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=============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FileBar - Version 2.02 An OS/2 Application Launch Facility and WPS Replacement Written By Eric A. Wolf - Copyright (C) 1995 - All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== == Introduction ============ FileBar, quite simply, is a menubar for your desktop. It is intended to ease the operation of launching frequently used applications and from jumping from task to task within OS/2. Spanning across the top or bottom of your desktop, FileBar is intended to give you quick and easy access to your most used applications (whether they are DOS, Windows or OS/2 applications). With FileBar, you have eight menus in which you can place a maximum of 38 different items in each. With FileBar 2.xx, menu items may also be grouped via the use of sub-menus, a great way to organize your applications. With submenus (each menu item can be a menu of 38 additional items), a user may have over 10,000 total menu items! Each menu item may represent a command shell to boot, a script file to perform a task or even your favorite application. With FileBar, you're just one click away from your favorite and most used programs (DOS, OS/2 or Windows programs). Also, FileBar can be used as a regular application or you can use it to replace your existing Workplace Shell. If you feel OS/2 is too slow or swaps to disk a lot, FileBar may be what you need. When acting as a replacement shell, because of its small size, FileBar can give back two to three megabytes of memory to your system for use with other applications. This results in a faster system since swapping to disk is less frequent. This program is ideal for network situations where network drivers use vast amounts of precious memory or in portable computers with limited memory. FileBar also allows password protection and system administrator access features for network or group access restriction situations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == Installation ============ (FileBar 2.xx's new configuration file format is not compatable with) (earlier versions of FileBar. So, even if you are a previous user of) (FileBar, you will need to proceed through the following instructions.) Installing FileBar is simple. Read the README file and once you agree to register the product if you continue to use it, unzip the second zipfile, FILEBAR.ZIP. Now, simply go to an OS/2 prompt, and type INSTALL from the same directory where you unzipped the files. That will invoke a REXX script that will create a FileBar program object/icon on your OS/2 desktop for you to use to start FileBar. To immediately start FileBar, double click the program object on the desktop. And to make FileBar start every time you boot OS/2, drag the object (or a copy or shadow thereof) to the startup folder that is found in the OS/2 system folder. (NOTE: You should proceed to unzip the second zipfile ONLY if you agree to the registration requirements presented both in the README file and in the registration text at the end of this document.) If you are upgrading from a previous version of FileBar, you will need to completely erase the current version of FileBar first. If you are using FileBar 2.00 or greater, you may keep your configuration files and your registration code (*.reg). All other files must be removed before installing a new version. Installing FileBar as a WPS replacement: ---------------------------------------- FileBar has the capability to be used as a replacement shell. This means, instead of using the Workplace Shell (furhter abbreviated WPS in this text) which is your familiar "desktop" that comes with your OS/2 system, you can use FileBar. Doing this greatly reduces the amount of memory OS/2 requires and can give your programs an extra two and to three megabytes of memory (on average) to run in. This results in *very* noticeable speed increases on most systems. If you wish to use FileBar over the WPS as your shell, simply edit your OS/2 config.sys and change the line that reads: SET RUNWORKPLACE=PM_Shell_Path\PMSHELL.EXE to SET RUNWORKPLACE=Put_Complete_FileBar_Path_Here\FILEBAR.EXE For example, if you installed FileBar in a directory on your C: drive called \OS2\APPS\FILEBAR and your OS/2 system is installed on drive D:, then you would edit your config.sys file by typing the line: e d:\config.sys <enter>. Then, you would find the SET RUNWORKPLACE= line in that file and change it to the following: SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\APPS\FILEBAR\FILEBAR.EXE (**NOTE:** DO NOT modify the PROTSHEL setting in the OS/2 config.sys!!) Also, you will need to copy the FILEBAR.DLL file to your \OS2\DLL directory. (This is necessary only if you are running FileBar as a WPS replacement.) You will also need to add the directory where FileBar is located to your OS/2 path. (See the OS/2 documentation for full details on adding things to your path). After doing both of these things, the next time you boot OS/2, you will have FileBar as your shell. To change back to WPS, simply change the line back to PMSHELL. You may switch between PMSHELL and FileBar as often as you like. There is no harm in switching. Please note that replacing the Workplace Shell will no longer give you access to folders or objects. These are both entities of the WPS and are not accessible without it. If you need these objects on a continual basis, please use FileBar in conjunction to your WPS desktop. If you need objects/folders on a limited basis, use FileBar as your shell while using WPS only when you need it (WPS can be launched as an application from the FileBar menubar); by using FileBar, you will save A LOT of memory. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == Using FileBar ============= Once FileBar is started, you will see the FileBar across the top of your screen. You access functions in FileBar like any other menubar that is in any other OS/2 application. The menubar may be positioned at the top or the bottom of your desktop (see the instructions below on moving it). The current time and or date may also be displayed on the FileBar for convenience (again, see below for details) in addition to many other features. See below for details on all available functions in FileBar. The first time you boot FileBar, it comes preconfigured with several menus. The first two, FileBar and Task List are static (that is, unchangable by the user) but the remaining menus may be added to, changed or even deleted and replace by more of your own menus. The functions available to you via the first two (static) menus of FileBar are explained below: FileBar Menu ------------ OPEN: In FileBar, you can set up menus and options to your liking. Often times, it is convenient to keep multiple sets of menus and options (perhaps for different users on a single machine). You will use this option to open different configuration files. FileBar 2.xx configuration files usually end in the .INI suffix. Use the file selection dialog to select a new configuration file to use or select cancel to abort the operation. SAVE: Whenever you make changes to your FileBar menu structure or change FileBar options, you will want to save those options to the current configuration file. Use this option to do this. Even though your configuration file will be saved whenever FileBar is closed or, optionally, whenever you load a new configuration file, it is wise to save whenever you are making changes. SAVE AS: This command operates very is identically to the save command above except it allows you to specify the file name to save to rather than using the currently opened file name. LOCKUP SYSTEM: This command allows you to lock your computer; thus, preventing use from unauthorized users. When invoked, the screen will darken except for a single password dialog. Your computer will be locked (unable to perform any actions) until the appropriate password is entered in the dialog. This password used is set via the System Administrator Password option in the Options... menu (see below). To avoid screen burn-in, the lockup dialog will reposition itself on your screen every 5 minutes. This way, you can lockup your computer leaving your monitor on and leave it knowing it is safe from both other users and harmful screen burn-in. EDIT MENUS: This topic is too long to cover in this context. A special section below, "Editing FileBar Menus", can be found below which discusses this topic in detail. OPTIONS: There are seven option menus that cascade off this menu choice. See "FileBar Options" below for information on each of these different selections and what each provides. WORK AREAS: FileBar 2.xx allows users to have a virtual desktop that is 9 screens large arranged in a 3 x 3 array. When you start FileBar, when work areas are enable via the options menu, you start in area #1 (upper-left hand corner of 3x3 grid). Selecting a new area will move you to that virtual area. See the Work Areas Option item in the "FileBar Options" below for information on how to configure virtual work areas. PRINT SPOOLER: Since OS/2's WPS provides a print spooler of its own, this item is usually only useful when FileBar is acting as your shell (see above for how to make FileBar your replacement shell). When selected, a print spooler representing all your output devices (printers, faxes, etc.) appear as in dialog on your screen. From here, you can select either entire print queues or individual jobs. Queues can be paused and resumed while individual print jobs can be paused, resumed, and deleted. While the spooler will update itself every 5 seconds, clicking the refresh button will force the dialog to update its contents immedialtely. Clicking the Dismiss button will remove the dialog from your screen. ABOUT: This option provides you information about the version and author of FileBar. If you have not yet registered FileBar to the full version, this dialog gives you the oppurtunity to do so. After dismissing the about dialog, you will be presented with a dialog that will allow you to register FileBar 2.xx. Once you register (see below), you will be given the information necessary to fill in the three entry fields in the registration dialog. Once you fill in the dialog with valid information, click the Register Now button. If you have not yet registered, click the I'll Register Later button. Once you register FileBar, information about you will appear in the about dialog to show the world you are a proud, registered user of FileBar 2.xx! Once you register, the registration dialogs no longer appear. EXIT: This command saves your current menu configuration file and closes FileBar. This option is not available while FileBar is a replacement shell. The only way to close FileBar in that case is to shutdown your system (see Task List menu below). Task List Menu -------------- TASK LIST: The tasklist menu, whenever "pulled down", shows a list of all the currently running applications on your system. From this menu, you can perform a number of different options. Simply selecting the application name will jump to that application; giving control to it and restoring it if necessary. Each running application can be switched to, closed, maximized, minimized, hidden or shown using the cascading menu to the right of each item. SHUTDOWN SYSTEM: It is required of OS/2 (and most advanced operating) systems that you not simply just turn off your computer when are done using it. You need to tell the system you are through so it can save any open system files, flush the disk cache, and generally clean itself up before quitting. Use this option to signal that you are done using OS/2 and wish to be able to reset or turn off your computer. User Defined Menus ------------------ Each item in a user defined menu may be launched (started) by selecting it. The item will be launched with the data as defined in the edit item dialog (see See the "Editing FileBar Menus" section below). User menu items may be edited by selecting them with the right mouse button. Click and hold the right mouse button over the menu you want. Slide the mouse to the item you want to edit (still holding the right mouse button) and then release it. You will now be able to edit it. Note that this is only available when FileBar is displayed across the top or bottom of your desktop. If using FileBar as a popup menu, you must use the edit item command under the FileBar menu. The contents of user menus can be modified. See the "Editing FileBar Menus" section below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == VIRTUAL WORK AREAS ======== The "Virtual work areas" feature of FileBar 2.xx allows users to maintain a desktop much larger than their single physical display. FileBar gives you 9 "virtual" work areas. These work areas are like separate displays which share the same background and icons. Virtual work areas are arranged in a 3x3 grid. Items may be moved from one area to another by sliding a window half way off the screen in the direction you want it to go, selecting the new work area and then grabbing the half of the displayed window and moving it into the desired position. How can I use virtual work areas? --------------------------------- Say you are at home and have your word processor, spreadsheet and a game program running. If you like to view both your word processor and your spreadsheet but want to avoid having to mess with minimizing and restoring applications, they you can launch your word processor in one area and launch your spreadsheet in another. You can flip quickly between them by selecting the work area each are in. And your game program we mentioned is all the while running in a 3rd area. So, when someone comes in, you can quickly switch back to your spreadsheet or word processor and people may believe you are actually at work! :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == EDITING FILEBAR MENUS ==== FileBar's main feature is the ability for users to easily set up menus so they can access their applications easily and quickly. In this section, how to set up menus will be addressed. Editing Top-Level Menus ----------------------- To add, remove or edit your existing menus, select the "Edit Menus" item from the FileBar menu. This will bring up the edit menu dialog. From here, you can move menus left or right on your menu bar by clicking the Move Menu < or Move Menu > options. You may remove an entire menu, including all the items it contains by clicking remove menu. Removing a menu will remove all the items in the menu -and- all the submenus (and their items) in a given menu structure. You can add a menu by selecting the add menu button. Simply type in the name of the menu you wish to add and press enter. Remember that you are limited to a total of eight user defined menus. You may have no more than eight user defined menus on your FileBar (although you may have many, many submenus!). You may edit the contents of any menu by double clicking a menu with the left mouse button. Or, another way to edit a menu is to select it and click the edit menu button. Editing menu items are discussed below. Editing Menu Contents --------------------- After you selected a top-level menu to edit, you will be presented with a new dialog that lists that menus contents. Here, similar to the top-level menu dialog, you can move items up and down in the menu structure. You can also delete items (deleting a submenu will delete all items that submenu contains!). In menus, you can add separator lines, as well. These lines are used as dividers, primarily, and are useful in providing another level of organization in your menus. You can separators to your menus via the add separator button. A powerful features of FileBar 2.xx is the ability to add submenus. Submenus act like and are treated just like regular menus. To add a submenu, click the add submenu button and enter a title for your submenu. After doing so, you will get a new, blank menu to fill. Submenus can be moved, added and deleted just like regular individual items (see below). You can also add individual menu items (see editing individual menu items below). This is how you will add your own applications to the FileBar. For more details on adding or editing individual menu items, please see the next section. You may edit the contents of any individual menu item by double clicking the desiried item with the left mouse button. Or, another way to edit an individual menu item is to select it and click the edit item button. Editing individual menu items are discussed below. Editing Individial Menu Items ----------------------------- This section is useful in adding, removing or editing menu item entries in a menu, As mentioned above, you may edit a menu item by selecting it from the edit menu dialog. Or, you may also edit a single menu item by holding the right mouse button over the menu of the item you wish to edit (this is not available when FileBar is activated via the pop-up menu). Still holding the button, drag the cursor down to the item you want to edit and release the button. You may now edit this item just as if you had selected it using the Edit Menus item. When editing a menu item, you will see a dialog with many options. The first is the item's title. You may enter a title for the item you wish to enter (this title will be displayed in the FileBar as the item text for this item). You may edit this text at any time. Next, below the title, is the Item Session Type area. Here you will specify the type of application you want to add. If the program is an OS/2, DOS or Windows session (and windowed or full-screen), click the appropriate choice. If you are running a Windows application, you also have the additional options of running the application in a separate Windows session and/or running it in Windows 386/enhanced mode. See your IBM OS/2 Warp documentation for more details on what these actually mean. Below the session type area, is the Item Startup Options area. Here, you can tell FileBar whether to start the specified application minimized, maximized, or whether or not you want this program started everytime you start FileBar. (See the Startup List Options entry under the Options... Section above for more details on what this means). To the right of the session type information is the passwording information. If you wish to password protect the starting of this item, check the password checkbox. You will also need to click the Change Password button to set a password for this item. If you do not do this, your default password is 'filebar' (7 letters, all lowercase). Using this option helps protect various programs from being launched by just anyone on your computer. The correct password will be needed before they can launch this item. If you wish to also password protect editing menu items, see System Administrator Options above. Below the password information is the information regarding the application you are setting up. The first field, "Pgm Path" specifies the complete path to the application you wish to execute when this menu item is selected. The "Arguments:" field specifies any command line arguments you need to specify for the application. If you need to specify arguments at run-time, enter those parameters on the argument line enclosed in braces. For example, if you have a telnet client that always runs on port 4523 but connects to many hosts, you may construct your Arguments: entry as: [enter host] 4523 This will prompt the user to enter the first parameter at run time (with the prompt 'enter host') and using 4523 as the second command line parameter. Any number of arguments can be specified at run-time and you are free to intermix static and dynamic command line arguments. The "Directory:" field points to the default directory this application should be started in. The settings button will be described below in the DOS Settings section. The Find File button, under the entry fields, allows you to easily location an application you want to define. Click find file and you will be presented with a file finder dialog. Traverse the file system and select a *.BAT,*.CMD,*.COM,*.EXE or similar executable to use as the application to launch. Once you select an application, all relevant information about the application will be filled in for you. You probably would want to change the item title, however. Also, you want to be sure the session type is correctly defined (automatic sensing is not always what it is cracked up to be!) Opening WPS Objects ------------------- Below the two buttons is a drag and drop area. Here, you can drag and drop WPS objects you wish to open via FileBar. WPS objects can only be opened when FileBar is NOT the replacement (when you replace the WPS, WPS objects are gone, too!) To use this feature, simply drag a copy of the WPS object you want to open to the rectangular area marked on the dialog and drop it. The dialog will then configure itself to open that object whenever the menu item is selected. Once you drop the object, simply click OK because the settings are correct. You may also click the settings button to modify the WPS settings for that object. DOS Settings ------------ If you are setting up a DOS or Windows application, and you want to specify specific DOS settings for this application, you will need to use the Settings: field on the edit individual menu item dialog. To use settings, first enter a unique pathname into the settings field. This should be a filename which does not currently exist on your computer. Settings files can reside anywhere on your file system but are often useful if placed with the application and named appropriately (with a *.set or *.ini extension, for example). NOTE: Two or more applications -can- share a single settings file. If you wish to do this, simply specify the full pathname to the settings file in the settings: entry field. There will be no need to click the settings button (the settings are already defined). Once a filename is entered into the Settings: entry field, you can click the settings button to edit those settings. Editing DOS settings is just like editing DOS settings under Warp. See the IBM OS/2 documentation for more information. SPECIAL NOTE: If you are unsure how to set up a specific application, please look at the SAMPLE1.INI and SAMPLE2.INI files provided with FileBar. They can serve as good examples as how to set up different applications. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == FILEBAR OPTIONS =============== FileBar has many options that be configured by you. Selecting the Options item from the FileBar menu will present a list of seven different options areas that you can modify. They are each presented below. Settings values are saved when you save your configuration file. It is suggested that you select Save from the FileBar menu after making option changes. GENERAL: FileBar's general options are set here. You may choose to have the bar at the top of the screen or at the bottom of the screen. You may also choose whether the FileBar and Task List menus are displayed in long form or short form. You may set whether if FileBar asks for confirmation before closing an application from the task list or not. You can also set whether the WPS desktop (when present), is resized so that when FileBar is at the top of the screen, it does not cover any portion of the WPS. "Force on Top/Auto Resize" specifies whether your FileBar should always float on top of all other running applications. When turned on, FileBar will never be covered up by another application and it will resize applications who try to cover it so they fit under it. Lockup on Startup will lock up the system when FileBar is started. "Remove from task list when shell", if enabled, will remove FileBar from the task list if it is acting as the replacement shell. Do not check this item to keep it on the task list. WORK AREAS: Options concerning the virtual work areas are set here. The first option, "Enable virtual work areas", is to decide if you want to use the virtual work areas feature at all. If you are using virtual work areas and you want your Warp WPS launchpad to be present in all virtual work areas, select the second option. Note that your launchpad must be named "LaunchPad" on the General page in the LaunchPad settings notebook for this to work properly. Also, if you would like to use the 3x3 button pad to help you select virtual work areas, select the 3rd option. You can also select the arrangement for the virtual work area control box. It can be aligned in a 3x3 grid, a horizontal row or a vertical row. TIME/DATE: This option dialog allows you set the style and format of the time and date that appears on the far right side of your FileBar. You may also enable or disable an hourly chime feature in FileBar. If enabled, you may enter the complete path to a .WAV sound file to play at the top of each hour. You may also use the Find .WAV File button to help you locate a .WAV file to use. Selecting Test Chime will play the .WAV file specified in the entry field. POP-UP MENU: In addition to the menubar that is positioned at the top or bottom of your screen, you can also define FileBar to act as a pop-up menu when a specified mouse button combination is pressed. The first option is whether or not to enable the pop-up menu feature, at all. Selecting "Hide Primary FileBar Menu" will hide the main FileBar menu. If you use this option, you must use the mouse-button combination to summon the FileBar menu. Using this behavior, with FileBar as your replacement shell, causes your OS/2 to act more like a X Window display station with a pop-up root menu. The third option, "Pop-up over any window", deicdes whether the FileBar pop-up can be summoned over any window or if it should be allowed -only- over the background window. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION: FileBar has the facility to allow primary FileBar functions to be protected by password. This is called the System Administration Password. If you wish primary FileBar functions to be protected, select the protection check box. If you wish to set the password used, click the "Change Password" button. This feature will not protect user items from being selected. That is set via the passwording options for each menu item. Please refer to the section on editting menu items for more information. This feature can be used to help make a secure system. You can lock out all FileBar functions and then password protect menu items and provide users limited access to your system. Remember, your default password is "filebar" (all in lower case!). While you should change it from that if you use it, that is the password used when you use the sample .INI file. STARTUP LIST: This dialog allows you the specify the starting order for any items you may have flagged as needing to be started whenever FileBar starts. You may move items up and down in the starting order; items at the top of the list launch before items at the bottom. You may also remove items from the startup list here, too. The "Launch Startup List on Boot" enables all the items on the startup list to be launched everytime FileBar starts. The "Launch only if shell replacement" feature launches your startup list (if Launch on Boot is enabled), if and only if FileBar is acting as your shell. BACKGROUND: This options defined in this dialog take effect only when FileBar is your shell. It does not override the background settings when you are using FileBar in conjunction with the WPS. If FileBar is your replacement shell, you may specify if you want the background to be a solid color or a bitmap. If you wish it to be a color, you may alter its shade by moving the red, green and blue components of it. If you wish to use a background image, enter the name of the image in the entry field and select the style of how you want the image presented. Just like the WPS, only .BMP images may be used as background bitmaps. NOTE!!! There is a problem with IBM Warp v3.0 that the background feature does NOT work for bitmap images! This is a problem in Warp and NOT in FileBar. IBM is aware of this problem (IBM PMR #: 4X472) and is working on it. Future versions of Warp should work but v3.0 does not! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == TIPS, SHORT CUTS and MISC ITEMS =============================== For various features in FileBar, there exist "short cuts" that allow to access certain features with a fewer than usual number of steps. These short cuts, some tips and techniques and other misc. topics are listed below: * CTRL+SPACE is a global hotkey that gives focus to FileBar. Pressing this key combination in any application will immediately cause FileBar to become active. * If you are using virtual work areas and you have chosen that you want your Warp WPS launchpad to be present in all virtual work areas, remember that your launchpad must be named "LaunchPad". This is set on the General page in the LaunchPad settings notebook. * Your desktop must be named "Desktop", also, for your WPS background to be present in ALL virtual work areas. You can verify its name by checking the general page for the desktop settings notebook. * When starting FileBar, and running OS/2 Warp, it accepts a command line parameter, if specified. You may launch FileBar with the optional name of the initialization file you wish to use with it by specifying it on the command line. For example, to use FileBar as your replacement shell when FileBar is in C:\OS2\APPS\FILEBAR and OS/2 is on drive D: and the configuration file is E:\OS2\FB_INIT\SAMPLE.INI, then you would modify your OS/2 config.sys (on drive D:) to read: SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\APPS\FILEBAR\FILEBAR.EXE E:\OS2\FB_INIT\SAMPLE.INI or, you may start FileBar from the command line with the same parameter: start C:\OS2\APPS\FILEBAR\FILEBAR.EXE E:\OS2\FB_INIT\SAMPLE.INI * You may edit individual menu items by holding the right mouse button over a menu, sliding the mouse down to the specified item and release the right mouse button over it. * You may switch virtual work areas (screens) by holding the CTRL keyy and by pressing a number 1 through 9. * You can select items in a list box in various dialogs by double clicking the desired list box item. * You may move the virtual winows selector box by holding the right mouse button over the window and drag the window to a new location. * Remember, your default password is filebar (7 letters, all lowercase!) * Also remember that if you are using the password protection system, be sure to change your passwords frequently and that you keep your FILEBAR2.INI file out of view from anyone (passwords are stored in that file). * If you would like to set up the VIEW command (to view the OS/2 command reference or other .INF materials), the program path field in the item settings should be set to VIEW.EXE and the argument field should point to the .INF you would like to view (ie: D:\OS2\BOOK\CMDREF.INF) * When entering command line parameters, you can specify that some or all of the options be entered when the program is started. If you enclose one or parameters in brackets ('[' and ']') then FileBar will prompt you to enter the parameter(s) when the item is launched. * You may drag a font to the FileBar (from the Font Palette) if you wish to change the font FileBar uses for its menus. After you drop a font, the menu bar will change to accomdate this new font. The font you drop will be remembered next time you start FileBar. If you find yourself running out of room on your menubar because you are using long menu names, simply drag and drop a smaller font to FileBar (from the font palette in the OS/2 system folder). * If the time is not displayed (but you have the option under Time/Date options set to display a time/date), you probably need a smaller font. If there is not enough room for the entire time and/or date, OS/2 will simply not display it. * You may also drag colors (or schemes) to FileBar from the color or scheme palettes that come with OS/2. * You may use the tilde (~) in your menu and item names to signify that the character immediately following the tilde should be used as an accelerator for accessing the respective menus or items. * All changes made (time/date, bar position, menu contents, etc.) are saved each time FileBar is closed (or the system is shutdown or an explicit save operation is requested). FileBar is restored to the state it was saved in next time it is executed. Changes are saved ONLY during these times. * When editing menu items, you can drag WPS objects to the "drop area" and FileBar will open that object when you select that item. * When using FileBar as a WPS replacement, WPS features such as folders and program objects are no longer functional. Please remember this if you are trying to open a WPS folder via FileBar when FileBar has replaced the WPS. * The configuration information for the FileBar is stored in a file named FILEBAR2.INI (in the directory where FILEBAR.EXE is located) and may be backed up by the user for added protection. It is a strictly text file and may be backed up by copying a valid FILEBAR2.INI file to another, unused filename (ie: COPY FILEBAR2.INI BACKUP.INI). -- It is recommended that you make a backup copy of -- your FILEBAR2.INI on a regular basis! * FileBar comes with two sample FileBar configurations, SAMPLE1.INI and SAMPLE2.INI. To try these out, copy one of them over your FileBar .INI file (ie: COPY SAMPLE1.INI FILEBAR2.INI). NOTE! This will overwrite your current FileBar configuration and destroy the contents it currently has. These contain samples for how to launch DOS windowed and full screen sessions, OS/2 windowed and full screen sessions, and Win-OS/2 windowed and full screen sessions, among other things. Refer to these for tips on how to set up your own FileBar! * If you wish to add items that launch OS/2 command shells (DOS windows, DOS full-screens, WIN-OS2 sessions, etc.), see the SAMPLE1 or SAMPLE2 .INI files. For OS/2 and DOS sessions, simply select what type of command shell you would like (from application type section) and then leave the Program Path empty. That will start a command shell (DOS window, DOS fullscreen, OS/2 window, and OS/2 fullscreen sessions). However, if you want to start a WINOS/2 windowed session, put PROGMAN.EXE in the program path (it will start program manager for you). Again, see the SAMPLE1.INI or SAMPLE2.INI files for specific details. * Two or more DOS or Windows applications CAN share settings information. For the first application, you will need to enter a unique pathname and set the settings information. For all subsequent applications you want to use this information, simply enter that same pathname into their settings: entry fields as well (on the edit individual menu item dialog). Using this idea, you can make a couple of general settings files that may come in handy for a number of applications. For example, you can make a "DOS_GAME.INI" DOS settings file. This settings file could be set up with games in mind and referenced by all your DOS games. This way, you would only need to specify the settings once!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == COMMON QUESTIONS ================ Q. How can I set the font and colors FileBar uses? A. You can drag and drop both schemes (and/or colors) and fonts onto FileBar from the WPS. You need to run FileBar as a regular application, do any color or font adjustments you need to, and then either continue to run FileBar or configure FileBar to run as your shell (explained in the installation section at the top of this file). All changes you make will be remembered the next you start FileBar. Q. My FileBar flashes sometimes when the time changes? What's wrong? A. Nothing is wrong. IBM decided that OS/2 should redraw the entire menu bar when a single menu item's text changes. There is nothing that can be done. Q. My time and date is gone. After I added a few menu items and now it is no longer displayed. Where is it? How can I get it back? A. It is not displayed when there is not ample room on the menubar to adequetly display it. You need to drag and drop a smaller font to the FileBar menu. Go to the OS/2 Font Palette and select a smaller font (as described in your OS/2 documentation). Now, drag and drop this font to FileBar. The change will be remembered whenever FileBar is started. Q. Wow! With FileBar, things are a lot faster. But what else can I do to get more memory back for my applications to run in? A. FileBar is a great start. You are saving a lot of memory already. However, if you are trying to get the most memory possible out of your computer, you probably should refrain from using the background bitmap option (found in both the WPS and FileBar). Most backgrounds, while nice to look at, use a good deal of memory. You can usually save quite a bit of memory when not using this option. Also, you may want to look into tuning your disk cache, eliminating unnecessary drivers, using OS/2 native applications versus Windows applications and much more. There are a number of good shareware or freeware sources for this type of information as well as a number of good commercial software and books. Q. I have a configuration file from FileBar 1.90. How can I use it with the new FileBar? A. You can't. With the rewriting of FileBar, great care was taken to rewrite the saving and loading mechanism so that it is very stable and very reliable. With the drastic changes that took place, it is not possible to use your older configuration files. You will need to recreate your menu structure. FileBar 2.xx's configuration file format is highly extensible, however. Unlike the 1.xx releases, it allows easy future expansion and you should not have this problem in the future. Q. I registered version 1.80 of FileBar. Why do I need to register this one, too? A. The registration fee for all FileBar software prior to release 2.00 was $10.00 AND included the source code that generated it. With release 2.00, the source code was removed from the archive and the fee was increased. $10.00 simply did not cover the costs of the time and development that goes into developing and maintaining this application. Version 2.00 is a complete rewrite of FileBar. FileBar is now MUCH more stable and handles memory in a much cleaner way. It also adds a good number of new features. Because of this, and my continued efforts and development planned for FileBar, I feel justified in this decision. Many, many users wrote saying I could easily get $60 to $80 for an application of this type. Wanting to keep the software affordable, however, I opted to set up the pricing structure as I did. (Keeping it affordable!) (Registered users are still getting a discount on the new upgrade price.) Source code is available for this product for an additional charge. Contact technical support to find out more details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == Registration ============ If you like FileBar and plan to continue to use it, I ask you to register your copy of the program. The registration cost is only $15.00 for users who have registered previous versions of FileBar and $25.00 for new FileBar users. Upon registration, you will be sent a registration certificate. To complete your registration, you will need to enter the information found on this certificate into FileBar. Start FileBar and select the About... option. Click OK to dismiss the informational dialog. Now, enter the name, place and serial # into the appropriate fields EXACTLY as shown into the entry fields. Once you are done, click Register Now and that's it!! You're done! Please keep your registration certificate in a safe place in case you need to re-enter this information. You registration entitles you to all future 2.xx releases. (See "Updates" section below) Please see the enclosed ORDER.TXT form for more complete details. Orders can be placed by mail, fax, phone or computer. All major credit cards are accepted and international orders are welcome. Please print it out the ORDER.TXT form, fill it out and send it with your payment to the address given on that form. THANK YOU! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == Updates to FileBar ================== As updates to FileBar 2.xx are made, they will be released publically over an array of distribution channels. These include shareware CDs, BBSes, BMT Micro's BBS, the Internet, CompuServe, Delphi, America Online, etc. Announcements will also be made along similar channels to alert users to its availability. Once you register, the registration information you receive will unlock ALL 2.xx versions of FileBar. Remember to keep that information in a safe place when you receive it after registering. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- == Distribution of FileBar ======================== You are free to distribute FileBar to whomever and however you wish as long as the following conditions are satisified: - FileBar should ALWAYS be distributed in its entirety. This includes all documentation, executables, and setup files. Under no circumstances should FileBar be distributed without all of its original files. Distribution of FileBar (in any way possible!) is strongly encouraged both by individuals and software houses! - If you use FileBar, you MUST register it (directions for doing so preceeded this section of the text). Upon registration, you will receive information that you can enter into FileBar to unlock it and make it a full version. HOWEVER! Once you register FileBar and receive your registration information, you may NOT share your registration information with anyone!