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OS/2 Help File
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1994-11-29
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36KB
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333 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Lou Miranda's
Top Tips for
OS/2 Warp
Tips are selected and produced in the IPF format by
Lou Miranda
Miranda Consulting Corporation
P.O. Box 65707
St. Paul, MN 55165-0707
Double-click on the bullseye to start! This document was last updated in
November 1994. To retrieve the most recent document, go to the PC World Online
forum on CompuServe. Just GO PWOFORUM to get there.
This document is Copyright 1994 Louis M. Miranda. All rights reserved. This
document may be freely distributed as long as no modifications are made. I make
no guarantees with respect to the effectiveness of these tips. Use at your own
risk.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Start Here ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To begin, double-click one of the icons:
Read the tips.
Find out where to get more help with OS/2 Warp.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. More Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
For more tips, tricks, & troubleshooting with OS/2 Warp, double-click an item:
Contributing Tips
Credits
PC World
IBM Corporation
OS/2 Warp tutorial.
Go back!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. Contributing Tips ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
How to Contribute a Tip
If you would like to contribute a tip, or would like to get more tips, please
contact me on CompuServe. Just leave a message on the PC World Online forum.
Just GO PWOFORUM and leave a message addressed to Sysop in section 20 (OS/2
Q&A).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Credits ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Who Contributes to These Tips
The tips you see here are compiled and produced by Lou Miranda. Lou is a
frequent contributor to, and former Contributing Editor for, PC World magazine.
He is also a Windows and OS/2 programming consultant based in St. Paul,
Minnesota USA.
A number of people helped contribute ideas and tips for this document, as well
as providing help on the PC World Online forum. They include (in alphabetical
order):
Tony DiBenedetto
Bill Norris
Joe Rosenman
Lou Wiener
Thanks for everyone's help!
//Lou.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.3. PC World ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
PC World
CompuServe Forum
PC World magazine has a forum on CompuServe. To access the top level of the
forum, which contains software & hardware reviews and other information, use GO
PCWORLD on CompuServe.
To access the message sections and download libraries, use GO PWOFORUM.
Currently, forum section 20 is the OS/2 Q&A section, where I leave a Tip of the
Week every Monday morning. And there are a number of OS/2 experts there also.
Currently, library section 12 is the OS/2 Files section. Here is where the most
recent version of this file is always uploaded.
PC World Magazine
PC World magazine is a monthly magazine for people like you. It covers the
entire PC industry, has new product information, and contains tips and tricks
for running your PC at its best.
PC World magazine has had a number of OS/2-related articles recently. For
example, there was a review of Skyscraper in the June, 1994 issue, and OS/2
software was featured on the October 1994 issue's cover story (page 125). It
also had an OS/2 Q&A column from January, 1994 to August, 1994. More
OS/2-related articles are coming in future issues, so keep an eye out for them.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.4. IBM Corporation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
IBM Corporation
IBM sponsors several forums on CompuServe for OS/2.
To access IBM's customer support forum (for questions on installation and
compatibility for example), GO OS2SUPPORT. To discuss OS/2 with other users, GO
OS2USER.
IBM also has forums for people who program for OS/2, using any language such as
REXX, C, C++, BASIC, etc. You access these with GO OS2DF1 and GO OS2DF2.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Tips ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To look at a tip or trick, double-click on any of the items below:
Finding & printing a tip
Using drag'n'drop in IBM Works
Quick-open an object's settings
Starting any application quickly
Viewing PhotoCD images
Finding an object
Saving your desktop with REXX
Go back!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Finding & printing a tip ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
How to Search for and Print a Tip
Can't remember where that elusive tip is?! Just click the Search... button on
the bottom of the window. Then enter text you want to search for, then click
All sections and then Search to begin.
It's very easy to print a tip that you see here. Just press the Print... button
at the bottom of the window. Then choose what you want to print, and click the
Print button.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. Using drag'n'drop in IBM Works ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Using Drag'N'Drop in IBM Works
Did you install the OS/2 Warp Bonus Pak? If so, you should have the FaxWorks
and IBM Works folder on your desktop. These are very powerful applications. And
they're fun and easy, too.
There should be a README icon in the IBM Works folder . Double-click it to
open it (it's a Works word processor file). Inside it are a lot of good tips on
using drag'n'drop.
For example, let's say you create a letter and want to fax it to someone.
Normally, you'd open the letter, choose File|Printer Setup..., change the
printer driver to the fax driver, select OK, then choose File|Print to fax it.
Then you'd have to fill in the fax cover sheet and type in (or search for) who
you want to fax it to. Then you'd have to go back to your document and change
the printer setup to use your printer again--a lot of work!
It's much easier with OS/2 Warp!
Just open the Phone/Address Book icon in the IBM Works folder. Drag a name from
the phone book and drop it on your document's icon--the icon will now have a
tiny business card added to it. Now just drag the document icon to the fax
driver on your desktop (assuming you've installed FaxWorks). Voila! Works will
automagically send it to the fax number contained in the person you dragged to
the document (and if you have mailmerge codes, it'll merge it too!).
You can even drag a Contact List (a collection of people from your phone book)
and it will fax it to everyone on the list!
What if you drag a name on by mistake, or want to remove a name for some other
reason? Easy. Just right-click on the document's icon and choose Settings. The
first page is now a Merge page. You can delete one or more names, and change
the Action on Drop (open, print/fax, or none).
One more tip: Isn't it annoying that when you're editing a document you can't
do a drag'n'drop unless you dig around to find the document icon? No more! If
you're editing a Works document, you'll see a small icon all the way on the
left, just below the File menu. Just drag it to the fax or printer icon on your
desktop. It's that easy!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. Quick-open an object's settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Quick-Open an Object's Settings
Tired of having to right-click on an object and then choose Settings to open
the settings notebook? There's an easier way. Just hold down the Alt key and
double-click on the object; the Settings Notebook will be opened automatically.
Clicking once on an object will holding down the Alt key will allow you to edit
its name. You can even enter a name on several lines by pressing the Enter key.
When you're done editing, just click the mouse on the object once.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.4. Starting any application quickly ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Starting Any Application Quickly
Do you clutter up your desktop with icons for an OS/2 window, a DOS window, and
a DOS full-screen session? You don't need to.
You can start any application from an OS/2 command prompt. For example,
double-click on the OS/2 Window object, then type
MSD.Exe
and OS/2 will automatically start the DOS MSD.Exe program. No need to have a
separate icon for a DOS session!
To try it now, double-click this graphic to start an OS/2 session, and try
entering the DOS command above.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.5. Viewing PhotoCD images ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Viewing PhotoCD Images
Did you just get Warp? Want a fun tip? If you have the CD-ROM version of OS/2
Warp, and you installed the Multimedia extensions, did you know you have a
great source of Kodak PhotoCD images?
There's a bunch of fun stuff in the MMPM2 folder:
1. Videos! Look in the Movies folder's Ultimotn subfolder (and head down
through the subfolders until you find one that has videos appropriate for your
hardware). Just double-click on the files and they'll be automatically loaded
in the video player. Then just press the play button.
2. PhotoCD images! OS/2 now supports the PhotoCD format. In the PhotoCD folder
inside the MMPM2 folder, you'll find 24 images. Select them all by
right-clicking on the folder background, then choose Select->All. Then
right-click on one of the selected images, and choose "Create LT Reference..."
from the menu. Then click on the Desktop tab in the notebook; find the
Multimedia folder, click on the + to its left, then select Multimedia Viewer
and click the OK button. There are a bunch of really pretty pictures here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.6. Finding an object ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Finding an Object
If you've moved from Windows to OS/2, you probably like how you can have
folders inside of other folders in OS/2. Of course, you can have folder, inside
of folders, inside of folders, .... What if you can't find an object you placed
in one of your folders? Do you have to spend an hour searching through all of
them by hand?
Of course not! Just right-click on the desktop and choose "Find..." from the
menu. In the "Name" field, enter the name of the object you're looking for.
Just like the DOS command line, you can use an asterisk * as a wild card. In
the "Start Folder" field, click the down arrow to the right, then move to the
top of the listbox and choose "C:\DESKTOP". Then click the "Find" button.
OS/2 will now search through all your folders and come up with a window
containing all the matches. You can manipulate the object by dragging &
dropping it, or right clicking on it. Then click Close when you're done.
Advanced Tip:
The Find feature is much more powerful in OS/2 Warp v3 than it was in version
2.1: you can now search on extended attributes. Try this:
Right click on the desktop, then choose "Find...". Click the "More..." button,
and then click "Add". In the Attribute field, you can search on Object Class,
Name, or Style; Date or Time; Flags; Subject, Comment, or Key Phrases! Let's
say you want to search for an IBM Works document that you created. Select
"Object Class" from the Attribute Field. Then scroll down through Comparison
Value until you find "Document". Now click "Add" and then "OK". Then click
"Find" in the find objects dialog. OS/2 will now find all objects that are IBM
Works documents. This is a welcome feature in Warp, and can save you lots of
time.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7. Saving your desktop ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Saving your Desktop with REXX
Have you tried OS/2's super batch language? It's called REXX and it allows you
to do far more than DOS's batch language. In fact, it can even interact with
your Desktop!
Let's say you want to save your Desktop. Normally, you have to shut down to
save your Desktop, because folders only save their settings when they're closed
(and the Desktop is only closed when you shut down). This may be a problem, for
example, when you do a Dual Boot--since the Desktop isn't closed before
rebooting, icon positions aren't saved. Windows 3.1 has the same problem--you
have to exit Windows to save your Program Manager settings.
But Windows has a shortcut (Hold down the Shift key while choosing File|Exit
from the menu)--does OS/2? With REXX, yes! Just cut out the next few lines and
paste it into an empty file using the OS/2 System Editor, then save the file as
SAVEDESK.CMD:
/* Beginning of REXX file */
/*
The first two characters of a REXX file must be a forward slash and an
asterisk ('/' & '*')
since this tells OS/2 that it's not just a batch file. Those two characters
also start a "comment" in REXX; to end the comment, just reverse the
order of the characters.
end of comment:
*/
call RxFuncAdd 'SysLoadFuncs', 'RexxUtil', 'SysLoadFuncs'
call SysLoadFuncs
rc = SysSaveObject("<WP_DESKTOP>", "Synchronous")
say 'rc = ' rc
/* end of Rexx file */
Now go to an OS/2 command line and type SAVEDESK. There should be a pause and
then you should see "rc = 1" when it's finished. Now your desktop is saved.
For more information on programming REXX, see the REXX Information icon in your
Information folder, or double-click on this graphic