home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
DP Tool Club 31
/
CDASC_31_1996_juillet_aout.iso
/
vrac_os2
/
appman1.zip
/
READ.ME
< prev
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-04-29
|
9KB
|
191 lines
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A P P L I C A T I O N M A N A G E R
v00.03.000 for OS/2 v3.x
Joel Pettit
JPETTIT@Zeus.Odyssey.net
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. INTRODUCTION
For a long time I couldn't stand how the OS/2 startup folder handled the
launching of programs. There is no mechanism in place that allows the user
to determine when and how programs get launched. I suppose there are some
ways to do this in STARTUP.CMD but who wants to work with a command file
when a GUI could do the same and then some. This is what prompted me to
create Application Manager.
II. INSTALL
If receiving Application Manager via a zipped file simply unzip into
a directory. There will be two EXEs:
- APPMAN.EXE
- APPMANSD.EXE
To edit events just run "APPMAN".
To process the startup event list run "APPMAN -startup". After
creating the start events list, remove all programs from the OS/2
startup folder and put AppMan in it. This will cause AppMan to start
when the system starts up.
To Process the shutdown event list run "APPMAN -shutdown". Selecting
this program icon will cause the shutdown events list to be processed
and the subsequent System Exit Method wil execute. Selecting OS/2's
shutdown will do a normal OS/2 shutdown. AppMan is NOT linked into
OS/2's shutdown.
Application Manager's parameters are NOT case sensitive.
After setting up a startup events list the file STARTUP.DAT is created.
After setting up a shutdown events list the file SHUTDOWN.DAT is
created.
Once preferences have been viewed the file PREF.DAT is created.
III. FEATURES
1. STARTUP AND SHUTDOWN EVENTS
Each of these features are the same except on two points:
- The SHUTDOWN events option actually shuts down OS/2
- All SHUTDOWN events will wait for the previous one to end
The following is a list of features while editing STARTUP or SHUTDOWN
events.
A. CONTEXT MENUS
When the right mouse button is clicked a context menu appears listing
all possible options. When the right mouse button is clicked notice
that the event in the list that the mouse pointer is over gets
highlighted. This will aid in identifying which event is currently
being worked on. If no event is under the mouse pointer the a much
smaller list of options is in the context menu. The user can do as
much if an item wasn't selected.
B. ADD EVENTS
The user can add events to the list two ways:
- By selecting "ADD EVENT..." from the context menu
- dragging a file from a drive object directory folder
The Application Manager doesn't support objects created by the
Program Template. Maybe in a later release. For now, a file with
the extension EXE, COM, BAT or CMD are supported. The interface that
queries for event informartion looks similar to the interface when
adding a program to an OS/2 folder. The event is actually added when
the event list has been saved (ALT-F4). In addition, no two events
can have the same title. This is what Application Manager uses to
keep track of each event. If while adding an event the user
specifies a title that already exists they will be prompted to enter
a different title.
C. REMOVE EVENTS
Selecting "REMOVE EVENT" simply removes the currently selected event.
The event is actually removed when the event list has been saved
(ALT-F4).
D. EDIT EVENT INFORMATION
The user can edit specific pieces of information directly or the
event as a whole.
1. The Title can be edited by selecting "EDIT TITLE..." from the
context menu. The title can also be edited by keeping the ALT key
pressed while selecting the event with the left mouse button. An
edit box will appear where the title is and the user can edit it
there.
2. The Start Protocol can be edited by selecting "Edit Protocol..."
from the context menu. This will edit the protocol in which the
item will be started with. The event can start only after the
previous item ends, or can start on a delay started when the
previous item started or finished.
3. The Event Enabled option can be edited by selecting
"Edit Event Enabled..." from the context menu. This will keep an
event in the list but will ignore it when processing the list of
events.
4. The entire event can be edited by selecting
"Edit Entire Event...". This will allow the user to edit the:
- Title
- Path and File Name
- Parameters
- Working Directory
- Start Protocol
- Event Enabled
- Session Type
E. RUNNING EVENTS
Selecting "Run Event" from the conetx menu will simply start the
selected event. The Start Protocol isn't used since Application
Manager is starting just one event. This provides the user the
ability to test an event to see if it will run proporly before
testing the event list as a whole.
F. PICKUP AND DROP
The user can also pickup and subsequently drop an event in the
event list. This is most useful when many events are in a list and
the user wants to copy or move an event from the bottom of the list
to the top. Selecting pickup will tag the selected event for
dropping. This tag is identified by the event having the IN USE
shadowing around the icon. The user then selects an item in the list
in which the picked up item will be inserted after. From the context
menu, the user then opens the drop submenu. In the submenu, the user
can Copy or Move the picked up item or cancel the pickup process.
G. DRAG - DROP
As mentioned earlier, DragDrop is supported for adding events to the
event list.
H. SAVING
An event list is saved when the event manage dialog is closed. Using
ALT-F4 will close the dialog as well as double clicking on the
System Menu. Selecting "Exit" from the context menu will give the
user the opportunity to exit without saving the event list to file.
2. PREFERENCES
The Preferences dialog displays different toggles on different features.
The first toggle is the "Prompt for System Exit Method at Shutdown".
This toggles the feature of prompting when the system is ready to
shutdown as to whether or not to shutdown or run the OS/2 dual boot
option. If this option is enabled then selecting a System Exit Method
in the next section of Preferences is disabled. Otherwise, the System
Exit Method section is where the method of choice is identified.
The next toggle is the "Minimize Startup and Shutdown Panels". This
controls the state of the startup and shutdown panels while processing
the events list.
The next toggle is the "Close Startup status panel on exit". This will
control whether or not the startup panel remains or ends when done
processing events list. A user may want to keep it around to determine
if all went well.
The last toggle is the "Icon Size in Event List". This will control
the size of the icons in the event list. The small icons don't look as
good as I has wished but I left the feature in anyway.
IV. KNOWN PROBLEMS
None that I am aware of.
V. FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
1. Currently no audit trail exists for the processing of events. If an
error occurs the user is notified during execution but a log isn't
created.
2. WIN-OS/2 support.
3. Integrated with the WorkPlace Shell. Allow Program Objects to be
dragged on to the Event List as shadows.
VI. FEEDBACK
Please EMail me at JPETTIT@Zeus.Odyssey.net if you have any questions or
ideas concerning Application Manager.