AppWait Readme Copyright 1996, Darren V. Croft Version 1.0 (10/30/96) ================================================================ Description ----------- AppWait allows applications stored on a network drive to be placed in the OS/2 startup folder. Until the executable and working directory drive letters are available, AppWait presents a dialog that displays, "Waiting for X:". Program icons set up with AppWait behave just like normal program icons. For instance, if the application is minimized, double clicking on the icon brings the application to the foreground. Shareware version ----------------- There are only visual differences between the shareware version and the version you will receive upon registration. On the shareware version the waiting dialog displays the following additional words: "Unregistered shareware" "dvc@ibm.net" You may use the shareware version only for evaluation purposes. At the conclusion of your evaluation please register as detailed in Register.txt ($10 personal license, $100 site license). Limitations ----------- OS/2 executables work very well with AppWait. OS/2 command files and DOS and Windows executables currently have some limitations. There is no way to specify DOS or Windows Settings -- the defaults are always used. Windows applications, DOS .bat files, and OS/2 .cmd files wait only for the working directory drive. This is fine if the executable is on a local drive or on the same drive as the working directory you specify. How does it work? ----------------- AppWait is a small PM program. It takes as parameters the information needed to run your application. Simply create a program object for AppWait with the application info, put it in the startup folder, and you're done. AppWait Useage -------------- OS/2 or DOS executable: AppWait APP_NAME APP_WORKING_DIRECTORY PARAMETERS_FOR_APP OS/2 .cmd file: AppWait cmd.exe WORK_DIRECTORY /cCMD_NAME PARAMS_FOR_CMD DOS .bat file: AppWait command.com WORK_DIRECTORY /cBAT_NAME PARAMS_FOR_BAT Windows programs: AppWait winos2.com WORK_DIRECTORY APP_NAME PARAMS_FOR_APP (if this doesn't work on Warp red spine, try win.com instead of winos2.com) The following are step by step instructions to set up a program object with AppWait: 1. Create a new program object You can drag a program object off the Program template in the templates folder You can click on a program object and type create another. Or, you can modify a program object you already have for your app. 2. On the program page of the object, fill in the path and file name field with AppWait.exe If you haven't installed AppWait to a directory on your path, you must enter the full path name. (For instance, if you have Appwait in c:\utilities, enter c:\utilities\appwait.exe) 3. In the parameters field, supply information about your app. For OS/2 or DOS executables, this information should be entered in the following order: a. Full path to the executable b. Full path of the working directory c. Parameters for your app For OS/2 .cmd files, enter the following in the parameters field: a. cmd.exe b. Full path of the working directory c. /cFILENAME.CMD where FILENAME.CMD is the name of your command file. (You can include the path if needed.) d. Parameters for your command file. For DOS.bat files, enter the following in the parameters field: a. command.com b. Full path of the working directory c. /cFILENAME.BAT where FILENAME.BAT is the name of your batch file. (You can include the path if needed.) d. Parameters for your batch file For Windows programs, enter the following in the parameters field: a. winos2.com (try win.com if this doesn't work) b. Full path of the working directory c. The executable name. (You can include the path if needed.) d. Parameters for your app 4. The working directory field of the AppWait object can be left blank. It is overidden by the working directory passed to appwait. 5. Set the icon for the program object. This can be done in several ways. Here is one method: a. Open the settings of an object that has the correct icon. b. Change to the general page. c. Press the edit button and the icon editor should open. d. Choose File Save, and enter a temporary name. e. Use the drives object to open the folder where you temporarily saved the icon. f. Change to the general page of the AppWait object you are creating, and drag and drop the icon from the folder onto the icon area of the general page. Useage Examples --------------- The following examples assume you have AppWait.exe in the c:\util directory, and the c:\util directory is not in your path. ** Example: OS/2 executable ** A program object with the following settings will start Describe from the h: drive with a default directory of c:\describe. The file name c:\describe\data\todo will be passed as a parameter. Path and file name field: c:\util\appwait.exe Parameters field: h:\describe\describe.exe c:\describe c:\describe\data\todo Working directory field: ** Example: DOS executable ** A program object with the following settings will start Wordperfect from the h: drive with a default directory of h:\wpData, and the file name h:\WpData\todo will be passed as a parameter. Path and file name field: c:\util\appwait.exe Parameters field: h:\wp51\wp.exe h:\wpData h:\WpData\todo Working directory field: ** Example: OS/2 command file ** A program object with the following settings will run the command file copyNew.cmd with a working directory of f:\newfiles, and pass c:\latest as a parameter. Path and file name field: c:\util\appwait.exe Parameters field: cmd.exe f:\newfiles /ccopyNew.cmd c:\latest Working directory field: ** Example: DOS batch file ** A program object with the following settings will run the batch file copyNew.bat with a working directory of f:\newfiles, and pass c:\latest as a parameter. Path and file name field: c:\util\appwait.exe Parameters field: command.com f:\newfiles /ccopyNew.bat c:\latest Working directory field: ** Example: Windows Program ** A program object with the following settings will run America Online with a working directory of m:\aol30. Path and file name field: c:\util\appwait.exe Parameters field: winos2.com m:\aol30\aol.exe m:\aol30 Working directory field: Possible Enhancements --------------------- The following enhancements will be considered if there is enough demand. 1. Specify DOS and Windows program settings. 2. Wait on the the drive where the command file, batch file, or Windows program resides (when different from working drive). 3. Execute a specific command file or other program when a drive isn't available (With this capability, you could have an object that would NET USE the drives if needed.) 4. Wait on other drives in addition to the executable and working directory drive. 5. Have an application wait for another specific application in addition to waiting for the network drives (In this way you could enforce startup order for network apps.) 6. A new WPS class that would create a "Network Program" Object providing ExeWait functionality and a settings page to control it. Please let me know your needs by sending email to dvc@ibm.net