Software of the Month Club 1996 April

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┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ FM/2 Taskbar copyright (c) 1995 by M. Kimes (Barebones Software) │ │ All Rights Reserved │ │ v1.05 │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ TREAD.ME file -- read before installing │ │ See end of document for contact info and license details │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ What is it? ========== The FM/2 Taskbar is a small utility program that works in conjunction with the WPS Window List, program objects and Launchpad to control what's running on your system and where it runs. It's much harder to explain than to try, and since installation is quick and painless and a deinstallation program is included, I encourage you to try it and see what you think. See sections below for the information you need to get started. Warning: A pointing device _is_ required; the Taskbar would make little sense without one. If you like the Taskbar, you'll love FM/2. File Manager/2 (FM/2) is a shareware OS/2 2.1+ PM 32-bit file/directory/archive maintenance utility (a sort of super-Drives object, something midway between the Drives objects and a more traditional file manager) with plenty of bells, whistles and utilities, drag and drop, context menus, toolbars and accelerator keys. FM/2 won a 1995 OS/2 Magazine Editor's Choice award -- the only file management software to do so. If you know how to use OS/2, you already know how to use most of FM/2. You can easily glean the rest from the extensive online help. FM/2 is available from ftp.secret.com (/g/os2utl), from Compuserve's OS2SHARE (OS2BVEN) forum (GO OS2SHARE) in library 1, and from finer OS/2 BBSs everywhere. Installing and starting the Taskbar: =================================== First, unpack the archive into a (preferably empty) directory. Now run the TINSTAL.CMD file to create a WPS object for the Taskbar. You're given a choice to create the object on the Desktop or in the Startup folder. You're done. Once the object is created, double-click it to run it. If the object is in the Startup folder, OS/2 will start it every time you boot up OS/2. Using the Taskbar: ================= Here's a simple diagram showing the layout of the Taskbar: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┴─────────────────────────────────\/\───────────────────────────────────────┴ Desktop ┬─────────────────────────────────/\/───────────────────────────────────────┬ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──Taskbar │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├────┴─┬─┬─┬─┬──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Time/├─┼─┼─┤┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ ┌──┐ │ │ Date ├─┼┼┼─┤└──┘ └──┘ └──┘ └──┘ └┬─┘ └──┘ └──┘ └──┘ └──┘ └──┘ └─┬┘ │ └──────┴─┴┼┴─┴─────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────┘ └──Virtual desktops └──Icons of running programs───┘ After starting the Taskbar from the WPS object the TINSTAL.CMD program creates for you, move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the screen. The Taskbar pops up and remains up as long as you keep the mouse pointer within its window. When you move the mouse outside the window, the window vanishes until you call it up again. This "popup" action ensures that the Taskbar isn't occupying valuable Desktop space when you don't need it, but is always available when you do. As you pass the mouse pointer over the icons of running programs, a caption window appears showing the name of the program the icons represent. Click on one of these icons with mouse button one (usually the left button), and the program is brought to the foreground, and is restored if it was hidden or minimized. You can request a context menu on these icons (click mouse button two, usually the right button) for more options (Show, Hide, Move to this desktop, Close and Kill). The "current" window is shown extruded (an outtie instead of an innie, in navel terms -- jelly baby, anyone?). The Time/Date field can be double-clicked to bring up a Settings notebook to allow you to set the time and date. A context menu requested on this field is the same as a context menu requested over an empty part of the Taskbar, with various options to control how the Taskbar operates, and to close the Taskbar (we'll get to that in a moment). If you have a three-button mouse and a driver that recognizes the third button, clicking it in this field will display the system clock (assuming you haven't told the Taskbar to change button three presses to button one double-clicks in the Taskbar settings -- see below). The Virtual desktop field allows you to have nine separate workspaces on your desktop. Click mouse button one in one of the nine squares of the grid, and the desktop "switches" to that workspace. (If you close the Taskbar, all programs are brought onto the actual desktop so none are left stranded where you can't get to them without a lot of work.) Requesting a context menu on this field allows you to start command lines or open FM/2 or several WPS objects. The context menu also allows you to hide or restore all open windows. You can quickly switch programs using the keyboard by pressing and holding the CTRL and ALT keys, then pressing either the "<" (comma) or ">" (period) keys. The Taskbar displays a small window showing the icon and name of the program that would be brought to the foreground if you release the CTRL and ALT keys. Use < or > to cycle through open applications until you find the one you want, then release the CTRL and ALT keys, or press ESCape to cancel the operation. You can also use the CTRL, ALT and Tab keys together to switch tasks unless you disable them. Requesting a context menu on the Time/Date field or any empty part of the Taskbar brings up a menu that allows you to change Taskbar settings or close (exit) the Taskbar. An About box and (very) brief help are available here as well. Some things that might be non-obvious are detailed below: Settings: Opens a dialog where you can adjust the Taskbar settings. In the dialog, you can set what part of the bottom of the screen will activate the taskbar, how low the mouse pointer must go in that area, and whether the taskbar window is "animated" or not. Button 2 send to bottom: If checked, clicking mouse button two on a window's titlebar will send it to the bottom of the window stack (all other open windows will appear on top of it). Hold down the Shift key to temporarily override this action. Button 3 close: If checked, clicking mouse button three on a window's titlebar will close the application. Hold down the Shift key to temporarily override this action. Button 3 = B1 dbl clk: If checked, the Taskbar translates a click of mouse button three (the center button on three-button mice) to a double-click of mouse button 1. The WPS doesn't use button three directly, so this may be a way to get some use out of it. You can hold down the Shift key to temporarily override this action. Sliding focus: If checked, windows below the mouse pointer will be activated and brought to the top of the window stack. Holding down the Shift key temporarily overrides this action. No zorder change: Works in conjunction with Sliding focus. If checked, windows will be activated but NOT brought to the top of the window stack. Hold CTRL to temporarily override this action. Reposition mouse on show: If checked, when you use the Taskbar icons to Show a window, the mouse pointer will be placed in the center of the window. Wrap mouse pointer at screen edges: If checked, the mouse pointer will wrap at screen edges rather than stop as if a wall was reached. Move folders: If not checked, the Taskbar always keeps WPS folders on the current desktop. Show detail in mini desktop: Some programs cause a noticeable slowdown when the WinEnumWindows API is called. If the Taskbar comes up, but the miniature virtual desktop window takes a second or two to display, try turning this off. Disable desktops: Disables the virtual desktop feature of the Taskbar. Disable hotkey switching: Disables CTRL+ALT+< and CTRL+ALT+> quick visual task switching. Left-hand hotkey switching: Uses CTRL+ALT+Z and CTRL+ALT+X instead of the above keys. Also use CTRL-ALT-Tab switching: The CTRL+ALT+TAB combination can also be used to switch tasks via keyboard. Reloading and editing exclude lists: See "Advanced topics" below; normally, you don't need to worry about this at all. My best advice to you regarding the settings above is to simply try them and see what you like best. You can't destroy your computer or OS/2 with them, so you've nothing to lose but the time it takes to turn something back off or on; relax and experiment. Advanced topics: --------------- To exclude windows from the Taskbar display: Enter their switch list titles (as shown in the Window List), one per line, in a file called "TEXCLUDE.LST" in the Taskbar's directory. You can make this partial; if the first part of the window's switch list title matches the line in the file, it won't show on the Taskbar. Use a standard text editor to create the file (E.EXE, the system editor, will work fine). To exclude windows from being moved when you select a virtual desktop, enter their titlebar text, one per line, in a file called "VEXCLUDE.LST" in the Taskbar's directory. You can make this partial as above. You can reload an exclude list after you've edited it via menu selection. Request a context menu on the Time/Date field or on a blank area of the Taskbar. You can also open the files from the context menu; whatever editor you have assigned to the files via WPS associations is used. After editing, don't forget to reload it. Uninstalling the Taskbar: ======================== If you try the Taskbar and decide you don't like it, run TUINSTAL.CMD in the Taskbar directory to remove it. Thanks for giving it a shot; feel free to let me know what you didn't like. Troubleshooting: =============== As with any non-trivial program, it's possible that the FM/2 Taskbar contains bugs. If you encounter a bug, please do report it _in painstaking detail_ to one of the addresses at the bottom of this document. Be sure to tell me how to duplicate the bug. The only thing that I know of that could cause you problems with the Taskbar is the LIBPATH line in CONFIG.SYS. This line should contain ".\" to allow TASKHOOK.DLL to be found in TASKBAR.EXE's default directory. An example: LIBPATH=.\;C:\OS2\APPS\DLL;C:\MMOS2\DLL;C:\OS2\DLL;C:\OS2\MDOS;C:\; This is the default for OS/2 installation, so you shouldn't encounter a problem. The Taskbar is meant to run in conjunction with the WPS. Some functionality will be missing if run without it, but it shouldn't blow up. Simple license statement: ======================== You are granted a license to try this shareware program (FM/2 Taskbar) for up to sixty (60) days, after which you must register FM/2 or discontinue use of the Taskbar (that's right, to register the Taskbar you register File Manager/2 and get both -- what a deal). You can alternatively register _just_ the FM/2 Taskbar by sending $15.00 US to the address below (I'll try to get it added to BMT Micro, too), but it _won't_ get you FM/2 as well, or a credit if you decide to register FM/2 later, so think carefully. You can register via CIS' SWREG service (the ID number is 8761). Permission is granted to redistribute the unaltered shareware archive for a reasonable (read nominal, small) copying charge (FM/2 Taskbar may specifically not be packaged with a commercial book without requesting and obtaining permission (common courtesy -- remember, "copyright" means literally "the right to control who copies the material"). If you write a review on the FM/2 Taskbar, I'd certainly appreciate a courtesy copy of the review -- my wife collects them.). All rights are reserved by the author. That's me. There is NO warranty. Support is NOT guaranteed to unregistered users. Contact info: ============ Mark Kimes (CIS 74601,1327; Fidonet#1:380/16.0; (318)222-3455 data mkimes@linux.secret.com) 542 Merrick Shreveport, LA 71104 USA History: ======= 1.02 o Taskbar switches to the virtual desktop containing the program that was selected by icon, if required. o You can turn off the virtual desktop if you want -- the "icon" remains, but it won't respond to mouse clicks, except for context menu requests. o Context menu items were added to allow you to edit exclude files with a click -- it just loads the appropriate file into the system editor using the default OS/2 association. You can change editors by setting a different association on the files or adding them to the associations of the editor. o The taskbar now hides itself _before_ bringing programs to the front. o Added a toggle to make the taskbar window animated or not, for those who like that sort of thing. o Modified registration policy by popular demand (sheesh, who woulda thought folks would want to buy it alone? The program was written during some experimenting I was doing, and I really only initially released it as an advertisement for FM/2). 1.03 o Added hotkey quick visual task switching -- press CTRL + ALT + either "<" (the comma key) or ">" (the period key) to bring up a small window that allows you to select a task and _then_ switch to it. ESCape will abort the selection, which is made when you release the CTRL and ALT keys. 1.04 o Added "left-hand hotkey switching" toggle. o Added "wrap mouse pointer at screen edges" toggle. 1.05: o Tidied up Settings dialog. o Miscellaneous small tweaks, logo redisplay, etc. o Added toggle to use CTRL-ALT-TAB for quick visual taskswitching as well as previous keys (closer to OS/2's keystrokes, so maybe easier to remember). o Added "Show detail in mini-desktop" toggle -- if your system is heavily loaded, you might want to turn this off. 1.06: o Added ability to remove an item from the Window List and Taskbar via item's context menu. o Added ability to control whether an item is jumpable or not (basically whether you can switch to it with ALT-ESC) via item's context menu.