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MorphBar for Windows -- Shareware README
Version 1.3 -- June 3rd, 1996
Copyright 1995-96, Roger Cope, All Rights Reserved.
Published by Roger Cope,
17 Highland View,
Bransty,
Whitehaven,
Cumbria.
CA28 6HF
Great Britain.
Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Thanks for trying MorphBar for Windows.
This file contains a variety of information you should read before using
MorphBar, including:
* Introduction to MorphBar * MorphBar and Windows 95/NT
* Technical support * MorphBar files
* Installation instructions * Explanation of shareware
* History log
If you have tried a shareware copy of MorphBar and want to place an
order, see the section 'Registration' in the MORPHBAR.HLP file (press F1 or
click on 'Help' buttons while using MorphBar, or write to us at the address
above or E-Mail us at the address shown on the 'About...' Dialogue. To
see the About Dialog right click on the date panel.
The license agreement which governs your use of MorphBar is included
separately in the file LICENSE.TXT. Please read it before ordering.
The text clearly explains your rights and responsibilities as a user of
MorphBar
Introduction to MorphBar
MorphBar is an Icon Bar (or Launch Bar) for Windows. It provides a single
mouseclick interface to your commonly used applications and/or files.
Setting applications up is a simple matter of filling out a dialog box and
selecting an icon for display on the button. You can also drag and drop
files from Program Manager or Explorer onto MorphBar's buttons.
MorphBar also provides you with a command line which can be used for running
applications without setting them up as permanent icons on the bar, and a
simple text editor you may find useful for displaying and editing ASCII
files.
It is compact, quick and easy to manage.
Files included with MorphBar
The following files are included with this version of MorphBar:
MORPHBAR.EXE MorphBar program file
MORPHBAR.HLP MorphBar help file
LICENSE.TXT The MorphBar shareware license agreement
README.TXT This file
DISTRIB.TXT MorphBar information for shareware disk
vendors
Installation Instructions
To install MorphBar on your system, first create a new directory for
MorphBar. The directory can be on any hard disk drive, and you can
use any valid directory name.
Copy all the MorphBar files into this directory. (Note that the TXT files
are not required to run the program).
From the Windows 3.x Program Manager open the File menu and select
Run... (on Windows 95 click the Start button and select Run). Locate
MORPHBAR.EXE using the browse tool and run the program. After closing
the opening screen you may wish to change the location of any icon files
MorphBar creates (otherwise they will be located in the Windows root
directory). To do this, click the 'Morph' button and change the pathname
in the Icon Directory field of the Control Dialog.
Close MorphBar down by right clicking clicking the date panel at the bottom
of the bar and selecting 'Close' from the pop-up menu. This will create
the default .INI file in the Windows root directory. You can now restart
MorphBar and add program icons to the bar by clicking the right mouse
button on any empty launch button. Programs are run by clicking the left
mouse button on the required launch button. See the on-line help for more
details.
See the next section if you're running under Windows 95.
MorphBar and Windows 95/NT
MorphBar runs fine under Windows 95 and has been deliberately designed
to look attractive in this system. However, it is a Windows 3.x
application and does not support long filenames or the new Windows 95
common controls. A 32-bit Windows 95 version is also available. We do not
recommend that you run 16-bit MorphBar under Windows NT as we cannot
support this configuration. If you run either Windows 95 or Windows NT
we strongly recommend that you switch to using 32-bit MorphBar.
A single registration covers both programs on a single machine (we don't
think you'll want to run both at the same time!).
Additional Notes
You can attach documents to MorphBar launch buttons as well as executable
files. When these buttons are clicked, providing the document type is
correctly registered to Windows, the designated application will run
with the document loaded. The same applies to the command line feature.
Once you start using MorphBar you are likely to want to place it in the
StartUp group in Windows. This is the main reason why MorphBar does not
have a group of it's own.
Technical Support
We enthusiastically support MorphBar. Please do not be put off
contacting us by the fact you'll be writing to a private address. Either
write to us at the address above or E-Mail us at the address on the
Control Dialog. No SAE is required.
Shareware Copies of MorphBar
If you obtained MorphBar from a shareware disk vendor, an on-line
computer service or bulletin board, a friend or colleague, or another
similar source, you have an unregistered (trial) copy. As the
copyright holder for this software, Roger Cope allows and encourages
you to use this trial copy without charge for a limited period of
time, under the terms of our license agreement (see LICENSE.TXT).
After this time is up, you must purchase (register and pay for) a
registration code to continue using it (see the 'Registration' topic in
the on-line help for details).
This method of distribution is known as shareware. It allows you to
determine whether the product meets your needs before you pay for it.
Payment of the shareware registration fee for MorphBar gets you a
registration code which makes the opening screen go away and makes the
Control Dialog look prettier. You can also order a disk based copy of
the current version (you'll be notified if your trial version is not
current) at extra cost. Registration also gets you continued support
via electronic mail or snail mail and low cost upgrades to future
versions.
History Log
6th May 1995 - Original release
7th May - Removed control button and border. This was primarily to
make MorphBar look better under Win 3.x (it looked OK
under 95) but also nailed a display problem when you run
Windows with large fonts.
Consequently had to implement 'Close' and 'Minimise'
functions as a right mouse click menu on the date panel.
This required an amendment to the help file.
15th May - Whoops! The revised internal code structure allowed
MorphBar to attempt to launch a blank icon or a blank
command line in the Control dialog. The result was caught
nicely in an error dialog but I fixed the code to ignore
empty command lines.
4th Dec - Version 1.1 (released due to delay in Borland's Delphi
for Windows 95). This version tidies up the interface,
particularly the Properties Dialog and notes changes in
contact information.
25th Feb 1996 - Version 1.2 uses entirely rewritten code to paint
and run the buttons. This also allowed me to implement drag
and drop (essential requirement to be taken seriously).
Considerable work with the Windows API to cure little
quirks inherent in Delphi and my design.
Reworked help file to incorporate Drag and Drop references.
Updated About... box e-mail references.
Fixed bug preventing Run... listbox entries being saved to disk
if MorphBar active when Windows shuts down.
Made editor non modal (much more sensible!).
3rd Jun - Added File Manager functionality. This increases the file size
somewhat but I think it's worth it.
Updated help files to reflect file manager addition.
Version 1.3.