═══ 1. Connexion Collection 1.5 ═══ CONNEXION COLLECTION 1.5 Copyright 1996 John Pedersen, All Rights Reserved. ═══ 2. Connexion Collection User Manual ═══ CONNEXION COLLECTION 1.5 The sections of this manual are: ■ About shareware, and registering Connexion Collection ■ Disclaimer ■ Introduction ■ Installation ■ Configuration ■ Main window ■ Importing a site ■ Support for Connexion Collection ■ Trademarks and service marks ═══ 3. About shareware and registering Connexion Collection ═══ Connexion Collection is shareware. For more information about shareware, read Explanation of shareware below. If you find Connexion Collection useful, you should register: To register, contact BMT Micro. An order form is provided in the file REGISTER.TXT. Important When you register, you will be given a numeric registration key. This key value is based on the name you have entered in the Connexion Collection Configuration Window. Do NOT change this name after registering! ═══ 3.1. BMT Micro ═══ For problem reports or suggestions, contact JMP Systems. To register, contact: BMT Micro PO Box 15016 Wilmington, NC 28408 U.S.A. (800) 414-4268 (orders only) (910) 791-7052 Fax: (910) 350-2937 24 hours / 7 Days (800) 346-1672 24 hours / 7 Days For more ways to contact BMT Micro, see the registration form. ═══ 3.2. Explanation of shareware. ═══ Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. The shareware system allows you to try before you buy. It has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. However, if you try a shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Copyright laws apply to shareware, and the copyright holder retains all rights. However, to distribute the shareware, the author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. Connexion Collection is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using Connexion Collection and continue to use Connexion Collection after a reasonable trial period, we ask that you register. The registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. Site-License arrangements are available. You are encouraged to pass a copy of Connexion Collection along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. CONNEXION COLLECTION 1.5 COPYRIGHT 1996 JOHN PEDERSEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ═══ 3.3. Disclaimer ═══ Connexion Collection is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Connexion Collection. ═══ 4. 1.0 Introduction ═══ Anyone who surfs the Web on the Internet soon has hundreds of "favorite" sites in their "hotlist." Connexion Collection can help you deal with this. The following sections will cover: General description How it works ═══ 4.1. 1.1 General description ═══ Connexion Collection helps you organize these sites into categories and sub-categories that are defined by you. It creates a single web page, full of organized links, which you can use as your home page. Even if you use more than one browser, they can use this single page. You can create categories, create connection sites (ie. links), drag and drop sites and categories from one category into another, and re-order contents of categories. You can import web sites from your browser and also write changes back to your browser. ═══ 4.2. 1.2 How it works ═══ Connexion Collection produces an HTML file (ie a web page) in its own directory (eg, D:\CONNEX) and the file is called CONNEX.HTM. Whenever you save your "Connexions", the CONNEX.HTM file is updated. When changes are made to this file, a backup copy, called CONNEXBK.HTM, is saved. To get the most benefit, therefore, you should get your browser (or your browsers) to use this file as a home page. Netscape for OS/2 keeps a pointer to the page it uses as a homepage in its NETSCAPE.INI file. There are two ways of setting the Netscape homepage. It's equally easy to set the WebExplorer homepage. If you import sites (links) from your browser, you will notice that imported items are removed from the "import" window. If you so choose, the changes (ie deletions) may be written back to the browser's original file. In the case of Netscape, this is the BOOKMARK.HTM file, and in the case of WebExplorer, it is the EXPLORE.INI file. If you elect to write changes back to your browser file, backups are created in the CONNEX directory. ═══ 5. 2.0 Installation ═══ Installation steps are straightforward. ■ Run the original self-extracting file ■ Set up a directory ■ Create desktop objects ■ Set your browser ═══ 5.1. 2.1 Run the original self-extracting file ═══ The Connexion Collection program is supplied as a self-extracting executable file. When you run it, you get two files: README.1ST a short readme text file, containing preliminary instructions _CONNEX.EXE another self-extracting file ═══ 5.2. 2.2 Set up the Connexion Collection directory ═══ Follow the instructions in README.1ST: 1. Create a directory, such as d:\CONNEX, for the Connexion Collection application. 2. Copy the file _CONNEX.EXE into this directory and run it. This will extract the package of files that were compressed into _CONNEX.EXE. ═══ 5.3. 2.3 Create desktop objects ═══ Follow the instructions in README.TXT: Run INSTALL.CMD to build a folder on your desktop. A Connexion Collection program object and an information object will be placed in the folder. You may move these objects, individually or in the folder, to another location. The install routine will also erase the interim compressed file called _CONNEX.EXE. ═══ 5.4. 2.4 Package of files in _CONNEX.EXE ═══ After completing the installation, the following files should be in your Connexion Collection directory. README.TXT Instructions for installing REGISTER.TXT How to register... INSTALL.CMD Installation program to create objects on desktop CONNEX.EXE Main executable program file CONNEX.HLP Help file CONNEX.INF Connection Collection User Manual SITE.GIF Graphic file used by web page FTP.GIF Graphic file used by web page FLDR.GIF Graphic file used by web page JMPSYS.GIF Graphic file used by web page SRCH.HTM Search script used by web page CONNEX.HTM A sample Connexions file ═══ 5.5. 2.5 Setting your browser homepage ═══ Connexion Collection is most useful when your Internet web browser is set up to use the Connexion Collection web page as its homepage. Both WebExplorer and Netscape can be set up to use the same Connexion Collection page as their homepage. With this arrangement you can switch back and forth between web browsers and only have one list of favorites to maintain. Before setting your web browser to use the Connexion Collection page as its homepage, make sure, if this is the first time you've used this program, that a Connexion Collection page exists! Simply save your Connexions to create a page. ═══ 5.5.1. 2.5.1 Setting the WebExplorer homepage ═══ 1. Start WebExplorer and select Configure on the menu bar. On the submenu, click Servers... 2. On the following dialog, select (check) the Load at startup? box. 3. In the Home document URL field, enter the homepage information. Note that a URL format is required, with a format of File:///[fully specified directory of Connexion Collection]\connex.htm For example - file:///d:\connex\connex.htm ═══ 5.5.2. 2.5.2 Setting the Netscape homepage ═══ The Netscape for OS/2 homepage can be set from the Connexion Collection Configuration Window. On this window, make sure that you have set up the Netscape bookmark file first. Then click on Set NS homepage. On the Set Netscape homepage window, the top Radio Button will be selected. It should show the full path name to your Connexion Collection page. Click on Ok to make the change to the Netscape INI file. A backup file of NETSCAPE.INI will be created. The backup system is the same 2-level scheme as is described for the optional hotlist file backups. You can also set the Netscape homepage from within Netscape. Select Options from the top menu bar, and then General Preferences.... On the Appearance page, in the Startup section, select the Home Page Location radio button. Then enter the full path name of the CONNEX.HTM file (eg. D:\CONNEX\CONNEX.HTM) in the entry field right below the button. ═══ 5.6. 2.6 The sample Connexions file ═══ When you first install Connexion Collection a sample Connexions file is installed. The first time you run Connexion Collection, you should make sure that you save your collection set before exiting the program, even if you don't make any changes, so that your name will be saved at the head of the Connexions page. The name of the Connexions file is CONNEX.HTM. If the sample file is not useful to you, simply delete it, and the next time you run Connexion Collection a new empty CONNEX.HTM file will be created. ═══ 6. 3.0 Configuration ═══ When you run Connexion Collection for the first time, you will be prompted with a configuration window. Subsequently, you can make configuration changes at any time by selecting Configuration from the Files... menu on the Connexion Collection main window. Settings are provided for: ■ Your name ■ Netscape bookmark file ■ WebExporer initialization file (Quicklist) location ■ Backups ■ Search tool inclusion ═══ 6.1. 3.1 Your name ═══ Enter your name here for use as a title for your Connexion Collection page. When you register, the name you enter here is used to generate a registration key. ═══ 6.2. 3.2 Netscape bookmark file ═══ An entry in this field is optional. If you wish to import internet sites from the Netscape bookmark file, you will need to enter the location (full path name) of the bookmark file in this entry field. With Netscape 2 for OS/2, the file is called "BOOKMARK.HTM" and is located in the Netscape directory. A Find... button is located to the right of the entry field to assist you. ═══ 6.3. 3.3 WebExplorer INI file (Quicklist) location ═══ An entry in this field is optional. If you wish to import internet sites from the WebExplorer Quicklist group, you will need to enter the full path name of the WebExplorer initialization file in this entry field. The file is called "EXPLORE.INI". A Find... button is located to the right of the entry field to assist you. ═══ 6.3.1. 3.3.1 Using the Find... buttons ═══ The Find... button to the right of the entry field provides an easy way of entering the full path name required. Click this Find... button and a file dialog window will appear. Use this file dialog to navigate your directories until you find the required file (BOOKMARK.HTM for Netscape or EXPLORE.INI for WebExplorer), and then click on OK. ═══ 6.4. 3.4 Backup files ═══ A checkbox is provided for both Netscape and Web Explorer. If the checkbox is selected (checked), then backups are kept whenever changes are made to the hotlist files of the Web Browser. All backup files are kept in the Connexion Collection directory. The backup scheme is a two-level system. The first time you write changes back to your browser's file, a backup is created with the name extension of ".BK1". In the case of WebExplorer, the backup would be called EXPLORE.BK1 and for Netscape it would be called BOOKMARK.BK1. This backup file is never overwritten and provides a longterm backup of the Web Browser file as it was before the first time that Connexion Collection made changes to it. Subsequent backups are created with the name extension of ".BK2" and each new backup simply overwrites the last one. If you decide that your ".BK1" original backup is too outdated, you need only delete it and a new one will be created next time Connexion Collection makes a backup. ═══ 6.5. 3.5 Adding a search tool to your Connexion Collection page ═══ If this checkbox is selected (checked), then a convenient search tool will be added right into your Connexion Collection home page. This search tool permits Boolean searches of both Newsgroups and the World Wide Web. ═══ 7. 4.0 Main Window ═══ The primary feature of the main window is the "collection" window. Below the collection window is a "Link" display field and at the bottom of the window is an entry field for "Additional description". ═══ 7.1. 4.1 Collection container ═══ The first time you use Connexion Collection you will see only a single folder in the collection window. This is the root folder for all of the categories that you will be adding. Using the collection window, you can: ■ Add a category ■ Add a site ■ Import a site using drag and drop ■ Move a site or a category up or down within a category ■ Move a site or an entire category into another category ■ Sort category contents ■ Copy link to clipboard ■ Delete a selected site, or an entire folder and all contents ■ Direct editing in the collection window ■ Save your Connexion Collection into a web page ═══ 7.1.1. 4.1.1 Adding a category ═══ There are two ways of adding a new category to your Collections: Using the menu bar First, select (highlight) the category into which you want to place your new category. Then click on Action on the top menu bar, and then click Add a category.... This will result in the "Add category" window appearing. Using the context (popup) menu You can use the "context menu", or "popup menu" of the collections window to open the "Add category" window as follows. Place the mouse pointer over the category into which you want to place your new category. Click mouse button 2. Select "Add category" from the popup menu. This will result in the "Add category" window appearing. ═══ 7.1.1.1. 4.1.1.1 The "Add category" window ═══ Enter the name that you wish to use for your new category, and then hit the Enter key, or click the Ok button. note Whenever you add an item to the collection, it will always be added as the last item in its category. However, you can re-order items in accordance with your preferences by using move up and move down from the context menu. ═══ 7.1.2. 4.1.2 Adding a site ═══ In addition to using drag and drop, there are two other ways of adding a new site to your Collections: Using the menu bar First, select (highlight) the category into which you want to place your new site. Then click on Action on the top menu bar, and then click Add a site.... This will result in the "Add site" window appearing. Using the context (popup) menu You can use the "context menu", or "popup menu", of the collection window to open the "Add site" window as follows: Place the mouse pointer over the category into which you want to place your new site. Click mouse button 2. Select "Add site" from the popup menu. This will result in the "Add site" window appearing. ═══ 7.1.2.1. 4.1.2.1 The "Add site" window ═══ Enter the name of the site into the top entry field, and then enter the URL name into the "Link" field. If you have previously, in some other application, copied the URL name into your clipboard, you can simply click the Add from clipboard button. When finished, click the Ok button. note Whenever you add an item to the collection, it will always be added as the last item in its category. However, you can re-order items in accordance with your preferences by using move up and move down from the context menu. ═══ 7.1.3. 4.1.3 Importing a site using drag and drop ═══ You can import sites from your WebExplorer or Netscape browsers by using "drag and drop". If you have previously saved WebExplorer URL objects to your desktop or to a folder, you can also drag them into your collection window. note Whenever you add an item to the collection, it will always be added as the last item in its category. However, you can re-order items in accordance with your preferences by using move up and move down from the context menu. ═══ 7.1.4. 4.1.4 Move a container object up or down within a category ═══ To move a Connexion Collection object (site or category) up or down, place the mouse pointer over the object and click the mouse right button. When the context (popup) menu appears, click on Move up or Move down. Another method is useful if you need to move an item up or down several spaces. Simply select (highlight) the item to be moved, and then use the keyboard to enter Ctrl+u to move the item up, or Ctrl+d to move the item down. (Ctrl+u means to press the Ctrl key and the lower case u key together; same idea for Ctrl+d) ═══ 7.1.5. 4.1.5 Sort category contents ═══ To do an alphabetic sort by name on the contents of of a category, select (highlight) the category and choose "sort category contents" from the context (popup) menu. Depending on the contents being sorted, this process may take some time. ═══ 7.1.6. 4.1.6 Copy link to clipboard ═══ You can use the context (popup) menu to copy a specific URL link from a Connexion Collection window into the clipboard. ═══ 7.1.7. 4.1.7 Move site or category into another category ═══ To move a site, or an entire category, "pick up" the object by placing the mouse pointer on it, press and hold down mouse button 2, drag the object into another container and release the mouse button. All sites and sub-categories within a dragged category will be moved along with the category. ═══ 7.1.8. 4.1.8 Delete a selected site, or an entire folder and all contents ═══ To delete a Connexion Collection object (site or category), place the mouse pointer over the object to be deleted and click mouse button 2. When the context (popup) menu appears, click on Delete.... Caution When a category is deleted, all sites and subcategories within the category are deleted as well. ═══ 7.1.9. 4.1.9 Direct editing in the collection window ═══ To edit names of sites or containers directly in the collection window, simply hold down your 'Alt' key and click mouse button 1 on the text you wish to alter. When you finish editing the text, click outside the editing field. ═══ 7.1.10. 4.1.10 Save your Connexion Collection into a web page ═══ To save your Connexion Collection as a web page, place the mouse pointer over the object and click the mouse right button. When the context (popup) menu appears, click on Save Connexions. ═══ 7.2. 4.2. "Link" display field ═══ This shows the URL of any site that is selected in the collection window. ═══ 7.3. 4.3. "Additional description" field ═══ For any site or category which is selected in the "collection" container, you may add any additional text which you would like to appear on your Connexion Collection web page. Simply type your description into the field and click on the Save description button. ═══ 7.4. 4.4 Changing configuration ═══ Use the menu on the top of the window to change your configuration settings at any time. ═══ 7.5. 4.5 Window position and size ═══ If you resize this window you can save the size and postion of the window by using the File menu, and choosing Save window position. ═══ 8. 5.0 Importing Connexion sites ═══ You can import web sites by dragging and dropping WebExplore URL objects from your desktop or from an OS/2 folder onto the Connexion Collection container. You can also import sites from your OS/2 browser (Netscape 2. or WebExplorer). ═══ 8.1. 5.1 Drag and drop Webex URLs ═══ You can drag a WebExplorer URL object from a folder, or from your desktop, or directly from the WebExplorer window. ═══ 8.2. 5.2 Import window ═══ In order to import web sites from your browser (WebExplorer or Netscape), you can open an import window. The window contains a list of all the web sites that have been placed into your browser's bookmark file, in the case of Netscape, or into the quicklist file, in the case of WebExplorer. ═══ 8.2.1. 5.2.1 Import list ═══ For each site, the name and the URL, or link name, are shown. If the text doesn't fit in the space available, you can use the scroll bar at the bottom to move horizontally. Usually it is more important to read the name rather than the URL, so the split bar is placed in the rightmost portion of the container. If you wish to move the splitbar, either to the right or to the left, simply place your mouse pointer on the split bar and press and hold mouse button 1 while dragging the split bar. To import a web site, place your mouse pointer on the line showing the site, and press and hold mouse button 2 while dragging the site onto the Connexion Collection window. Drop the site into the desired category folder. After you successfully drag a site into Connexion Collection it will be removed from the Import window list. ═══ 8.2.2. 5.2.2 Saving import window changes ═══ When you are finished importing some web sites from the Import window, you will click on "File..." on the menu bar. This will give you a choice of simply quitting, or writing back the changed list of sites to your browser. If you write changes back to the browser, Connexion Collection will make a backup of the file as it was before the change. ═══ 9. Support for Connexion Collection ═══ For quick and easy registering, contact BMT Micro. If you need support: (ALL feedback and suggestions are welcome too!) Regular mail, send to: John M. Pedersen JMP Systems, RR #2, Orangeville, Ontario, Canada L9W 2Y9 Email to: johnp@headwaters.com CompuServe email to: 76547,357 Voice: (519) 941-4076 Fax: (519) 941-9046 ═══ 10. Trademarks and Service Marks ═══ Netscape Navigator is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corportation. WebExplorer is a trademark of IBM Corporation. ═══ 11. Definitions ═══ Mouse button 1 Mouse button 2 Search tool URL ═══ 11.1. Mouse button 1 ═══ This is the mouse button used primarily for selection. When the system is set up for right-handed use (the default), mouse button 1 is the left button. ═══ 11.2. Mouse button 2 ═══ This is the mouse button used primarily for context (popup) menus and for drag and drop. When the system is set up for right-handed use (the default), mouse button 2 is the left button. ═══ 11.3. URL ═══ Universal Resource Locator, a standard address form used on the Internet. ═══ 11.4. Search tool ═══ When you enter your search terms on this form and transmit the form to the search engine site, a list of "hits" is returned. Search engines use automatic "robots" to visit Internet sites and build indices of searchable words.