Copyright: Command Bar Plus ®1992-94 by Alan Schultz


Alarm Clock Plus Contents
  Command Bar Plus Contents

Welcome to Command Bar Plus Help. To find out more about a particular topic, click on the topic name. The following topics are discussed in this Help file:

The Command Bar

Command Bar Plus menu bar

Message Board

The Alarm Clock

Appointment Book

The CD Player

The Phone Dialer

The Stop Watch

The Movie Player

File Archiver

Send/Read Mail

The CMDBAR.INI File

The MESSAGE.TXT File

You can also do a keyword search for help. Just click on the "Search" button, or press Alt-S.


The Command Bar

The Command Bar

The Command Bar can be used to keep programs that you use often within easy reach.

The Command Bar shows a time display, and a Menu button, in addition to the program buttons.

To activate the Command Bar Plus menu bar, click on the Menu button.

You can drag files from the File Manager onto any of the buttons and the program on the button will be started and the selected file will be loaded, if possible.

You can also Compress, or Decompress files by dragging them onto the time display area of the Command Bar. If the file has .ZIP, .ARC, or .LZH format, it will automatically be decompressed. If the dragged file is any other type, you will be asked for a .ZIP file to compress the file into.

The Command Bar will show as many buttons as will fit on the screen at one time. If more buttons have been added than will fit, an arrow appears at the extreme right of the Command Bar. Pressing this arrow will bring up the next row of buttons.

The Time Window and Command Bar Icons.

To set or remove an alarm, or use any of the Options, Click once on the Menu button. This will bring up the Command Bar Plus menu bar.

To Remove the Command Bar, double click the time window.

The Menu button text changes to italics if an alarm has been set.

To Move the Command Bar, place Mouse Pointer over the time display (it will turn into a cross-hair) and press the LEFT mouse button and drag to new location.

 The Menu button text changes color if there are pending appointments.

Keyboard Shortcuts - The Command Bar must be the active window for any of these actions to work.

To activate the Command Bar Plus menu bar, press F2.

To Remove the Command Bar, press F3.

To see what time the alarm is set to, press F4 while the Command Bar is the active window.

To Move the Command Bar, use the arrow keys when the clock is the active window.

Press F5 to toggle between normal display and minimized (icon) display.

Press F6 to Set an Alarm.

Press F7 to activate the Phone Dialer.

Press F8 to run the File Archiver.

Press F9 to Add or Edit the buttons on the Command Bar.

Press F11 to open the Run Program dialog box.

Press F12 to show or hide the Command Bar buttons.

Press Ctrl-D to activate the CD Player.

Press Ctrl-P to play a movie.

Press Ctrl-W to start the Stop Watch.

Press Ctrl-S to Send Mail.

Press Ctrl-A to Add or edit appointments.

Press Ctrl-N to open a new Message note.


Control Panel Help
Command Bar Plus menu bar

The Sounds Menu

If your system has a sound card the Sounds menu is enabled. You can choose a sound file to be played when the alarm goes off. To change to a different directory for sounds, choose New Directory.

The Utilities Menu

From the Utilities menu, you can start the CD Player, Stop Watch, Movie Player, Appointment Book, File Compressor/Decompressor, Alarm Clock, Add/Edit Buttons, The Phone Dialer, or the Message Pad.

You can also choose Run Program to launch programs not on the Command Bar

If your system is Mail-enabled, you can use the Send Mail Option.

The Settings Menu

To change the Command Bar's Size, choose Shrink or Enlarge from the Settings menu. You can also choose to have the Command Bar "float", or always be visible on top of other windows.

To show the time on the active window's Title Bar, check the Show Time on Active Title Bar menu. To cancel this option, click on the menu choice again.

The Change Wallpaper and Screen Saver choices allow you to change the Wallpaper displayed or change the Screen Saver used. These settings will be saved in the WIN.INI or SYSTEM.INI files.

The Save Settings menu choice saves the basic System settings in the CMDBAR.INI file.

The Start-up Group allows you to choose programs that will automatically load when Command Bar starts.

The System Info choice will bring up a box showing machine type, Windows version, operating mode, and free resources.

The Help and Search Help choices will bring up this Help.

About shows the version information for Command Bar Plus.

The Notes Sub-menu

New. This will create a new blank Message pad on the screen.

Save Messages. This option will save all current Messages in a file called MESSAGE.TXT. Messages are also saved automatically when you exit windows, unless there is a system crash!


Message Help

This is a Post-It® style message note. You can type any messages on it and make it any size you want. You can place it anywhere on the screen.

From the Options menu, you can create a new note, delete the current note, assign a title to the selected note, and change the text font and color. You can also Print out any messages to the current printer.

When you exit Windows, the messages, their size, location, font and color, are saved and restored when you start Windows again.

From the Edit menu, you can Cut, Copy, or Paste to and from the Windows Clipboard.

You can also save all messages by choosing 'Save' from the Options menu on the Command Bar Plus menu bar.


The CD Player

This CD Player allows you to play any audio CD. It will read the CD track information and tell you how many tracks are on the inserted CD. Just press the appropriate button to Play, Pause, Stop, or skip forward or backward through the CD. If you insert a new CD, you may have to choose 'Read' from the Settings menu to read the CD's tracks. To close the CD Player, choose 'Exit' from the Settings menu.

You must have a CD-Rom drive and the appropriate drivers installed for the CD Player to work.


Sound Directory List Box

Choose a directory that has sound (.WAV) files for the Clock to use for the Alarm. Press Cancel to clear the Directory List if you do not want to make any changes. If you want to hear any of the sound files, click on the file name.

Press OK to choose the selected directory. If you want to use this directory setting as the default, choose Yes when prompted.


Stop Watch Help

Press Start or Alt-S to start the Stop Watch.

Press Pause or Alt-P to pause the display without stopping the timer.

Press Stop or Alt-t to Stop and Reset the Stop Watch.

Press Reset or Alt-R to reset the display to zero.

Press Exit or Alt-x to Exit.


The Movie Player

The Movie is a simple device which will allow you to view  Video For Windows files (files with .AVI extensions). You simply choose a file to view, and it will be loaded and played. You can use the push buttons at the bottom of the screen to Start, Stop, Pause, and move back and forth within the movie file, either one frame at a time or to the beginning or end of the movie.

If your system has a sound card, and the movie supports sounds, you should hear the sound track.

You must have the appropriate sound and movie drivers loaded for the Movie Player to work.


The CMDBAR.INI File

The CMDBAR.INI file holds the basic system settings These are:

The Default Sound Directory

The Command Bar size

Whether The Command Buttons are Visible at Startup

The screen location of the Command Bar

The CD Player's screen location

Whether to display the current

time on the active title bar

Whether or not the Command Bar "floats"

The Wallpaper directory

The Comm Port for the Dialer

These settings must be saved manually. They are not automatically saved!


The MESSAGE.TXT File

The MESSAGE.TXT File saves all the current messages and the following properties about each message:

Message number

Caption on Title bar

Font used for this message

Size of font

Is font boldface?

Is font Italic?

Color of font

Height of message

Position of left edge

Position of top edge

Width of message

Window state

Message text

Messages are automatically saved when exiting Windows. They can also be saved from the Options menu (Messages sub-menu) on the Command Bar Plus menu bar.


Setting an Alarm
You must enter the time in the form:

HH:MM am/pm. Ex. 10:45 AM


Appointments
Appointment Book

The Appointment Book helps you keep track of future appointments. It monitors the system time and when an appointment comes due, it beeps and displays a form showing the appointment and a reminder message. To add New appointments, choose New Appointments from the Appointments menu on the Command Bar Plus menu bar. To edit existing appointments, choose Edit Appointments from the same menu.

The New Appointments Form

You enter the Date of the appointment, the time, and a message describing the appointment. A message is required, or the appointment will not be entered. Pressing the Add button enters the appointment in the tracking file and clears the form to add another appointment. Pressing OK will update the file and close the form.

The Edit Appointments Form

Use this form to edit existing appointments. All current appointments show in the box in the upper half of the form. Click on the line that you want to edit. The information will appear in the edit boxes on the bottom half of the form. Edit the fields that need changing, and press the Update button. You can also delete the selected appointment by pressing Delete, or cancel the edit by pressing Cancel. Press Exit to close the form. If you wish to add a new appointment, press the Add New button. Sometimes a blank line will appear in the listing in the upper half. This usually occurs if an appointment has just come due. If you click on any event in the upper half of the screen and press the Update button, the display will correct itself.

When an appointment comes due you can optionally choose to save the message in a Post-it® style message that will be continuously displayed on the desktop. Just press the Post it button. You can reposition the message, and delete it whenever you want. This is useful for project reminders that you do not want to display until a certain time. You simply enter the reminder as an appointment and give it a future date and time, and when the reminder message comes up you can then convert it into a message that will stay on the desktop.

All appointments are stored in a file called APPOINTS.TXT.

Note

If the program is not running when the time for an appointment alarm occurs, the appointment will show up as an Old Message the next day when you start your computer.


Main Window
File Archiver

You can select files to compress into a single .ZIP file, or UnZIP files that have been compressed. You can decompress .ZIP, .ARC, or .LZH file formats. Simply choose the file and press the appropriate button. You can only compress files in the .ZIP format. When compressing files, you will be prompted for a .ZIP file name to compress the files into. Once you have entered a file name, all files chosen for compressing will be added to that file. In order for this to work, you must have the appropriate compression and decompression programs already installed.

To get more help, click on the part of the window you need to know more about.


Creating an Archive
Create Archive

Click on the part of the window you need to know more about.


Add a file to an Archive
Press this button to add selected file(s) to the archive. If no archive has been selected, you will be prompted for a .ZIP file name to use.


Making an .EXE File
Press this button to create a self-extracting .EXE file from the selected ZIP file. This makes it unnecessary to have PKUNZIP on the system to extract the files from the archive.


UnZIPping a file
Press this button to extract all of the files from the selected .ZIP file.


Refresh List
Press this button to refresh the file list box. This may be necessary after unZIPping a file, though it usually occurs automatically.


Delete a File
Press this button to delete any selected file(s).


Viewing Files in a ZIP file
View Files

This allows you to view the files that make up an archive. The program will read the ZIP file directory and show the files in this box. To find out more about the file list box, click on the appropriate button.


Exit Program
Pressing this button will end the program.


Directory List Box
Double-Click on the directory you want to open.


File List Box
Click on a file to choose it. You can select multiple files in this window to add to an archive by holding the Control Key down while clicking the left mouse button.


Drive List Box
You can click on the arrow to select a disk drive to work from.


Entering Archive Name
Enter the name of the .ZIP file you want to create. You can also add to an existing .ZIP file by entering it's name here.


Entering Archive Path
Enter the path name for the .ZIP file to be created in.


The OK Button
Press this button to confirm the .ZIP file name and directory you have chosen. You MUST have entered a .ZIP file name in order to return to the main window. If you choose NOT to create a .ZIP file, then press the CANCEL button.


The Cancel Button
Press this button to close this window and cancel any changes you have made.


Choosing files to Extract
Click on a file to choose it. You can select multiple files in this window to extract from an archive by holding the Control Key down while clicking the left mouse button. After selecting files, press the EXTRACT button.


The Extract Button
Press this button to extract only the selected file(s) from the .ZIP file.


The Close Button
Press this button to close the File View window.


Running Programs
Run Programs

You can Run a program by typing the program name or path in the Program to Run box, or locate a program by pressing the Browse button. You can also choose whether you want to run the program Maximized (full screen), Normally (in a window), or Minimized (as an Icon). if you do not supply the program file's extension, an .EXE extension will be assumed.


The Start-up Group

The Startup Group allows you to automatically load selected programs every time the Command Bar is started. To add a program to the Startup Group:

Press the Add button. A dialog box will allow you to choose a program from the file list.

 When you press the OK button on the file dialog, you will be given a choice as to whether you want to run the program Maximized (full screen), Normally (in a window), or Minimized (as an Icon).

 To Remove a file from the Startup Group, select the file from the list box, and press Remove. You will be asked to confirm your choice.

When you are done adding or Removing programs, press the Close button to exit and save changes.


Setting an Alarm
The Alarm Clock

Type in the time you want the alarm to go off and press the OK button, or press the Cancel button to cancel an alarm. Cancel will also erase any messages in the message box.

To display a message when the alarm goes off, press the Message button, and type the message in the Message box.

If your system has a sound card the Sounds menu is enabled. You can choose a sound file to be played when the alarm goes off. You can press the Test button to hear the sound you have chosen. To change to a different directory for sounds, choose New Directory from the Sounds menu on the Command Bar Plus menu bar.


Adding or Editing Buttons

To add a button to the Command Bar, just select Add/Edit Buttons from the Utilities menu in the Command Bar Plus menu bar. You can then enter the program title, or press the Find Button to locate the program you want. If the program has an icon (or icons) associated with it, they will be displayed in the icon box. Use the left or right arrow keys (or the mouse) to select the icon you want to display on the button. You can also choose icons from other programs or .DLL or .ICO files to display on the button by pressing the Find button next to the icon title box.

To edit a button, select Add/Edit Buttons from the Utilities menu in the Command Bar Plus menu bar. You can then choose a button to edit. After you have chosen a button, you can choose to insert a new button to the left of the chosen button by pressing the Insert New button. Again, you can use the Find buttons to change the button settings.


The Phone Dialer

The Phone Dialer is a simple way to dial frequently used numbers.

To add a new number, just press the Add button and type in the information requested.

To edit an existing entry, first select the entry and press the Edit button. Then edit the Name or the Phone number.

To delete an entry, first select the entry and press the Delete button.

To dial a number, first select the entry and press the Dial button.

To dial a number not on the list, just press the Dial button and type in the information in the pop-up dialog box, and press the Dial button.

To exit the Dialer, press the Close button.

To change the COM port used, press the up or down arrows until the desired port is shown. This setting will be automatically saved when exiting the Dialer.


Change Wallpaper

You can choose a directory and wallpaper file to be used for this session. The default wallpaper directory and file (if any) are shown initially. You can change to a new directory, or just change the wallpaper used by clicking on another file name in the list box. The wallpaper will be changed immediately.

If you want the system to start up with a random selection of wallpaper, just check the Auto Change box.

To save any changes, just press the OK button

To cancel, just press the Cancel button.


Change Screen Saver

You can choose a directory and screen saver file to be used for this session. The default screen saver directory and file (if any) are shown initially. You can change to a new directory, or just change the screen saver used by clicking on another file name in the list box. The screen saver will be changed immediately.

To enable the screen saver, make sure the Enable Screen Saver box is checked.

If you want to change the time interval for the screen saver to start, click on the up or down arrow in the box next to the time delay message.

To save any changes, just press the OK button

To cancel, just press the Cancel button.


Send Mail
Send/Read Mail

Use this option to activate the Mail system to send a message or a file to another user, if your system is mail-enabled. You will be prompted to log-in to the mail system, and you will then see the main Mail dialog. Using the system is very simple. To:

 Read Mail - Press the Read Mail button (or ALT-R). If there is any mail in your mail box, it will be displayed in the main window on the screen. Just double click any line in the window to open the letter for reading.

 Delete Mail - Click on the mail item that you want to delete, and press the Delete button (or ALT-D). This will remove the mail from your mail box.

 Send Mail - Press the Send Mail button (or ALT-S). The Send Mail dialog will pop up. You then just fill in the requested information, and send it. Once the Send Mail dialog appears, you can get furthur help from the Mail system itself by pressing F1.

 Exit Mail - Press the Close button (or ALT-C).

Note: If your system is not Mail-enabled, you will not be able to use this option.


System Information

The System Information option (on the Settings menu) retrieves information about your computer and the operating environment, and displays it in one of the Post-It style Message notes, if one is available. The information displayed will vary from system to system, but in general it will look like the following:

Disk Operating System 6.22

Microsoft Windows version 3.10

CPU: 80386     Mode: Enhanced

Memory free: 22,123K

Largest free block: 16,320K

Free system resources: 67%

Video Driver: VGA  640x480/256 Small Font (512KB)

Resolution: 640 x 480

Colors: 256

Mouse: Logitech

Network: No Network Installed

Language: English (American)

Keyboard: Enhanced 101 or 102 key US and Non US keyboards

Windows Directory - D:\WINDOWS

System Directory - D:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM

Hard Drive Information:

Drive C:

      311,008 KB Total Space

      254,072 KB Free Space

      82% Free

Drive D:

      332,776 KB Total Space

      22,112 KB Free Space

      7% Free

Drive E:

      21,696 KB Total Space

      21,692 KB Free Space

      100% Free