Copyright: Copyright ©1994 Camira Technologies, Inc.


Panic Help
Panic! Main Help

Use the left mouse button to select one of the two options below.

 Panic! -- The Tutorial

Panic! -- Extras and Details


500 words or less
Panic! -- The Tutorial

Ok. So what's Panic!?

Panic! is a button that always sits in the top left corner of your screen and may be accessed by clicking on it with your mouse (clicking = push the left mouse button).  Here's what the Panic! Button looks like:

Panic! provides you with 3 outstanding features and each is described below.  Just click on the topic you would like to go to.

The Panic! Program Manager Saver and Fixer!

The Panic! Running Programs List

The Panic! Program Launcher


1. Your Program Manager Helper
The Program Manager Saver/Fixer!

Program Manager Fundamentals

The first screen that most people see when they run Windows is the Program Manager.  The Program Manager helps you keep track of all the programs that you use.  Each program has an icon that represents it (a little picture)  and each icon is usually organized into what are called groups.  Your Accessories Group might look something like this:

Try clicking on the different icons in the Accessories Group above.

You could also have a Word Processing group, a Database group, a Spreadsheet group and a Games group.  The Games group might have 6 icons in it.  Each icon would represent a different game.

All of your icons, in all of their groups, sit together on what is called your Desktop.  Many people like to personalize their desktop to their own unique tastes.  Maybe you like to have only the Word Processing, Database and Spreadsheet groups visible on your desktop and the Games group Minimized (so that it's just an icon) somewhere down in the corner.  Maybe you also like the Word Processing group to be bigger than the others and placed in the middle of your screen.  The point is that you can make your Desktop look exactly the way you want so that every time you go to use it everything is right where you like it.

Now imagine you've spent a great deal of time creating your perfect desktop and then a friend uses your computer and changes it to the way he/she likes it.  All of your work would be gone!  PANIC!

This is where Panic! really shines.  Once you're happy with how you've arranged your dektop you can tell Panic! to memorize it by pressing the Save It button:

When you click on the Yes button Panic! looks at how you like everything arranged and memorizes it.  Now when your friend changes something just click on the Panic! button and then the Fix It button:

Select Yes and Panic! will put everything back the way you like it.

Being able to do this is also handy when you've seemingly lost (or deleted) groups and icons, find yourself lost in a group that has "swallowed" your whole screen,  or can't seem to restore order to your desktop.  Just tell Panic! to put it back!


Icon
Icon  -- Represents a program


2.  The Panic Running Programs List
The Panic Running Programs List

When you press the Panic! button it looks something like this (note that yours may not look exactly the same):

The left side of the Panic! screen is called the Running Programs List.  Within it you'll notice that a number of programs and their icons are displayed.  Again, your list may not look exactly the same as the one above.  This list shows you what programs are currently running on your system.  Remember that some programs, such as Program Manager, are run automatically when Windows is started.  Other programs such as your Word Processor and Spreadsheet will appear in this list only if you have specifically told Windows to start them.

The idea of the Running Programs List is simple.  Take the following example which assumes that Paintbrush and Write (two programs supplied by Microsoft that come with Windows) are in the Running Programs List:

Joe is currently using Paintbrush and his screen looks something like this (See the Panic! button?):

Now Joe wants to copy his picture so that he can put it in his Write document.  After outlining the picture Joe then selects Edit and then Copy from the menu bar.  Then Joe clicks on Panic! to immediately go to the Write document.  Panic! looks like this:

Joe spots the Write icon already in the Running Programs List and then clicks on it with his mouse to select it. Next, Joe clicks on the Go button to tell Panic! to take him directly to his Write document. He then selects Edit and then Paste to put his picture in his document.  Voila!  (That's french for "Panic! is so easy!")


I'm already running!

This program is already running.  To go to it you can:

1. Double click on it

2. Click on it once (it will become highlighted) and then click on the GO Button

3. Click on it once (it will become highlighted) and then press the ENTER key


Go to a program if it's running or Launch it if it isn't

Press me after you've made your selection in the Running or the Start list.


Panic Program Launcher

The Panic Program Launcher allows you to put your favorite and/or most often used programs in one convenient place, the Start List.  Imagine not having to constantly flip back and forth to the Program Manager to find the program you need!  It's right inside of Panic!

You can tailor the Start List to your own tastes.  You can put as many programs as you'd like in the list and arrange them in any order.  Best of all, Panic! makes it easy to add programs to it by using all of the work you've already done to set up your Program Manager.  The example below explains.

In your Program manager there is an Accessories group that probably looks something like this:

Let's say that the Paintbrush program is one of your favorites and you'd like to add it to Panic! so that you can quickly get to it whenever you want.  First we click on Panic! so that the screen looks something like this:

Notice that Paintbrush is not yet in the Start List.  Now find the Edit button located just below the Start List.  When you click on it Panic! now looks something like this:

All of your groups from the Program Manager are in the upper left box titled Groups.  When you select a group from the Groups list the items in it are displayed in the Group Items list in the lower left corner.  After you find the icon you would like to add to the Start List on the right click on it and then click on the big green arrow.  This will add your selection to the top of the Start List.  From there you can use the yellow up and down arrows to position your selected icon in the Start List.  It's that simple!  In our example we select the Paintbrush icon and then the green Add arrow.  Our new and improved Start List now looks like this:

Notice that there's a Delete button too.  Be careful with this one!  If you delete an icon from your Start List you'll have to go find it again to get it back!

We're finished adding Paintbrush to the Start List so now we click on the OK button which returns us to the main Panic screen.   The new Start List now looks like this:

Now we can access Paintbrush anytime from anywhere with only a few clicks!


Desktop
Panic! -- Desktop

Panic! allows you to arrange your running programs and their icons.  From the main Panic! window there are 4 choices:

Cascade

Tile Vertical

Tile Horizintal

Arrange Icons

The Cascade and Tile options work only on running programs that are opened, i.e. they are not minimized.  The Arrange Icons options works only on running programs that have been minimized.

Example:  You have two applications and the Program Manager open.  You would like to Horizontally tile just your two applications.  First, go to the Program Manager and minimize it.  Now click on Panic! and then on the Tile Horizontal button.

TIP:  Minimize all of the applications you do not want to be tiled or cascaded.


Panic Extras and Details
Panic! -- Extras and Details

Select an area you would like more help with:

Desktop options from the main Panic! window

Editing the Start List

Killing a program

The Program Manager Saver/Fixer


I'm the Title Bar
Title Bar  -- Shows the name of the group


I'm a Minimizer (I can turn this group into an icon).
Minimizer -- Turns a group into an icon


I'm a Maximizer (I can make this group take up the whole Program Manager).
Maximizer -- Make a group take up the whole Program Manager


I'm a Scrollbar -- Click on the arrows to see what's up or down
Scrollbar -- Use to see more icon above or below


Cascade
Cascade -- Select this option to cascade your running applications.


Tile Vertical
Tile Vertical -- Select this option to vertically tile your running applications


Tile Horizintal
Tile Horizintal -- Select this option to horizintally tile your running applications


Arrange Icons
Arrange Icons -- Select this option to arrange all of your running applications that have been minimized.


Editing the Start List

Groups

Group Items

Add item to Start List

Start List Controls

Editing an item


Edit Groups
Groups

The Groups box provides a list of all of your current groups in the Program Manager.  You use this list to find the Group that contains the program item you want to add to the start list.  You may use the scroll bars or the arrow keys to move through the list.


Edit Group Items
Group Items

This list contains all of the Program Items within the group you selected from the Groups list.  Select a program by clicking on it so that it becomes hilighted and then click on the green Add Item To Start List button.


Add Item to Start List

Once you have selected the Group and the Program Item you wish to add to the Start List, press the Add Item to Start LIst button.


Start List Controls

The items in your Start List may be moved up or down and edited.  For example, you can select an item in the Start LIst and then use the yellow UP and DOWN arrows to move the item up and down the Start List.  This is useful for putting your most accessed programs at the top of the list.

If you do not like a particular item in the Start List then select it and then click on DELETE.  This will remove it from the Start List.

If you wish to change the properties of an item in the Start List then click on EDIT.  BE CAREFUL!!  This is a very advanced feature of Panic! and should be used with extreme caution.


Editing an item

Program Name:  Change the name of your program as it appears in the Start List

Commnad Line:  Define a new path and/or file name for your program

Working Directory:  The directory for your program to use when it has started

Change Icon button:  Select a new/different icon for your program


Change Icon button

Use this option to tell Panic! that the icon for your program is located somewhere else.  Note:  You must know the exact path and file name for this to work.

An example file to use is PROGMAN.EXE which is usually located in the Windows directory.  It contains a number of generic icons to associate your programs with.


Killing a program

When you select a program from the Running Programs list and then click on the Kill button, Panic! will send a message to that program telling it to stop running.

Please note that for most Windows applications the Kill button works very nicely but it is not recommended for killing DOS applications.


The Program Manager Saver/Fixer

The Program Manager Saver/Fixer does exactly as it says:  It saves your current Program Manager settings and then lets you recall (fix) them when you like.

It is common to save you Program Manager settings and later add new groups and icons.  Panic! recognizes this and uses the following rules when restoring you Program Manager settings:

1.	Restore all settings as they were last saved

2.	Add icons to already existing groups that have been added since the last save

3.	Add new groups that have been added since the last save and minimize them

Let's say that you used to have 2 main windows and each was in view when you performed your last save.  Group 1 has icons 1A and 1B.  Group 2 has icons 2A and 2B.  You then move icon 2A to Group 1.  Next you add a new group Group 3.  Finally you tell Panic! to fix your Program Manager settings.  What happens?

First Panic! brings back Groups 1 and 2 exactly as they were before the fix.  Group1 now contains icons 1A and 1B and Group 2 has 2A and 2B.  Panic! now sees that you added a new icon to Group 1 since the last save and then creates that icon in Group 1.  Group 1 now has icons 1A 1B and 2A.  Next Painc! recognizes that you have added a new Group 3.  Group 3 is then created with all of its icons and is minimized.

Feel free to pat yourself on the back if you were able to follow this example.  It was the simplest we could come up with.