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Text File | 1992-11-25 | 13.8 KB | 339 lines

Microworks Toolbox v1.0. Open Desktop for Windows 3.1 Copyright (c) 1992. Jeff Franks, (Microworks), Sydney, Australia. Compuserve 100026,1134. Release date: November 30 1992. This readme file contains the following information, * Introduction * Description * Quick Installation * Registration * Support Service * Licence Agreement * Guarantee * Acknowledgments * Future Plans INTRODUCTION: Congratulations! You've just got your hands on a "most excellent piece software". I should know -- I wrote the program! But why did I bother? Wasn't it a wasted effort? I mean -- giving you all those utilities and a complete desktop replacement for Windows -- all for just $15.00. Well -- I was fed up! Fed up with being taken for granted by commercial and shareware software developers alike! Why did I have to pay hundreds of dollars for programs that just weren't worth it. Why did I have to pay upwards of a thousand dollars for a good drawing program. Then -- as if that wasn't enough along came Windows 3.1 and yet another round of necessary upgrades. Some as much as $A150.00. So I turned to shareware -- and found some excellent programs. I've registered 6 to date. I would like to register more. There's this picture program -- but $A79.00 ($US49.00) is just not on for any shareware program! Where do some programmers think there coming from! Why should you have to pay for programs still in the beta stage -- with lots of bugs. Why should I have pay for the privilege of helping some programmers perfect his or her program. And why should you have to pay for a program with an interface that looks like a two year old child could've done better. Why! Why! Why! Well -- in February this year I took the plunge and bought Turbo Pascal for Windows. I was going to teach myself windows programming. My friends laughed. You've never programmed anything more than the odd DOS batch file. You'll never learn Windows' programming. Boy -- am I glad I didn't listen to them! I was making a point -- and having fun doing it! I believed I could produce a commercial quality shareware program, sell it at a low price and still make it worth my while. What a silly idea! -- when you consider that 90% of shareware users don't register their programs. But I have this faith! I think? DESCRIPTION: Toolbox is an open desktop that replaces program manager and combines file manager into one seamless desktop for Windows 3.1. It provides both file management and program launching facilities on the desktop at all times. Just a mouse click away. Toolbox features breakthrough design concepts that makes Microsoft Windows fun and easy to use. TOOLBOX is an Open Desktop for Windows. It features a 'transmutable 3-D interface', a drag and drop desktop, a drag and drop popup program launcher with subgroups and up to 6 desktop drive icons giving you drive window access to the windows file manager. Toolbox comes bundled with several utilities including Attache, Autoload, Drivepak, Guidebook, Resource Alarm, Shredder, Trashcan and Workbench. Toolbox displays custom bitmapped dialog boxes and is compatible with 640*480, 800*600 and 1024*768 screen resolutions. THE OPEN DESKTOP is formed by the combination of Drivepak, Toolbox and Workbench. If you don't use Norton Desktop you'll need the complete package but if you do, you'll only want Toolbox as Drivepak and Workbench provide functions already found in Norton Desktop. THE TOOLBOX forms the central part of the open desktop. It's a drag and drop popup program launcher with subgroups that replaces the windows task manager. When you double click the left mouse button on the Windows desktop Toolbox appears. Toolbox is totally configurable. Its main interface has 4 different views, Toolbox lite, Toolbox Midi, Toolbox Maxi and Toolbox Pro. You can flip between views with the press of a button. The four views can use either the same or separate ini files letting you store the same or different programs in each view. The subgroups have two views...either button or Iconblox. In the iconblox view each icon in the group is displayed on a bitmapped block along with its program title. Each group, group window and the associated bitmapped dialog boxes all display a user configurable group name on the title bar. The main interface displays real time system information -- the date, time, free memory and free system resources. ATTACHE: Attache is an executive files manager that lets you create a system of folders to manage all your documents and files. You choose a directory, file extension and an application (optional) to run those files and store the information in a folder. Your folder names can be up to 30 characters long. Your can either run attache and then select the folder you want or you can launch straight into any folder by adding the folder name as a parameter after executable file -- Attache.exe. You can delete files and folders at any time using attache's delete function. AUTOLOAD: Is an internal utility (not a separate file) that lets you store up to 12 programs for loading on windows startup. DRIVEPAK: Drivepak is a utility that places up to 6 drive icons on your windows desktop. If you've been using winbatch files to keep multiple copies of winfile.ini (and hence different setups for file manager) you must have found it very slow waiting for the batch file to copy over...say...winfile1.ini to winfile.ini and then launching winfile.exe. Drivepak does this automatically and since it's an 'exe' file, it's fast. Drivepak adds no perceptible time to the launching of winfile.exe. Try it! It takes 4 seconds to launch file manager using both winfile.exe and drivepak.exe. The winbatch file take 11 seconds (on my computer). Each of drivepak's drive window icons, numbered 1 to 6, correspond to the files winfile1.ini to winfile6.ini. All you do is run file manager, set it up as you want...say as Drive C:, maximise the file window and exit File Manager saving your settings on exit. Next load winfile.ini into any text editor and save it back as winfile1.ini. Now when you double click on the Drive window 1 icon winfile1.ini is copied to winfile.ini and then winfile.exe is launched displaying your custom setup. You can give each of your drive window icons a different customised file manager setup (eg drive A, drive B, drive C or a dual drive). Just repeat the ini file setup for each drive icon you on your desktop. Drivepak comes with four drive icon bitmaps (FloppyA, Floppy B, hard disk and dual drive). You can use the predefined drive icon positions or set your own. I am sure you'll find that Drivepak turns File Manager into an extremely versatile and easy to use program. GUIDEBOOK is the On-line documentation and help system that will make learning about Toolbox easy. This program can be deleted when you no longer need it. RESOURCE ALARM is an internal utility that runs as a hidden window, in the background, waiting to warn you when system resources fall to a preset low level. RUNFILE is a command line utility that lets you place a window any where on the desktop and change its title. SHREDDER is an animated file deletion utility that is fun to use. It has no message boxes. You just drag the files you want to delete from file manager to the Shredder icon and the animated shredder shreds them on the desktop, and there gone. TRASHCAN is an animated file deletion utility that gives you a second chance at recovering files before there deleted. You just drag the files you want to delete from file manager to the Trashcan icon. As you drop the files the trashcan lid opens and the can bulge's with trash. A dialog box appears centre screen displaying a list box listing all the files you dragged. You can either delete or recover all or part of the listed files, or cancel the entire operation. WORKBENCH is a drag and drop desktop. With Drivepak and Toolbox it forms part the Open Desktop. Workbench appears differently in each of the three screen resolutions. In each resolution workbench has three views. It can appear as a row of iconblox across the top of the screen, with or without a title bar and control menu, or it can be viewed as a row of iconblox down the right hand side. Drivepak can be launched with workbench by checking the appropriate checkbox in the workbench options dialog box. You can flip between different views of Drivepak and workbench with the press of a button. QUICK INSTALLATION: 1. Unzip Toolbox.zip into its own directory. 2. Unzip Inifile.zip into the your windows directory. 3. Move Bwcc.dll into your windows' system directory. 4. Copy the SYSTEM #6 font from the Win 3.1's disk 1 into your windows' system directory. (Ensures dialog boxes look right) 5. Alter or add the following line to the Boot section of system.ini TASKMAN.EXE=drive\directory\TOOLBOX.EXE where drive and directory are the drive and directory where Toolbox.exe is kept (if not in your DOS path). 6. Make Toolbox.exe your shell by altering the "SHELL=" line in system.ini's [Boot] section to read, SHELL=drive\directory\TOOLBOX.EXE That's it.! Now your ready to explore your new toolbox. Later, when you're totally confused and want to know more -- read through the on-line documentation "Guidebook' (guide.exe). Have fun! REGISTRATION: Toolbox is being released as shareware with a registration fee of $A15.00. I originally set the price way back when -- just in case I ever finished the program. From there Toolbox just grew! But I kept the same price. There are no nag screens (I hate those things). The program is fully functional. The only difference between the unregistered and registered versions is that the unregistered version is unregistered. Registration relies totally on your honesty. When you register your copy of Toolbox you get a nice letter thanking you for registering and a registration number. As yet the registration number does nothing. It's for future versions should it become necessary. Hopefully -- if I'm satisfied with the registration response -- it wont. If for some reason (I Don't know why!) you want a copy on disk add $3.00 handling and shipping charges and I'll emblazon your name in living colour on the Toolbox About boxes and send it to you. If it becomes necessary to add a nag screen this is how it would work. Any version of the same number, eg 1.x will be upgradable free. Your registration number will remove the nag screen. Upgrading to the next major version eg 2.x would be half price. Toolbox version 1.0 is well researched and developed and shouldn't need any bug fixes. But you never know? Payment is by Postal or Money order (Australian dollars prefered) or cheque if you really have to (for international customers add $A1.00 for chequing charges back to your overseas bank). A few weeks after the release date Toolbox can be(if its approved) registered on compuserve in the "Go SWREG" forum. Check forum for details. If I get a good response credit card facilities will be availble in future versions. PLEASE MAKE PAYMENT TO Jeff Franks 33 Bayview st, Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia. 2024 Compuserve 100026,1134 SUPPORT SERVICE: If you have any problems/suggestions leave me a message on compuserve. I check compuserve daily so you should get a prompt reply. LICENCE AGREEMENT: You are licensed to use Toolbox and its Utilities for a trial period of 30 days. If you continue to use Toolbox beyond this trial period -- you must register the program -- Please! You are not permitted to distribute any of the files from this program separately. You are encouraged to distribute Toolbox and its utilities to your friends, enemies, and anybody who will accept a copy provided it is distributed as TBox10.zip and the files have not been interfered with in anyway. You can freely upload this program (as TBOX10.ZIP) to any electronic Bulletin Board service. It is illegal to distribute or sell this program on a disk alone or with other programs for moneys other than the reasonable cost of the disk. GUARANTEE and DISCLAIMER: I guarantee that Toolbox does everything I say it will, as described in GUIDEBOOK, the on-line help system. I will not be held responsible in any way, shape or form for damage or loss, whether to your data, computer, computer desk, car or house incurred just because you happened to be using my program at the time. Although I guarantee that Toolbox does all the things I say it will, you accept all responsibility and use it at your own risk. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Toolbox version 1.0 was programmed in Borland Turbo Pascal for Windows v 1.5. I would like thank Borland, and all those individuals who make examples of source code available on the Compuserve BPascal Forum. Also I want to thank Neil J. Rubenking for his excellent book (a must for every TPW programmer) Turbo Pascal for Windows -- Techniques and Utilities. All reference to other products in this documentation are the property of there respective owners. FUTURE PLANS: Now that Toolbox v1.0 is finished I can get started on my next project. I want to expand Attache into a fully functional Document and Files Manager that displays long directory/file names and a programs own icon. Hopefully it will manage normal and compressed files, have a transmutable interface and be compact and fast. If that doesn't keep me busy for the next 6 - 9 months then there's always Toolbox v2.0. But don't expect anything much before the middle of 1993.