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Runner -- A Desktop Alternative
GEM MENU BAR
Files / Menus / Colors
Copyright (C) 1993 by Dave Thorson
Version 1.61 November 18, 1993
Runner lets you use the traditional GEM menu bar for the most
common commands. Notice that when you move the mouse into the
menu bar, the arrow turns into a pointing hand. While the hand
is visible, you cannot select anything EXCEPT what's in the GEM
menus. Press the left mouse button (outside of any pull-down
menus and below the menu bar) to change the hand back to an
arrow.
$$ Desk
---------------------------------------------------------------
Desk File Menus Colors
---------------------------------------------------------------
| About.... |
| Use Accessories |
------------------
Desk - About....
Under Desk you will find About... Click on it to see my name,
Runner's version number, and the approximate amount of free RAM
(Runner uses lots of stuff internally that gets cleared before a
program is run, and there's no good way to tell exactly how much
space will be available to the program -- this estimate may be
off by several thousand bytes).
Desk - Use accessories
Click on Use Accessories to get to any of the shaded desk
accessories in the Desk menu. The screen will clear and a
single Desk menu will appear. Accessories can be freely used
now, although many of them leave behind "holes" in the screen
(depending on your color choices). Under the Desk menu, the
second item is now called End Accessories. Click on this to
quit using accessories and get back to the Runner program.
$$ File
---------------------------------------------------------------
Desk File Menus Colors
---------------------------------------------------------------
| Load config |
| Save config |
| Background |
| Installed Apps |
|----------------|
| Fix (rerun) |
----------------
The File menu contains Load, Save, Installed Apps, Background
and Fix options. Note that Quit is not available here as it is
in most File menus. Exit Runner is available from the top level
Runner menu or by pressing the Undo key.
$$ File - Load config
Load lets you load RUNNER.CFG. It opens a file selector showing
Runner's home directory, but you can change to another directory
or load a different configuration file. There is no warning to
save any changes you may have made to the configuration already
in memory, so be careful. Loading a new .CFG file will replace
anything already in memory except the picture. Clicking on
Cancel in the file selector box will stop the load operation.
$$ File - Save config
Save lets you preserve your current setup for the next time you
run Runner. Program configurations and descriptions, menus,
menu structures, initial and text color palettes and the main
title are all saved in the configuration file (as well as lots
of other stuff). Use the name RUNNER.CFG if you want that
configuration to be auto-loaded the next time you start Runner,
or give it another name if you choose. "File - Load config"
lists all files in Runner's home directory that end with ".CFG",
so you should use this extension (.CFG) for any configuration
files you save. Clicking on Cancel in the file selector box
will stop the save operation.
Note: File - Save may also create a picture configuration file
recording any changes in menu list position, menu space display
attributes (how much of the underlying background picture is
blanked out by spaces around the menu), background picture
palette, and any Regions information for the picture if you have
changed any of these since loading the picture. These files
have the same name as the current picture in memory, but with a
file extension of .CF1, .CF2 or .CF3 to match the picture's
screen resolution. If you loaded MOUNTAIN.PI1, File - Save
might create a MOUNTAIN.CF1 picture configuration file. If you
want to force the save of a picture configuration file without
updating the RUNNER.CFG file on your disk, hold down Control
when selecting the "Save config" command.
Safety Feature: Both Runner configuration and picture
configuration files are saved using this procedure:
1. Create ".TMP" filename (ex: MYCONFIG.CFG becomes
MYCONFIG.TMP)
2. Write file to disk using ".TMP" filename
3. If successful:
3a. Delete any file matching desired save name (ex:
MYCONFIG.CFG)
3b. Rename ".TMP" file to desired name (ex: MYCONFIG.CFG)
If a save is NOT successful (disk full or other problems) then
your original file is not changed in any way. You may want to
erase any ".TMP" files Runner creates, although they won't cause
any problems for Runner. There is no good way to check disk
space requirements for saving a file without a lot of extra code
in memory. If you try to save a file and fail, you will see
Runner's main error message dialog box, giving you the choice of
exiting Runner or returning to Runner. You can always select
the option to return to Runner and try again to save the file to
a different disk.
$$ File - Installed apps
This is not exactly a "file" operation but this used to be where
you came to "Install Apps", and it's been left here for the
convenience of long-time Runner users. Selecting this option
displays a list of any installed applications. Each application
is shown following the file extension that triggers it. If more
than one extension is used to trigger an application, each one
appears on a separate line. If there are too many lines to fit
on one screen, press a key to see the next part of the list. At
the end of the list, press a key to return to Runner's normal
menu list display. For information on how to install
applications, see the file DIALOG.HLP, which describes the
Add/Change dialog box where applications are installed.
$$ File - Background
Background lets you load and unload pictures or select a fill
pattern for the Runner "desktop". If no picture is displayed, a
dialog box asks to choose between:
Load Pic Def Fill Cancel
"Def Fill" shows another dialog box that lets you chose a fill
pattern. Instructions tell you to move the mouse left or right
to change patterns, and up or down to change colors (oddly, this
does nothing on monochrome monitors). When you see a pattern
and color combination you like, click a mouse button. You can
use different fill pattern settings in each screen resolution;
they are all remembered in RUNNER.CFG when you save it. If you
have a picture already displayed you will have to "Unload" it
(see below) before you can get to Def Fill.
"Load Pic" lets you select a picture file to use as a background
for your Runner menus. A file selector will appear showing all
the .PIx and .PCx (x=1,2,3) files for the current resolution in
Runner's home directory. Use the file selector box to move to
another disk or directory if needed. Select the picture you
want, and it will become the background for Runner's screen.
If a picture is already displayed when you select Background,
you will be asked if you want to load another picture or unload
the one you've got. Unloading a picture frees 32,000 bytes of
memory for larger applications. Loading a new picture replaces
the old one and brings in the color palette for the new picture.
This dialog box also shows the name of the current picture file
and now has a Cancel option in case you don't want to change....
Clicking on Cancel from the file selector box will stop the
picture load operation and leave the current picture (if any) in
memory.
If a picture has an associated picture configuration file (.CF1,
.CF2 or .CF3 extension), it will be loaded along with the
picture. And, if a Runner .CFG config file is found in the
same directory as the picture file, with the same name (except
for the extension), it will be loaded as well. This will
replace all menus in memory so be sure to save them first if
needed. This feature lets you have customized menu lists for
each picture. If no matching .CFG file is found, the menus in
memory are not affected by loading a new background pic. As an
example, if you load MOUNTAIN.PI1, Runner will also try to load
MOUNTAIN.CF1 and MOUNTAIN.CFG. If a matching picture config
file is not found, the default picture parameters are used. If
a matching .CFG file is not found, the menus and related info in
memory are left unchanged for the new picture.
*
There is one exception to the above: if a picture file called
RUNNER*.PIx or RUNNER*.PCx is selected, and it has the name of a
picture file in it instead of picture data (see below), and a
matching .CFG file is not found, then RUNNER.CFG will be loaded
from Runner's home directory.
*
Note that a picture file can also contain the filename of
another picture to load, instead of picture data. In this case,
the filename read from this "faux" picture file is used to
determine the .CFx and .CFG filenames to look for. Use the
RPICNAME.PRG program as an aid to create these faux pic files.
A picture list file created from RPICSEL.PRG can also be loaded
here; Runner will pick one of the pictures in the list at
random.
Background pictures can also be loaded by pressing a shifted
number key (from the top keyboard row, not the keypad). For
this to work, the picture name must be assigned to the key
within the Regions program. If no picture file is assigned, the
key does nothing. The same filenames can also be assigned to a
screen region within the Regions program; then clicking within
that region will load the appropriate picture and config files.
Note that if the color registers used for the background color
and the text color have color values that are too close, you may
not be able to read text on the screen. You'll need to change
colors. This is described in detail in KEYBOARD.HLP, but for
now hold Control and press G to make the background palette the
current colors. Press 0 on the numeric keypad to select the
background color, and press R, G or B to change the background
colors. Now you should be able to see what you are doing.
You'll need to change the picture's palette with a paint program
to make the change permanent, or select Save from the File menu
to save the changed colors in a configuration file for the
picture.
Even more confusion: starting with Runner version 1.60c, you can
load picture config files instead of pictures. This lets you
use Regions without a picture in memory, and you can load the
.CFx file from one picture and use it with another. See
STARTUP.HLP for more info. (use Regions to copy picture config
files from one screen resolution to another!)
$$ File - Fix (re-run)
This command lets you "fix" Runner when an unruly application
messes it up. Fix simply reloads Runner, but this is often
enough to solve most problems. For example, after running an
older version of ST Writer, Runner has serious problems with
clearing inverse video colors and restoring what the mouse
covered. After spending hours searching for a solution (to
absolutely no avail) I realized that other applications might
cause different problems, and that Runner's size would grow
considerably if code had to be added to handle any condition.
Fix is clean and simple.... Running a program via Mini-Run
should also isolate most problems from Runner. Lest you think
that these problems are common, I should point out that the ONLY
two problem programs I've seen are ST Writer and Word Writer
(which forgets to clear its buttons from memory - they get
redrawn even after exiting Word Writer). I regularly use GFA
BASIC, Laser C, Degas Elite, Spectrum 512, DO-IT!, Turbo ST,
Atari Planetarium, Flash, Real Time, and several other programs
and games with no problems! The only programs I've found that
do not work with Runner, other than self-booting games, are
Diablo and MidiDraw from Intelligent Music.
Since Fix is potentially dangerous (any menu changes you haven't
saved will be lost), it is separated from the other menu choices
by a -------- line, and its keyboard equivalent is "^F"
(Control/F) instead of just "F". An ounce of prevention.....
$$ Menus
---------------------------------------------------------------
Desk File Menus Colors
---------------------------------------------------------------
| add Program |
| add Menu |
| Change |
| Drop |
| Restore |
| QuickKeys Show |
----------------
The Menus menu contains add Program, add Menu, Change, Drop,
Restore and Quickkeys show. This is where you change Runner's
program menus to contain the programs you use most often, and
configure those programs to run the way you like them.
$$ Menus - add Program
This option lets you add a new program to Runner's menu lists.
It places the new program in the currently displayed menu, and
makes an effort to keep things in alphabetical order with
submenus at the top and programs at the bottom.
Add Program displays a file selector box. Select a .PRG, .APP,
.TTP or .TOS file from any disk or directory, or select cancel
if you decide not to add a new program after all. Note that if
you already have fifteen programs or menu names in the list
displayed on the screen, Add Program will do nothing. In this
case you must first remove something, or move to another menu.
If you have pressed the Tab key to show all items in the menu
regardless of screen resolution, then you might try to press Tab
to hide the ones for the wrong resolution and see if you then
have room to add another item. It is possible to have more than
15 items in a menu if some of them are hidden via the resolution
flags (see DIALOG.HLP for more info).
You can also add non-program files to Runner's menus. They can
be text files (such as Runner's .HLP files) that you want to
access quickly, or they can be data files or documents with file
extensions that will trigger an installed application to run and
then load the file [see DIALOG.HLP].
If you select Cancel or select OK with a blank filename, no
change takes place and Runner's menu list reappears. Otherwise,
you will see Runner's Add/Change Dialog Box. Operation of this
box is described in detail in DIALOG.HLP, but for now just
change the name in the Description line to the way you want it
to look in Runner's menu list and press Return or the right
mouse button. All the other default values should normally be
okay, and you can easily change them later.
$$ Menus - add Menu
Adding a menu works the same as adding a program, except that
instead of a file selector you are prompted at the top of the
screen for the menu name to add. Then you will see the same
Add/Change dialogue box used for "add Program". The Hold Screen
and Use Mini-Run options don't have any effect on Menus, but to
save memory the same dialogue box is used for both menus and
programs. Don't worry about it. Other options not compatible
with menus are not displayed or are disabled. If you leave the
Description line empty, no menu is added. See DIALOG.HLP for
more information.
As with programs, if you already have fifteen programs or menus
displayed, Add Menu has no effect. Menus can be nested, that
is, a menu list can contain menus which can, in turn, contain
more menus. Simply click on Add Menu while you're inside
another menu, and the new menu will be nested inside the current
menu. Menus can be nested in this fashion up to maximum of
fifteen levels deep, probably more than you could ever use.
Since one purpose of Runner is to avoid all the folder opening
that goes on from the Desktop, you may want to use as few menus
as necessary. This is still easier than on the desktop since
you're only dealing with program names and don't need a separate
menu to group together all the .RSC, data, font files and
anything else needed for a program. Folders continue to do this
quite well.
$$ Menus - Change
Change lets you change the configuration for any program,
document/data file or menu. When you click on Change, a prompt
at the top of the screen tells you to select a menu or program
that you want to change. Use the mouse to pick a menu item, and
you will again see the Add/Change Dialog Box. Change the
description or any of the other options, and press Return or the
right mouse button when finished. See DIALOG.HLP for more
information.
When the "Select to Change" prompt is visible, clicking the left
mouse button away from the programs, menus and GEM menu bar will
exit the change prompt.
If you select the title line for Change, you can change Runner's
main title. The main title only appears on Runner's top level
menu (the one you see when Runner starts). On lower level menus
the name of the menu appears instead. Click on any of these
title lines to change the main title. The new title is saved to
disk when you save a configuration file. Add your own name or
whatever you like!
It's possible to change (and Drop - see the next section on
Menus - Drop) programs or menus that appear only in a resolution
you're not in at the time. Press the Tab key to show ALL
programs and menus; a "registered" symbol ("R" inside a circle)
appears in front of anything you normally can't see in the
current resolution. These menus or programs can now be changed
or dropped normally. Press Tab again to hide items from the
wrong resolution.
$$ Menus - Drop
Drop lets you delete a program or menu from the display. It
DOES NOT change the programs on disk. Drop is similar to
Change. Click on Drop and a prompt appears telling you to
select a program or menu to drop. Click on the program or menu
you no longer want in the list. If you drop a menu, EVERYTHING
in the menu is dropped as well -- all its programs and submenus.
Remember that none of your changes are permanent until you save
this new configuration back to disk with the Save command in the
Files menu. The Tab key (see above section on Menus - Change)
is also useful with Drop.
$$ Menus - Restore
When you Drop a menu or program name from a menu list, it goes
into a "drop buffer" for safe keeping. Selecting Restore brings
it back, and inserts it into whatever menu list you're looking
at. This lets you move menus or programs around in your lists,
or recall something you dropped by accident. Note that the
contents of a menu that is dropped are also restored with it, so
whole menus can be moved wherever you like. Also note: there is
only one drop buffer; when you drop a second item it clears the
old information from the drop buffer first. If an item assigned
to a QuickKey is dropped, it will no longer appear on the
QuickKeys list either. Restoring it will return it to the list,
unless that QuickKey is reassigned to another program first.
Restore also places a restored item in alphabetical order, so if
any of your menus get out of order, simply drop and restore the
items you wish to resequence. Alphabetical order is determined
by the contents of the Description line in the Add/Change Dialog
Box -before- you see it, so by changing the first few characters
of a description it may get out of alphabetical order.
$$ Menus - QuickKeys show/hide
This option lets you display a list of QuickKeys assignments
instead of the normal Runner menus. Programs in the list can be
selected for running as usual, and the Change option works also.
Programs Dropped from the QuickKeys list are not dropped from
your normal menus, they are simply deassigned from the
corresponding QuickKey. Restore is disabled in the QuickKeys
list, and new QuickKeys or menus cannot be added. Selecting
this option a second time returns to the normal menu display.
Holding down BOTH mouse buttons works the same as selecting this
option. To view the list of "shifted" QuickKeys, hold down
Shift when requesting the list (either Shift will also show the
other list, which makes some amount of sense since you need
Shift with the QuickKey to run a program in the "shifted" list).
The exit line at the top of a QuickKeys list is different: it
lets you view the other set of QuickKeys. The right mouse
button alone does this also (remember that in normal menu lists,
the right button moves you to the top menu, similar to selecting
the exit line).
$$ Colors
---------------------------------------------------------------
Desk File Menus Colors
---------------------------------------------------------------
| desKtop |
|x iNitial |
| backGround |
| Text |
-------------
The color menu lets you select which color palette you want to
use when a program runs. If no picture is loaded, palette
changes affect Runner's screen as well. If a picture is loaded,
a new palette is displayed only briefly, then the picture's
palette is restored. This lets you use a reasonable palette for
running programs while displaying a picture that uses colors too
disgusting for most programs. A checkmark (represented by "x"
above) appears in front of the currently selected palette, also
known as the "Current Palette".
If you want to use a different palette for displaying a picture,
hold down the Control key when selecting the palette. You can
always restore the picture's original palette by selecting
backGround, or by selecting another palette without holding down
Alternate.
Four palettes are available:
Initial - the palette loaded from Runner's configuration
file
Desktop - the colors in the desktop palette before Runner
was started
Background - the colors from the last picture loaded into
Runner
Text - the palette used for viewing files from the file
selector (also loaded from Runner's config file)
Runner uses the concept of the "Current Palette". The Current
Palette is the set of colors Runner switches to when running a
program. It is a copy of one of the other palettes listed above
(you can select which one from the menu bar -- it always starts
out as a copy of the Initial Palette).
If no picture is loaded then the Current Palette is used for
Runner's menu screen as well. If a picture IS loaded, its
palette normally overrides the Current Palette while the picture
is visible, but the Current Palette is still used when running
programs (you normally don't want your picture's colors when
running your word processor). If a palette is selected with
Control depressed, then the picture is displayed using the new
Current Palette.
A separate Initial Palette is maintained for each resolution. A
single Text Palette is also saved in your config file and shared
by all resolutions. Note that the Text palette is ALWAYS used
when in File View, but you may select it for use at other times
as well.
Individual colors within a palette can also be changed; see
KEYBOARD.HLP for more information.
[end of MENU_BAR.HLP]