---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CMDbar Readme ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1999, 2000 Pitrinec Software, All rights reserved. Developed by Lukas Rovensky Contents: 1. Overview 2. Current Version 3. Requirements 4. Installation 5. Help 6. How to Start 7. License Agreement 8. Contacts, Support, Home Page 9. Directory Structure 10. Upgrade From Previous Version of CMDbar 11. Perfect Command Bar Users 12. History ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Overview CMDbar is a command line utility to control Windows from a keyboard. It runs under Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT operating systems. The program allows user to type most known commands as copy, del, dir, easily launch favorite programs, navigate to WWW links, quickly access and explore favorite folders, etc. CMDbar supports easy-to-use file management window, multi-line aliases, favorite files, folders, programs, file filters and many built-in commands. Math expressions can be evaluated directly from CMDbar (command '='). CMDbar can also store and run scripts written in one of the popular scripting languages (VBScript, JavaScript, PerlScript and PythonScript). VBA-like scripting capability is available (like VBA macros in Microsoft Office), so, all CMDbar commands can be called within scripts. Internet Explorer 4.x an higher users can benefit from current folder synchronization between CMDbar and IE. User is assisted by Quick Help (tooltip window displaying description of the currently typed command) and Smart Command Complete offering automatically possible commands (like Internet Explorer). A hot-key can be assigned to CMDbar for fast access. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Current version Current version is 2.10. CMDbar is shareware -- it can be evaluated for 30 days and after this period it has to be registered or removed from the system. We appreciate to hear every user's feedback, comments or suggestions to improve CMDbar and make next versions as useful as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Requirements - Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT - 3.0 MB free disk space - PC Pentium 90 or better - 16MB RAM (32MB RAM or more is generally recommended) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Installation To install the CMDbar to your system run SETUP.EXE program and follow the instructions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Help CMDbar comes with help written in HTML, so it can be viewed by any web browser, like Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer. User can type command 'help' or go to menu, item Help or directly open file PCBHELP.HTM inside the Help folder. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. How To Start When CMDbar runs first time after installation a HTML document Getting Started automatically appears. Users are recommended to read and follow examples inside this document to get started with CMDbar. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. License Agreement Upon your acceptance of this Agreement, Pitrinec Software (Author) grants to you a nonexclusive license to use the CMDbar software (Software). A. Use of the Software. The Software has been released for distribution as a SHAREWARE and may be distributed at no cost. You may install the Software on a hard disk or other storage device; install and use the Software on a file server for use on a network for the purposes of (i) permanent installation onto hard disks or other storage devices or (ii) use of the Software over such network; and make backup copies of the Software. B. Restrictions. Unregistered use of the Software after the 30-day evaluation period is in violation of international copyright laws. You are not allowed to modify, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Software. The number of the (licensed) Software instances running at the same time may not exceed the number of licenses purchased. You are not allowed to redistribute or provide to 3rd party already registered versions of the Software as well as you may not publish the registration number(s) that unlock the Software. The Software can be distributed only as the package provided by the Author. This package cannot be changed in any way without written Author's permission. C. No Warranty. ALL WARRANTIES ARE DISCLAIMED, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SOFTWARE. THE ENTIRE RISK OF THE USE OR THE RESULT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE REMAINS WITH THE USER. Unpublished-rights reserved under international copyright laws. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Contacts, Support, Home Page Postal contact: Pitrinec Software Dolni Jircany 271 252 44 Psary Czech Republic Support is free for all registered users and users evaluating the CMDbar on the e-mail address: rovensky@kagi.com pitrinec@kagi.com CMDbar home page is on the following www-address: www.SoftwareUtilities.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Directory Structure CMDbar relies on the directory structure created by the setup program. If user moves or removes some files then problems may appear. Bin - binary files, that is executables and dynamic linked libraries. Help - all help files. Example - all example files. 'root' - text files and the uninstallation program. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Upgrade From Previous Versions of CMDbar Upgrade from previous version of CMDbar is free for all registered users. Recommended upgrade procedure: 1) Backup you data files. 2) Uninstall previous version of CMDbar. 3) Install new version of CMDbar. 4) Restore your data files and open them with the new version of CMDbar. If you do not want to uninstall old CMDbar version you can also install the new version over the old one. It is not recommended to run simultaneously both the old and new versions of CMDbar -- proper behavior cannot be guaranteed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Perfect Command Bar Users All Perfect Command Bar users are encouraged to use CMDbar which is backward compatible with Perfect Command Bar. Free-beta of Perfect Command Bar has expired by the end of October 1999 and is not supported after release of CMDbar. Transition from Perfect Command Bar to CMDbar: 1) Backup your data Perfect Command Bar files (extension '.pcb'). 2) Uninstall Perfect Command Bar. 3) Install CMDbar and launch it. 4) Open your Perfect Command Bar data file in CMDbar. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. History 2.10 - Version 2.10 (build 000110), released in January 13, 2000 ---------------------------------------------------------------- New Features: ------------- Added: CMDbar implements ActiveX Script Host functionality. Scripts can be run faster then using Internet Explorer as ActiveX Script Host. VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)-like scripting functionality is available for all supported scripting languages. Added: 'CMDbar' object with method 'Command' is available for scripts using CMDbar as ActiveX Script Host, so all CMDbar commands can be invoked from a script. Added: 'CMDbar' object method 'Pause' -- convenient shortcut to command 'pause'. Added: CMDbar object methods 'alert', 'confirm' and 'prompt'. These methods provide simliar behaviour as the same methods from object 'window' provided to scripts by Internet Explorer. Added: Math expressions can be evaluated via VBScript -- CMDbar can be used as a convenient calculator (IE 4.x or higher is required). Added: A context folder can be set up for particular applications. Once application with specified title is activated then the context folder is set as current CMDbar folder. Added: Insert buttons (Command, Path and File) like were added to Script Properties dialog box. Added: Aliases can take up to 9 parameteres (strings %1 - %9 are substituted by actual parameters). Added: Licence type is displayed inside About dialog box. Added: Command 'dos' can perform a command using default command interpreter (cmd.exe for WinNT and command.com for Win95/98). Added: Log window supports both list view and text view (text view can be used to copy log data to clipboard for further processing). New Commands: ------------- '=' : to evaluate math expression and display result. '+=' : to evaluate math expression and add it to the last result. '-=' : to evaluate math expression and subtract it from the last result. '*=' : to evaluate math expression and multiply it by the last result. '/=' : to evaluate math expression and divide by it the last result. 'ctxmenu' : (or 'contextmenu') to display context menu for file, folder or current folder. 'disconnect' : to disconnect a network drive via Disconnect dialog. 'eject' : to eject removable media like, CD-ROM, ZIP disks, etc. 'findcomputer' : to invoke the Find: Computer dialog. 'findfile' : to invoke the Find: All Files dialog. 'logoff' : to loggof current user. 'mapdrive' : to invoke 'Map Network Drive' dialog. 'poweroff' : to shutdown the system and switch off power. System has to support the power-off feature. 'print' : to print files using associated programs, e.g., files with extension .doc are printed via MS Word, etc. 'properties' : to display properties of a file, folder or current folder. 'reboot' : to shutdown and reboot the system. 'rundlg' : to invoke the Run dialog. 'set' : to set, modify or get value of an environment variable. 'set' works only with environment variables for current process (CMDbar) and child processes (programs run from CMDbar). 'shutdown' : to shutdown the system. 'startmenu' : to show and track the Start Menu. 'whoami' : to display current user name. Modified Behaviour: ------------------- Changed: Log window can be resized. Changed: Alias Properties dialog box layout was modified. Fixed Problems: --------------- Fixed: Commands like "b:*.cpp" did not work properly -- filter was not correctly extracted inside File Management dialog and non-existing path was not reported. Fixed: Buttons were not updated properly inside Options property sheet, tab Favorites. Fixed: Focus was last after last item was deleted inside Options/Scripts, Favorites, etc. Fixed: History of previous folders (back menu) was updated even if the same folder was set again (e.g., last back folder was c:\temp, current folder was c:\temp and command cd c:\temp put the c:\temp folder to back menu again). Fixed: Vertical and horizontal scrollbars were missing in Script Definition edit box inside Script Properties dialog box. Fixed: List box of the Command Combo Box was not resized properly in Windows 9x. Fixed: Several spelling errors. 1.10 - Version 1.10 (build 990630), released in July 13, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------- Added: 'mkdir' command can create multi-level directories -- e.g., 'mkdir d1\d2\d3' will create all directories from d1 to d3 in oposite to default 'MS-DOS' behavior where sequence of five commands ('mkdir d1', 'cd d1', 'mkdir d2', etc.) was required. Added: Support of ActiveX scripting languages. CMDbar as able to run scripts written in VBScript, JavaScript, PerlScript and PythonScript. New property page for scripts was added to the Options property sheet. This feature requires Internet Explorer 4.x or higher. Added: CMDbar can be integrated with Internet Exloprer 4.x and higher. When user enters 'ls', 'dir' or 'explore' command then special instance of the Internet Explorer browsing current or specified folder is created. Current directory is synchronized between the Internet Explorer and CMDbar. Added: Command 'del' has new parameters - '+rb' to delete file or folder through the Recycle Bin and '-rb' to delete file or folder directly. Added: Filters, Favorites and Aliases property pages have new button "Add Copy" to add copy of an existing item. Changed: New smaller installation and uninstallation programs are used. Changed: Name of the program was changed from Perfect Command Bar to CMDbar. Changed: Button "Add" on the Filters, Favorites and Aliases property pages was renamed to "Add New". Fixed: Several spelling errors. Fixed: Empty shortcut to Favorite, Filter or Alias item may not be entered now. Fixed: Searching inside Command Browser did not work properly. Fixed: CMDbar cannot be run twice now -- multiple running caused eventually problems. 0.99 - Version 0.99 Free-Beta (build 990422), released in April 23, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Added: Favorite Folders have new option -- "Show tree in Explorer" -- user can decide if he prefers to "open" or fully "explore" given folder. Fixed: "Up one level" icon inside the File Management window was not displayed properly in Windows98 -- the icon was changed. Fixed: Button "Properties" did not work in some circumstances. Fixed: DLL files were not displayed inside the File Management Window. 0.99 - Version 0.99 Free-Beta (build 990418), released in April 19, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fixed: Problems with resizing controls (Current Path, Command Combo Box, Toolbar) in the Command Line Mode. Fixed: Autohide was not working properly in Windows 98 0.99 - Version 0.99 Free-Beta - released in April 15, 1999 ----------------------------------------------------------