HideWindow Help

Thank you for acquiring this copy of HideWindow. HideWindow is a simple Windows 95 utility that is able to hide and "unhide" an application's window. If the window is visible, the program will hide it, otherwise, it will make it visible again. A great use for this program is to hide the box that Windows 95 displays after connecting to an Internet service provider. By noting the title displayed by this or any other window, you can make HideWindow do its thing.

There are several ways to use HideWindow. If you run HideWindow without providing any arguments, a dialog box will pop up with a list of available windows. By choosing one of these names and clicking on the "Hide/Show" button, you can toggle the visibility state of that window. You may also use HideWindow by providing a series of command line arguments. This is useful when creating scripts and batch files, which can take advantage of HideWindow's capabilities.

The following help topics are available:

License

HideWindow's main dialog

HideWindow's command-line switches

Help on creating shortcuts

Run applications hidden upon startup

Release notes

How to contact the author


Command Line Switches

HideWindow can accept a series of command-line switches which allow it to perform different tasks automatically. The most important switches are outlined here:

HIDEWNDW [/n] [/c | /h] [/fh | /fs] [/t | /ts | /ns] [/w <timeout>] [/d <seconds>] <windowname> [<classname>]

Switches enclosed within brackets [] are optional, and switches separated by the | (OR) symbol indicate that only one of the switches should be used at any one time; it doesn't make sense to use both. Arguments enclosed within <>'s indicate that some kind of textual or numerical value is expected. String (text) arguments containing any spaces should be enclosed within quotation marks; for instance:

HIDEWNDW /r 'write "Long file name.txt"'

would run Word Pad while passing "Long File Name.txt" to it as an argument. As another example, note that the argument "window has 'single' quotations" will translate to window has 'single' quotations.

See Also: Additional Command Line Switches


<windowname>

This specifies the title of the window you want to hide or reveal. This argument is required, unless you specify the /c switch.


[<classname>]

This specifies the class of the window to be hidden. If this argument is given, HideWindow will act upon the window matching both windowname and classname. HideWindow's "Window Info" button can help you determine the class of a certain window.


[/n]

Suppresses most error messages.


[/c]

This will let you omit the "windowname" argument, while specifying a class name instead. The program will act upon a window belonging to that class, regardless of the window's title.


[/h]

Tell HideWindow to expect a hexadecimal window handle instead of a window name. Since handles often change each time applications are run, however, you might want to make sure the handle you're specifying is the one you really want. Since a handle by itself can identify a window, it makes no sense to specify a class name.


[/fh]

Will force the window to he hidden.


[/fs]

Will force the window to be revealed.


[/t]

If "windowname" is being revealed, you will force the window into the foreground.


[/ts]

Similar to the above, but will also cause the window to stay on top at all times (always on top).


[/ns]

This will turn an "always on top" window into a regular window.


[/w <timeout>]

This will tell HideWindow to wait for the specified window for a maximum of <timeout> seconds. If the window is created before the timeout period expires, HideWindow will act upon this window and then exit as usual. You can specify a timeout of INF, which means it won't stop running until the window is created.

Tip: If HideWindow is waiting for a window and you don't want to wait for it to terminate, you may use the Windows 95 "Close Program" dialog box to stop it prematurely. You can do this by pressing [CTRL]-[ALT]-[DEL], selecting HideWindow and clicking on "End Task".


[/d <seconds>]

If this switch is specified, HideWindow will wait <seconds> seconds before changing the state of the window. Unlike the /w switch, the delay only occurs if the window already exists. The /d and /w switches may be combined if desired.


Additional Command Line Switches

Besides HideWindow's basic command-line switches, the program also supports some additional switches which are to be used separately. These are outlined here:

HIDEWNDW [/h] /l <filename>

This saves the list of open windows to a file. The optional argument /h will cause window handles to be listed along with the window names.

HIDEWNDW [/h] /s <filename> <windowname>

Stores the visibility status of the specified window, in the specified file. Optional argument /h will cause HideWindow to use a handle instead of a string for the window name.

HIDEWNDW [/n] /r <command line>

This will run the application specified by <command line> in a hidden state upon startup. This should work with most Win32 and Win16 applications. The command line parameter should be the executable's name and any arguments to be passed to it.

HIDEWNDW [/n] [/h] /ri <filename> <command line>

This is similar to the previous method, but it will also save a list of the windows that the program creates upon startup. Please note that this switch will cause HideWindow to list only those windows created by the program specified. Some programs might actually call other programs, in which case the windows for those programs will not be listed. This is the case of the write.exe program under Windows 95, which does nothing more than execute wordpad.exe.


Creating Shortcuts

If there is a certain window that you always find yourself hiding or revealing, you can make things a lot easier by creating a shortcut, or a Program Manager icon. This involves using HideWindow's command-line arguments.

To create a shortcut in Explorer, you should follow these steps:

1.	Open the folder where you wish to place the shortcut.

2.	Click on the folder with the right mouse button.

3.	Select new -> shortcut from the popup menu.

4.	Enter the name of the executable file along with the appropriate command-line arguments, and click on next.

5.	Enter a descriptive name for the shortcut.

6.	Click on finish.

Note that you may also assign a shortcut key to the newly created icon. To do this, right click on the shortcut, select properties, click on the shortcut tab and set the shortcut key.

If you are using Program Manager, you should follow these steps instead:

1.	Open the program group where you want to place the icon (you can also create a new group by choosing file -> new, program group).

2.	Choose file -> new, program item.

3.	Enter the appropriate information such as the description, the command line, and the shortcut key.


The HideWindow Dialog

If you start HideWindow without specifying any arguments, the dialog pictured below will show up on-screen. You may click on the image for help on each window item.


Window List

This window provides a list of available windows. This list will specify the title of each window, and, optionally, a hexadecimal value indicating the window handle. To the left of each listed window is a small icon which indicates the visibility state of that window:

 Visible

 Hidden


Hide/Show

This button will toggle the visibility state of the selected window.


Window Info

Click on this button to get additional information about the selected window. It will list the title, window class, window handle and visibility state.


Refresh

This will update the window list by adding any new windows to it, while removing from the list those windows that no longer exist.


Close

This will simply exit HideWindow.


Help

You can click on this button whenever you need help. It will bring up this help file.


! (About)

This button will display copyright and version information about the program.


Use handles

When this option is selected, HideWindow will list all windows, including those without a title. The window list will display each window's handle, followed by the window's title (if any). If this option is not selected, HideWindow will only list windows with titles, and only the first of any windows containing identical titles.


Foreground

If this option is selected, HideWindow will bring the selected window to the foreground whenever it's being revealed; the window should appear in front of all other windows.


Run any application hidden upon startup

There's a little trick which will let you right click on a program's icon and run it in hidden form. Please note that this involves modifying the Registry, which contains important information that should not be changed under normal circumstances. Whenever you're working with the Registry, be sure to exercise extreme caution.

1.	Run the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)

2.	Find the subkey: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell

3.	To this key, add a key called: Run Hidden

4.	Add a key to Run Hidden called: command

5.	Set command's default value to: hidewndw /r /n '%1 %*'

Please note that for this to work, hidewndw.exe must be located in a directory which is listed in the path. I recommend you place it in the Windows 95 directory (usually c:\windows).


Release Notes

HideWindow version 1.42 for Windows 95. This version has been tested and is known to run under Windows 95. It has never been tested under Windows NT. It can run under Windows 3.1, but only if Win32s is installed. Testing under Windows 3.1 has been minimal, so I can't tell how well HideWindow will run under it.

You can always get the latest version of HideWindow by downloading it from the WinSite archive. The name of the file is hidewndw.zip and it's located in the directory /pub/pc/win95/desktop. You can optionally visit my web page, where you can find the latest version of HideWindow, as well as some of my other creations.

I would like to thank Steven Myers, who gave me many ideas for improving this program. Many of the command line features implemented in this version were inspired by his suggestions. He also helped me test the application for bugs, which I hope are fixed by now. Thanks as well to those of you who have sent comments, suggestions, bug reports, and money. I would finally like to thank the people who have made this program available via their Web and FTP sites, as well as through other distribution channels.


WinSite Archive

FTP: ftp.winsite.com

WWW: http://www.winsite.com


Adrian's Web Page

http://netdial.caribe.net/~adrian2


License

Although HideWindow is offered to you at no cost (it's Freeware), please note that the program is copyrighted. The following restrictions apply:

Permission is granted to any individual or institution to use, copy or redistribute this software so long as all of the original files are included unmodified, that it is not sold for profit, and that this copyright notice is retained. Also note that you may not disassemble or reverse-compile this program; doing so would constitute copyright violation.

HideWindow - Copyright © 1996 Adrian Lopez; All Rights Reserved.


Contact Information

HideWindow was created by Adrian Lopez and is distributed as Freeware.  Although I ask for no money in exchange for this program, I am at a point where I could really use some extra money. If you find this program useful, you may wanna' send a few dollars. This will make it easier for me to get a computer of my own; as I write this, I am using a rather slow PC, located in my parents' bedroom. You can send a check or money order, for any amount desired, to the following address:

Adrian Lopez

PO BOX 22556

UPR Station

San Juan, PR 00931-2556

You can also send questions and comments to the e-mail address shown below. I will do my best to try to answer your questions as soon as possible, but I can't guarantee a reply. Here's how to contact me via e-mail: adrian2@caribe.net

If you want to visit my web page, point your browser to:

http://netdial.caribe.net/~adrian2