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IniMaint
Copyright 1992, Carry Associates
IniMaint is an OS/2 PM program to display and manage *.INI files and
is distributed by Carry Associates, 990 Ironwood Court, Marco Island,
FL, 33937. Telephone number is 813-642-9126. The application was
written by and is supported by Larry J. Martin. You can obtain
Technical support by calling the number above, by leaving an Email on
Compuserve for 71435,470 or for the same ID in Section 1 of the
OS2AVEND Forum.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
IniMaint gives you the ability to make virtually any change you want
to any of the INI files in your OS/2 environment. Making changes to
these files must be done with care because you can do serious and
unpredictable damage to your environment. It is STRONGLY SUGGESTED
that you insure that you have a usable backup of any INI file that
you modify in any way.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
SHAREWARE VERSION
The version of IniMaint that accompanys this documentation is a
Shareware version of the program that must be registered with Carry
Associates, if you intend to use it except for a brief test. This is
not a free program and has been Copyrighted by Carry Associates. It
is a violation of the Copyright Laws to use the program without
registering and paying for it. The purpose of the unregistered
version is ONLY to give users an opportunity to try the program so
that they can determine whether they feel the program is worth the
$29.95 cost.
Unregistered copies of IniMaint will display an initial dialog that
will note the unregistered condition. This dialog will stay on the
screen for 15 seconds, unless dismissed by clicking on the OK button.
The dialog cannot be dismissed until it has been visible for 3
seconds. In addition, the Title Bar will contain a note that this is
an unregistered version of IniMaint.
To obtain your registration identifier please send a check for $29.95
per license for single licenses or $299 for an unlimited copies
license made payable to:
Carry Associates
990 Ironwood Court
Marco Island, FL 33937
IniMaint was written by and is support by:
Larry J. Martin
Tel: 813-642-9126
Fax: 813-642-1007
Compuserve: 71435,470
Once you have your registration identifier, you can register your
copy of IniMaint by selecting the :hp2.Register Your Copy:ehp2. entry
on the Actions Menu. Once you are registered, this entry will no
longer appear on the menu.
If you want a preregistered copy of IniMaint, add $7.00 for postage
and handling. We will return a diskette with a preregistered copy of
IniMaint, an Install CMD file and an IniMaint registration ID. The
purpose of the ID is to allow preregistered users to download new
versions, register and use them until they can obtain a preregistered
update. The preregistered version will run as registered without any
need to register it on each system.
The cost of a preregistered update is $10.00 per license for single
licenses or $100.00 for an unlimited copies license, plus $7.00
handling and postage.
CURRENT VERSION
The enclosed is Version 2.1l of IniMaint and has the following
known problems and/or incomplete features:
1. The Install must be done manually.
2. The Initial Dialog cannot be dismissed using the Enter Key, the
Mouse must be used.
3. If the Groups Dialog is displayed, a new Group is selected and
then OK is selected without actually making any changes to any of the
Groups or the Applications in a Group, then the Last Group Displayed
is not updated and a subsequent use of the Groups Dialog will revert
back to the previous Last Group.
4. There is no Help available for the standard OS/2 New File Dialog.
REPORTED COMMENTS OR PROBLEMS
The following items are problems that have been reported, but cannot
be reproduced or comments that I have received from one or more
users. Any assistance on the problems or additions to the comments is
more than welcome.
1. It was pointed out that although the Cursor in the Value MLE can
be an Insert Cursor, there is no way to Insert information. My
response is that the only way to change the length of a Value is by
using the Replace Value Dialog because changing the expected length
of an INI Key Value can cause unusual and unexpected errors. I
further responded that the only way to change the cursor is to
change it System wide, therefore, changing it only when it is in the
MLE is a non trivial problem and I have not attempted to do it even
though it leaves the apparent conflict between the appearance of the
Cursor and the actual effect when a key is depressed.
INSTALLATION
To install the beta version you must:
1. Copy the IniMaint.EXE and INICOPY.EXE files to a subdirectory that
is included in the PATH environment variable in your CONFIG.SYS.
2. Copy the INIMTAPI.DLL file to a subdirectory that
is included in the LIBPATH environment variable in your CONFIG.SYS.
3. Copy the IniMaint.HLP file to a subdirectory that
is included in the HELP environment variable in your CONFIG.SYS.
4. You may optionally add IniMaint to one of the Groups on your
Desktop.
5. You may optionally add the entry: SET INIMAINT= to your CONFIG.SYS
file specifying the path and filename of an INI file that you want
IniMaint to use to store it's operational information. If this entry
is not found in the Environment, IniMaint will store it's operational
infomration in the OS2.INI file.
OPERATION
To run IniMaint simply start it by clicking on the IniMaint.EXE file
or start it from the Group to which it has been added. When IniMaint
first comes up, it will default to editing the INI file that is
identified by the system as the user INI file. This is normally
C:\OS2\OS2.INI. The name of the current file is always displayed in
the TITLE bar of the main window.
IniMaint can also be started with an initial INI file specified on
the command line. This allows IniMaint to be started with a new file
by using the command line, but also allows for it to be started by
dropping a file on the ICON on the desktop or double clicking on an
INI file, once the association is set up.
IniMaint will locate the window in a default location, but you can
move and or size the window as you choose. When IniMaint is shut
down, it will remember the file that it was currently working with as
well as the size and location of the window and will restore all of
these the next time it is run.
There are a number of IniMaint functions which will take some time
to execute. For example, the maximum length Key Value that IniMaint
will load into the Key Value Window is 60,000 bytes. Since each line
only displays 8 bytes, this comes to 7,500 lines and it takes well
over a minute. There are other similar types of functions, although
the example is the longest. During these long operations, it is not
possible to do any other IniMaint operations. However, the long
functions are done in separate threads and the Message Queue is not
blocked, therefore it is possible to go do some other, non-IniMaint,
function during this time. In addition, since there are a number of
reasons why a user might not want to wait until the lengthy function
is completed, for example, it might have been selected in error,
any IniMaint operation that takes a long time and displays the Wait
Pointer can be terminated by hitting the ESC key.
IniMaint will normally store the current operating information such
as the size and position of the windows, that INI file that is
currently being edited and a large number of other items, in the User
INI file, OS2.INI. This is sometimes not a convenient location, since
this file gets completely replaced when a new version is installed
and a problem with the OS2.INI file would mean that IniMaint would
not run. IniMaint will use a different INI file and will create the
file, if necessary, if an Environment Variable IniMaint= is placed in
the CONFIG.SYS file or in a CMD file that executes IniMaint. For
example, if the user wanted IniMaint to use the file IniMaint.INI in
the C:\OS2\APPS subdirectory, they would code:
SET IniMaint=C:\OS2\APPS\IniMaint.INI
MAIN WINDOW DESCRIPTION
The Main Window contains three standard child windows. Two of these
windows are Listboxes and the third is a MLE.
The upper left Listbox will always contain the list of Applications
for the current INI file.
The upper right Listbox will contain the list of Key Names for the
Application that is currently selected in the Application Listbox.
The MLE, at the bottom, will contain the hex and ASCII display of the
contents of the Key Name that is selected in the Key Listbox.
The Cursor will normally be forced to the MLE and the value of the
data can be modified by changing either the hex or the ASCII fields
of the MLE. The cursor cannot be moved to any portion of the MLE that
does not contain data that can be modified and any modification to
one type of data, hex or ASCII, will immediately be reflected in the
other data.
The actual data in the INI file is not changed until the user selects
the Update Item on the Action Menu or selects a different Key or
Application in the same INI file. At this time, you will be asked to
confirm that you want the INI file modified, unless you have turned
the warning option off, see below.
IniMaint MENU OPTIONS
The various IniMaint Menu options are:
1. File gives the user the ability to change INI files, refresh the
current INI file, Dump the contents of the IniMaint variables,
compare two INI files and Exit from IniMaint.
The Compare option allows the user to Compare two INI files on any
one of three different levels:
A. List Applications that are in one INI file, but not the other.
B. A. above plus any Key Names that are in one file, but not the
other.
C. A. and B. above plus any Key Values that are in both files, but
are not equal.
The differences are displayed in a Listbox within a Dialog that
allows the user to print or write a listing of the Listbox contents
and/or create an INI file with some or all of the Applications or
Keys that have differences.
2. Options will display a Dialog that gives you the ability to:
A. Turn off the display of the opening IniMaint Dialog.
B. Turn off the dialogs that will ask for confirmation before
Deleting or Modifying the contents of the Current INI file.
3. Groups will display a Dialog that allows you to define and manage
the various Groups for this INI file. A bit of explanation is needed
here. IniMaint gives the user the ability to arrange the applications
in any INI file into Groups. These Groups can then be used in a
number of different IniMaint areas and greatly ease the problems of
handling an INI file with a large number of applications. For
example, the OS2.INI file might be divided into two Groups, System
and Private. The System Group would be the applications put in the
file by OS2 Install and the Private Group would be the remaining
applications. More or fewer Groups could be defined. How the user can
use Groups within the IniMaint structure will become more clear
below. The Groups Dialog gives the user the ability to define new
Groups, to add and delete Applications and Delete Groups.
The procedure for establishing a new Group is to select Groups in the
Group Dialog, select New Group, and supply a name. Once this is done,
the Title of the Dialog will show the current Group and the new Group
will be added to the Group Menu. You add Applications to the Group by
selecting them in the Listbox.
The Listbox will display a specific Group or, if you want to know if
there are any Applications that are not in a Group, will display all
Groups. A single Application can be a member of up to 5 different
Groups at any one time, so it is possible to define overlapping
Groups.
4. Size will calculate the minimum amount of Disk Space that would be
required for an INI file that contained a selected set of
Applications in the current INI file. When this item is selected, the
user will be asked what he wants to Size. There will always be
several choices, the various standard INI files, the current file and
the currently selected Application. If there are any Groups defined,
then they will be included among the selections. If there are more
than one Group defined, then there will be an All Groups selection.
5. Actions gives the user the ability to do a number of things:
A. Update Current Key will write any changes that have been made
to the data in the MLE into the current INI file.
B. Delete Application and Delete Key will do the obvious.
C. Add Application, Add Key and Replace Key Value are all the same
function except entered at different points. Add Application
will ask for the name of a new Application to add to the
current INI file and then fall through to the Add Key, since
the Applications must have at least one Key. The Add Key will
ask for the name of the new Key and then fall through to the
Replace Key Value, since any Key Name must have an associated
Value. This will cause the Key Dialog box to be displayed. The
Application and Key Names will be shown at the top of the
Dialog, followed by the current length of the data, the ASCII
representation of the data and the hex representation of the
data. This is the only option that will change the length of
a Key Value. Care must be taken when doing this, as many
applications depend on knowing the length of the INI items. As
the ASCII or hex values are changed, the changes will appear in
the other window and the length will be updated. The only
exception is when only a single hex digit is entered. The ASCII
window is not updated until two hex characters are entered.
D. Rename and Duplicate Key give the user the ability to change
the name of an existing Key or to make a duplicate copy of the
Key using a different Key Name.
E. Copy and Move will ask the user to select a Target File for the
Copy/Move and will then give the user the same choices as Size
above. The selected Applications will then be moved or copied
to the Target INI file, which will be created, if it does not
exist. This function is done Key by Key, so it will sometimes
take some time. However, the PM message queue is not blocked
while the move/copy is being done. The actual move or copy is
done by a separate program INICOPY, that can also be run as a
batch program, see below.
F. Backup allows for an easy Backup of the System INI File, User
INI File or both the System and User INI Files. Once the user
has selected names for the normal backups for the two files,
these files will be presented as the default for additional
backups. The user can set an Option that will bypass asking
the user if he wants to use the defaults. This selection will
always delete the target files before doing the backup, which
is one of the ways it varies from the Copy selection.
6. Recover contains a list of capabilities designed to give the user
the ability to recover from corrupted INI files. These capabilities
are:
A. Change User and/or System INI Files give the user the ability
to change the INI files that OS/2 is currently using to new
files. The primary use of this capability is to allow the user
to make changes to the User or System INI files that he knows
need to be made, but cannot make to the current User or System
Files because of protection built into OS/2. Great care must be
exercised when doing this, but it will sometimes represent the
only way that problem entries can be removed from an INI File.
B. Repair inconsistancies between the INI file and the Desktop.
C. Condense the Current INI file, the System INI File, the User
INI File or both the System and User INI Files. The Condense
is necessary because of the way updating is done to the INI
files. The updating will leave empty areas in the INI files and
these areas tend to get fragmented, thus causing the overall
size of the INI file to grow, sometimes grow very large.
Condensing the System or User INI files is not a simple task,
since they cannot be copied or erased while they are being used
by OS/2. This item switches the files to the copies long enough
to erase the old files and copy a condensed backup to the
original names. The only problem this causes is that it will
reset the desktop to the boot desktop. This function is removed
for Version 2.1 of OS/2 and beyond, since the handling of the
INI files was changed to automatically remove the empty space.
D. There are two items to Test for and Reset the condition where
the User and System INI files cannot be updated. When this
condition is found, the user will be asked if he wants to
correct the condition and, if he answers yes, the User and
System INI files will get changed so that they will be able
to be updated. The process involves making a copy of the INI
files and switching to them, so it takes a minute or so and
involves resetting the Desktop.
7. Find allows the user to search the Application Listbox, the Key
Name Listbox, the Key Value MLE, all of the Key Names in the currrent
INI file, all of the Key Values for the current Application or all of
the Key Values in the current INI file for either an Ascii string or a
Hex value.
INICOPY
INICOPY is the program that is used by IniMaint to do the actual
COPY/MOVE operations. This option is implemented as a separate program
so that the user will have the ability to make copies of INI files,
including the User and System INI files, at any time during the day.
The parameters expected by INICOPY are:
Required Parameters:
-Ifilename - The fully qualified path and filename of the Source,
Input, INI file.
-Ofilename - The fully qualified path and filename of the Target,
Output, INI file. The Target will be created if it does
not exist.
Optional Parameters:
-Fx - Function requested - Default is C(opy)
C = C(opy)
M = M(ove)
-E - COPY/MOVE Entire INI file - Default
-A - COPY/MOVE All Groups
-Ggroup - COPY/MOVE Specific Group
-Sapp - COPY/MOVE Specific Application
-T - Use Fast Copy. This is only valid if -E is also specified