Introduction to Control Panel Descriptions:

If you want to make changes to the Control Panel descriptions that come with Control Commander, or write your own, you'll need to know a bit about the structure of Control Commander documents.

To see how a typical document is organized, choose "Get Copy of Commands File" from the Edit menu.  The figure below shows a part of that document:
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Sounds
-24
Text
-27
Time
-28

Appearance
-1
* © Apple Computer Inc.
Double-click title bar to collapse windows
-26
Highlight Color
-27
-4
-3
Play sound when collapsing windows
-24
-26

Apple Menu Options
-1
* © Apple Computer Inc.
Remember recently used items
-8
-16
-26
Submenus On/Off
-16
-3
-26
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Keywords and reference numbers are in Green.
Control Panel names are in Bold Blue.
Comments are in Purple.
Lines describing the functions of a Control Panel are in Black.
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The pieces of the document are color coded to show what they are.  The document starts with a list of keywords; each followed by at least one reference number.  The keywords are what show up in the keywords Popup Menu in the Commands list window.  The reference numbers are used to tie the keywords to Control Panel functions.  e.g. the reference number for "Sounds", (-24) also appears on the line "Play sound when collapsing windows" so that when you choose Sounds from the Popup Menu, the line "Play sound when collapsing windows" will show up in the Commands list.  Everything from the start of the document to the first line that starts with a tab is treated as a keyword.  Everything after that tab character describes Control Panels.  Each Control Panel description starts with a tab and the name of the Control Panel, followed by any number of lines describing the Control Panel.  These lines are what appear in the Commands list.  To connect them to a particular keyword, simply put a tab at the end of the line and type in the keywords reference number.  Comment lines offer a convenient place to put things that you don't want to show up in the commands list.  They start with an asterisk, and must immediately follow the name of a Control Panel.
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Changing a Control Panel Description:

• Open the document you want to change.  If you can't find one choose "Get Copy of Commands File" from the Edit Menu.
• Click on the Check Syntax button so it's easy to see what's what in the document.
• Change the Keywords and description lines any way you want.  [There are a few rules, but nothing you should normally run up against].  Don't mess with the names of the Control Panels unless you are sure what you are doing. [Their lines all start with a tab].
• Add any Keywords or references you want to the document.  [Reference numbers are tab separated].
• When you're done Click on the Check Syntax button again to see if there are any problems.
• Use the Text Utilities dialog, by clicking on the Tools button, to fix any problems and (optionally) to alphabetize things.  You can see what things will look like by choosing "Preview" from the Edit Menu.
• When you are satisfied, check the Syntax one more time.
• Save your file.
• Choose "Add Text to Commands File", or "Add Descriptions" if you've closed the document.
• That's it.

If you run into any problems, look at the section of the manual entitled "Checking Your Work".  If that's not enough, read the section "Writing a Control Panel Description File" for all the technical details...
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Making New Keywords:

• Pick a descriptive name for the keyword
• Choose "Get Copy of Commands File" from the Edit Menu, or use some other document.
• Click on the Tools button to find out what the lowest unused reference number is.
• Type in the name for your keyword on the top line, followed by a tab, and the reference number you just found.
• Look through the text of the document and find the lines that you want your keyword to display.  Type in a tab and the reference number on those lines.
• If you notice that a Standard Reference number covers most of the choices you've made, you can add that reference number to your keyword.  That way it'll automatically select all the right stuff.
• When you're done, click the check syntax button to check for mistakes.
• Fix any problems.
• Choose "Add Text to Commands File" from the File Menu.
• That's all.  Your new keyword will act just like any other keyword.
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Creating and Using Settings Documents:

Here's how to make one:
• Open Control Commander, and choose "Get Control Panel Names" from the Edit Menu.  A document will open that will show you the names of all the Control Panels on the Computer.
• Go through the process of setting up the computer the way you want it, but as you set each Control Panel, type a description of what you did underneath the name of that Control Panel in the Control Commander document.
• When you are done, remove all the names for Control Panels you didn't use from the document.
• If you want, you can use the Tools dialog to alphabetize things, etc.
• Click on the Check Syntax button to make sure there aren't any problems.
• Save the document with a descriptive name like: "Set up for MyMac"
• Choose "Preview" from the Edit Menu.
• The Commands List will now show you the complete setup procedure.  And, you can just click on it to get to the right Control Panels !

If you need to set the Chooser or any other items, you can type that in too.  You can either put them in under one of the Control Panels, or put them in by themselves.  To put them in by themselves:
• On a new line, type a tab, followed by a short description of what the text is.
• On succeeding lines, type in a list of all the non-control panel settings that need to be changed.
• That's it.

Using a document:

You can either open the document and choose "Preview" from the Edit Menu, or you can hold down the option and âŒ˜ keys while opening the document from the Finder.  Either way the text of the document will be used for the commands list.