Help Contents

    	Contents For WinJade Help

WinJade is a simple icon palette tool that runs your selected applications at the click of a button.

To learn how to use Help, press F1.

Introduction

What is WinJade?

How to...

Add buttons to the palette

Change the button preferences

Move buttons around the palette

Delete buttons from the palette

Change the button icon

Change the palette preferences

Commands

(Control) Menu options


WinJade

What is WinJade?

WinJade is a Windows (just another) desktop enhancement that allows the quick launch of applications that have been dragged and dropped on to it. These programs are represented by icon buttons on the WinJade palette.

To start the application, just click on the icon with the left mouse button.

To show the title of the application, click and hold the right mouse button down over the appropriate icon.

To hide or show the whole WinJade palette, click the right mouse button anywhere on the Windows desktop.


drag-&-drop

This is a feature of Windows which allows the 'passing' of selected file names between a 'drag & drop' server, such as the Windows File Manager, and a suitably receptive client, such as WinJade.

Using File Manager, simply select the file (or files) of interest and, holding the left mouse button down, move the cursor to the client application. The cursor will change to an 'arrow-&-file(s)' if the window beneath can handle drag-&-drop operations. Release the left mouse button to 'deposit' the file names.


desktop
the desktop

This is the name given to the screen background onto which Windows applications are 'placed'.

It is often filled by a user-selected pattern or bitmap picture (wallpaper) that is set via the Desktop options in the Windows Control Panel application.


Adding buttons to the palette

Using File Manager (or an equivalent), simply select the programs, or files that have a program association, and drag-and-drop them onto the WinJade window.

For each of the programs (or files), a button will be created with the default icon of the (associated) executable file.

If a button can not be created, a dialog box should appear with the reason why. This is generally because...

1	The file has no association with an executable file.
2	The file is not of the .EXE, .COM, .BAT or .PIF format and therefore can not be run by Windows.
3	The maximum number of buttons has been reached (in WinJade v1.0, this is set to 40).


associations

These are files that have had their filename extension identified as 'belonging' to a certain application, so that when any file with that extension is opened, the application starts automatically.

To associate files with applications, see the File-Associate facility in the Windows File Manager.


Changing the button preferences

Changing the startup preferences of the palette buttons is done from the Preferences dialog box. To display this box...

1	Double-click the right mouse button over the appropriate button OR
2	Select the Preferences option from the WinJade control menu OR
3	Double-click the right mouse button in the WinJade caption bar or control menu box.

The right hand side of the Preferences dialog box is used for changing the button preferences...

Title	This is the title that is displayed when the right mouse button is clicked and held over the button. Note that this is limited to 40 characters.
Command Line	This is the command line to run the selected application or associated file. Note that this can include command line parameters, separated from the file name by a space.
Working Directory	This is the directory path to where the application's program files and documents are located. A default path is set when the button is first created, and is the directory where the file is located.
Run State	The startup state of the application can be set by clicking on the Run minimized or Run maximized check boxes. If neither box is checked, the application will start in it's normal state.

Hit the 'OK' push-button to confirm any changes. Hit 'Cancel' to ignore any changes.

Remember to check the 'Save Settings on exit' box if you want to keep the configuration when WinJade quits.


Deleting buttons from the palette

Deleting unwanted buttons from the palette is done from the Preferences dialog box OR by using the CTRL key and the right mouse button.

To display the Preferences box...

1	Double-click the right mouse button over the appropriate button OR
2	Select the Preferences option from the WinJade control menu OR
3	Double-click the right mouse button in the WinJade caption bar or control menu box.

The right hand side of the Preferences dialog box is used for changing the button parameters.

Select the name of the button to be deleted in the scrolling list box and then hit the 'Delete Button' push-button. It's entry will be removed from the list box, but will only be removed from the palette if 'OK' is hit. Hit 'Cancel' to ignore any changes.

Alternately, position the cursor over the button you wish to delete, hold the CTRL key down and click and hold the right mouse button. The cursor will change to [image]. Now move the cursor outside the button palette area and release the right mouse button. The button you selected will be deleted.

Remember to check the 'Save Settings on exit' box in the Preferences dialog if you want to keep the configuration when WinJade quits.


Changing the button icon

You can change the icon that appears on the face of the button. This is done from the Preferences dialog box.

To display the Preferences box...

1	Double-click the right mouse button over the appropriate button OR
2	Select the Preferences option from the WinJade control menu OR
3	Double-click the right mouse button in the WinJade caption bar or control menu box.

The right hand side of the Preferences dialog box is used for changing the button parameters.

Select the name of the button to be changed in the scrolling list box. The current icon will be shown to the right of it. If you now hit the 'Change Icon...' push-button, a Change Icon dialog box should appear. The name of the current icon file will be shown in the edit box - this is often the same as the associated program but can be set to any valid icon file. After editing the filename, hit ENTER to view the icons available. If the file is invalid, you will be prompted to change it. Alternately, you can hit the "Browse" button to select an icon file.

The currently selected icon is shown below the edit box. You can use the scroll bars to view other icons in the same file. In both the Preferences and Change Icon dialog boxes, use 'OK' to confirm any changes or 'Cancel' to abort.

Remember to check the 'Save Settings on exit' box in the Preferences dialog if you want to keep the configuration when WinJade quits.


Moving buttons around the palette

If you want to change the button order on the palette...

Position the cursor over the button you wish to move, hold the SHIFT key down and click and hold the right mouse button. The cursor will change to [image].

Move the cursor over another button and it will be swapped with the original button you selected. Note that you can move outside of the WinJade window to swap with a button on the other side of the palette. Release the right mouse button to terminate the Move-Button mode.

Remember to check the 'Save Settings on exit' box in the Preferences dialog if you want to keep the configuration when WinJade quits.


Changing the palette preferences

Changing the appearance and operation of the palette is done from the Preferences dialog box. To display this box...

1	Double-click the right mouse button over a button OR
2	Select the Preferences option from the WinJade control menu OR
3	Double-click the right mouse button in the WinJade caption bar or control menu box.

The left hand side of the Preferences dialog box is used for changing the palette preferences...

Palette Title	This is the title for the WinJade palette window. Note that this is limited to 40 characters and may appear truncated depending on your chosen palette sizing.
Show Jade cursor when hidden	If this option is checked, the WinJade cursor, [image], will be shown over the desktop when the palette is hidden. This acts as an 'aide memoir' that WinJade is running. If you use third-party software that manipulates the desktop cursor (such as Neko, MetaMouse, etc.) then you might find that this option is best left cleared.
Hide palette on startup	If this option is checked, the palette will appear hidden when WinJade is first started.
Hide palette after running app	If this option is checked, the palette will hide itself after an application is run from WinJade.
Keep palette on top	If this option is checked, the palette will keep itself on top of any other windows and thus will not be obscured (unless another app is set to be top-most).
Use mini-buttons	If this option is checked, the palette will reduce the buttons to 75% of their normal size. This is useful for systems using 800 by 600 pixel resolutions or less, since it consumes less desktop space.
Save settings on exit	If this option is checked, the current settings will be saved to the INI file when WinJade is closed. Otherwise, changes made after WinJade was started will be lost.

Hit the 'OK' push-button to confirm any changes. Hit the 'Cancel' push-button to ignore any changes.

Remember to check the 'Save Settings on exit' box if you want to keep the configuration when WinJade quits.


menu options

(Control) Menu options

In order to save space, menu options are 'attached' to the WinJade control menu. To display this, click the left mouse button on the [image].

Preferences...	This displays the Preferences dialog box, allowing the palette and button settings to be changed.
Help	This displays the Help sub-menu that most Window applications are equipped with.