Copyright: (C) 1997 FAURE David


Index

 Introduction

     Getting started with Icon - board

     Shareware

     Distribution

     Warranty

     Registering

     The author

     Thanks

 How to use

     Pop-up menus

         Main pop-up menu

         Buttons pop-up menu

         Drawers pop-up menu

     "Configuration of the application" window

     Board position and orientation

     Where to find the usual icons

     Some advices for the command lines

     Drag and Drop use

     Activate the application


Introduction

   Getting started with Icon - Board

   Shareware

   Distribution

   Warranty

   Registering

   The author

   Thanks

(C) 1997 FAURE David


Getting started with Icon - board

Icon - Board is an application launcher using the mouse or the keyboard very easily.

   His design is partly inspired by OS/2 Warp main board : some drawers are available near the buttons and to open them make appear another icon bar in another direction.   This can be very useful to classify the application, and to access to them quick.

Icon - Board is based on pop-up menus : just press the right button or the F10 key, to make some pop-up menus appear, depending on where you do it.

A very useful feature is the Drag and Drop. For more details, see corresponding section.

You can change the layout layout of a button as you want : application icon, icon from another application, bitmap (32*32, w/256 colours)

   Furthermore, when launching a program, you can specify some parameters.

Finally the Board position and orientation can be chosen and are saved for later.

Some other topics, to learn more about :

 how to get the complete version

 what means "Icon - Board version Shareware".

 which warranties are given by the author

(C) 1997 FAURE David

Do not hesitate to contact me if any bug occurs or if you have any suggestions about any improvement to Icon - Board or his help (correct my English if necessary!) ...


Shareware

The ShareWare version of this software is a way to let people know and use freely Icon - board for 30 days only.

You have to pay something only if this software is what you wanted it to be.

All the features of Icon - Board have been included, so that you are able to know how it works really.

After 30 days, if you still want to use it, you have to register.

But it's not very expensive... see section Registering

(C) 1997 FAURE David


Distribution

Icon - Board, ShareWare version, can be freely distributed, provided that the ShareWare conditions are respected :

 No modification of the number of files or their contents is allowed

 No more than 30 FF fee if distributed out of Internet

 You don't pretend that you wrote it.

 Those conditions are reminded.

(C) 1997 FAURE David


Warranty

Icon - Board is delivered as is.

You don't have any warranty that this program won't turn your computer into an expensive toaster, as I read somewhere!

It shouldn't happen, but if anything occurs on your computer and you find it to be due to my program, the author is sorry, but he won't do anything for you... (let him know anyway!)

If things don't work as they should, make sure you are using the right version, depending on your operating system : 2 versions of Icon - Board are available : Windows 3.x and Windows 95. Furthermore, you can choose between French and English versions. (If anybody wants to help me translating to any other language, just let me know !)

(C) 1997 FAURE David


Registering

Several versions of Icon Board exist, depending on the Operating System and the language, but they all cost the same price:

Icon Board version Windows 95 - French    :  code 95FC

Icon Board version Windows 95 - English   :  code 95EC

Icon Board version Windows 3.x - French   :  code 31FC

Icon Board version Windows 3.x - English  :  code 31EC

A Nt 4.0 version can be made if some people are interested. Otherwise I won't do it as I don't need it ...

Icon - Board is available for £ 6, $10 or 50 FF, depending on which currency you prefer.

By normal mail

To register and get the complete version, just send me your address, the version code and the cheque.

David FAURE

319 chemin de la Faleche

84740 Velleron

FRANCE

You'll receive the complete version by normal mail, on a 3''5 disk. (Please tell me if you don't have a double-density driver.)

By E-Mail

You can order the complete version by sending emailing me :

david.faure@ifhamy.insa-lyon.fr

but you still have to send me a cheque (I don't take credit cards .. how could I ? Please inform me ...)

If a FTP transfert is possible, I can lower the price (no disk to buy nor to send...)

For many licences, the price is degressive. (to be discussed)


The author

Who am I ?

French student (INSA de Lyon), I've been interested a lot in computers for a long time.

I used to program with GFA-Basic and 68000 Assembly on my Atari, but then I bought a PC and I learned Turbo Pascal, Borland Pascal for Windows and now with Delphi on a Pentium 100 running Windows 95.

Now I'm going to Linux and learning C, C++ and Java ...

Icon Board for Windows 3.x has been done with Delphi 1.

Icon Board for Windows 95 has been done with Delphi 2.

My address :

David FAURE

319 chemin de la Faleche

84740 Velleron

FRANCE

Telephone : (0033) 04 90 20 05 29

Email : david.faure@ifhamy.insa-lyon.fr

Please contact me if you find any bug or if you have any suggestion to improve Icon - Board ...


Thanks

I'd like to thank the following persons for their contribution, even if some of them don't know me ! (When I got a free component from them or read a message in the News ...):

Isaac Hepworth  (ijh1000@cam.ac.uk) Dragging a form without title bar;

David McWhirter (http://users.deltanet.com/~davidmc) TTrayIcon component;

Peter M. Jagielski (73737,1761@compuserve.com) TaskBar coordinates;

Duncan Murdoch  (dmurdoch@mast.queensu.ca) Getting long filenames under Win 95;

Christophe Porteneuve (porten_c@epita.fr) for his help about Hints.

Yves Rochat (rochat@dma.epfl.ch) for the Nag Screen (You don't like that there is one? Register!).


How to use

 Pop-up menus

 "Configuration of the application" window

 Board position and orientation

 Where to find the usual icons

 Some advices for the command lines

 Drag and Drop use

 Activate the application


Pop-up menus

Three pop-up menus exist. Which will appear when you click with the right button depends on where you click :

 the Main pop-up menu

 the Buttons pop-up menu

 the Drawers pop-up menu

As there is a very small room left for the form itself between the drawers and the buttons, the main pop-up menu is sometimes hard to call, that's why you can call it by pressing F10 (or Windows 95-menus key), or right-clicking on the icon of the taskbar (Windows 95 only)

Back to "How to use".


Main pop-up menu

The main pop-up menu includes :

 Insert at the end : This inserts a blank button to the end of bar whence the pop-up menu is called. Other insertions are available : see Buttons pop-up menus.

 Stay On Top : This option make the main board (and only this one) always visible. Otherwise, if you don't see it you can make it appear, you can use Alt+Tab or Ctrl+Echap to activate it, or, under Windows 95, click on the Icon - board icon from the taskbar (near the clock)

 Close drawers after use : If checked, this option makes the drawer close immediately after the click on one of its buttons. This is because, often, people open a drawer only to launch an application. So, it's convenient that it closes automatically.

 Exit / Close this window / Help / About ... : Do I have to explain ?

 Other options : see Board position and orientation.

Back to pop-up menus.


Buttons pop-up menu

Click on a button with the right mouse-button to make appear a pop-up menu including :

 Run : to ... launch the application !!! It's easier to click directly on the button, but this menu item enables Ctrl+Enter to appear and work.

 Insert (before) : this inserts a blank button before the actual button, to allow to configure a new application, manually, or dragging and dropping.

 Reach the original : this option, available under Windows 95 only, allows to launch the explorer to see the application, and also all the files from the same directory. Very convenient to reach quickly a directory...

 Configure application : this makes the window "configure application" appear.

 Destroy button : to destroy the actual button. Be careful that a confirmation isn't required to destroy one from a drawer, but only for a button from the main board, because then all the drawer is destroyed too!

Back to pop-up menus.


Drawers pop-up menus

Using the right button on a drawer button (on the main board) makes appear pop-up menu including:

 Open / Close : To open or close the drawer. This enables the hotkey Ctrl+Enter.

 Insert a first button : to create a new drawer with only one blank button.

 Choose drawer hint : you can even choose what appears when the mouse stays on a drawer button. This allows you to classify the application by theme (Microsoft, or Accessories, for example).

Back to pop-up menus.


Window "Configure application"

This form contains all the necessary informations for the configuration of any application under Icon - board :

 Command Line : this is the command that will be executed when clicking on the button. This line can include some parameters for the application. See Some advices for command lines.

 Working directory : this is the directory that will be entered when the application is launched. This is the directory which will be proposed for saving, for example. It's often the application directory that is to be entered there.

 Hint : this line enables you to configure the text that will be displayed in the hint, i.e. often the full name of the applcation.

 Start-up size : almost always normal, except maximized for Microsoft applications, minimized for background tasks for exemple.

 Icon file : this is the .EXE name, from which the icon that will appear on the button is got. You can also choose a .ICO (icon alone) or even a .BMP (provided that it is in 32*32 and 256 colours)

 Icon number : if Icon file is a .EXE or a .DLL, you have to choose which icon you want. To see them, click on Choose.

 Save (BMP or ICO) : saving the selected icon in ICO allows you to copy it and to use it anywhere else, and saving it in BMP allows you to alter it later with a drawing editor, and then to use it.

You should first fill the command line, because the the working directory, the hint, and the icon file will be filled automatically.


Board position and orientation

The main pop-up menu includes the following options; for the board position and orientation :

 Horizontal, Vertical : this allows you to choose the main board orientation, knowing that the drawers will be always perpendicular. Besides, if Horizontal is chosen, the drawers are always above the buttons (the board is suppose to be move to the bottom of the screen, then!) and if Vertical is chosen, the drawers are on the right side of the buttons (the board is supposed to be moved to the left of the screen, then !).

 Four options, in "start-up position " allow you to choose the position where the application will be moved automatically on start-up.

 For more customization, you can also move the application (clicking in the background of the main board, between 2 buttons) and then choose "Other (here)" to save the start-up position. If you moved the application to a place you didn't want, you can choose "Back to saved position".


Where to find the usual icons

Under Windows 95:

To find the icons of : the disk drives, the hard disk, the control panel, open or closed folders, enter C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHELL32.DLL as the icon file.

    (some of those icons are also in COOL.DLL, if you have it)

The "MS-DOS" icon is in C:\WINDOWS\Progman.exe

Under Windows 3.1

See C:\WINDOWS\Progman.exe

To customize an icon yourself, you can save in BMP or ICO any icon extracted from any program. (see Configure application)

See also Some advices for the command lines.


Some advices for the command lines

You will maybe need the following command lines :

"control" runs the control panel (no so easy for the non-english speaking persons!).

"command.com" will launch a DOS box.

Besides, under Windows 95, an interesting feature is that you can launch the explorer with explorer "C:\" (you have to use quotation marks, even if no space is present ...).

Under Windows 95, you have to use quotation marks if there are spaces in the command line or in a parameter.

See also Where to find the usual icons.

and for a quick configuration, see Drag and Drop use


Drag and Drop use

New application

To add quickly new applications, you just have to insert a new button anywhere (see Pop-up menus) and then drag and drop the executable you can see in WinFile (Windows 3.1) or the explorer (Windows 95).

After the drag and drop on this button, the program icon should appear on the button, the hint should be the name of the program. To change anything, see "Configure application".

Run an application with a file as parameter

If you drag and drop a file on a button where any program is configured, the program is launched with the file name as parameter.

This is very convenient with applications such as word processors, image viewers, notepad ...

Copy a button

If you use the internal drag and drop between a configured button and a blank button you have to create first, the button is copied onto the new one.

If the destination button isn't blank, you should see a dialog box asking for confirmation.


Activate the application

How to make the application active when it's hidden by other windows ?

If the board is totally hidden, you have to switch to it (Alt+Tab or Ctrl-Esc), or better, under Windows 95, to click on the icon in the taskbar.

If a part of the application can be seen, you just have to hold Ctrl or Shift and click on any button. The whole of Icon Board should then appear....

But if you want to make Icon - Board stay on top, so that it will never be hidden, choose 'Stay On Top' in the main pop-up menu.