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Power-Programmierung (Tewi)(1994).iso
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1992
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totop.doc
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1992-08-31
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TOTOP (Version 1.0) Copyright (c) 1992 John Deurbrouck
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First Published in PC Magazine September 29, 1992 (Utilities)
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TOTOP:
TOTOP is a small (less than 9K) Windows 3.1 utility that lets you
"float" an application or an icon, above your currently active full-screen
program. Just click on the TOTOP icon and select Top or Bottom and you
can float or sink any window with a click of the mouse without deactivating
the program window in which you're working. Since TOTOP uses features that
are new in Windows 3.1, it can't be used with older Windows versions.
It also requires a mouse.
TOTOP was compiled for distribution with the Windows 3.1 SDK and
with Microsoft's Quick C, Version 1.0. The source can also be compiled,
however, with Borland C++, Version 3.0; Turbo C++ for Windows, Version 1.0;
or Microsoft C, Version 7.0.
USING TOTOP:
To take a quick look at TOTOP, simply pull down the File menu in the
Program Manager, select Run, and execute TOTOP.EXE from the command line.
Subsequently, you'll probably want to add TOTOP to the Program Manager with
File New, or even put it in your Startup group.
TOTOP makes no entries in WIN.INI or in any of your other files.
Thus, if you later decide to remove the utility from your system, you have
only to delete any references to TOTOP in the Program Manager and delete
the executable file TOTOP.EXE. Note, however, that you can't delete
TOTOP.EXE while it's running, thanks to the protection Windows gives to
executing programs.
When you run it, TOTOP appears only as an icon. You activate it by
clicking once on the icon and then choosing an option from the system
menu that pops up. Help gives a very abbreviated description of TOTOP,
with quick-reminder directions for its use. The About choice provides
the current TOTOP version number and displays TOTOP's copy~right statement.
Close deactivates the utility. The Top and Bottom choices do TOTOP's real
work.
When you select TOTOP's Top menu option, the mouse cursor changes
shape to indicate it is in a window that can be floated above your
application. Whenever you move the mouse, TOTOP examines the window at
which the cursor is pointing. If the mouse is pointing at the desktop or
at a window that's already in the top most layer, TOTOP changes its
cursor to the No Top version. The No Top cursor signifies that
these windows cannot be floated. Clicking the mouse when the Top cursor
is displayed makes the application at which you are pointing float above
the others. If you click when the No Top cursor is shown, TOTOP will
simply release the cursor.
TOTOP's Bottom menu option allows you to take any window out of the
floating position, returning it to wherever it came from. When you select
Bottom, the cursor takes the form of the Bottom cursor if you are pointing
at the top-layer window. When you point at the desktop or a nontopmost
window, the cursor changes to the No Bottom version.
The best way to get a feel for how TOTOP affects your display is
simply to experiment with it. You might decide to keep the Clock or
Notepad floating above your active program as a matter of course.
Obviously, however, if you float too many little windows, they may obscure
your full-screen application so much that they become more annoying than
helpful.
One warning is in order. Depending on the layout, a window you have
floated may lie directly above the area where your application needs to
bring up a dialog box. In such a case, if you try to bring up the dialog
box, your efforts to interact with the application will only generate
error beeps; the program requires a response to its covered-over dialog
box. The solution is to minimize or sink the obscuring window.
JOHN DEURBROUCK is a C and 80x86 Assembly programmer in Mountlake
Terrace, Washington.