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- ID:AP Starting DESQview Under API
- Quarterdeck Technical Note #135
- by Stan Young
- last revision: 2 March 1992
-
- Starting DESQview Under API Program Control
-
- Many API programs are designed to run much the same as any off-the-shelf
- program in the DESQview environment. That is, the user simply selects them
- from the Open Window menu, they open and once they are running they may begin
- to control and take advantage of DESQview.
-
- Creating an "auto-start" macro for DESQview can allow the program to be
- brought up automatically on the start of DESQview. The "auto-start" macro is
- described in the DESQview users manual (Look up "Scripts, startup" and
- "Scripts, global in the index).
-
- The auto-start macro is generally a good starting method where you want to
- make sure your API program is run, but want to make most of the features of
- DESQview available to your users. The default for starting in this method is
- that all of the features of DESQview are enabled and your API program would
- have to disable them specifically after starting up if you did not want all of
- these features available.
-
- However, sometimes API developers want to control the system more fully. To
- do this, you can start DESQview as follows:
-
- DV {program information filename}
-
- An example of a program started in this fashion is on every users DESQview
- disk in the SETUP.BAT file. It reads as follows:
-
- DV SETUP.DVP
-
- There are some other parameters listed in SETUP.BAT that are specific to
- DESQview operation, but these would not normally become a part of your API
- program startup (/OK assumes "non-enhanced keyboard", /NS means don't read the
- setup file, use defaults.)
-
- Run the DESQview Setup and you will get an idea of the defaults under which
- API programs started from the command line are run:
-
- 1. After display of the DESQview copyright screen, the application
- listed in the DVP file is automatically run.
-
- 2. All access to the DESQview menu is disabled. DESQview macros,
- including the auto-start macro for the window are enabled if present, but
- access to the Learn menu is not available.
-
- 3. Terminating the application terminates DESQview and drops you out to
- the DOS prompt.
-
- Obviously, this is a limited, single-tasking environment, however this puts
- the API program in control. Once started, the API program can start
- additional tasks (NEW or NEWPROC in assembler, app_new or app_start in C or
- Pascal), and selectively enable the features of DESQview (Manager streams 00
- to 3F in Assembler, or win_allow function in C or Pascal).
-
- The only feature not enabled is the Open Window item. When an API program is
- started from the command line, the DESQVIEW.DVO file,(contents of the Open
- Window menu) is not read in and the Open Window option will not be present.
- Your API program can produce its own menu of programs to open if you like. If
- you want to allow users to have access to the Open Window menu, you would want
- to start up using the auto-start macro.
-
-
- ************************************************************************
- *This technical note may be copied and distributed freely as long as it*
- *is distributed in its entirety and it is not distributed for profit. *
- * Copyright (C) 1989-92 by Quarterdeck Office Systems *
- ************************ E N D O F F I L E *************************