Contents
	mach32 Graphics Accelerator Help

Welcome to the mach32 Flexdesk help system.  The FlexDesk panel lets you set the Screen Resolution and Color Depth.  As well, other panels can be accessed from the main panel to control Advanced Features, DeskScape, Video Acceleration, and Display Power Management.

See Also:

 	Advanced Settings Control Panel

 	DeskScape Control Panel

 	Video Color Control Panel


Menu Bar

This bar provides access to the commands available on the FlexDesk.  See Main Menu for more information.


Screen Resolution

These settings let you set the Screen Resolution to either, 640x480, 800x600 1024x768 or 1280x1024.  The Desktop Size is automatically adjusted to be at least as large as your selected Screen Resolution.

Note: Not all combinations of Screen Resolution and Color Depth are possible.  See Available Modes for more information.


Color Depth

You can select Color Depths of 16 colors, 256 colors, 65K colors, or 16.7M colors.  These determine the number of colors that may be simultaneously displayed on your screen.

Note: Not all combinations of Screen Resolution and Color Depth are possible.  See Available Modes for more information.


Advanced Settings

This button access the Advanced Settings control panel, which lets you control the font size, color palette used and desktop size.  As well the panel lets you set up a the DPMS setting for your monitor.  See Advanced Settings for more information.


Video Color Control

This button accesses the Video Color Control panel.  The panel lets you adjust the color, tint and contrast of any video displayed on your system.  See General Color Control for more information.


Deskscan
DeskScape

This button accesses the DeskScape Control Panel, which lets you setup keys to control panning.  See DeskScape Control Panel for more information.


Ok

Accepts any changes to the settings, and exits. When you press OK on the main panel, the changes are saved to SYSTEM.INI, and also to the settings file (if any) you were editing.

If the changes require a restart of Windows, another dialog will be displayed allowing you to restart Windowsnow, or continue in the current session.  Note, however, that the changes have already been saved, and will be in effect the next time you start Windows.


Concel
Cancel

Exits without saving changes.


Defaults

Selects default settings. This provides a convenient way to return to factory settings.


Help

Brings up the FlexDesk Control Panel help index.


Available Modes

Screen Resolution and Color Depth are limited by the amount of display memory on your graphics card.  The higher the Screen Resolution, the fewer Color Depths are available, and vice-versa.

Screen resolutions will appear grayed out if they are unavailable.  This may be due to insufficient memory (see table below) or non-installed modes.  To correct the latter situation, run the Mach Install program to install the required modes.

The following table shows the availability of modes according to the display memory on your graphics card.

2MB Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	16 / 256

1024 x 768	16 / 256 / 65K

800 x 600	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

640 x 480	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

1MB Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	16

1024 x 768	16 / 256

800 x 600	16 / 256 / 65K

640 x 480	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

512KB  Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	Not available

1024 x 768	16

800 x 600	16 / 256

640 x 480	16 / 256

See Also:

Command Line Switches


	Main Menu

The Main Panel menu contains File, Features, and Help sub-menus.

The File sub-menu contains Open, Save, and Save As menu items.  These selections are used in the same way as in other Windows applications, but in this case, the files you create and edit are settings files.

The File Exit menu item is the same as the OK button.

The Features sub-menu allows access to features that are also available from buttons on the Main Panel and Advanced Panel.

The Help sub-menu allows access to help for the FlexDesk Control Panel and the Motion Video Acceleration Driver.  It also gives access to the 'About box', which displays product version information.

See also:

Working With Settings Files


Working With Settings Files

Settings files are used to save a particular set of options for quick recall.  For example, if your favorite image editor works best in 16M color mode, but you usually work in 256 color mode, you could save your setttings in two files: NORMAL.FLX, and IMAGE.FLX.  To switch between settings, you would open the FlexDesk Control Panel, use File Open to retrieve NORMAL.FLX or IMAGE.FLX, and then click the OK button.  The changes would then take effect.

The DEFAULT.FLX setting file, contains all the default settings for the FlexDesk.  Load this file when you wish to reset the FlexDesk to its factory settings.

Note: When you have no settings file opened explicitly, you are actually editing the settings in your SYSTEM INI.  as well, the Open, Save, and Save As items are unavailable in Windows 3.0.

See also:

Command Line Switches


Command Line Switches

There are two switches you can add to the FlexDesk Control Panel command line. The "/restart" switch instructs the FlexDesk Control Panel that you wish to restart Windows after loading the settings from the settings file (if given).  You will receive a warning message that Windows is about to be restarted, which you can cancel.  If you don't want the warning message, you can also add the "/nowarning" switch.  Thus, the fastest way to switch settings would be the following command line:

C:\WINDOWS\MXXPANEL.EXE   MYSETUP.FLX  /restart  /nowarning

This will load the MYSETUP.FLX settings and immediately restart Windows.  You will still receive warning messages from any applications that have unsaved changes.


Advanced Panel
	FlexDesk Advanced Settings Panel

The Advanced Settings Panel controls the advanced and maintenance features of FlexDesk.  Note that some features and options may be unavailable (displayed grayed out), depending on the Screen Resolution and Color Depth selected in the Main Panel, or the combination of settings selected in the Advanced Panel.  To find out more about the Advanced panel, click on the graphic below:


DPMS Control Panel

This button accesses the DPMS Control Panel.  See DPMS for more information on this panel.


Advanced Panel: Desktop
Desktop Settings

Use this to control the size of the Windows Desktop (working area). It can be the same as the current Screen Resolution, or larger. If the Desktop is larger than the Screen Resolution, the DeskScape feature is enabled, which enables you to pan around the desktop by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen.

See also:

DeskScape Panel


Advanced Panel: 16 BPP RGB Mode
16 BPP RGB Mode Settings

RGB Mode is only available when you select 65K colors in the Colors group of the main control panel.  You can choose 5/5/5, or 5/6/5. If a particular mode is not allowed by your graphics card, it will be grayed out.

5/6/5 is the standard mode, suitable for most applications.

5/5/5 mode is provided for compatibility with 32K color VGA cards.


Advanced Panel: Environment
Environment

Use this to specify your display's Logical Dots Per Inch (LDPI).  The available settings are Small Font (96 LDPI, VGA Standard), Large Font (120 LDPI, 8514/A Standard), and DTP for Desktop Publishing (128 LDPI).  In general, use Small Font for 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions, and Large Font for all other resolutions.

You may wish to change this setting in certain situations, since by adjusting this setting, you can make screen objects (such as text) appear larger or smaller than their actual physical size.

For example, if you find small fonts difficult to read, use Large Font or DTP settings, even at lower screen resolutions.  Or, if you need to see more text on the screen at one time, use Small Font even at high resolutions.  But be aware that fonts will not be displayed actual size when you are not using a setting that corresponds to the display's LDPI.


Advanced Panel: 256 Color Palette
256 Color Palette

This option is only available when you select 256 color mode from the main panel. When set to Off, the hardware color palette is fixed. When set to On, the palette can be modified by application programs. Most 256 color drivers allow palette modification (On). This allows palette cycling and optimization to occur. With 256 Color Palette set Off, no color shifts will occur on the screen when multiple 256 color images are being displayed.


Advanced Panel: Dithering

The Mach driver normally uses an optimized dithering technique when running in 16 and 256 color modes. However, the technique used may result in some unattractive colors. When using 256 color mode with 256 Color Palette set to On, this control can be used to select VGA Standard dithering. This is a slower technique that may result in more attractive colors.


	DeskScape Control Panel

When you have selected a Desktop Size in the Advanced Panel larger than your Screen Resolution, the DeskScape feature is enabled.  To see portions of the DeskScape not visible on the screen, you can pan the screen side-to-side or up-and-down by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen in the direction you wish to move.

The DeskScape panel allows you to set up key sequences to control DeskScape panning, and also allows a zoom feature not accessible with the mouse.  Once you have set up keystrokes to perform Zoom In and Zoom Out, you can zoom at any time (for example, to get a larger view of the desktop when running multiple applications, or to get a closer look at text or images for easier reading).

NOTE: The panning and zooming functions are active only when Windows applications are active. While in a windowed DOS Box, the keystrokes are passed to the DOS application instead, for compatibility.

See also:

DeskScape Function Boxes


DeskScan Panel: Function Boxes
DeskScape Panel: Function Boxes

Type into each box a description of the key sequence desired to activate the function.  The functions available are:

Pan Left	Move the screen left

Pan Right	Move the screen right

Pan Up	Move the screen up

Pan Down	Move the screen down

ZoomIn	Zoom in (make the screen image larger)

ZoomOut	Zoom out (make more of the screen visible)

Click the Defaults button to reset all function assignments to standard defaults.

We recommend that you assign all desired functions before choosing OK.  An easy way to do this is to click the Defaults button, then modify the function assignments as required.

The new function assignments take effect right away (before closing the FlexDesk Control Panel).


DeskScan Panel: Key Sequences
DeskScape Panel: Key Sequences

A key sequence is described by typing in Ctrl and/or Alt, the key name, and optionally Shift.  For example, to assign ZoomIn to Ctrl+Shift+Home, type Ctrl+Shift+Home in the Zoom In box.

The allowable key names are:

Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow, Down Arrow

(the word 'Arrow' may be omitted)

Home, End

F1 through F24

A through Z, 0 through 9

Space, Del

You must use at least one of Ctrl or Alt in your key sequences.  You should try to use key combinations that are not used in the applications you use.

Note that the order of entry of Ctrl, Alt, Shift and the key name is unimportant; that spaces may be used instead of plus signs; and that only as much of a word as is necessary to recognize it need be entered.  For example, to assign Pan Right to Alt+Right Arrow you could enter 'ri al' in the Pan Right box.


FlexDesk Crystal Tune Panel

Crystal Fonts are anti-aliased fonts.  The Crystal Fonts feature is available in 256 color mode only. If you have ATI GSFONTS, these fonts are used.  If GSFONTS are not available, Crystal Fonts will work with any TrueType fonts that you have installed on your system.

Note that Crystal Fonts is available only when 256 color mode is selected in the Main Panel.

Crystal

Activates the Crystal Fonts feature. If your application has compatibility problems with Crystal Fonts, then turn this feature off.

Character Contrast

When Crystal Fonts is active, this slider can be used to adjust the darkness of the characters.


	Video Color Controls Panel

When you press the Video button on the Main Panel, one of three things will happen:

1)	A message box will appear informing you that Microsoft Video for Windows has not been installed, or,

2)	A message box will appear informing you that the Motion Video Acceleration Driver(MVA) has not been installed, or,

3)	A dialog box will appear, informing you whether or not the mode currently selected in the FlexDesk Control Panel is a mode for which video acceleration is supported.  This dialog also contains 3 buttons:

Cancel - to return to the Main Panel

Configure - to bring up the Motion Video Acceleration Control Panel

Help - to display help on the modes in which video acceleration is supported

Note that video acceleration support is affected by Color Depth and Desktop Size selections.

See Motion Video Acceleration Control Panel  for more information.


	VESA Display Power Management (DPMS)

If you have a VESA DPMS-compliant monitor, you can use the DPMS feature to provide auto-shutdown of your monitor, in three separate stages, to reduce power consumption.  Auto-shutdown only occurs after definable periods of keyboard and mouse inactivity.  Moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard (even the Ctrl, Alt, or Shift keys) turns the monitor back on.

The three shutdown stages are Standby, Suspend, and Off.  Each monitor manufacturer defines the meaning of these states for its monitors.  For example, a flat panel display might turn off its backlight in Standby mode.  However, in all cases it will be true that power consumption decreases in each state, from normal 'on', through Standby, Suspend, and finally the Off state, where power consumption is minimal.  See your monitor's manual for full details.

See also:

DPMS Setup


DPMS Setup

To set up your DPMS parameters, go to the DPMS Panel.  This may be accessed from the Features sub-menu of the Main Panel, or via the DPMS button in the Advanced Panel.

NOTE: In some configurations, the DPMS sub-menu and button will not be present.

Enter time values into the Standby, Suspend, and Off boxes (or use the Defaults button to reset to standard defaults).  The time values represent the duration of inactivity before each stage is entered.  For example, assume the following settings:

Standby	15

Suspend	30

Off	60

The monitor will be placed into Standby mode after 15 minutes of inactivity; into Suspend mode after 30 minutes of inactivity; and into Off mode after 60 minutes of inactivity.

DPMS can be disabled by leaving the DPMS Enabled box un-checked.  You may want to turn DPMS off during lengthy presentation playbacks where you will not be using the mouse or keyboard for some time.  Remember to re-enable DPMS afterwards.

If you omit a time from any of the boxes, that mode will never be entered.  Leaving all boxes blank is the same as leaving the DPMS Enabled box un-checked.

When you confirm the DPMS Panel with the OK button, the new settings take effect right away (even before closing the FlexDesk Control Panel).

NOTE: Your Windows DPMS settings will not be effective while you are in a full-screen DOS box.  As well, certain DPMS configurations may not allow arbitrary time values for the DPMS settings.  In these cases, your entered values will be rounded up to the nearest acceptable value.


	Motion Video Acceleration Control Panel

This panel will only appear if MVA drivers are installed.  To learn more, click on the part of the panel you want information on, or see: Introduction.


General Color Control

Use these sliders to adjust the video window display.  For more information, see General Color Control.


Video Display Window

As you adjust the display, this window will change to reflect the adjustments.


Control Panel Buttons

Use these buttons to exit the panel and save your work.  For more information, see Control Panel Buttons .


Interpolation Control

Check these buttons to enhance the display of video images.  For more information see Color Interpolation


Motion Video Acceleration Introduction
	Introduction
If Motion Video Acceleration (MVA) drivers are installed for playing video clips, the Video... button will appear in the Desktop.  Using this control panel, you can adjust the general color control parameters.

Adjusting these parameters will change the display characteristics of the video window.  As you change the settings, the Gray Scale and color bars will change dynamically to reflect the new values.

See also:

Optimal Settings

Performance

Playing Video Clips

Moving and Sizing Playback Windows


Motion Video Acceleration - General Color Control
	General Color Control
The General Color Controls adjust the way that movie files are manipulated when being played on your computer monitor.  You can adjust color in much the same way you would a television set.

The slider controls can be adjusted over a range of 0% to 200% of the value.  100% is the normal "factory" setting, 0% is none, and 200% is as much as the hardware can provide.

Color

Moving the slider to the left/right will decrease/increase the color saturation respectively.

Brightness

Moving the slider to the left/right will decrease/increase the brightness respectively.

Contrast

Moving the slider to the left/right will decrease/increase the contrast respectively.

Tint

Moving this slider to the left will increase the red and decrease the green color in the display.  Moving the slider to the right has the opposite effect.


Motion Video Acceleration - Optimal Settings
	Optimal Settings
Accelerated video clip playback is not supported in all display modes. The performance of video playback will vary depending on a variety of factors including resolution, color depth, image size, CPU and bus type.

For best performance, you should set the screen size identical to the desktop and select a 65,000-color mode.


Motion Video Acceleration - Performance
	Performance
Video is very data-intensive. For this reason, there are a number of factors which will negatively impact playback performance, including the type of compression used. RLE and Video 1 are manageable with most 386 or higher systems; Indeo supports additional color depth, and is best run on faster 486 (or Pentium) systems.

MVA becomes evident when the video window is stretched, more so at 3x or 4x zoom, with Skip Video Frames if Behind disabled.


Motion Video Acceleration - Playing Video Clips
	Playing Video Clips
Use the Microsoft Windows Media Player to play or insert video clips (i.e., files with the .AVI filename extension) into various documents. For details, refer to the Media Player on-line Help and the Microsoft Windows 3.1 Users Guide.


Motion Video Acceleration - Moving and Sizing Playback Windows
	Moving and Sizing Playback Windows
The video clip window can be sized using <Ctrl> and number keys 1 through 4, providing 1x through 4x zoom respectively. The 4x zoom is not recommended for video clips captured at 320x240 native size.

To move a playback window, select the Move command from the system menu, or select its title bar and drag it to a new location.


MVA - Control Panel Buttons
	Control Panel Buttons
These buttons let you exit the panel, and implement your changes.

OK

Accepts any changes to the settings, and exits. When you press OK on the MVA Control Panel, the changes are saved to SYSTEM.INI, and also to the settings file (if any) you were editing.

Cancel

Exits without saving changes.

Defaults

Selects default settings. This provides a convenient way to return to factory settings.

Help

Brings up the MVA Control Panel help.


	Color Interpolation

Color Interpolation enhances the display of video clips by eliminating color distortions.  When this control is active, adjacent pixels are blended together to make the transition between colors appear smoother.

Note: Color interpolation will only work when Color Depth is set to 65K colors or more..

Vertical Interpolation:

When this control is active pixels are blended vertically.  This type of interpolation has the least effect on playback time.

Horizontal Interpolation:

When this control is active, pixels are blended horizontally.

If you're not worried about slowing down playback, activate both Horizontal and Vertical interpolation.  However, if you require a faster playback Vertical interpolation alone should produce satisfactory results.


	Glossary

C

Color Depth

Command Line

CTRL+Drag

D

Desktop / DeskScape

Display Memory

Dithering

DPMS

G

Graphics Card

H

Hot Keys

I

INSTALL Program

K

K

KB

Key Sequence

L

Logical Dots Per Inch (LDPI)

M

M

MB

Motion Video Acceleration Driver

P

Palette

Pan

Pixel

R

RGB Mode

S

Screen Resolution

Settings Files

Switches

SYSTEM.INI

T

Time Values

V

VESA

W

Windows Restart

Z

Zoom


Color Depth
Color Depth / bpp

The number of colors that are available, or color depth, is determined by the number of bits associated with each pixel to represent its color. This is specified as the bits per pixel, or 'bpp' setting. Common values are:

4 bpp	gives 16 colors
8 bpp	gives 256 colors
16 bpp	gives 65K  colors
24 bpp	gives 16.7M  colors.


Command Line

Every program run under Windows has a 'command line'.  This consists of the full pathname of the program to be run, plus any parameters, such as the filename to edit, or any switches that the program understands.


CTRL+ Drag

This is a technique in Program Manager in which a program icon can be copied to make a new program icon.  Press the Ctrl key, then drag (click and hold) the icon to the desired new location, then release the mouse button.  The new icon will initially have all the same properties as the original icon.


Desktop / Virtual Desktop
Desktop / DeskScape

The Windows work area is known as the Desktop.  When the Desktop is larger than the Screen Resolution , it is known as the DeskScape.  With DeskScape, only a portion of the Desktop is visible on the screen at one time.


Display Memory

The memory on your graphics card.  You may have 512K, 1MB or 2MB of display memory.


Dithering

This is a technique in which colors that cannot be displayed exactly are simulated by patterned mixtures of other colors.


DPMS

Display Power Management Signaling - an industry standard for reduction of energy usage by video monitors.


Dynamic / Dynamically Switching

The process of changing settings, such as Screen Size (i.e. resolution) or Colors, without needing to Restart Windows.


Graphics Card

The card (or 'board') within your computer that controls your monitor.  Different cards have different capabilities.  Graphics accelerators specialize in speeding up graphical environments, such as Windows.


Hot Key

In the mach32 DeskScape utility, an alphanumeric key used in conjunction with <Alt>, <Ctrl> or <Shift> to perform some user-defined action.

Usually used to provide a quick means of performing a common function that would otherwise require an inconvenient combination of menu/dialog actions.


INSTALL Program

The mach32 INSTALL Program is included on Disk #1 of your mach64 installation disks.  Use INSTALL to perform the following tasks:

Install mach32 Utilities (including the INSTALL Program) onto your hard disk

Set monitor type and hardware parameters for optimized performance

Run diagnostics on your mach32 graphics card

Install enhanced display drivers

For more information on the INSTALL Program, refer to your mach32 User's Guide.


K

K = thousand


KB

KB = kilobyte (1,024 bytes)


Key Sequence

A set of one or more keys that are to be pressed at the same time to activate a function.  The special keys Ctrl, Alt, and Shift may be combined with any of Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Home, End, F1 through F24, A through Z, 0 through 9, Space, or Del to define a key sequence.


Logical Dots Per Inch (LDPI)

Applications use Logical Dots Per Inch to calculate the size of objects that must be an exact physical size on the display.  For example, if an application needs to display a box one inch high, and the Logical Dots Per Inch is 120, then the box is drawn 120 pixel high.


M

M = million


MB

MB = megabyte ( 1,048,576 bytes)


Motion Video Acceleration Driver

A component of the mach32 Graphics Accelerator that accelerates Microsoft Video for Windows playback.


Palette

In 256 color mode, a 'palette' is required to define the actual color that appears on screen for each of the 256 possible pixel bit combinations.  Some applications require the ability to change the entries in the palette, for example to display realistic images.


Pan

The Pan feature is enabled only with the DeskScape .  To view portions of the DeskScape not visible on the screen, you 'pan' them into view by moving the cursor to the edge of the screen in the direction you wish to view.  Keyboard keys may also be assigned to the functions of panning left, right, up, and down.


Pixel

A pixel is one 'dot' on your display.  Each pixel can be a different color - the number of possible colors is determined by color depth.


RGB Mode

When in 65K color mode, colors are represented by 16 bits per pixel .  RGB Mode refers to the allotment of these 16 bits to each of the three colors: red, green, and blue.  The notation used is a number in the form R/G/B, where R represents the number of bits for red; G the number of bits for green; and B the number of bits of blue.


Screen Resolution

Screen Resolution is the number of pixels displayed on your screen, expressed as a number in the form WxH, where W is the number of pixels displayed horizontally (width) and H is the number of pixels displayed vertically (height).  Typical screen resolutions include 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1280x1024.


Settings Files

Settings files allow you to save and re-call FlexDesk+ Control Panel settings.  Settings files require a '.FLX' file extension.


Switches

Some programs accept command line parameters known as switches, which usually start with '/' or '-'.


SYSTEM.INI

The Windows system initialization file (usually in \WINDOWS).  The [Macx] section of SYSTEM.INI contains the FlexDesk+ settings.


Time Values

Time values are entered in minutes (e.g. 5 for five minutes) or minutes and seconds (e.g. 2:30 for two and a half minutes).


VESA

Video Electronics Standards Association - developers of the DPMS standard.


Windows Restart

Restarting Windows means that all applications will be closed, Windows will go away and then automatically come back.  If there are unsaved changes in any of the applications that you currently have open, the applications will prompt you as to whether you want to save the changes.  If you cancel any of these prompts, Windows will not be restarted.

To ensure your color selections are take effect, you should manually close all open applications before restarting Windows.


Zoom

The Zoom feature allows dynamic changes to screen resolution, so that you can see more or less of the Desktop  on the screen at one time.  When Zoomed Out, you can see more of the DeskScape, so characters appear smaller.  When Zoomed In, you see less of the DeskScape, but the characters appear larger.


Contents
	mach32 Graphics Accelerator Help

Welcome to the mach32 Flexdesk help system.  The FlexDesk panel lets you set the Screen Resolution and Color Depth.  As well, other panels can be accessed from the main panel to control Advanced Features, DeskScape, Video Acceleration, and Display Power Management.

See Also:

 	Advanced Settings Control Panel

 	DeskScape Control Panel

 	Video Color Control Panel


Menu Bar

This bar provides access to the commands available on the FlexDesk.  See Main Menu for more information.


Screen Resolution

These settings let you set the Screen Resolution to either, 640x480, 800x600 1024x768 or 1280x1024.  The Desktop Size is automatically adjusted to be at least as large as your selected Screen Resolution.

Note: Not all combinations of Screen Resolution and Color Depth are possible.  See Available Modes for more information.


Color Depth

You can select Color Depths of 16 colors, 256 colors, 65K colors, or 16.7M colors.  These determine the number of colors that may be simultaneously displayed on your screen.

Note: Not all combinations of Screen Resolution and Color Depth are possible.  See Available Modes for more information.


Advanced Settings

This button access the Advanced Settings control panel, which lets you control the font size, color palette used and desktop size.  As well the panel lets you set up a the DPMS setting for your monitor.  See Advanced Settings for more information.


Video Color Control

This button accesses the Video Color Control panel.  The panel lets you adjust the color, tint and contrast of any video displayed on your system.  See General Color Control for more information.


Deskscan
DeskScape

This button accesses the DeskScape Control Panel, which lets you setup keys to control panning.  See DeskScape Control Panel for more information.


Ok

Accepts any changes to the settings, and exits. When you press OK on the main panel, the changes are saved to SYSTEM.INI, and also to the settings file (if any) you were editing.

If the changes require a restart of Windows, another dialog will be displayed allowing you to restart Windowsnow, or continue in the current session.  Note, however, that the changes have already been saved, and will be in effect the next time you start Windows.


Concel
Cancel

Exits without saving changes.


Defaults

Selects default settings. This provides a convenient way to return to factory settings.


Help

Brings up the FlexDesk Control Panel help index.


Available Modes

Screen Resolution and Color Depth are limited by the amount of display memory on your graphics card.  The higher the Screen Resolution, the fewer Color Depths are available, and vice-versa.

Screen resolutions will appear grayed out if they are unavailable.  This may be due to insufficient memory (see table below) or non-installed modes.  To correct the latter situation, run the Mach Install program to install the required modes.

The following table shows the availability of modes according to the display memory on your graphics card.

2MB Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	16 / 256

1024 x 768	16 / 256 / 65K

800 x 600	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

640 x 480	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

1MB Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	16

1024 x 768	16 / 256

800 x 600	16 / 256 / 65K

640 x 480	16 / 256 / 65K / 16.7M

512KB  Display Memory

Resolution	Colors

1280 x 1024	Not available

1024 x 768	16

800 x 600	16 / 256

640 x 480	16 / 256

See Also:

Command Line Switches


	Main Menu

The Main Panel menu contains File, Features, and Help sub-menus.

The File sub-menu contains Open, Save, and Save As menu items.  These selections are used in the same way as in other Windows applications, but in this case, the files you create and edit are settings files.

The File Exit menu item is the same as the OK button.

The Features sub-menu allows access to features that are also available from buttons on the Main Panel and Advanced Panel.

The Help sub-menu allows access to help for the FlexDesk Control Panel and the Motion Video Acceleration Driver.  It also gives access to the 'About box', which displays product version information.

See also:

Working With Settings Files


Working With Settings Files

Settings files are used to save a particular set of options for quick recall.  For example, if your favorite image editor works best in 16M color mode, but you usually work in 256 color mode, you could save your setttings in two files: NORMAL.FLX, and IMAGE.FLX.  To switch between settings, you would open the FlexDesk Control Panel, use File Open to retrieve NORMAL.FLX or IMAGE.FLX, and then click the OK button.  The changes would then take effect.

The DEFAULT.FLX setting file, contains all the default settings for the FlexDesk.  Load this file when you wish to reset the FlexDesk to its factory settings.

Note: When you have no settings file opened explicitly, you are actually editing the settings in your SYSTEM INI.  as well, the Open, Save, and Save As items are unavailable in Windows 3.0.

See also:

Command Line Switches


Command Line Switches

There are two switches you can add to the FlexDesk Control Panel command line. The "/restart" switch instructs the FlexDesk Control Panel that you wish to restart Windows after loading the settings from the settings file (if given).  You will receive a warning message that Windows is about to be restarted, which you can cancel.  If you don't want the warning message, you can also add the "/nowarning" switch.  Thus, the fastest way to switch settings would be the following command line:

C:\WINDOWS\MXXPANEL.EXE   MYSETUP.FLX  /restart  /nowarning

This will load the MYSETUP.FLX settings and immediately restart Windows.  You will still receive warning messages from any applications that have unsaved changes.


Advanced Panel
	FlexDesk Advanced Settings Panel

The Advanced Settings Panel controls the advanced and maintenance features of FlexDesk.  Note that some features and options may be unavailable (displayed grayed out), depending on the Screen Resolution and Color Depth selected in the Main Panel, or the combination of settings selected in the Advanced Panel.  To find out more about the Advanced panel, click on the graphic below:


DPMS Control Panel

This button accesses the DPMS Control Panel.  See DPMS for more information on this panel.


Advanced Panel: Desktop
Desktop Settings

Use this to control the size of the Windows Desktop (working area). It can be the same as the current Screen Resolution, or larger. If the Desktop is larger than the Screen Resolution, the DeskScape feature is enabled, which enables you to pan around the desktop by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen.

See also:

DeskScape Panel


Advanced Panel: 16 BPP RGB Mode
16 BPP RGB Mode Settings

RGB Mode is only available when you select 65K colors in the Colors group of the main control panel.  You can choose 5/5/5, or 5/6/5. If a particular mode is not allowed by your graphics card, it will be grayed out.

5/6/5 is the standard mode, suitable for most applications.

5/5/5 mode is provided for compatibility with 32K color VGA cards.


Advanced Panel: Environment
Environment

Use this to specify your display's Logical Dots Per Inch (LDPI).  The available settings are Small Font (96 LDPI, VGA Standard), Large Font (120 LDPI, 8514/A Standard), and DTP for Desktop Publishing (128 LDPI).  In general, use Small Font for 640x480 and 800x600 resolutions, and Large Font for all other resolutions.

You may wish to change this setting in certain situations, since by adjusting this setting, you can make screen objects (such as text) appear larger or smaller than their actual physical size.

For example, if you find small fonts difficult to read, use Large Font or DTP settings, even at lower screen resolutions.  Or, if you need to see more text on the screen at one time, use Small Font even at high resolutions.  But be aware that fonts will not be displayed actual size when you are not using a setting that corresponds to the display's LDPI.


Advanced Panel: 256 Color Palette
256 Color Palette

This option is only available when you select 256 color mode from the main panel. When set to Off, the hardware color palette is fixed. When set to On, the palette can be modified by application programs. Most 256 color drivers allow palette modification (On). This allows palette cycling and optimization to occur. With 256 Color Palette set Off, no color shifts will occur on the screen when multiple 256 color images are being displayed.


Advanced Panel: Dithering

The Mach driver normally uses an optimized dithering technique when running in 16 and 256 color modes. However, the technique used may result in some unattractive colors. When using 256 color mode with 256 Color Palette set to On, this control can be used to select VGA Standard dithering. This is a slower technique that may result in more attractive colors.


	DeskScape Control Panel

When you have selected a Desktop Size in the Advanced Panel larger than your Screen Resolution, the DeskScape feature is enabled.  To see portions of the DeskScape not visible on the screen, you can pan the screen side-to-side or up-and-down by moving the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen in the direction you wish to move.

The DeskScape panel allows you to set up key sequences to control DeskScape panning, and also allows a zoom feature not accessible with the mouse.  Once you have set up keystrokes to perform Zoom In and Zoom Out, you can zoom at any time (for example, to get a larger view of the desktop when running multiple applications, or to get a closer look at text or images for easier reading).

NOTE: The panning and zooming functions are active only when Windows applications are active. While in a windowed DOS Box, the keystrokes are passed to the DOS application instead, for compatibility.

See also:

DeskScape Function Boxes


DeskScan Panel: Function Boxes
DeskScape Panel: Function Boxes

Type into each box a description of the key sequence desired to activate the function.  The functions available are:

Pan Left	Move the screen left

Pan Right	Move the screen right

Pan Up	Move the screen up

Pan Down	Move the screen down

ZoomIn	Zoom in (make the screen image larger)

ZoomOut	Zoom out (make more of the screen visible)

Click the Defaults button to reset all function assignments to standard defaults.

We recommend that you assign all desired functions before choosing OK.  An easy way to do this is to click the Defaults button, then modify the function assignments as required.

The new function assignments take effect right away (before closing the FlexDesk Control Panel).


DeskScan Panel: Key Sequences
DeskScape Panel: Key Sequences

A key sequence is described by typing in Ctrl and/or Alt, the key name, and optionally Shift.  For example, to assign ZoomIn to Ctrl+Shift+Home, type Ctrl+Shift+Home in the Zoom In box.

The allowable key names are:

Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Up Arrow, Down Arrow

(the word 'Arrow' may be omitted)

Home, End

F1 through F24

A through Z, 0 through 9

Space, Del

You must use at least one of Ctrl or Alt in your key sequences.  You should try to use key combinations that are not used in the applications you use.

Note that the order of entry of Ctrl, Alt, Shift and the key name is unimportant; that spaces may be used instead of plus signs; and that only as much of a word as is necessary to recognize it need be entered.  For example, to assign Pan Right to Alt+Right Arrow you could enter 'ri al' in the Pan Right box.


FlexDesk Crystal Tune Panel

Crystal Fonts are anti-aliased fonts.  The Crystal Fonts feature is available in 256 color mode only. If you have ATI GSFONTS, these fonts are used.  If GSFONTS are not available, Crystal Fonts will work with any TrueType fonts that you have installed on your system.

Note that Crystal Fonts is available only when 256 color mode is selected in the Main Panel.

Crystal

Activates the Crystal Fonts feature. If your application has compatibility problems with Crystal Fonts, then turn this feature off.

Character Contrast

When Crystal Fonts is active, this slider can be used to adjust the darkness of the characters.


	Video Color Controls Panel

When you press the Video button on the Main Panel, one of three things will happen:

1)	A message box will appear informing you that Microsoft Video for Windows has not been installed, or,

2)	A message box will appear informing you that the Motion Video Acceleration Driver(MVA) has not been installed, or,

3)	A dialog box will appear, informing you whether or not the mode currently selected in the FlexDesk Control Panel is a mode for which video acceleration is supported.  This dialog also contains 3 buttons:

Cancel - to return to the Main Panel

Configure - to bring up the Motion Video Acceleration Control Panel

Help - to display help on the modes in which video acceleration is supported

Note that video acceleration support is affected by Color Depth and Desktop Size selections.

See Motion Video Acceleration Control Panel  for more information.


	VESA Display Power Management (DPMS)

If you have a VESA DPMS-compliant monitor, you can use the DPMS feature to provide auto-shutdown of your monitor, in three separate stages, to reduce power consumption.  Auto-shutdown only occurs after definable periods of keyboard and mouse inactivity.  Moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard (even the Ctrl, Alt, or Shift keys) turns the monitor back on.

The three shutdown stages are Standby, Suspend, and Off.  Each monitor manufacturer defines the meaning of these states for its monitors.  For example, a flat panel display might turn off its backlight in Standby mode.  However, in all cases it will be true that power consumption decreases in each state, from normal 'on', through Standby, Suspend, and finally the Off state, where power consumption is minimal.  See your monitor's manual for full details.

See also:

DPMS Setup


DPMS Setup

To set up your DPMS parameters, go to the DPMS Panel.  This may be accessed from the Features sub-menu of the Main Panel, or via the DPMS button in the Advanced Panel.

NOTE: In some configurations, the DPMS sub-menu and button will not be present.

Enter time values into the Standby, Suspend, and Off boxes (or use the Defaults button to reset to standard defaults).  The time values represent the duration of inactivity before each stage is entered.  For example, assume the following settings:

Standby	15

Suspend	30

Off	60

The monitor will be placed into Standby mode after 15 minutes of inactivity; into Suspend mode after 30 minutes of inactivity; and into Off mode after 60 minutes of inactivity.

DPMS can be disabled by leaving the DPMS Enabled box un-checked.  You may want to turn DPMS off during lengthy presentation playbacks where you will not be using the mouse or keyboard for some time.  Remember to re-enable DPMS afterwards.

If you omit a time from any of the boxes, that mode will never be entered.  Leaving all boxes blank is the same as leaving the DPMS Enabled box un-checked.

When you confirm the DPMS Panel with the OK button, the new settings take effect right away (even before closing the FlexDesk Control Panel).

NOTE: Your Windows DPMS settings will not be effective while you are in a full-screen DOS box.  As well, certain DPMS configurations may not allow arbitrary time values for the DPMS settings.  In these cases, your entered values will be rounded up to the nearest acceptable value.