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Command Post Command Post Version 5.0 Version 5.0 A Windows Environment A Windows Environment Command Post is a MS Windows application designed to allow users to easily personalize the MS-DOS Executive control window. Command Post allows users to easily add Menu and Submenu items to the main MS-DOS Executive menu bar, and to execute desired applications when a menu item is selected. A number of additional features, such as screen blanking and window arranging, are also made available. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment of any kind from Wilson WindowWare. The software described in this document is distributed free or at minimal charge for evaluation only. Users of this software are to license this software according to the instructions given in this document. Copies of this software may be made only in accordance with instructions given in this document. Copyright Morrie Wilson, 1988 Command Post is a trademark of Wilson WindowWare. Microsoft and MS-DOS are registered trademarks and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. PageMaker is a trademark of Aldus Corporation. In*A*Vision is a trademark of MICROGRAFX, Inc. Command Post 5.0 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents Licensing and Duplication Information Licensing and Duplication Information Duplication Restrictions / Other Information... 5 General Licensing Information.................. 6 Payment with Order Licensing Information......................... 7 Purchase Orders Requiring Billing Licensing Information......................... 8 Command Post Command Post An Introduction................................ 9 Installing Command Post....................... 10 Using Command Post Using Command Post Getting Started with Command Post............. 11 Command Post Commands......................... 12 The Windows menuitem....................... 13 The CmdPost menuitem....................... 15 The Option Selection Dialog Box............ 16 System Menu Extensions........................ 17 Command Post HotKey........................... 18 Screen Blanking............................... 19 Time and Date Display......................... 20 Command Post 5.0 3 Table of Contents (continued) Table of Contents (continued) Command Post Menus Command Post Menus Making Personalized Menus..................... 21 A Simple Sample Menu.......................... 23 An Ample Sample Menu.......................... 24 Command Post Keyboard Interface............... 25 Advanced Menus................................ 26 Command Post Prompter Details................. 27 Notes Notes Notes - Program Not in Path................... 28 Notes - Reloading Menus....................... 29 Notes - Automagic Directory Updates........... 30 Notes - MS-DOS View Menu selections........... 31 Notes - Exiting Command Post in Windows....... 32 Appendices Appendices Appendix A - Special Thanks................... 33 Appendix B - Command Post Version Information. 34 Appendix C - Other Window Applications........ 37 Appendix D - Command Post Online Support...... 38 Appendix E - Command Post Licensing Reminders. 39 Command Post 5.0 4 Licensing and Duplication Information Licensing and Duplication Information Duplication Restrictions / Other Information Duplication Restrictions / Other Information Command Post is a shareware product. It may be freely copied and distributed for evaluation as long as four basic rules are followed. These rules are: 1) The program and this documentation may not be modified in any way. 2) A copy of this documentation is provided with the program. 3) No charge, other than a media and handling charge, (not to exceed $8.00) is made. 4) Users of the program purchase a license for its use. One license per usable copy of Command Post is required. Archive and backup copies do not count. Please note that if you purchased a disk containing this software from a public domain/shareware software distributor you have paid the media and handling charges as permitted above. You have not purchased a license. Purchasing a license is required for continued use. The accuracy of the information supplied here and the fitness of the Command Post program for any purpose may change without notice, and should not be construed as any kind of a commitment. No responsibility is assumed for any errors or problems that may be encountered with use of this product. There are no warranties whatsoever associated with this product. Command Post 5.0 5 General Licensing Information General Licensing Information Command Post must be licensed to be used other than for an initial evaluation. Two licensing rates are available, as given below: Rates for payment with order: Rates for payment with order: $20 Single user license $ 5 Command Post software on diskette Please specify 5 1/4" or 3 1/2" diskette. $10 Printed documentation Rates for Purchase Order requiring billing, Rates for Purchase Order requiring billing, or for purchase via third party vendors: or for purchase via third party vendors: $50 Includes single user license, diskettes (5 1/4" and 3 1/2"), and printed documentation. Command Post 5.0 6 Payment with Order Payment with Order Licensing Information Licensing Information Under the "Payment with Order" plan we accept personal and business checks, along with Visa and MasterCard charges. Checks must be mailed, while we can accept Visa and MasterCard purchases over the phone. MailOrders MailOrders For mailorder purchases, enclose the following items in an envelope and mail to the address given below: Enclose: 1) List of items desired --license(s), disk(s), number of copies of documentation 2) Payment (either check or charge card info) For charge card orders, include card number, expiration date and card billing address. 3) Name and address Mail to: Wilson WindowWare 3377 59th SW Seattle WA 98116 Phone Orders Phone Orders For phone order purchases we will need your card number, expiration date, card billing address, and desired purchases. Our phone lines are open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Pacific 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM Pacific Time. East Coast residents will need to wait until after Time 1:00 PM Eastern Time before placing their calls. Our phone number is (206) 937-9335. Licensing materials (206) 937-9335 will generally be sent to you within 24 hours. Command Post 5.0 7 Purchase Orders Requiring Billing Purchase Orders Requiring Billing Licensing Information Licensing Information Purchase orders are subject to acceptance. We generally reject purchase order requests that obligate us to your company's terms and conditions. As stated above there are no warranties whatsoever associated with the Command Post software product, and we are not responsible for its performance. You are the sole judge of the product's effectiveness and suitability for your application. To order Command Post, enclose the following items in an envelope and mail to the address given below: Enclose: 1) Purchase order stating Number of copies of desired Shipping address Billing address 2) Name, address and phone number of a knowledgeable individual whom we may contact should any question about this order arise. Mail to: Wilson WindowWare 3377 59th SW Seattle WA 98116 (206) 937-9335 Command Post 5.0 8 Command Post Command Post An Introduction An Introduction Command Post is a Microsoft Windows application designed to allow users to easily personalize the MS-DOS Executive control window. Command Post allows users to easily add Menu and Submenu items to the main MS-DOS Executive menu bar, and to execute desired applications when the added menuitems are selected. The MS-DOS Executive window may continue to be used as always, it just has a few new menuitems on it now. With Command Post you may add any number of new menuitems, and each of these menuitems are only a single mouse click away! Command Post Menuitems are also accessible via keyboard commands just like any other menuitem in Microsoft Windows. Command Post can be instructed to prompt you for parameters for your applications. You can supply the prompting question, and even a default answer if you choose. Command Post menus are created using the Notepad Editor, or with any other text editor that can save a plain ASCII file. Special menu editors are not required. The Command Post menu file has an easy and straightforward syntax, and can be re-loaded into Command Post after modification. Command Post's window manager allows the user to automatically stack or arrange windows in a variety of formats. Command Post also provides for screen blanking and a special time and date display which gives you quick access back to Command Post. Command Post 5.0 9 Installing Command Post Installing Command Post Command post is easily installed. Simply copy the three files, CMDPOST.EXE, CMDLIB.EXE and CMDPOST.MNU, to your windows directory. If you do not have a COMMAND.PIF file, Copy the COMMAND.PIF file also. A COMMAND.PIF is required for the DOS C:> menuitem under the CmdPost menu to work. CMDPOST.EXE is the Command Post application file. When it is invoked, as discussed in a following section, it attempts to locate and load the Command Post menu file, CMDPOST.MNU. CMDLIB.EXE is not meant to be executed by the user. It contains window library routines that are invoked by CMDPOST.EXE. The sample CMDPOST.MNU file supplied with Command Post will get you started defining you very own Command Post menus. Command Post, of course, assumes that your system is properly configured to run Windows. Of special interest is the CONFIG.SYS file, which is used to set some initial DOS parameters while the system is booting up. It is recommended that your CONFIG.SYS file contain the following items. The values given for these items are a minimum, and larger values may be used as your other applications warrant. FILES=25 BUFFERS=40 Command Post 5.0 10 Using Command Post Using Command Post Getting Started with Command Post Getting Started with Command Post Command Post may be invoked with any of the methods that follow: 1) Via the MS-DOS menu in Windows. If Command Post is invoked this way, it will take over the MS-DOS Executive window, modify the menu bar, install your personalized menuitems, and then allow you to proceed. 2) You may modify your WIN.INI file, adding CMDPOST.EXE to either the RUN= or the LOAD= sections. This will automatically start Command Post whenever you start Windows. Special Note: Command Post does not follow the standard definitions of the RUN= and LOAD= lines. Only by having the RUN= line blank can Command Post be started as a window, otherwise Command Post will be started as an Icon. 3) You may also type WIN CMDPOST at the MS-DOS prompt. Command Post will be started as an icon. Initially, when you start Command Post you will see a simple extension to the MS-DOS Executive window, as defined by the CMDPOST.MNU file that is shipped with Command Post. This simple menu allows you access to the desktop accessories and other applications shipped with the standard version of MIcrosoft Windows. After reading the section on defining your own menus, you can edit CMDPOST.MNU to add you own menuitems. You may have up to four Command Post windows at one time, (although I can't see any reason for more than two). Each Command Post Window will have its number in the window title bar (e.g. <#1 Command Post> ). Command Post 5.0 11 Command Post Commands Command Post Commands Command Post adds a number of menuitems to the normal set of MS-DOS menuitems. Command Post installs two of its own menu items onto the normal set of MS-DOS menuitems. These menuitems are Windows and CmdPost. In addition any (reasonable) number of user- defined menuitems may be added. The Windows menuitem, as described later, assists the user in locating and viewing windows. It can find any application window, and re-arrange up to twelve application windows. The CmdPost menuitem, as described later, contains the Command Post control functions, and Windows accessories that support the control functions (such as Clipboard and the Control Panel). The user menuitems are reason for Command Post's existence. User menuitems may be easily added to the normal set of MS- DOS menuitems through a file named CMDPOST.MNU, and these menuitems can change directories and start applications as defined by the user. Command Post 5.0 12 The Windows menuitem The Windows menuitem The Windows menuitem is used to navigate through your various windows. There are two types of menuitems shown on the Windows submenu. The eight on the left are normal, permanent menuitems, and are used to arrange your open windows. The arrange commands will arrange up to 12 open windows. You have your choice of including Command Post in the arrangement, or excluding it and causing it to be minimized. To the right of the first eight menuitems will appear a list of top-level application windows that can be jumped to by merely selecting the menuitem from the list. The item may be selected either with a mouse or by the letter code provided. Command Post will immediately transfer you to that window. These commands are particularly handy for handling overlapped windows because a small window can easily get lost beneath a multitude of other windows and become difficult to find. Note: Command Post will not arrange minimized (iconized) windows. Be sure that the windows you want arranged are not minimized. Command post will arrange the windows with the most recently used window in the top left hand corner (or at the top of the stack), followed by the remaining windows, in the order that they were last used. Command Post 5.0 13 The Windows Menuitem (continued) The Windows Menuitem (continued) The Windows menuitem has eight normal submenu items, as follows: Stack Stack This item will arrange the open windows into a stack, with the window caption lines peeking out from behind the previous window. Arrange Arrange This item will arrange windows in a Command Post defined pattern. Arrange Rows Arrange Rows This item will arrange windows into rows. Enabled for 2 to 4 windows. Arrange Columns Arrange Columns This item will arrange windows into columns. Enabled for 2 or 3 windows. Stack w/o CP Stack w/o CP Arrange w/o CP Arrange w/o CP Arrange Rows w/o CP Arrange Rows w/o CP Arrange Cols w/o CP Arrange Cols w/o CP Same as above, except that Command Post is minimized instead of being included in the arrangement. <Window Names> <Window Names> Following the normal menuitems is a list of all named top-level windows. Selecting a member of this list will transfer control to the selected window. Command Post 5.0 14 The CmdPost menuitem The CmdPost menuitem The CmdPost menuitem has nine submenu items, as discussed below: Command Post Command Post Starts another Command Post Window Control Panel Control Panel Starts the Control Panel Window Clipboard Clipboard Starts the Clipboard Window DOS C:> DOS C:> Runs COMMAND.PIF, which will start a COMMAND.COM window thus providing a DOS prompt ( e.g. C:\> ) in windows. Use the EXIT command to close window. Confirm Selections Confirm Selections This item is a toggle. If it is checked, then any selection from the user's personalized menu will appear in a dialog box prior to execution. The user may modify any of the fields and then run it. Option... Option... Selection of this menuitem will cause an option selection dialog box to be displayed. See the section on the Option Selection Dialog box below. Reload CmdPost Menus Reload CmdPost Menus This command is used to reload the Command Post menu after modifying CMDPOST.MNU with with an editor. If more than one Command Post window is used, see the Notes section below. System Information System Information Displays Windows version, DOS version, LIM Driver version and various interesting memory usage numbers. About Command Post... About Command Post Displays Command Post copyright notice and additional information. Command Post 5.0 15 The Option Selection Dialog Box The Option Selection Dialog Box The Option Selection Dialog box allows specification of the Command Post options. These are: 1) The automatic directory display update. When checked, the MS-DOS directory display will be updated when Command Post becomes active. If not checked, the user must select one of the Disk Drive icons in order to update the directory display. 2) Return to original directory. When checked, menu selections will not change the current directory displayed in the MS-DOS/Command Post window. 3) Screen Blanking Delay Time. Command Post will blank the screen after a period of inactivity (no key hits or mouse movement). Specify time desired before screen blanking occurs. Enter zero to disable screen blanking. 4) Window Personalization. In licensed copies of Command Post, a short (20 chars) text string may be appended to the Command Post window title. E.G. the following window title is possible: <#1 Command Post - John Smith> <#1 Command Post - John Smith> All the Command Post options are Global. This means that the option selections apply to all Command Post windows, not just the current window. If an option is enabled or disabled for one Command Post window, it is also enabled or disabled for ALL of them. Command Post 5.0 16 System Menu Extensions System Menu Extensions One item has been added to the system (ALT-SPACEBAR) menu. It is the "End Windows Session" command. The "End Windows Session" menuitem is identical the the END SESSION menuitem in the MS-DOS Executive SPECIAL menu. They both first ask the user to confirm the request, and if confirmed, then all running applications are given a chance to indicate as to whether or not this is a good idea. E.G. Editors with unsaved data may ask the user to indicate whether the data should be saved or discarded. Command Post 5.0 17 Command Post HotKey Command Post HotKey The Command Post HotKey, CONTROL-SHIFT-ESCAPE, will transfer control to Command Post from any other application window. If multiple Command Post windows are running, control will be transferred to the lowest numbered Command Post available. In addition, double clicking the Command Post clock display with the left mouse button will also transfer control to Command Post. There are some applications inside of which the Command Post HotKey does not function. These applications include old (non-window) applications which grab the keyboard interrupts for themselves, rather than letting DOS pass keyboard info to them, and, for Windows/386 users, applications running in DOS partitions. Command Post 5.0 18 Screen Blanking Screen Blanking Command Post has a built in screen blanker. After a specified period of inactivity, Command Post will blank the screen. A small display of the current Command Post version number and a "Press any key to continue." message will move about the screen. To return to Windows simply press any key (except ALT, which is ignored) or move the mouse. The screen will not blank if an "Old Application" currently has the input focus. The screen blanking may be enabled and disabled, or the delay period may be modified using the Options... menuitem under the CmdPost menu. Command Post 5.0 19 Time and Date Display Time and Date Display Command Post maintains a small window, located initially in the lower right corner of the display. This window has three different displays. They are: Command Post Version Number Day, Date and Time (in seconds) Day, Date and Time (in minutes) The displays may be changed by clicking it with the right mouse button, or setting the input focus on the window (via a series of Alt-Tabs for users currently uninfested with rodents) and typing characters at it. If either of the time displays are active, Command Post will attempt to maintain the window on the surface of the screen at all times. The display may be moved by either dragging it with the left mouse button or using Alt-F7 to get the standard Windows Move Cursor, and using the arrow keys followed by an Enter. Doubleclicking the display with the left mouse button will cause control to be transferred to the Command Post window, much in the same manner as the Command Post HotKey. Command Post 5.0 20 Command Post Menus Command Post Menus Making Personalized Menus Making Personalized Menus Command Post uses a file called CMDPOST.MNU to build personalized menus. The CMDPOST.MNU file normally resides in the \WINDOWS directory next to the CMDPOST.EXE file. In order to add to the default menu shipped with Command Post, or to modify the menu as needs change, simply edit the CMDPOST.MNU file with the Notepad editor (or any other plain ASCII editor). Take a moment to examine the contents of CMDPOST.MNU. Its structure is actually very simple. There are only 4 types of entries. These types are: 1) Comments. Blank lines and any line with a 1) Comments. single quote mark in the first column (column 1) is considered a comment and is ignored by Command Post. 2) The Main Menu Titles. Main menu titles are the 2) The Main Menu Titles. menu headings displayed on the menu bar. These main menu titles MUST start in the first column (column 1). Although Command Post allows these main menu titles to be rather long, it is advised, for aesthetic reasons, to keep the main menu titles short. One or two words should be sufficient. 3) The Popup Menu Titles. Popup menu titles 3) The Popup Menu Titles. comprise the menus that popup every time a main menu title is selected. The popup menu titles MUST start in the second column (column 2) and may be long, although, for aesthetic reasons again, should be limited to about 30 characters or less. Please note that for popup menu titles, the first character of the line MUST be a space, with the first letter of the popup menu title starting in column 2. Command Post 5.0 21 Making Personalized Menus (Continued) Making Personalized Menus (Continued) 4) The menu action lines. For each popup menu 4) The menu action lines. title, there are a pair of menu action lines. The first line of the pair specifies the initial directory (or path), and the second line specifies the application and any parameters that may be required. These two lines MUST BE PRECEDED BY AT LEAST TWO SPACES, or a TAB character. (All these spaces, or lack of them, are used by Command Post to tell these various kinds of lines apart.) Initial Directory Specification: The first Initial Directory Specification: line of the pair specifies the initial directory, and may be preceded by a disk drive identifier. If the currently logged directory is desired, use a period "." for the directory specification. Application Specification: The second line Application Specification: of the pair is used to specify the desired application, and any parameters that may be desired. This line can get pretty fancy, but we will keep it simple for a bit more. One thing to remember though, is that the application's name MUST include the three letter suffix (.EXE, .COM, .PIF, or .BAT). Command Post 5.0 22 A Simple Sample Menu A Simple Sample Menu Now that we got the basic menu formats defined, lets look at a sample menu to see what all these specifications really mean. Examine the simple menu below: Desktop Get Windows Clock . clock.exe Get Calendar . calendar.exe Word Processing Get Notepad Editor . notepad.exe Get Windows Write . write.exe This simple menu has two main menu headings, "Desktop" and "Word Processing". If the user selects the "Desktop" menu heading, a popup menu containing two items "Get Windows Clock" and "Get Calendar" will appear. On the other hand, if the user selects "Word Processing" instead, a different popup menu containing "Get Notepad Editor" and "Get Windows Write" appears instead. If the user were to select the "Get Notepad Editor" entry, Command Post would go to work. Since the subdirectory line consists solely of a period, this indicates to Command Post that the current subdirectory is to be used and no change of subdirectories is to occur. The application line has the filename of the Notepad Editor application, NOTEPAD.EXE, with no parameters. Command Post will issue the commands to load and execute the NOTEPAD.EXE file. In a few seconds, the Notepad Editor appears on the screen. Command Post 5.0 23 An Ample Sample Menu An Ample Sample Menu Now that we have seen the basic structure of a Command Post menu, let's explore them some more. In this example we will just use a single main menu heading, but fully flesh out the subdirectory and parameter possibilities Edit Various Things Edit Command Post Menu c:\windows notepad.exe cmdpost.mnu Write a letter to Home c:\letters write.exe ?Filename for letter?Mom.wri The first of the popup menu options above shows a simple way to add in a command to allow easy editing of the Command Post menu file. First of all, the initial directory is set to C:\WINDOWS, which is the suggested home for the CMDPOST.MNU file, and then the Notepad Editor is invoked to edit the menu file. The second example shows an example of a Command Post Prompter. The user will be prompted with a dialog box which states: Please Enter: Filename for letter And is followed by an input box with the suggested default answer already set to "Mom.wri". Command Post 5.0 24 Command Post Keyboard Interface Command Post Keyboard Interface If a keyboard interface (i.e. the underlined characters Windows uses to assist those without mice) to the menus is desired, it is quite simple to add. Just put an ampersand (&) in front of the letter in the menu name to be used for the keyboard interface. The letters will appear in the menus as underlined characters, and thus may be used with ALT key combinations to access the menuitems. In order to keep things simple, try (very hard) not to have duplicate underlined letters in the main Bar Menu. In addition, also try not to have duplicate underlined letters within a Submenu. (If there are duplicate letters identifying menuitems, then Windows will toggle between them, and Enter must be hit in order to select the desired one) P.S. In the Bar Menu, do not use F, V, S, W, or C as the keyboard interface characters, as those letters are used either by the MS-DOS executive or by Command Post itself. Below is a sample menu with the keyboard interface defined: &Desktop Get Windows Cloc&k . clock.exe Get &Calendar . calendar.exe Word &Processing Get &Notepad Editor . notepad.exe Get Windows &Write . write.exe Command Post 5.0 25 Advanced Menus Advanced Menus Command Post also has certain advanced features that allow control of the menu display on the screen. It is done by simply putting one of two special characters as the first character of the menu name. The special characters are the underline character '_' and the vertical bar '|'. (The vertical bar sometimes has a white space in the middle, and is known as the broken vertical bar.) The effects are as follows: On Bar Menu Items | Causes the item to appear on a new line. | _ Ignored. Becomes part of the item name. _ On Submenu Items | Causes following menuitems to begin in a | new column, separated with a vertical bar. _ Causes a horizontal line to be drawn that _ separates the following menuitems from the previous ones. Example: |&Desktop ... Starts on a new line Get Windows Cloc&k . clock.exe _Get &Calendar ... Is preceded by a . horizontal separator. calendar.exe Word &Processing ... Starts on a new line. Get &Notepad Editor . notepad.exe |Get Windows &Write ... Starts in a new column. . write.exe Command Post 5.0 26 Command Post Prompter Details Command Post Prompter Details The Command Post Prompter becomes activated if the first character of the parameter string is a question mark "?". Everything following the question mark, up to the next question mark, if any, is assumed to be part of the question. If a second question mark is found, everything after the second question mark is used for the default answer. If there is nothing after the first question mark, a stock question is used. See below for examples of all the possibilities and the results they provide. Prompt String : ? Question : Please Enter: : Parameters for selected application Default : <blank> Prompt String : ?? Question : Please Enter: : Parameters for selected application Default : <blank> Prompt String : ?Info for this application Question : Please Enter: : Info for this application Default : <blank> Prompt String : ?Data for the other application?1 2 3 4 5 Question : Please Enter: : Data for the other application Default : 1 2 3 4 5 Prompt String : ??Jack and Jill Question : Please Enter: : Parameters for selected application Default : Jack and Jill Command Post 5.0 27 Notes Notes Notes - Program Not in Path Notes - Program Not in Path The examples so far have assumed that the selected application can be found either in the initially selected subdirectory, or someplace defined in the MS-DOS PATH statement. Although this does tend to make things easier, it is not required. The application may be preceded with the complete path specification to it if desired. E.G. &Run Various Things Run &Obscure Program Not In Path \set\desired\path c:\obscure\subdir\obscure.exe assorted parameters Command Post 5.0 28 Notes - Reloading Menus Notes - Reloading Menus A modified CMDPOST.MNU may be reloaded by simply selecting the Reload menuitem in the CmdPost submenu. All Command Post windows use the same menu. If there are several Command Post windows active, and the user selects the Reload menuitem on one of them to reload the menu, the menu on the current Command Post window will change immediately. The menus on the other Command Post windows will not change immediately, but will update when the window is activated (e.g. mouse click). This may be disconcerting at first, but really is not too bad because: 1) The menus will stabilize after a while and will not need to be reloaded very often 2) Simply Clicking (or Alt-Tab'ing) each Command Post window after reloading the menu will reset all the menu bars. Command Post 5.0 29 Notes - Automagic Directory Updates Notes - Automagic Directory Updates Command Post has an automatic directory display update feature that allows the directory display to be updated anytime the Command Post menu is selected. The standard MS-DOS Executive window directory display does not update until the user selects one of the disk drive icons in the upper left of the window. If a file is added or deleted outside of the MS-DOS window (e.g. Notepad adds a file), this fact is not displayed on the MS-DOS window until the disk drive icon is selected. Command Post will, if the Automatic Update Directory Display option has been selected, update the directory display any time the Command Post window is selected. This causes a "blink" after the selection of the Command Post window. If this is overly disconcerting, the feature may be turned off. Command Post 5.0 30 Notes - MS-DOS View Menu selections Notes - MS-DOS View Menu selections Command Post will will notice and save any selections made to the MS-DOS View submenu. If, for example, it is preferred that the directory display only display executable files (i.e .EXE, .COM, .BAT, and maybe .PIF) the "Programs" View menu subitem would be selected. However, previously, this operation had to be performed every time that MS-DOS was started. With Command Post, this is automatic. Command Post will reset the MS-DOS submenu items to the previous state whenever Command Post is started. Command Post 5.0 31 Notes - Exiting Command Post in Windows Notes - Exiting Command Post in Windows From time to time it may become desirable to exit from Command Post and remain in a Windows environment, such as when running memory intensive applications such as Aldus Pagemaker. To exit Command Post and remain in Windows, simply select the EXIT item under the FILE menu. This will exit Command Post, and restore the MS-DOS Executive window. Command Post 5.0 32 Appendices Appendices Appendix A - Special Thanks Appendix A - Special Thanks The home base of Command Post, and all Wilson WindowWare software, is the Compuserve Microsoft MSSYS forum. A multitude of individuals on the forum have given hints, comments and suggestions that have helped make Command Post the powerful and unique Windows application that it is. The SYSOPS of the MSSYS forum have, as a group, been extremely helpful in pointing out possible approaches to solving a number of problems that were encountered in the development of this program. I would also like to mention Charles Petzold (who does not have the faintest idea who I am). He is the author of the book "Programming Windows" (the best book on Windows programming available at any price) from which I gained deeper insights into the workings of Windows and lifted several ideas and code fragments. And while I am at it, I should mention Mike Geary (who is as well acquainted with me as Charles Petzold is). He has written articles for the Microsoft Systems Journal, and has made various pieces of source code available on the Compuserve forums. Several of these were incorporated into Command Post. There is also Art Metz, who keyed me in on the undocumented secrets that allow Command Post to maintain its clock window on the surface of the screen and allow the clock window to be moved with the mouse button. (And thus obsoleting his rather nice clock application.) I am especially grateful for the assistance given by Noel Bergman, who has patiently pointed out various bugs, particularly in the LIM 4.0 environment, and has detailed fixes required to make Command Post a fully functional Windows 2.0 application. And finally extra special thanks go to the licensees of Wilson WindowWare software, as they are the people who are footing the bill for the continuing development of new and existing WindowWare applications. Command Post 5.0 33 Appendix B - Command Post Version Information Appendix B - Command Post Version Information Version Information for Command Post 5.0 Version Information for Command Post 5.0 Immediately below is a list of differences that this version of Command Post has when compared to major previous releases of Command Post. This is generally only of interest when updating to a new version of Command Post from a previous release. Version 5.0 - New Features 1) Greatly modified clock display 2) Added a System Information menuitem to the CmdPost menu. It provides memory usage information. 3) Animation added to the blanked screen display. 4) Added Visa and MasterCard displays to opening screens (as required by my bank) 5) Modified payment structure (but not prices) 6) Reduced Command Post memory usage by about 1000 bytes. Command Post 5.0 34 Version Information (continued) Version Information (continued) Version 4.9 - New Features 1) Removed option that forces user menu to start on a new line, as the | character at the beginning of CMDPOST.MNU does the same thing. 2) Windows Submenu modified to allow single mouse click operation. 3) Clock display can be moved. 4) Doubleclicking the clock display causes Command Post to appear (much like the HotKey) 5) Memory display updated immediately after starting new apps. 6) Screen blanking in some old apps fixed. 7) MinimizeMSDos flag checked to see if CmdPost should be minimized after starting apps. 8) Added Window Title personalization via the Option... dialog and removed the "w/Confirm" from the title. Licensed copies only!!! 9) Modified the Command Post clock and memory display to show all 3 types memory on systems with LIM 4.0 10) Fixed a windows selection bug which could cause users without a mouse to simply hang in a window that would not accept input. 11) Various other minor bug fixes. Version 4.6 - New Features 1) Arrange Windows Capability 2) Screen Blanking 3) Time/Date/System Memory Display 4) Extended menu language to allow addition of horizontal "_" and vertical "|" separators. 5) Improved function of Windows menuitem to allow access to windows disabled by popups. 6) Sysmenu Close item handling (bugfix). Command Post 5.0 35 Version Information (continued) Version Information (continued) Version 3.3 - Added several new features 1) CmdPost HotKey. Pulls up Command Post from almost anywhere (CTRL-SHIFT-ESC) 2) Windows menuitem, allowing immediate access to any window. 3) User menubar newline/sameline option 4) Automatic directory update switch. 5) Return to original directory switch. 6) MS-DOS View menuitem state restore. CmdPost will remember the MS-DOS View settings, and restore them when initializing Command Post. Version 2.2 - Windows 2.0 compatible release. Command Post 5.0 36 Appendix C - Other Window Applications Appendix C - Other Window Applications Currently (9/15/88) Wilson WindowWare has two shareware applications as listed below. For more information on these applications send a SASE to: Wilson WindowWare 3377 59th SW Seattle WA 98116 Browser 2.7 Browser 2.7 Browser is a MS Windows application designed to allow users to browse files in a MS Windows environment. In addition to the browse capability, it supports printing, clipboarding, and a hex dump display. Browser also features the new and unusual Hide & Seek information extraction technique. Command Post 5.0 Command Post 5.0 Command Post is a MS Windows application designed to allow users to easily personalize the MS-DOS Executive control window. Command Post allows users to easily add Menu and Submenu items to the main MS-DOS Executive menu bar, and to execute desired applications when a menu item is selected. Command Post 5.0 37 Appendix D - Command Post Online Support Appendix D - Command Post Online Support Online support for Command Post is provided on Compuserve Information Service (CIS). If assistance with Command Post is required, please leave an Easyplex message for Morrie Wilson using the CIS identifier 73260,2535 73260,2535 A response will generally be posted by the next day. The MSAPP forum on Compuserve is also checked on a regular basis. The MSAPP forum is a good place to ask questions about Windows in general, or to interface with other Windows users. Command Post 5.0 38 Appendix E - Command Post Licensing Reminders Appendix E - Command Post Licensing Reminders Command Post, being a shareware product, is distributed to users free, or at low cost, for their evaluation. In order to assist users in remembering that they are using an unlicensed version of a shareware product, Command Post reminds users of this fact on a regular basis. The reminders built into this version of Command Post are only somewhat obtrusive. They consist of: 1) The word "Unlicensed" in the title of the Command Post window. 2) Two windows of initial reminders when Command Post is initially invoked. 3) Two windows of reminders every 25 Command Post menu selections. In licensed versions of Command Post, the title of the Command Post window can be modified by adding a company or user name, as desired. This is accomplished via the Options... dialog box. Command Post 5.0 39