTab Pro (Commercial - soon available)

•	Works under Windows 95 and Windows NT4, or higher

•	Can edit files up to 16 Mb each

•	Very fast

•	Multi-level undo/redo

•	Supports fixed-pitch OEM fonts

•	Bookmarks

•	URL and HTML tag highlighting

•	Innovative "In-Context Clipbook"

•	Spell checker

•	Options for auto-indentation, word wrap at column, etc.

•	Cost: only $5 USD (credit cards, checks, ...)

2.	Super NoteTab (Freeware)

•	Works under Windows 95 and Windows NT4, or higher

•	Can edit files as large as memory permits

•	Can undo almost any operation

•	Not as fast as Mini NoteTab and requires slightly more resources

•	Cannot display fonts with OEM character sets (Terminal, MS Line Draw,...)

3.	Mini NoteTab 32-bit (Freeware)

•	Works under Windows 95 and Windows NT, or higher

•	Uses a minimum amount of system resources

•	Very fast

•	Can display fonts with OEM character sets (Terminal, MS Line Draw,...)

•	Cannot edit files larger than about 41 kb *

•	Cannot undo all operations

4.	Mini NoteTab 16-bit (Freeware)

•	Works under Windows 3.1, or higher

•	Uses a minimum amount of system resources

•	Very fast

•	Can display fonts with OEM character sets (Terminal, MS Line Draw,...)

•	Cannot edit files larger than 32 kb *

•	Cannot undo all operations

* this size limit is usually not a problem when editing HTML documents ­ if they are larger than this limit, you should consider breaking them down into smaller parts.


NoteTab Pro

Available soon!!! Visit my web site for more information...

NoteTab Pro is the commercial version of the NoteTab series of editors. It can handle large files (up to 16 Mb) like Super NoteTab but has the speed of Mini NoteTab. NoteTab Pro uses a more sophisticated input control that provides many options to configure its behaviour (auto-indent, wrap to column, scroll past end of line, etc.). Furthermore, it offers multiple-level undo/redo, bookmarks, URL and HTML-tag highlighting, a good spell checker, and last but not least, the new and innovative "In-Context Clipbook".

Unlike Super NoteTab, NoteTab Pro does not use the rich edit control that ships with Windows 95 and NT4. As a result, it does not suffer from the shortcomings and faults found in the rich edit control.

NoteTab Pro will be available for downloading from the following web site...

http://www.ideamarket.com/

Comparison between NoteTab Pro and Super NoteTab:

	NoteTab Pro	Super NoteTab
Maximum file size	16 Mb	> 16 Mb
Speed	Very fast	Slow with large files
Use OEM fonts	Yes	No
Use variable-width fonts	No	Yes
URL and HTML highlighting	Yes	No
Spell checker	Yes	No
Bookmarks	Yes	No
"In-Context Clipbook"	Yes	No
Option to auto indent	Yes	No
Text drag-and-drop	Not at present	Yes
Multiple tabulator settings	No	Yes
Can wrap text to column	Yes	No
Cost	$5 USD (credit cards, checks)	Free

The "In-Context Clipbook"

In NoteTab Pro, you can invoke the "In-Context Clipbook" by hitting the ESC key while you work in a document. Doing so will display a combo box (filled with the currently selected Clipbook template) at the caret position. Selecting an item from the combo box will then paste the Clipbook text in your document. Typing in the combo box automatically scrolls to the first item matching the characters entered.

URL and HTML-tag highlighting

All URLs (links) are highlighted in blue and underlined. You can change the color and turn off undernining in the Preferences dialog box. HTML tags in web documents with HTML file extensions are automatically highlighted. You can define additional extensions or turn off highlighting in the NoteTab Pro Preferences dialog box.


Key Features

•	Covers all essential features available in Notepad (including LOG).

•	Open and edit many documents at once (only limited by system resources).

•	Use files as large as memory permits (Super NoteTab).

•	Fully configurable toolbar with flat or standard style buttons.

•	Web enabled (can open links and HTML documents in browser).

•	Special Clipbook tool with templates for HTML tags, acronyms, smilies, etc.

•	Each document can have different settings such as font, tab widths, word wrap.

•	Can search/replace text in all open documents; accepts search tokens.

•	Functions to strip HTML tags, sort lines, change case, etc.

•	Automatic scrolling for hands-free reading of documents.

•	Context-sensitive shortcut menus.

•	Options to set margins, page numbering, headers and footers for printing jobs.

•	Text statistics (counts number of characters, words, and frequency of each word).

•	Drag-and-drop files from File Manager or Explorer.

•	Accepts multiple file names, including wildcards, passed as command-line parameters to the program.

•	Quickly open files or folders from the "Favorite Files" dialog box or Favorites menu.

•	Option to automatically load files from "Favorite Files" list or those opened during a previous session.

•	Remembers its size and position on the desktop.

•	Can stay on top of other applications.

•	Can capture text copied to the Clipboard from any application.

•	Can read and write files in DOS ASCII format and UNIX.

•	Uses Windows system resources sparingly and does not mess around with the Windows' system registry and INI files.

•	And lots more...


Installation

There is no special procedure to follow. Just place the program and its associated files in the Windows directory or in a dedicated folder (directory). If you want to replace Windows Notepad with this editor, check the instructions under the Frequently Asked Questions topic.

* Windows 3.1 / NT3.5 users:

If you want to add the editor to one of your Program Manager groups, the easiest way to do this is with File Manager. Just select the file MININOTE.EXE or NOTETAB.EXE and drag it from File Manager to the group where you would like its icon to appear. You can also run the program by double-clicking on it from File Manager.

* Windows 95 / NT4 users:

The easiest way to set the program icon on your desktop is to use Explorer. Just select the file MININOTE.EXE or NOTETAB.EXE and drag it from Explorer to an unoccupied space on your desktop. You can also add a shortcut to it in your Start menu by choosing Settings / Taskbar...

Note that the editor can also be executed from a CD-Rom or a write-protected disk.


How to Uninstall

If you have dedicated a folder for the editor, just delete that folder and all its files (except documents you may have saved there and want to keep!).

Otherwise, just delete NOTETAB.EXE, NOTETAB.INI, NOTETAB.HLP (for Super NoteTab), or MININOTE.EXE, MININOTE.INI, MININOTE.HLP (for Mini NoteTab), all files with the extensions ".FVR" and ".CLB" (in the program's directory), FILEPROP.INF, WHATSNEW.TXT, and the README.TXT file. NB: all these files are located in the same directory as the editor.

If you have executed the editor from a CD-Rom, you will find the NOTETAB.INI or MININOTE.INI, and FILEPROP.INF files in the Windows directory.

There is no need to delete items from Windows' system registry or INI files as the editor does not store any information in them.


Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get rid of the splash screen?

A splash screen is displayed each time you start the program. This splash screen does not slow the loading of the program (except when you run the program for the first time). It takes a fraction of a second to display and is a good visual cue that the program is in the process of loading. You can, however, disable the splash screen by checking the "No Splash Screen" option in the Preferences dialog box.

Can I replace Notepad with this editor?

Yes! To replace Windows' Notepad with this editor: 1. make a backup copy of Notepad and delete it from the Windows directory; 2. install this editor and its related files in the Windows folder (directory); 3. rename the NOTETAB.EXE or MININOTE.EXE program file to NOTEPAD.EXE; 4. rename the NOTETAB.HLP or MININOTE.HLP help file to NOTEPAD.HLP.

Here's another method for Windows 95 / NT4 users discovered by Chris Skarp:

"I found, by accident, a much better way to associate notetab.exe with everything that notepad.exe WAS associated with... Simply go into windows folder, and rename notepad.exe to notetab.exe. This changes the name in the registry, every place it finds notepad it replaces it with notetab. I then extract the notetab.exe and it's assorted files into the windows folder, overwriting the existing ones... Then, notetab is associated with everything that notepad had been! Part 2: I add an app path for notepad.exe that points to notetab.exe... Here is the reg patch that would do that... This helps things like Internet Explorer (which has a hard-coded association with notepad.exe) open your editor correctly... Here is the patch: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\notepad.exe] @="notetab.exe -cs"

When I save a document as FILENAME.EXT, it becomes FILENAME.EXT.TXT

This behaviour is controlled by Window 95 and NT4. If you use an extension that is not listed in the Save As dialog box, the first extension in the currently displayed "Save as type" field is added to the file name. To avoid this, set the "Save as type" to "All Files (*.*)" or type the name betw een single quotes 'FILENAME.EXT'

How do I associate specific extensions with this editor?

If you want to associate the TXT extension with this editor, the simplest way to do so is by replacing Notepad as explained above. If you don't use this method, you will have to change the Windows registry settings - check your Windows manual.

Why can't I start the editor minimized or maximized?

By changing the properties of a program's shortcut (Win95, NT4) or Program Manager icon (Win3.1, NT), you can instruct it to start minimized or maximized. This will also work with Mini and Super NoteTab. However, if the option "Auto Save Position" is set (see the Preferences dialog box), the program will ignore the shortcut or icon setting and the window will be restored according to the last saved position and size.

The icon doesn't stay in the system tray when I close the editor!

Some programs keep an icon in the system tray when you close them. When they do this, many of these programs just hide the application window but remain fully loaded in memory - this is very misleading to most users! The NoteTab editor also lets you keep its icon in the system tray, however, instead of "closing" it to the system tray you minimize it by clicking on the Minimize button. This will hide the application window and leave the icon in the system tray for easy access.

Contacting the author

First of all thanks for the large amount of E-mail messages that you have sent me. I really appreciate your words of encouragement, suggestions and bug reports. Your messages have been and continue to be very helpful as I develop this software. Unfortunately, I can no longer keep up with sending replies to everyone (if I did, I wouldn't have the time to program anymore). So please don't think I am ignoring your message if you don't hear from me! If you have questions concerning the use of the editor and the answer is not in this help file, I will do my best to send you reply - though it may take some time. If you think you have found a bug, please remember to mention the exact version of the program you are using and the operating system (Windows 3.1, 95, NT). Also, there is a list of known problems in the last part of the README.TXT file - please read it before submitting your bug report. If possible, check if the bug has been fixed in the latest update.

Answers to other questions...


Tutorial


Using the Editor

Almost every menu item, button, and input field in the program offers hint information. Whenever you highlight a menu item or place the mouse cursor over a dialog box element, its hint text is displayed in the programs status bar (at the bottom of the main program window).

Topics:

Editor Shortcut Menus

Keyboard Shortcuts

Text Filters

ASCII Documents

Using the Clipbook

Clipbook Templates

Clipbook Syntax

Paste-Board Feature

Web Enabled

Document Selector

Favorite Files Dialog Box

Preferences Dialog Box

Document Properties

Find & Replace Dialog Boxes

Printer Dialog Box

Automatic Scrolling

Text Statistics Dialog Box

Keeping a Log

Date and Time filters

Command-line Parameters

Tips and How to...


Editor Shortcut Menus

Click with the right button of the mouse inside the document and you will have access to a shortcut menu with clipboard and other useful editing commands.

Use the same mouse button on the tab bar and you will get a large choice of commands for managing the open documents and configuring the editor. If you have chosen to hide the button bar, then the commands they represent will also be listed in the menu.

Most of the editor's windows also have dedicated shortcut menus.

Look at the hint line for more information about a highlighted menu item.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Most of the editors commands are available though keyboard shortcuts (most shortcuts that are standard to Windows are not listed here - see the Windows help file for those). The shortcut keys and their meaning are detailed below:

Editing Text

Ctrl+Z	Undo changes

Ctrl+A	Select all text

Ctrl+X	Cut selection to clipboard

Ctrl+C	Copy selection to clipboard

Ctrl+V	Paste selection from clipboard

Ctrl+Y	Delete current line

Ctrl+K	Invert case of selected text

Ctrl+U	Change selected text to upper case

Ctrl+L	Change selected text to lower case

Shift+K	Capitalize; make a words first character upper case and the rest lower case

Ctrl+J	Append next line to current line, or join selected lines

Ctrl+Shift+J	Split into separate lines

Ctrl+I	Indent current line or all selected lines

Ctrl+Shift+I	Unindent current line or all selected lines

Ctrl+Enter	Inserts a page-break character

F2	Expand word; replaces selection or word preceding the caret with corresponding Clipbook item

F5	Insert current date/time

Handling Documents

Ctrl+O	Open a document from disk

Ctrl+N	Create a new document

Ctrl+S	Save changes made to document

Shift+Ctrl+S	Opens the Save As file dialog box

Ctrl+F4	Close the current document

Ctrl+P	Print the current document

Ctrl+Tab	Switch to next document

Ctrl+Shift+Tab	Switch to previous document

Ctrl+E	Shift focus to current document

Ctrl+W	Toggle word wrap

Finding and Replacing Text

Ctrl+F	Open find dialog box

Ctrl+R	Open Search/Replace dialog box

F3	Search again

Tools

Ctrl+double-click	Opens the clicked link in your browser

Ctrl+Alt+C	Copy selection to Clipbook (must be open!)

Shift+F2	Open "Favorite Files" dialog box

F4	Show or activate the Clipbook window

F6	Show or activate the Document Selector

F7	Open file based on name under the caret

F8	Show current HTML document in web browser

F9	Open a link (or URL)

F10	View text statistics

Ctrl+1 (2,3,...)	displays the first Clipbook template in the combo box list; Ctrl+2 displays the second, and so on...

Other

Shift+F10	Makes a hidden menu visible again

F11	Increases size of text buffer. Only use when new text cannot be entered

F12	Refresh screen


Text Filters

Several powerful commands are provided to process the text in documents. These are available in the Convert menu:

Document Filters:

ASCII

A document can be opened and saved using the ASCII character set. See the ASCII Documents topic for more details.

UNIX

When you open a UNIX file for the first time in Mini NoteTab (Super NoteTab automatically converts such files), line breaks are not properly displayed. Use the "Adjust Line Breaks" command in the Convert | Lines menu to convert them to Windows line breaks (carriage return + line feed). If the file needs to restore UNIX line breaks when it is saved, set the "UNIX Format" option in the Document Properties dialog box.

Strip HTML Tags

Use this command to remove all HTML tags from selected text or the whole document. Control and other special characters are converted during this process. This command also attempts to format text in tables by separating each cell with a tab character and by placing each row on a separate line.

Characters to HTML

This command will convert all extended and special characters (e.g. à, é, ©, <, >) it encounters in the selected text (or whole document if no text is selected) to their corresponding HTML syntax.

Line Commands:

Line commands affect entire lines. A word-wrapped line is treated as a single line by these commands.

Sort

This command sorts the selected lines or the entire document in alphanumerical order.

Join Lines

This command joins the current line to the next, or all selected lines together into a single line. Tabs and spaces at the beginning or end of such lines are removed.

Split Lines

This command splits a word-wrapped line into individual lines. If word wrap is not enabled, this function will determine the length of each line based on the width of the editor window (not Mini NoteTab 16-bit).

Adjust Line Breaks

Use this command on documents (for example UNIX or Mac files) that do not display lines with standard carriage return + line feed characters. You should not need to use this command with Super NoteTab.

Compress

Documents received from web browsers often have a blank line between every normal line, producing a double-spacing effect. Use this command to remove this double spacing.

Trim Blanks

This command removes trailing blank and tab characters from the end of the current line or selected lines.

Indent

The indent command adds a specified number of blanks at the beginning of the current line or all selected lines. By default, one blank character is added each time you invoke this command. You can specify a larger number in the Preferences dialog box.

Unindent

Unindent does the exact opposite of the Indent command.

Case Commands:

Case commands only apply to selected text.

Invert Case

Inverts the case of all the selected characters.

Upper Case

Converts all the selected characters to upper case.

Lower Case

Converts all the selected characters to lower case.

Capitalize

Converts the first character of all selected words to upper case and the rest of the word to lower case.

Spaces Commands:

Spaces commands affect either selected text or the whole document if no text is selected.

Single Space

Use this command to replace groups of multiple blank spaces to single spaces.

Single Tab

Use this command to replace groups of multiple blank spaces to single tabs.


ASCII Documents

ASCII is the character set used under DOS and ANSI is used under Windows. If you don't use extended characters (such as äèüö etc.), there is no difference between the two. However, if you create a document under DOS that uses extended characters and want to display them correctly under Windows, the text must be "translated" from ASCII to ANSI in order to display the accented characters correctly. Also, if you create a Windows text document (ANSI) and want to use it in DOS, it must be converted to ASCII if it contains extended characters.

This editor has a built in filter that makes it easy to edit files of either format. Note, however, that a conversion between the two formats may not always translate all characters correctly. There are mainly two reasons for this: 1) the extended ANSI characters are not necessarily supported by all font types; 2) DOS has many different character sets available which means that extended characters are often quite different from one set to the other. The filter used in this program is based on ASCII 850 Multilingual (Latin I).

By default, the file filter list has an item for opening and saving DOS Ascii files. As you can change the order of the filters and edit them, the program just checks for the word ASCII (case does not matter) in the selected filter when you use the file dialog box. If it finds the word ASCII, it assumes that you want to open or save a file in the DOS Ascii format. So if you want to change the default file filters but also want to use ASCII documents, remember to put the word ASCII in the description part of at least one of the filter items! You can edit the filters by opening the Preferences dialog box and selecting the File Filters tab.

If you convert a document from ASCII to ANSI and want it to keep its ANSI format permanently, you will have to open the Document Properties dialog box and uncheck the Dos ASCII option.


Using the Clipbook

When I invented the "editor Clipbook" concept at the beginning of the year (January 1997), I knew it would be appreciated by many users, but I had never anticipated such a resounding success. Clearly, this new type of productivity tool fills a need and is marking a new trend in user-interface design. Although other programs have introduced immitations of my innovative tool, the original Clipbook remains the uncontested leader in features, ease of use, and flexibility.

You can think of the Clipbook as a visible clipboard with multiple text items that can be pasted in any document. It has been designed in such a way that it intrudes only minimally on your work space. The pasteable text item can be anything from a single character to multiple lines of text. Each item is identified by a header which is displayed in the Clipbook window. The header can either represent the actual text that is pasted, or a description of the text item. The Clipbook can also be used as a "Launch Pad" to open URLs and execute other programs (with or without the currently used document). Such items are highlighted in red in the Clipbook list.

To paste a standard Clipbook item, first position the caret in your document, then go to the Clipbook window and double-click (or press Return) on the item header. With Super NoteTab, you can also drag-and-drop items from the Clipbook to your document.

You can also copy an item to Window's clipboard by selecting its header and pressing the Ins key or through the shortcut menu. This feature makes it easy for you to paste Clipbook items into other programs.

There are several options that let you configure the Clipbook to best suit your needs. For example, you can dock the Clipbook on the left or right side of the document frame, or you can display it as a floating (free) window. When configured as a free window, the Clipbook window size and position can be saved by opening its Control (or System) menu and clicking on Save Window State. You can also change the font used for the Clipbook list box. If the Default Font option is enabled and the Clipbook is docked, the list box font will match the font used by the current document. You can access all the Clipbook options by invoking the shortcut menu from the list box or by opening the Clipbook Properties submenu from the View menu (in the application menu).

When the Clipbook is docked in the application, you can resize it horizontally by dragging the splitter bar (between the Clipbook and the document frame). If you want to close the Clipbook, the easiest way is to set the focus on the list box and hit the ESC key. Another way is to open the Clipbook shortcut menu and choose the Close Clipbook command.

There are two ways to create templates and add items to the Clipbook. The easiest way to create a new template is by invoking the shortcut menu of the Clipbook's template combo box. Through this menu, you can create a new template, rename the current one, or delete it. The other way, is by creating (Tools | New Template) or opening (Tools | Open Template) a Clipbook template in the editor. For more information on editing them, see the Clipbook Templates topic.

If you don't want to edit Clipbook templates directly, you can add new items by selecting text in your document and then pressing Ctrl+Alt+C (or selecting Add to Clipbook from the editor's shortcut menu) to add it to the current Clipbook template. You will then be prompted to enter a header for the text, after which it is added to the Clipbook. If you type a header name that already exists (case sensitive!), the text of that item is replaced by the new selected text. There is also a small editor that lets you easily add or modify Clipbook Items. You can open it by choosing Add New or Edit Item from the Clipbook shortcut menu.

You can also add text from other applications by copying it to Windows' clipboard. Open the Clipbook's list box shortcut menu and select Add from Clipboard.

The Clipbook is also well suited to be used as a "shorthand" glossary. For example, if you add the text "Yours sincerely" in the Clipbook and give it the header "ys" (without the quotes), then next time you type "ys" in a document and hit the F2 function key, "ys" will be replaced by "Yours sincerely". You could create a template especially for this type of glossary. If you frequently use this feature, you may prefer to hide the Clipbook so it doesn't clutter your desktop. Open its Control (or System) menu and choose Hide Window. Just press F4 if you want to make the Clipbook visible again. If you close the Clipbook window instead of hiding it, you will no longer have access to this handy feature.

If you exit the editor when the Clipbook is open or hidden, its size, position and state will be restored next time you start the program.

The list-box shortcut menu lets you add or edit items, sort the list, save or undo changes, and modify configuration options. Note that when you close the Clipbook or change template from the combo box, all changes made to the template are automatically saved.

You can toggle between the available Clipbook templates by pressing the Ctrl key and a number from 1 to 0 (0 = 10); the number corresponds to the template's position in the Clipbook's combo box.

Useful Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts

•	Insert copies the selected Clipbook item to Windows' clipboard.

•	Delete deletes the selected Clipbook item.

•	Enter or Double-click launches a command or pastes the item into the document.

•	You can drag-and-drop items to change their order in the list.

•	Escape closes the Clipbook window.

•	F4 makes a hidden Clipbook visible.

•	Ctrl+E shifts the focus from the Clipbook to the editor.

•	Ctrl+1 displays the first Clipbook template in the combo box list; Ctrl+2 displays the second, and so on...


Clipbook Templates

You can easily edit or create your own Clipbook templates directly in the editor. Choose Open Template from the Tools menu to edit an existing template, or New Template if you want to create a new one.

The template format is very simple and I suggest that you look at some of the samples that are provided with this program. Basically, there are two possible formats:

The simplest format has one text item per line and the header just duplicates the header. Empty lines are ignored.

The second format can have multi-line text items and each item can be identified with a descriptive header. This format must start with an equal sign (=) on the first line, followed by the text "MultiLine" (without quotes, character case does not matter). Each pasteable text item must be separated by an empty line. If you want to include an empty line in the item, just put a dot (.) at the beginning of the line and nothing else. If you want to specify a header, add "H=" (without the quotes) followed by your header. The header must be directly on the line above the item it describes.

By default, the headers are sorted in the Clipbook window. If you don't want the items to be sorted, place the text "NoSorting" (without quotes, character case does not matter) on the first line after the comma (this command applies to both template formats).

When you save a Clipbook template, the Clipbook window is immediately updated. You can create as many templates as you like; they will all appear in the Clipbook combo box.

I you have created Clipbook templates that may benefit other users, why not send me a copy! I'll be glad to set up a repository for such material on my web site.

In the 16-bit version of Mini NoteTab, Clipbook items should not exceed 255 characters. The 32-bit version and Super Notetab can accept Clipbook items of any size. Each template can have up to about 5440 Clipbook items, and you can have up to 5440 templates.

For details on more advanced features, see the topic on Clipbook Syntax.


Clipbook Syntax

You will find information about the following topics:

•	Wrapping a Clipbook item around selected text

•	Adding prompts in a Clipbook item

•	Using date filters in a Clipbook item

•	Using the Clipbook to launch other programs

•	Inserting comments in a Clipbook item

Wrapping a Clipbook item around selected text

Normally, if you select text in your document and then paste an item from the Clipbook, the document selection is replaced by the Clipbook text. However, if the Clipbook text item includes the two-letter code ^&, the highlighted text in the document is inserted at the code's position and the resulting text is pasted in the document. This feature is particularly useful when producing HTML documents. For example, if you have defined a Clipbook item under the title Italic:

<I>^&</I>

Selecting text in your document (for example Super NoteTab) and then double-clicking on the Italic item in the Clipbook will surround the text with the italic tags:

<I>fabulous</I>

Adding prompts in a Clipbook item

Sometimes, you may want to complete a Clipbook item just before it is pasted in your document. HTML tags are a good example where this could come in handy. If you use the sample HTML template that comes with this program, you will notice that when you double-click on the Font item, the program will display a dialog box prompting you to enter a value for the font size. You have a choice to type a value or pick it from a combo box.

Adding this type of behaviour to a Clipbook item is very easy. Simply place the two-letter code ^? in your Clipbook item at the position where user input should be inserted. For example, when you double-click on a Clipbook item with the following text:

<FONT SIZE=^?>

a dialog box with a plain input field will prompt you to complete the Clipbook item. The user input replaces the two-letter code, and then the completed tag is copied to the document. If you would like the prompt to be a bit more descriptive, you can specify the text that will be displayed in the dialog box by placing it between square brackets:

<FONT SIZE=^?[Font size]>

You can produce more sophisticated prompts by offering the user a list of choices. When the program detects this type of prompt, it displays a dialog box with a list box. To specify a list of choices, use an equal sign "=" after the prompt text followed by the values. Use a "|" (Alt+0124) as a separator between the values. For example, the following item will show a combo box labeled "Font size" with the values 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24, and 36 in the list:

<FONT SIZE=^?[Font size=8|10|12|14|18|24|36]>

The user can also enter values that are not listed. If, however, the input should be limited to the values available in the list, just double the comma sign as in the following example:

<FONT SIZE=^?[Font size==10|14|18]>

Note that a Clipbook item can have as many prompts in it as you like.

Using date filters in a Clipbook item

If you want to use date/time filters in the Clipbook, use ^[ and ^] to delimit the filter element of the Clipbook text. For example, if you add the following text to the Clipbook:

This message was written ^[dd/mm/yyyy^]

Pasting it in a document will produce the following text (assuming the date is 22 February 1997):

This message was written 22/02/1997

Using the Clipbook to launch other programs

Any Clipbook item that starts with the two-letter code ^!, will be launched when invoked. For example, double-clicking on a Clipbook item with the following text:

^!calc.exe

will execute the calculator provided with Windows. Note that if the application is not in the search path, you will have to add the fully qualified path to the application you want to use.

If you want to open the current document in another application, use the two-letter code ^& to indicate where the document name should be inserted in the command line. For example, if you want to open the current document in MS-Write, you would use the following command:

^!write.exe ^&

Documents that have not been saved are stored in a temporary file when this type of command is used. The temporary file is then substituted for the document name. You can also specify additional parameters that your application recognises. Here is an example that will do a syntax check on a perl script (assuming it is the current document in the editor):

^!perl -c ^&

If you are editing a document that is associated with another application, you do not need to specify the application name. For example, if you are using an HTML document (with the appropriate extension!), the following command will open the current document in the browser that has been associated with HTML extensions:

^!^&

You can also open URLs in the associated browser. To do so, the two-letter code ^! must be followed by the following text "URL:" (without the quotes). For example, the following command will open the link to my Homepage:

^!URL:http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/

You will find more examples in the Clipbook template sample LAUNCH.CLB which is provided with the editor.

Inserting comments in a Clipbook Item

Inserting comments in a Clipbook item is very easy: just place a semi-colon (;) at the start of each line containing a comment. If you come across a situation when a line in a Clipbook item should start with a semi-colon and it is not a comment, just add an extra semi-colon in front of it.


Paste-Board Feature

Any document in the editor (as long as it is not Read-Only) can be configured to capture text that is cut or copied to the Windows Clipboard. First select the document you want to use as a "paste board", then activate the "Use as Paste Board" option in the Document menu. As long as this option is active, the document will capture and append (each time on a new line) all text sent to the Clipboard from any Windows application (including the editor itself). The computer speaker will beep each time the paste-board document captures some text.

The paste-board feature, for example, makes it easy to compile a list of links or important information you copy as you surf the web.

Note that only one document at a time can act as a paste board. When you activate this option with another document, the previous paste board document stops capturing Clipboard text.


Web Enabled

If your text contains a link, holding the control key down and double-clicking on it with the mouse will open it in your web browser. If this feature does not work, you will have to enter the path and file name of the browser in the Preferences dialog box (Miscellaneous tab) – if it does work, however, leave this field empty!

If the editor cannot resolve the URL from the text you double-clicked, it will open a dialog box so you can complete the address if necessary.

If you have an HTML file open or are editing a new document, you can view it in your web browser by choosing the View in Browser command (under the Tools menu). When you view a document that has been modified but not saved, the editor will first save a temporary copy which is then loaded in the browser. All temporary files are deleted once you quit the editor.


Document Selector

The Document Selector, makes it easy to find a specific document when a large number of them are open. It displays the document names (path and file name) in alphabetical order. Just click on a document name to make it appear in the editor window.

When selecting a document in the window, the focus does not shift to the editor. To do so, you now must double-click on the document name or press the Enter key.

The Document Selector window size and position can be saved by opening its Control (or System) menu and clicking on Save Window State. If you exit the editor when the Document Selector is open, its size and position will be restored next time you start the program.

The number of open documents is indicated in the window's caption next to the title.

The Document Selector's shortcut menu lets you close, delete, or shift the focus to the selected document, or close the window.

Useful Mouse and Keyboard Shortcuts

•	Delete closes the selected document.

•	Enter or Double-click shifts the focus the selected document.

•	Escape closes the Document Selector window.

•	Ctrl+E shifts the focus from the Document Selector to the editor.


Favorite Files Dialog Box

Many Windows users, like myself, have lots of text files stored in many different places on the hard disk. Using the file dialog box to search for them and open them can become a time consuming task. That's why I created the Favorite Files dialog box.

The Favorite Files dialog box makes it easy to quickly open any file or a directory (folder) you have added to the list. You can easily add new files and directories to the list using the integrated editor or by clicking on the Add button. The Add button opens the file dialog box from which you can select multiple files. The integrated editor also lets you add file names with wild cards. This is handy if, for example, you want to open all your HTML files in the editor to perform a global search and replace operation:

C:\Web\Homepage\*.html

I recently used this feature to open about 130 HTML files to perform a global search and replace operation. The Favorite Files dialog box really makes the task easier.

By clicking on the New button, you can enter file names or directories in the input field (below the list box) without using the File dialog box displayed by using the Add button. You can also use that method to specify file names with wild cards.

When you add a directory name to the list, make sure it ends with a backslash "\" (otherwise it will be interpreted as a file name). When you open a directory item, the File Open dialog box is displayed pointing to the selected directory. If several items are selected in the list, directory items are ignored when you choose the Open or Open All button. For example, when opening the following item, the File Open dialog box will pop up and show the content of the Homepage directory:

C:\Web\Homepage

You can create separate lists for all kinds of different tasks. The names of all available lists are displayed in the list name combo box. Favorite Files lists are always stored in the program directory and have the extension FVR. These are text files that can also be edited in the editor like any other file. You should not, however, edit such a file if it is currently open in the Favorite Files dialog box.

You can also specify other "Favorite Files" list names by clicking on the New button in the dialog box, then typing a colon character (:) followed by the list's name. For example:

:Favorite

Once you have created such an item, double-clicking on it will open all the files in that list.

You can reorder the list using drag-and-drop or sort the list by invoking the shortcut menu. You can select multiple files in the list and open them by clicking on the Open button. If you want to open all the files in the list, just click on the Open All button (in this case, directory items are ignored).

The shortcut menu also lets you undo any changes you have made to the list. Changes are permanently saved when the dialog box is closed or when a new list is selected from the list names combo box. You can create new lists by invoking the combo box shortcut menu. This menu also lets you rename lists or delete them.

The editor can be configured to open all the files from a Favorite Files list whenever you start it. If you want to open files from a different list from the one that was last used, you can specify its name from the command line.

The dialog box size and position can be saved by opening its Control (or System) menu and clicking on Save Window State.


Preferences Dialog Box

This dialog box lets you configure the main program settings. Use the Preferences command under the View menu to open this dialog. The settings are automatically saved when you quit the editor and used when you start the program again.

Program Tab:

Stay-on-top: you can make the program stay on top of others by enabling this option. When you choose this configuration, the Find and Replace dialog boxes cannot be modeless. Also, it is not recommended to maximize the editor when this option is checked. If another program needs to display a message, the editor will usually loose the focus to a window that is masked by itself.

Auto Save Position: when you enable this option, the editor will always restore its previous position and size when you start it.

Auto Save Files: if this option is enabled, the editor will no longer prompt you to confirm whether a modified file should be saved before it is closed. Note, however, that the File Save As dialog box is displayed if the file does not have a name or if it is Read Only on the disk.

Make Backups: When this option is enabled, the editor always attempts to make a backup copy of a file before it is overwritten by a new version when you choose the save command.

Backups use .BAK: When this option is enabled, backup files receive the .BAK extension. Otherwise, a tilde '~' is inserted between the dot and the file's extension.

Auto Load Files: Use this option if you want the files that were open when you closed the editor to be reopened next time you start the editor. Files that no longer exist are now ignored.

Auto Load Favorites: Loads the files listed in the Favorite Files list (from current list or an alternative list indicated through the command line) whenever you start the editor.

Directory Tracking: The working directory follows the active document when this option is enabled.

Multiple Instances: Set this option if you want to allow multiple instances of the editor in memory.

Convert Binaries: If a file contains special control characters (any character with a decimal value of 0 or 8), these are automatically converted to '·' (Alt+0183). When set, you can see the full content of any type of file. Note that saving this kind of file will not restore the control characters (only do this if you know what you are doing)! This option slows the loading of large files, so don't set it if you use only real text files.

Use System Tray: When enabled, the editor's icon is placed in the system tray instead of the task bar (Windows 95 and NT4 only).

Undo after Save: Allows an undo operation after a modified document has been saved.

Hide Menu: When enabled, the main program menu is hidden.

Hide Toolbar: When enabled, the program toolbar is hidden.

Hide Status Line: When enabled, the program status bar is hidden.

No Splash Screen: Disables the display of the splash screen when you start the program.

Documents Tab:

The options you set on this tab define the default document properties that will apply to all newly opened documents and those that have the Default option checked. You can define word wrap, tab width in pixels, font name and size.

File Filters Tab:

This tab provides a little editor that lets you define the file filters that are used in the File dialog boxes. You can edit, delete and add new descriptions and wildcards, reorder them by using the Move Up / Move Down buttons or by drag-and-dropping items in the list. Note that there is a limit to the number of items you can create. The total size of descriptions and their wildcards cannot exceed approximately 250 characters.

By default, the file filter list has an item for opening and saving DOS Ascii files. The program checks for the word ASCII (case does not matter) in the selected filter when you use the file dialog box. If it finds the word ASCII, it assumes that you want to open or save a file in the DOS Ascii format. So if you want to change the default file filters but also want to use ASCII documents, remember to put the word ASCII in the description part of at least one of the filter items!

The default extension field is also used by the file dialog box.

Miscellaneous Tab:

You can set the background color of documents and the color of text by clicking on the Page Color and Text Color buttons respectively. To reset colors back to the Windows standard colors, just click in the Default check box. Enable the Color Tabs check box if you want the document tabs to reflect the colors of the documents.

The date filter is used by the Insert Date menu command and the Log feature. If you leave this field blank, the short date format defined in your Windows setup is used. The Date and Time filters topic gives you all the codes you can use to build a filter.

Indent Size is used to determine the number of blank spaces used to increase or decrease the indent of selected lines (Line Indent /Unindent commands).

The Web Browser field should only be used if the editor is unable to start it when you choose one of the web enabled functions. When you enter a browser name (path and file name), the editor will execute the browser according to this information. As a result, a new instance of the browser may be loaded each time you choose to display a link or document. When this field is left empty, the editor will try to retrieve information from the Windows registry and communicate with your browser using DDE. If this method is successful, the editor can detect if an instance is already loaded in memory and send the appropriate commands to the browser.


Document Properties

This dialog box lets you set properties for individual documents. You can define word wrap, tab width in pixels, font name and size, and character set for the currently selected document. If the Default option is checked, the settings defined in the Documents tab of the Preferences dialog box are applied.

There is an option to toggle the DOS ASCII flag for the document. Changing this flag will affect how the document is saved. If you want to convert the current text between ASCII and ANSI, use the "Convert to Ascii/Ansii Text" command under the Document menu. So, for example, if you convert an ASCII document to ANSI and want it to stay this way, just uncheck the DOS ASCII option; next time you save the file, it will keep its ANSI format.

Another option, UNIX format, tells the editor to save a document in a format that is compatible with the UNIX operating system (all carriage return / line-feed pair are converted to LF).

Tab-stop settings must be sorted in increasing order; the smallest value should be the first item. All values should correspond to the distance from the left margin of the document. Use a semi-colon (;) to separate multiple values. If no tab stop is defined, tabs are expanded to eight times the average character width. If one tab-stop position is defined, all tab stops are separated by the distance specified by that value. You can use the ruler to determine appropriate values. Note that measurements are only accurate with fixed-width fonts.

Document Properties are saved whenever the document or the editor is closed. All settings for up to the 100 most recently opened files are stored in a file called FILEPROP.INF which is placed in the program directory. You can edit the MININOTE.INI or NOTETAB.INI file (the editor must not be running!) and set another value for the MaxStoreProperties item under the [Options] section. If you have installed Mini NoteTab and Super NoteTab in the same directory, you may want each program to use a different file for storing document properties. To do this, you will have to edit the program's INI file and add the item "FileProperties=" (without the quotes) under the Options section; put the alternative file name after the equal sign. For example:

[Options]

FileProperties=SNT.FPR

Structure of FILEPROP.INF:

This is a text file that can be opened and modified in this editor. Each file entry is stored on a single line. The line starts with the path and file name followed by an equal sign (=), which is followed by a series of parameters separated by a semi colon (;). The first parameter is a number: 0 indicates that the file uses the ANSI character set and 1 that it uses the ASCII character set, the high-order flag is used to indicate the UNIX format. The second parameter is also a number, either 0 or 1. 0 indicates that the document has its own property settings and 1 that it uses the default settings. If document properties have been defined, the next parameter is a 0 if word wrap is not used and 1 if it is. The next parameter indicates the tab settings in inches (each value is separated by a slash "/"), followed by the font size, the font name, and finally the font style (B = Bold, I = Italic).


Find & Replace Dialog Boxes

If the selected text is between 2 and 255 characters long, it is placed in the Find field of the dialog box when it is opened (special characters are automatically replaced by their respective tokens – see below). Otherwise, the last searched item is displayed displayed in the field. The maximum length for a search or replace text is 255 characters. Searching always starts from the caret position!

The Find and Replace dialog boxes accept tokens to represent special characters:

     ^T = Tab ($09)

     ^B = Page break ($12)

     ^P = Paragraph (carriage-return/line-feed pair)

     ^C = Carriage-return ($0D)

     ^L = Line-feed ($0A)

If you actually need to search characters that correspond to one of the tokens, just precede it with an extra ^ symbol (for example ^^T to search for ^T).

When the editor is configured to "stay-on-top", the Find and Replace dialog boxes are modal. In other words, you cannot return to the editor until you close the dialog box. When the program is not "stay-on-top", they are modeless (you can edit documents while the dialog boxes are open).

You can increase the width of the dialog box if necessary and save the new size by opening its Control (or System) menu and clicking on Save Window State.

After a Replace All operation, you can see the number of replacements made by placing the mouse pointer over an empty area of the Replace dialog. The information is then displayed in the editor's hint bar.


Printer Dialog Box

Most settings in the Printer dialog box are kept and restored when you run the program again. However, each time you move to another document, the Title text is replaced by the document's name and Print Word Wrap is checked.

When you click on the Print button (in the tool bar), the dialog box is not displayed. Instead, its current settings are used and the document is immediately printed. If text is selected (more than 100 characters), then only the selected text is printed, otherwise the whole document is printed.

If you choose to print a document to a file, the lines will be wrapped at the same point as if they were printed on paper and page breaks are inserted accordingly. The file produced has the same name as the document but has the extension PRN; it is created in the same directory as the document.

By default, the document font will be used for printing. You can, however, choose a printer font that is used instead of the document font. This option is available on the Font tab.


Automatic Scrolling

Automatic scrolling allows hands-free reading of any document. You can set the speed in characters per second and the program will scroll through the text one line at a time until it reaches the end. The Auto Scroll command is available in the Tools menu.

The Auto Scroll "command center" dialog has five buttons and an input field that lets you set the scroll speed in characters per second. This dialog is modal, so you cannot return to the editor unless you close it.

For left to right, the buttons are...

•	Play: 	Starts scrolling at the speed defined by the Speed field.

•	Quit:	Stops scrolling and closes the dialog box.

•	Pause:	Stops scrolling

•	Rewind:	Same as Page Up (pressing this button pauses scrolling)

•	Forward:	Same as Page Down (pressing this button pauses scrolling)

You can also use the keyboard to control scrolling...

•	Spacebar:	Toggles between Play and Pause mode.

•	Page Up:	Same as Rewind button.

•	Page Down:	Same as Forward button.

•	Esc:	Stops scrolling and closes the dialog box.

If you edit the scroll speed while the document is scrolling, the pause button will be activated and you will have to press the Play button to continue scrolling at the new speed.


Text Statistics Dialog Box

The Text Statistics dialog box provides information on the number of characters, words, and the number of occurrences of each different word within a text. If you select text, that information will be extracted from that portion of the document. If no text is selected, then the whole document is analyzed.

The first part of the dialog box displays the following fields:

•	Characters	The figure is based on the total number of characters encountered in the text, including spaces and tabs. Each tabs counts as one character only.

•	Words	Only words composed entirely of alphabetic characters are counted here.

•	Others	Any word that is not counted in the previous field is added here. For example numbers or words that are a mix of alphabetic characters and numbers.

To display the frequency of occurrences of individual words, click on the More button. Depending on the size of the text to analyze, this process may take some time to display the result. At the end of the list, you can read the total number of different words encountered in the text. If you want to copy the list to the clipboard, invoke the shortcut menu by right-clicking in the list. First choose Select All, followed by Copy.


Keeping a Log

You can keep a log by using the same method as Notepad. Just add ".LOG" on the first line (without the quotation marks) and every time you open such a document, the editor will append the current date and time (as specified by your computer's clock).There is an option that lets you configure the format for the date and time text that is pasted with the corresponding command. The Date and Time filters topic gives you all the codes you can use to build a filter.


Date and Time filters

The editor has a command that lets you easily insert the current date and time in your documents. You can do so with the Insert Date command (in the Document menu) or automatically if you are using the log feature. By default, it uses the format specified by the ShortDateFormat defined by Windows. You can, however, customize the date by creating a Date Filter – the field is available in the Preferences dialog box on the Miscellaneous tab. There is also a similar field in the Print dialog box. Filters can also be used in text that is added to the Clipbook (see topic for more information). The following format specifiers are supported:

Specifier	Displays

c	Displays the date using the format given by the ShortDateFormat global variable, followed by the time using the format given by the LongTimeFormat global variable. The time is not displayed if the fractional part of the DateTime value is zero.

d	Displays the day as a number without a leading zero (1-31).

dd	Displays the day as a number with a leading zero (01-31).

ddd	Displays the day as an abbreviation (Sun-Sat) using the strings given by the ShortDayNames global variable.

dddd	Displays the day as a full name (Sunday-Saturday) using the strings given by the LongDayNames global variable.

ddddd	Displays the date using the format given by the ShortDateFormat global variable.

dddddd	Displays the date using the format given by the LongDateFormat global variable.

m	Displays the month as a number without a leading zero (1-12). If the m specifier immediately follows an h or hh specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed.

mm	Displays the month as a number with a leading zero (01-12). If the mm specifier immediately follows an h or hh specifier, the minute rather than the month is displayed.

mmm	Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec) using the strings given by the ShortMonthNames global variable.

mmmm	Displays the month as a full name (January-December) using the strings given by the LongMonthNames global variable.

yy	Displays the year as a two-digit number (00-99).

yyyy	Displays the year as a four-digit number (0000-9999).

h	Displays the hour without a leading zero (0-23).

hh	Displays the hour with a leading zero (00-23).

n	Displays the minute without a leading zero (0-59).

nn	Displays the minute with a leading zero (00-59).

s	Displays the second without a leading zero (0-59).

ss	Displays the second with a leading zero (00-59).

t	Displays the time using the format given by the ShortTimeFormat global variable.

tt	Displays the time using the format given by the LongTimeFormat global variable.

am/pm	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays 'am' for any hour before noon, and 'pm' for any hour after noon. The am/pm specifier can use lower, upper, or mixed case, and the result is displayed accordingly.

a/p	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays 'a' for any hour before noon, and 'p' for any hour after noon. The a/p specifier can use lower, upper, or mixed case, and the result is displayed accordingly.

ampm	Uses the 12-hour clock for the preceding h or hh specifier, and displays the contents of the TimeAMString global variable for any hour before noon, and the contents of the TimePMString global variable for any hour after noon.

/	Displays the date separator character given by the DateSeparator global variable.

:	Displays the time separator character given by the TimeSeparator global variable.

'xx'	Characters enclosed in single quotes are displayed as-is, and do not affect formatting.

Format specifiers may be written in upper case as well as in lower case letters--both produce the same result.


Command-line Parameters

You can specify as many parameters as the command line can take. Each parameter must be separated by a space.

/NS 	Don't show splash screen (must be first parameter). There is now also an option in the Preferences dialog box.

FileName	Opens specified file in the editor.  File name can also include wildcards. If you have the 32-bit version of the editor and want to specify several files, enclose each name between double quotes, eg.
NoteTab.exe "c:\autoexec.bat" "c:\config.sys"

/F=FavoriteFileName	Specify an alternative "Favorite Files" list file name (without extension or path). The file name must follow the equal sign. Do not use any spaces before or after the equal. "Favorite Files" lists must be in the same folder as the editor. If the file does not exist, it will be created. If you want the files in the list to open automatically on startup, make sure you check the Auto Load Favorites option in the Preferences dialog box.

/P	 Print the files following this parameter.

//	 Don't print the files after this parameter.

/R	Open the files following this parameter as Read-Only.

/B	The editor allows viewing of files but not editing.

/J=xxx	Jumps to specified line number (xxx) when the editor is opened. This argument can be specified after every file name. If J=0, the caret will be placed at the beginning of the last line.

/INI=FileName	Specify an alternative INI file. If you don't indicate a path, the program's directory is assumed. If you indicate a path name, there should not be any spaces in it (if this is the case, use the short DOS name instead). You do not need to specify an extension (it is always INI).


Tips and How to...

To replace Windows' Notepad with this editor: 1. make a backup copy of Notepad and then delete it from the Windows directory; 2. install this editor and its related files in the Windows folder (directory); 3. rename the NOTETAB.EXE or MININOTE.EXE program file to NOTEPAD.EXE; 4. rename the NOTETAB.HLP or MININOTE.HLP help file to NOTEPAD.HLP.

In Super NoteTab, you can drag-and-drop selected text. To move text to another part of your document, first select it, then click on the selection with the left mouse button and drag it to the desired location. If you want to duplicate text rather than move it, follow the same procedure but with the Control key pressed down.

When you have several documents open, you can drag-and-drop page tabs to reorder them any way you like. If you have many documents open so that all page tabs are not visible, you might prefer to use the Document Selector (in the Tools menu).

Whenever you modify a file, an asterisk (*) appears after the corresponding document name in the page tab. It disappears after you save the file or undo the changes. This cue is useful when you are editing several open files at the same time, as you can immediately see which files may need saving. The editor does, however, always prompt you to save or discard changes before closing a document or the program (unless you check the Auto Save Files option in the Preferences dialog box).

When you open a new document with the File dialog box, it starts in the same directory as the selected editor document (unless you disable the Directory Tracking option in the Preferences dialog box).

If you use the system tray and always want the program available, don't exit the editor but minimize it instead. The program will minimize to the system tray and reappear next time you click on its icon.

If you configure the toolbar to show the standard "Document Close" button, the "Quick Close" button normally visible on the right side of the toolbar is not displayed.

The ruler can display measurements in characters (only accurate with fixed-width fonts), inches, and millimeters. Click on the ruler to toggle between the different units. When you place the mouse cursor over the ruler, the measurement at that position is indicated in the hint bar. Please note that the ruler measurements do not scroll horizontally with the editor window.

The indent function does not use tabs but just adds the specified number of spaces at the beginning of each selected line. Note that a word-wrapped line is treated as a single line.

Tab-stop settings can be defined through the Preferences dialog box or document properties. The tab stops must be sorted in increasing order; the smallest value should be the first item. All values should correspond to the distance from the left margin of the document. Use a semi-colon (;) to separate multiple values. If no tab stop is defined, tabs are expanded to eight times the average character width. If one tab-stop position is defined, all tab stops are separated by the distance specified by that value. You can use the ruler to determine appropriate values. Note that measurements are only accurate with fixed-width fonts.

The main program menu can be hidden by choosing the View | Hide Menu command. To show it again, invoke the document-tabs shortcut menu and choose the Show Menu command (or use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F10).

Use the View | Multiple Instances menu command if you want to open multiple copies of the editor in memory.

The Clipbook window and Document Selector will always stay-on-top if the editor is not also configured to stay-on-top. If, however, the editor is stay-on-top, then there is no way to enforce the Clipbook and Document Selector to stay-on-top of the editor. In this situation, the window that has the focus will be on top of the other. If the Clipbook has disappeared behind the editor, press F4 to make it reappear. With the Document Selector, press F6.

The Clipbook can be used to launch other programs, open current document in its associated application, open current document in specified program, and open URLs. Clipbook items with this capability are highlighted in red.

Open a local file by placing the caret on its name in a document and pressing the F7 key (or through the menu: Document / Open Selected File).

A "jump to line" command is available by double-clicking on the caret-position pane in the status bar.

You can toggle between insert and overwrite mode by double-clicking on the Insert/Overwrite pane in the status bar.

You can set up different icons (or shortcuts) of the program for different tasks. For example, if you have created several "Favorite File" lists, you can configure each icon with a command line pointing to a different file. If you have enabled the Auto Load Favorites option, then the editor will automatically open all the files included in the list.

The Split Lines command in the 16-bit version of Mini NoteTab is only available when word wrap is enabled. Also, Clipbook items in the 16-bit version are limited in size to a maximum of 255 characters.

Super NoteTab cannot display fonts with OEM character sets (Terminal, MS Line Draw,...). This limitation is due to the rich edit control provided with Windows. Mini NoteTab, however, uses another type of input control that can correctly display such fonts.

Many operations in Mini NoteTab cannot be undone. The Undo feature is implemented through Windows API calls. This limitation is due to the Windows input control used by Mini NoteTab.


Updates and Other Programs

You can find updates of Super NoteTab, Mini NoteTab and other Freeware/Shareware (Notetab Pro) programs by visiting my web site at the following address:

http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/

You will also find a repository for Clipbook templates that have been made available to you by other NoteTab users. If you have designed templates that you would also like to make available to others, just send them to me and they will be added to the repository.

The link to information about NoteTab Pro is...

http://www.unige.ch/sciences/terre/geologie/fookes/notepro.htm

My web site also has a portfolio with high-resolution photographs of beautiful landscapes from Switzerland and the Nordic countries.


A Note to Reviewers

If you intend to review this program, whether it be for a magazine, a newspaper, or a web site, please check if you have the most up-to-date version of the program. You can visit my web site or contact me directly to find out if you have the most recent update. Also, keep in mind that there are  four different versions of the editor. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need any further information.

Although I don't require this, I would certainly appreciate receiving a photocopy (or URL) of any review or article that is written about this software. It doesn't matter if it is in English, French, German, or any other language. Thanks!


Legal

The author of this program accepts no responsibility for damages resulting from its use and makes no warranty or representation, either express or implied, including but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This software is provided "AS IS", and you, its user, assume all risks when using it.

Please note that the program and accompanying files are copyright material. No part of this material may be distributed with other software packages without the express permission from the author.


Distribution License

I encourage you to freely copy and distribute this Freeware program to any and all who are interested in obtaining a copy, including distribution through the Internet, BBS's, Shareware distribution libraries, CD-ROMs, etc. Please check that you have the latest update before making the program available to a large audience. The package is subject to the following restrictions:

The editor must be distributed as a complete package including the following 11 files:

 1. README.TXT	–	program's Readme text file

 2. WHATSNEW.TXT	–	text file with details of new features

 3. FILE_ID.DIZ	–	standard ID file

 4. NOTETAB.EXE	–	the program (Super NoteTab)

 or MININOTE.EXE	–	the program (Mini NoteTab)

 5. NOTETAB.HLP	–	this file (Super NoteTab)

 or MININOTE.HLP	–	this file (Mini NoteTab)

 6. HTML.CLB	–	Clipbook template with main HTML tags

 7. HTML-2.CLB	–	Clipbook template with special character tags

 8. HTMCOLOR.CLB	–	Clipbook template with HTML color codes

 9. ACRONYMS.CLB	–	Clipbook template with common Internet acronyms

10. SMILIES.CLB	–	Clipbook template with common Internet smilie (or smiley) representations

11. LAUNCH.CLB	–	Clipbook template with examples of commands used to launch other programs and URLs

If any of these files are missing, then the package is not complete and distribution is forbidden.

•	The package - including all related program files and documentation files CANNOT be modified in any way and must be distributed as a complete package, without exception.

•	You may charge a distribution fee for the package, but you must not represent in any way that you are selling the software itself.

•	You shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this distribution license.

All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by Eric G.V. Fookes.


Acknowledgments

First of all, I would like to thank my colleague and friend Christophe Nussbaumer for having encouraged me to develop this editor and for pushing me to release it on the Internet. Also, many people – too many to mention here – have contributed to make this editor a much better program through their helpful feedback. In particular, I would like to thank Mike Arst who has helped me identify some very subtle faults in the program, as well as Judith, Jose Maria Fernandez Alvarez, Mat Davis, Bob Dolan, Dennis Gallagher, Chris Glockler, Tobias Graening, Leonardo Herzenberg, Staffan Höijer, Christoph Juengling, Rob McGee, Mark Paciga, David Pottier, Helmut Reimer, Ken Stuart, and Frank Thurber.

I would also like to extend my thanks to Fabrice Deville for his excellent TExplorerButton Freeware component that I have used in the implementation of the editor's toolbar. You can find this Delphi component and other resources by visiting his web site at:

http://www.tornado.be/~fdev/


Contributions

If you like this program and wish to contribute something, you are more than welcome to do so! You can contribute by sending a nice postcard, or by buying the commercial version NoteTab Pro when it becomes available (I will put information about the program on my web site), or by contributing to a charitable cause of your choice!


Contacting the Author

I really appreciate receiving your comments, suggestions, and contributions. However, please do not expect a reply from me (although I will try my best). Indeed, due to a heavy work load I only have the time to respond to a limited number of E-mails. Having said this, rest assured that I always take the time to read your messages carefully and take note of all your suggestions.

If you are submitting a bug report, please first check the list of known problems in the last part of the README.TXT file. Also check, if possible, whether the bug has been fixed in the latest update. Remember to indicate which program variant and version number you are using.

I can be reached by E-mail at:

fookes@sc2a.unige.ch

    (or  Eric.Fookes@terre.unige.ch)

or by snail mail at the following address:

Eric G.V. Fookes

Av. Eugène-Pittard 22 Ter

CH - 1206 Geneva

Switzerland

or by fax at the following number:

+41/ (22) - 789 58 44


Freeware
You can use the program without paying the author or registering! Contributions, however, are very welcome and encourage the author to develop more programs of this nature.