OS/2 Professional/OS2PRO194.ISO/os2/wps/utils/pc2/pc2.hlp

OS/2 Help File | 1993-05-31 | 34.6 KB | 766 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. PC/2 Help for Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

                     PC/2 - Program Commander/2 Version 1.50
                      for IBM OS/2 2.x Presentation Manager
                     Copyright (C) by Stangl Roman 05, 1993

Please select one of the following topics for further information:

o About the utility PC/2
o Installing PC/2
o Using PC/2 as a WPS addon
o Concepts of the Popup-Menu
o Starting a Program from PC/2
o Setup the Popup-Menu

   - Adding a Submenu
   - Adding a Program
   - Resorting a (Sub)menu
   - Run-time parameters

o Setup the Desktop
o Error messages

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Help for About PC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

                     PC/2 - Program Commander/2 Version 1.50
                      for IBM OS/2 2.x Presentation Manager
                     Copyright (C) by Stangl Roman 05, 1993

                     University for Business Administration
                         and Management Vienna, Austria
                          (WirtschaftsuniversitДt Wien)

E-Mail:

o [e-mail]
o Roman Stangl @ IBM Austria National Support BBS ((0043) 0222 21145 6600)
o Roman Stangl on LA BAMBA BBS ((0043) 0222 688971) (You may try to mail me on
  this BBS at 2:310/[e-mail] but I don't know if and how it works.)

This program is classified as Freeware. Under the copyright, you are allowed
and encouraged to freely use, distribute or modify this program under the
following conditions:

o The complete source code and all executables are included. This rule also
  applies for any modifications you made.
o You may only charge for the costs of duplicating.
o Any commercial use is prohibited without contacting me prior, except for
  incorporating the idea/code in any future release of OS/2 by IBM, however
  this clause doesn't apply for any private use.
o You don't want to port this utility to MS Windows or Windows NT (never
  there).

You are encouraged to upload this utility to your favourite file-server or BBS.
Please ensure that no file is missing, if you change the archive to a different
compression scheme.

If you find this program useful and want to honor the seven weeks of work
writing this utility, you are welcome to send me a small fee of about 50 to 150
Austrian Schilling (about 5 to 15 dollar) to my home address. Of course you
don't need to pay again, if a new release of PC/2 comes out. Please send any
donations in cash, because it makes some troubles to exchange money orders or
similar in Austria!

Any suggestions are of course welcome too. I try my best to follow discussion
of PC/2 on Internet NetNews and Fidonet OS/2 conferences. Thanks to all those,
who sent me proposals and bug reports to improve this utility!

Thanks to Mario Semo, Carrick von Schoultz and Markus Hof, Roman Fischer who
gave me advices and/or source code to modify for use within PC/2.

My home address is:

  Roman Stangl
  Strebersdorferstrasse 46
  2103  Langenzersdorf, Austria

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Installing PC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

You have obviously started PC/2 once, because you are reading this help panel.
The installation is just straight forward with the REXX script that installs
PC/2, however there are some points to notice:

o The installation installed an icon on the Desktop and started the help panels
  of PC/2. To ensure that OS/2 starts PC/2 automatically the next time you boot
  your system, you must start PC/2 again (you then can notice that the
  background behind the icon changes). If you have added SET
  RESTARTOBJECTS=STARTUPFOLDERSONLY in your CONFIG.SYS then you must also add a
  shadow of PC/2 to your startup folder to ensure PC/2 is started the next time
  you boot OS/2.

o PC/2 requires the file PC2HOOK.DLL to be accessible. PC/2 tries to find this
  file either in the directory, where PC/2 was started from, or in a path that
  is included in the environment variable LIBPATH. PC/2 will issue an error
  message, if it can't find it. The file PC2.HLP may be either accessible in
  the directory, where PC/2 is started from, or in a path that is included in
  the environment variable HELP. If you have problems running PC/2, ensure,
  that the working directory of PC/2 is accessible by these variables in your
  CONFIG.SYS.

o The installation assumes that you are using the default profile Pc2.cfg
  containing a standart pre-defined Popup-Menu. If you want to use an other
  Popup-Menu, you have to open the Settings of PC/2 and add your preferred
  profile in the Parameters entryfield. Please click for the next help panel to
  see the syntax of the command-line parameters of PC/2. This command-line
  parameters then must be added to the Parameters entryfield.

o You can only run one copy of PC/2 concurrently.

o If you select a DOS-Program to be started via PC/2, the time-slice of their
  sessions is optimized (the DOS-Settings are modified to IDLE_SECONDS=5
  IDLE_SENSITIVITY=100) to get a better performance. This is useful for most
  DOS games.

o You may use PC/2 with or without the WPS installed, you may even use PC/2 as
  a replacement for the WPS. To do so you must install PC/2 first. Then you
  have to ensure that PC2HOOK.DLL is accessible by PC/2. PC/2 tries to find
  this file in the directory where PC/2 is started from or in a path pointed to
  by the LIBPATH environment variable in your CONFIG.SYS. You also have to
  ensure that PC2.HLP is accessible in the PC/2 directory or in a path pointed
  to by the HELP environment variable in your CONFIG.SYS file. The default
  access ".;" is not sufficient. Then replace the statement SET
  RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE with SET RUNWORKPLACE=[path]PC2.EXE where
  [path] is the pathname of the directory you installed PC/2. The next time you
  boot, PC/2 will be started as a replacement for the WPS. Be carefull, OS/2
  seems to dislike any parameters added to the program that is started as the
  WPS!

  Caution! PC/2 was not tested on all OS/2 versions or installed software and
  hardware (simply because I don't have them), so there may be bugs!. Of course
  you can start the WPS from a command prompt by typing START PMSHELL or add a
  corresponding entry to PC/2.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. General Help for PC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

PC/2 - Program Commander is an addon for the WPS (Workplace Shell). The user
can configure a menu that pops up, when the left mouse button is clicked
anywhere on the Desktop. F.e. the Popup-Menu might look like:

You have selected the item Prompts, which is a Submenu containing four more
items. F.e. the item OS/2 Window starts a windowed OS/2 command prompt, when
selected. This Popup-Menu is fully configurable, you may add, change or remove
items. An item can either be a Submenu containing more items, or the name of a
program.

Only the first Submenu PC/2 Setup cannot be modified. This Submenu is used to
setup PC/2 and to get help.

Your configuration is read from the default profile Pc2.cfg each time PC/2 is
started and saved every time you made changes. You can of course overwrite the
default configuration filename to a file named Filename.ext by invoking PC/2
with the following commandline option:

PC2 [-Profile Filename.ext] or

PC2 [/Profile Filename.ext]

where Filename.ext conforms to a filename of a PC/2 profile. Both FAT and HPFS
filename naming convention is accepted. A few sample configuration files are
provided in this package.

As the default, the Popup-Menu appears if you double-click once on the Desktop,
if no option or the following option is specified:

PC2 [-DoubleClick] or

PC2 [/DoubleClick]

You may select a single-click instead, by invoking PC/2 with the following
commandline option:

PC2 [-SingleClick] or

PC2 [/SingleClick]

Please be sure not to combine both click behavior options. Of course the
options changing the click behavior and the configuration filename options may
be combined.

Because some people use PC/2 as a WPS replacement, PC/2 contains a Menuitem to
ShutDown OS/2. By selecting this entry, it is safe to power off your PS/2 or PC
after all disk activity has been stopped, although no windows are closed. If
you run PC/2 as a WPS replacement and may want to start the WPS either by
starting PMSHELL.EXE from a command prompt or by starting a PMSHELL Menuitem
with PC/2. You then can follow the WPS initialization by heavy disk access and
buildup of your Desktop with objects. PC/2 requires to know the Desktop (in
technical terms the window handle of the Desktop) to be able to catch mouse
button 1 clicks. If you start the WPS the Desktop changes too. Therefor PC/2
checks regularily (about every 2.5 seconds) if the Desktop has changed, so you
may have to wait a little bit, after the WPS was started, that PC/2 recognizes
mouse clicks again..

I would strongly recommend to start PC/2 during OS/2 boot. If you don't want to
use the default profile, don't forget to add /Profile Filename.exe to the
Parameters entryfield in the Settings of PC/2.

The reason why I wrote this utility was primarily, that many programs installed
on a system require many folders and icons on the Desktop. But to start a
program, I don't want to open and close folders, so I made shadows on the
Desktop messing it up. The solution I prefer is to click on the Desktop,
getting immediately a menu and selecting the application from this menu. So
PC/2 may help you to start your programs quickly, without needing to open and
close folders.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Concepts of PC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The basic idea behind PC/2 is to have an configurable Popup-Menu available, to
start programs quicky, without having to open and close folders.

The Popup-Menu, popped up when you click the left mouse button anywhere on the
Desktop (just like the right one for shutdown), consists of so-called items. An
item may be a Submenu, which contains further items, or the title of an
Application. A Submenu contains a little arrow right beside the title of the
Submenu.

You can imagine this Popup-Menu as a tree, with applications as leaves and
Submenus as nodes. PC/2 allows you to freely build your own tree. To do so you
have to click on the Desktop with the left mouse button and to select PC/2
Setup  Configure PC/2. A dialog box appears, where you can add, modify or
remove Submenus and Applications. The listbox displays all Submenus and
Applications of one level (like a cut through the tree). Of course you may
change this level up and down.

Once you have configured your tree of Submenus and Applications, just press Ok
to take them into effect and save them to the profile or Cancel to take them
into effect without saving.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Help for starting a program via PC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

After you have configured the PC/2 Popup-Menu, you click on the Desktop with
the left mouse button, select the Application you want to start and click on
it. The Application will be started as if you were clicking on an icon.

One advantage starting an Application this way is, that you can manipulate many
parameters on how the Application is started, one thing you can't do with many
icons. F.e. you can start it invisible (useful for a backup program), making it
only visible by selecting it from the tasklist. You may also specify the size
of the Application or to start it in the background.

You can also start WPS objects, f.e. the Drives object or the Selective
Install. If you have an WPS object, that represents a seamless WIN-OS2
application, you may even launch such a session. Be warned! - you have to
create an WPS Object with MAKEOBJ.CMD first to define an Object ID (Identifier)
with that Object, to enable PC/2 to get this ID.

To close an Application, select the corresponding option from the Application
or terminate it from the tasklist.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Help for PC/2 Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In the listbox, all Submenus and Applications of one level (imagine as a cut
through the tree) are displayed. A Submenu has an arrow right beside it. F.e.
assume the listbox contains 3 Submenus and 2 Appliations resulting in the
following Popup-Menu:

You may want to get into the Submenu Prompts. Just select the Submenu Prompts
an click on the button Level Down >>. The listbox will now be filled with all
Submenus and Applications of the Submenu Prompts. To get one level up, simply
press << Level Up. If nothing seems to change, you may be either at the highest
level (the root of the tree) or at the deapest level (a leaf of the tree) of a
Submenu.

To configure the Popup-Menu just select an item.

o To change or to remove this item use the buttons Change Entry or Remove
  Entry. Either a new dialog appears allowing you to change the item, or the
  item will be removed.
o To add a Submenu or an Application press the buttons Add Submenu or Add
  Program. A new dialog is displayed allowing you to add a new Submenu or
  Application, after pressing Ok in this dialog, the Submenu or Application
  will be inserted after the selected item, or at the end of the list if no
  item is selected.
o To resort a Submenu press the button Resort Menu. A new dialog is displayed
  allowing you to resort the currently listed Submenu. Press here to get more
  information about the Resort dialog.

If the listbox is empty, you can't remove or change anything. You also can't
select any item, but in this case you can add a Submenu or an Application by
just pressing the buttons, without needing to select an item.

Press Ok to write the configuration to the profile, or press Cancel to keep the
changes only in memory. Both buttons will dismiss the dialog.

Example 1    Example 2

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. Setup example 1 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Assume the listbox contains the following items resulting in the following
Popup-Menu:

You want to remove the Submenu Editors, rename the Submenu Tools to Utilities
and add a Submenu Demos.

 1. Select the item Editors. You can now press the button Remove Entry to
    remove the submenu, but only if this Submenu is empty. If it isn't empty,
    get into this Submenu by pression Level Down >> and remove all items.
 2. To rename Tools to Utilities select the item Tools and press the button
    Change Entry. A dialog box appears allowing you to rename this item.
 3. Select the item, after which you want to insert the new Submenu. Then press
    the button Add Submenu to add one. A dialog box appears allowing you to
    enter the title of a new Submenu.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Setup example 2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Assume that you have remove all items, leading to an empty listbox. Now you
want to add the Applications Backup and Terminal.

 1. The listbox is empty, so you can't select any item. Just press the button
    Add Program and a dialog box appears, allowing you to enter all the data
    required for the new Application.
 2. Now the listbox contains the item Backup, select it and press the button
    Add Program a second time. Again you get a dialog box, where you enter the
    data for the Application Terminal.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Help for PC/2 Menu Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog is used to get a name for a Submenu, which is then added to the
Popup-Menu. You can enter whatever you like, f.e. to make a Submenu that
contains OS/2 utilities you might enter Utilities.

If you have choosen in the previous dialog to change the name of a Submenu,
then overwrite the pre-entered text.

Press Ok to accept, or press Cancel to ignore the data you entered.

Examples

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. Menu installation examples ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Assume you have entered the following Submenu Titles:

Title                 Purpose

Prompts               You want to add a Submenu named Prompts, that contains
                      OS/2 and DOS, fullscreen and windowed command prompts.

Spreadsheets          You want to add a Submenu named Spreadsheets for your
                      spreadsheet program like Lotus 123/G or Excel.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Help for PC/2 Program Installation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog is used to get the title, the path and filename, the working
directory and parameters of a Menuitem, which is then added to the Popup-Menu.
Additionally you can fine-tune the appearance of the program you want to add to
the Popup-Menu. However the standard selections should provide a basis that is
sufficient for most applications.

Sometimes you want that you can enter a commandline parameter before an
application is started, f.e. assume that you want to be prompted for a text
file just before your text-editor is invoked. PC/2 allows you to be prompted
for commandline parameters in addition to static parameters before the
application is launched. Press on Commandline Parameters to find out more about
this feature.

The standard file dialog is opened, if you pressed File Find. Then you can
easily find the program you want to add, the data of this program are inserted
automatically. If a batch file was selected, the batch file will be inserted as
a commandline parameter of a command processor.

Alternatively PC/2 supports also Drag & Drop. You can f.e. use a Drives Object
to select one application to add to PC/2. Then drag it into a free area within
the dialog and drop it. PC/2 will insert the entryfields and application type
correspondingly.

You may also add WPS Objects, either manually or by Drag & Drop. If you insert
an WPS Object correctly (I know this is a little bit particular) you may start
your objects via the PC/2 Popup Menu. To add WPS Objects you must know the
Object ID (Identifier), either for the preinstalled Objects from OS2_20.RC or
the Object ID defined with installation of one WPS Object by MAKEOBJ.CMD.

If you have choosen in the previous dialog to change the data of a Program,
then overwrite or change the options you want.

Press Ok to accept, or press Cancel to ignore the data you entered.

For more information click on one of the following items:

o Program Data
o Program Type
o Program Style
o User defined Size & Position

Examples

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Program installation examples ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Assume you want to add Lotus 123/G:

Fieldname             You would enter

Program Title:        Lotus 123/G

Path and Filename:    c:\123g\123g.exe

Working Directory:    c:\123g

Parameters:           (none)

Lotus 123/G is a Presentation Manager application so you would select
Presentation Manager as program type. The program style may be Maximized,
because more information is visible. The priority may be left at the default
selection No Change.

Assume you want to add the WPS Object System Clock (located in the folder OS/2
System  System Setup):

Fieldname             You would enter

Program Title:        System Clock

Path and Filename:    <WP_CLOCK>

Working Directory:    (n/a)

Parameters:           (n/a)

The System Clock is a WPS Object, so WPS Object is selected as the program
type. You may have to look into the file OS2_20.RC to get the defined name of
preinstalled WPS Objects. Most settings are not available for WPS Objects.

Assume you want to add the WPS Object seamless WIN-OS2 Clock. First you must
create an WPS Object with a known Object ID (Identifier) with MAKEOBJ.CMD, a
small REXX-utility supplied with PC/2. To do so, start MAKEOBJ.CMD and supply
the Object ID <WP_WIN_CLOCK> when you're asked to. Then open the newly created
Object Settings and change them as you usually do, when you want to make an
Object for a seamless WIN-OS2 session of the WIN-OS2 clock. After you have
created the WIN-OS2 clock object, you can drag it into this dialog of PC/2:

Fieldname             You would enter

Program Title:        Clock

Path and Filename:    <WP_WIN_CLOCK>

Working Directory:    (n/a)

Parameters:           (n/a)

The seamless WIN-OS2 Clock is a WPS Object, so WPS Object is used as the
program type. Assuming that you created the seamless WIN-OS2 clock object as
outlined before, then the Object ID is <WP_WIN_CLOCK>. If you had an WPS Object
before, and you don't know the Object ID, you have to create a new one with
MAKEOBJ.CMD, to define a known Object ID.

Sorry, this may be a little complicated, but it is the only way I know to get a
known Object ID and the only way I know to start seamless WIN-OS2 sessions.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. Program Data ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

For a normal user it is the easiest way to use the following guidelines.
According to the type of application you add, some fields may not be editable
or visible:

Fieldname             You would enter

Program Title:        Here you enter the name, under which the program should
                      appear in the tasklist. For OS/2 and DOS windows, this
                      will be the title of the window. You may also name the
                      Objects here, you want to add.

Path and Filename:    Here you enter the fully qualified path and filename.
                      F.e. you might enter c:\os2\cmd.exe to obtain an OS/2
                      command prompt, or c:\os2\mdos\qbasic.exe to start the
                      basic interpreter.

                      Here you also enter the name of WPS Objects. WPS Objects
                      are referred either by their defined Object ID (Identity)
                      f.e. <WP_DRIVES> or <WP_INST> for preinstalled Objects,
                      of f.e. <WP_USER_CALC> or <WP_WIN_PBRUSH> for Objects
                      installed by the user with MAKEOBJ.CMD, a REXX-utility
                      supplied with PC/2. Preinstalled WPS Objects have usually
                      a defined name, you may need to take a look into the file
                      OS2_20.RC to get further information.

                      PC/2 can only launch WPS Objects named by their defined
                      ID, so be carefull to get either the correct ID from
                      OS2_20.RC or to define an Object with a known ID with
                      MAKEOBJ.CMD For a user installed Objects, you can freely
                      use any name, preferably a descriptive name in the form
                      <WP_xxxx>.

                      Sorry, this may be a little complicated, but it is the
                      only way I know to get a known Object ID and the only way
                      I know to start seamless WIN-OS2 sessions. You can't use
                      the Program Template to create Objects if you want them
                      to add to PC/2, because PC/2 can't obtain the Object ID
                      of such Objects.

Working Directory:    Here you enter the directory where the EXE, HLP and DLL
                      files of your application are located. Before the
                      application is started, a change drive and change
                      directory call is made, to make this directory the
                      working directory.

Parameters:           Here you enter the parameters passed to the application.
                      PC/2 allows you to be asked for commandline parameters
                      before the application is invoked. Press on Commandline
                      Parameters to find out more about this feature. Assume
                      that you want to use VIEW.EXE to view the command
                      reference, you would enter c:\os2\book\cmdref.inf.

DOS Settings:         If you select as program type a DOS Full-Screen or DOS
                      Window, a multiline entryfield is displayed where you can
                      enter the DOS Settings you need. Default, the DOS
                      Settings IDLE_SECONDS=5 and IDLE_SENSITIVITY are added if
                      you create a DOS application for the first time. (You
                      have to spell the DOS Settings exactly as they are
                      displayed in the standard DOS Settings dialog - even then
                      some can't be set for whatever reasons there are.)

File Find:            If you click on this button, the standard file dialog of
                      OS/2 is displayed where you can select the application
                      you want to install. The application parameters (f.e.
                      path) will then be inserted automatically in the
                      corresponding entryfields.

Drag & Drop:          You can alternatively use the Drag & Drop operation to
                      install one application. Select one application from f.e.
                      a Drives object or from a filemanager, drag it into the
                      dialog to any area that accepts it and drop it. The
                      settings will be adjusted according to the application
                      you dragged into. You may also drag any WPS Object into
                      this dialog, but be carefull to verify the name of the
                      Object, because I don't know how to do this automatically
                      (you may need to look into OS2_20.RC for the exact
                      spelling of preinstalled Objects.

For a power user, the data entered may be less. Because the OS/2 API
DosStartSession() is used to start the application, all rules for this API
apply as described in the toolkit. Hence you may leave the entryfield Path and
Filename blank and then select from the Program Type group an OS/2 or DOS
fullscreen or window, to get a command prompt.

You may also start an appliciation indirectly through a secondary command
processor by specifying c:\os2\cmd.exe as the Path and Filename and use then
the /C or /K option of CMD.EXE in the Parameters entryfield.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Program Type ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can select the type of application you want to add. By default, PC/2
tries to determine the type of an application you installed via the standard
file dialog or via Drag & Drop.

You generally have to verify, that the Program Type setting corresponds to the
application you installed, for most programs you can use Determined by WPS if
you aren't sure.

According to the Program Type that is selected, some settings may not be
editable or visible.

OS/2 and DOS Fullscreen or Windows are only used, if you want to start a
command prompt as the application. In this case, you usually enter in the the
entryfield Path and Filename of the group Program Data the path of the
corresponding command processor. A advanced technique to select the type of
command processor only with these radiobuttons is described under the group
Program Data.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Program Style ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

These selections should be self-explanatory, you can only change one of the
radiobuttons, but apply as many checkboxes as you want as the Program Style.
F.e. if you selected Minimized, Invisible and Background, the application will
be started minimized, in the background and invisible (this may make sense for
a backup program).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.5. User defined Size & Position ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Here you can use the checkbox to start an application with a preselected size
and position. If you select the checkbox Size, Position you will be able to
modify the size the started application should appear.

You can even specifiy postion coordinates outside your display, which may be
useful if you have the virtual Desktop feature enabled. Some applications
determine their position self, by overwriting your input with data usually read
from a profile. PC/2 can't force such applications to move to the position and
size you entered.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Help for PC/2 Resort ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This dialog box contains two listboxes, the left one that displays the
currently available Menuentries and the right one that displays the currently
resorted Menuentries. Select the first Menuentry from the left listbox and
press the Reorder button, to resort it to the right listbox. For the next
Menuentry(ies) repeat this procedure, until the left listbox is empty.

You can cancel the resort before you have done any sort, but you have to resort
the complete Submenu once you made one resort operation.

All sorted Menuentries in the right listbox can't be started with PC/2 until
you complete the resort by pressing OK. Warning! - You have to press OK in the
Confguration Dialog to write the resorted Menuentries structure to the
configuration file.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Help for PC/2 Startup Parameters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

PC/2 allows you to replace the commandline parameters of your application
completly or partly.

F.e. assume you have a TCP/IP communications package installed on your system.
You also have added an Menuitem that start a file transfer program named FTP.
FTP requires as a parameter the name of the host you want to connect to. To
prompt you for this parameter immediately before FTP is started, you would
modify the parameters entryfield of the PC/2 Program Installation dialog like
[Please enter host address]

Further assume that you selected the Menuitem FTP from the Popup-Menu. Just
before FTP is started, a dialog box is displayed, requesting the host address
from you. F.e. you will type ftp-os2.nmsu.edu, then the file transfer program
will be invoked as if you typed FTP ftp-os2.nmsu.edu from a commandline.

Generally the syntax for the commandline parameters is:

Parameter(s) 1 [Text] Parameter(s) 2

Assume you typed FirstFile.doc as the first and ThirdFile.doc as the second
parameter. You will be asked by a dialog box, what to replace [Text] with.
Assume you entered MyFile.doc then the program will be invoked with the
commandline parameters FirstFile.doc MyFile.doc ThirdFile.doc. The string
[Text] would have been replaced by MyFile.doc. Of course both parameters may be
omited, both may contain more than one parameter or only one of them may
present. Omiting [Text] would start the application without asking you for a
commandline parameter prior.

PC/2 allows you to edit commandline parameters similar to the WPS (open the
Settings notebook of any application, position the cursor into the Parameters
entryfield and press F1 or Help to get further information).

Press Ok to accept the parameters you entered, or press Cancel to replace the
commandline parameters by an empty string.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Help for PC/2 Desktop Setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

A sliding Focus ensures, that the window under the mouse pointer is always the
active window (the one that has a highlighted frame). If you move the pointer
over another window, PC/2 recognizes the pointer movements, and tries to
activate the window currently under the mouse pointer. The windows will behave
similar to X-Windows, but the active window is always fully displayed. To
enable this feature, just check the checkbox named Sliding Focus.

A virtual Desktop is a Desktop enhancement that expands you display. F.e.
assume that you are running OS/2 on an XGA-2 at a resolution of 1024 * 768
pixels. Your display has then 1024 columns and 768 rows of pixels, giving you a
Desktop where application windows can be seen. We will call this the physical
Desktop. Of course you can start windows outside this Desktop, but you won't be
able to see them.

PC/2 allows you to expand this Desktop, so that you can move the physical
Desktop to see the windows you couldn't see before. We will call this
enhancement the virtual Desktop. Simply speaking, imagine the virtual Desktop
as an 3 * 3 array of Desktops, with the physical Desktop you now can see in the
middle. Now imagine, that you can move your physical Desktop around within the
larger virtual Desktop. F.e. assume that you move the physical Desktop left,
all windows you have started will move right, so some disappear in the right
side  and some appear on the left side of your display.

That's just that what PC/2 does for you. If you move your mouse pointer on the
leftmost column of your display (column 0), all windows move rightwards, as the
physical Desktop moves leftwards within the virtual Desktop. The same principle
is used on the rightmost columns and the top and bottom rows. If you move your
mouse pointer into a corner of your display, the Desktop even will move in two
directions, leading to a horizontal and a vertical movement.

Of course you can only move your physical Desktop in one direction, as long as
this movement keeps the physical Desktop within the virtual Desktop. Using this
feature, you expand your physical Desktop to a 9-fold virtual Desktop. Just
check the Virtual Desktop checkbox to enable this feature and its options.

By default, OS/2's Desktop is not moved, until you check the Move Desktop
checkbox. PC/2 has to know the name of this Desktop, so you have to ensure that
you type its name in the entryfield. Under OS/2 2.0 its usually named OS/2 2.0
Desktop, but it changes under OS/2 2.1 to Desktop, if you haven't installed it
over an existing OS/2 2.0 system. Also ensure that you translate is into your
national language, if you don't use an English OS/2 version.

If you prefer to click, before the physical Desktop is moved, select the
checkbox Click to Move. After you move your mouse pointer over the surrounding
rows or columns you have to click, either a single or double click according to
the commandline option, to move the physical Desktop.

You may also want an overview window, that contains the current layout of the
virtual Desktop. Select the checkbox Overview Window to enable this feature.

You can use the listbox Virtual Desktop Scroll Percentage to select the
percentage of the display dimensions the physical Desktop should move for a
single movement. You can select between 25, 50, 75 and 100 %, with 100 % being
the default one.

Press Ok to accept the configuration and save it into an INI file, or press
Cancel to ignore any changes you made. If your INI file is corrupted, PC/2
assumes default values, which you then can edit and save to a new INI file.

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ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Help for PC/2 Errors ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

PC/2 can't verify all user input for validity, so some user input may cause
some PC/2 functions to fail. In this case, a message box is displayed
containing the module and the sourcecode linenumber that failed. Also a error
message is displayed containing which error occured and what should be done to
resolve the problem.

F.e. you might have configured to start the program VIEW.EXE by writing
c:\os3\view.exe in the entryfield Path and Filename in the Program Installation
dialog. This of course leads to an error, because when OS/2 tries to start this
item, it can't find the directory \os3\ simply because it should read \os2\. A
message box is displayed saying an error occured and that the user input should
be corrected.

The messagebox has three buttons that may be pressed:

Button                Result

Abort                 PC/2 will be terminated and all unsaved data will be
                      lost. You have to restart PC\2 again. This button should
                      be the last one you select.

Retry                 The error is ignored, you may need to correct your data
                      entered in the entryfields.

Ignore                The error is ignored, you may need to correct your data
                      entered in the entryfields.

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