PC-Test Pro/PCTESTPRO.iso/winsys/grp_ini/entp/grp2ini1

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       The  following  article appeared in the November 1994 issue  of  PC
       Computing:


       Help Column - PC Computing 11-94

       By Brian Livingston

       Windows users just can't get enough control over the  customization
       of  their  systems,  it  seems.  The more  they  can  change  their
       personal setup, the more they want to change it.

       Personally,  I think this is a good thing.  Windows allows  you  to
       customize so many things -the colors, the applications you start up
       automatically  with  Windows, and so on - that it  keeps  you  from
       getting  too  serious about the work you're really supposed  to  be
       doing on your PC.

       But  one  of  the aspects of Windows that has been  quite  hard  to
       manage  is the automation of these customized features.   In  other
       words, you may want Windows to automatically display certain  icons
       in Program Manager whenever you boot up your PC, but not when  your
       children boot it up (determined, perhaps, by which batch file  they
       run  to  start Windows).  Or you may want the  Program  Manager  to
       provide a certain group window when your PC or laptop is  connected
       to a network, but not when it isn't connected.

       Fortunately, there is now a new shareware application that can help
       you automate almost any aspect of Program Manager groups.  Even  if
       you don't use the Windows Program Manager (because you prefer  some
       other  shell, such as Norton Desktop for Windows),  this  shareware
       application  may  give  you ideas about  how  to  automate  various
       features of your own Windows interface.

       Managing ProgMan

       Before getting into the details of this shareware program, we  need
       to understand a little bit about how to automate the  configuration
       that  comes up when we start Windows, and what the files  are  that
       make this configuration possible.

       The  Windows  Program  Manager  displays  icons  in  a  series   of
       overlapping windows called group windows.  Each of these groups may
       contain  one  or more icons, each representing  a  certain  command
       line, working directory, and icon image.

       The  file  in which Windows stores the  information  about  Program
       Manager group windows is called PROGMAN.INI. This file is described
       in the sidebar.  PROGMAN.INI contains several lines that name other
       files,  each  of which defines the contents of  a  different  group
       window.   These  files  have the extension  GRP.   The  Main  group
       window,  for  example,  is stored in a  file  named  MAIN.GRP.  The
       StartUp group file is STARTUP.GRP, and so on.






       If  we could control the contents of PROGMAN.INI and all these  GRP
       files automatically, several alternatives become possible:

       *  By creating two different batch files to start Windows, one  for
       yourself  and  one  for your kids or co-workers,  you  can  make  a
       different set of group windows appear in Program Manager, depending
       on the level of trust you have in their abilities.  You could  make
       Program Manager, for example, show only those icons that  represent
       games, while making invisible those icons that represent your  word
       processor, file manager, and so on.  If you let your kids use  your
       PC,  for  example,  this would allow them to  click  whatever  they
       wanted,  with no concern that they would accidentally  delete  your
       important files while playing.

       *  If you run a network, you can make different group windows  show
       up  or  disappear  based  on whether or not  the  PC  is  currently
       connected  to a working network.  You could use a batch  file  that
       simply  looks  for  the existence of a common  file  on  a  network
       server,  and  then edits the Program Manager groups  based  on  the
       results.

       You  can probably think of many other cases in which you'd like  to
       have a different configuration of Program Manager groups or  icons,
       depending  on  the  status of your PC (as  determined  by  whatever
       utility programs you like to use).

       The Binary-to-Text Switch

       The  new shareware application that gives you this kind of  control
       is  called  Group-to-Ini  (GRP21NI).   This  unwieldy  name  is   a
       confusing label for what is really a very simple program.

       GRP2INI converts any Program Manager group (.GRP) file into a plain
       text file, much like WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, and other  initialization
       files that Windows reads when it starts up.

       Once  you have converted an unreadable GRP file into a  plain  text
       file,  you  can use another shareware application,  Config  Control
       (CFGCNTRL)  to automatically edit it.  This allows you to  edit  in
       various statements - or edit out statements you don't want -  based
       on the findings of batch files that you use to start Windows.

       Finally,  after  you've  made the edits you want  via  CFGCNTRL  or
       manually  (in a plain-text editor), you convert the text file  back
       into  the binary format that Program Manager requires of  its  .GRP
       files.   When your batch file starts Windows, the  Program  Manager
       obeys the new GRP files and puts up on screen just those icons  and
       commands that you put in your automation scripts.

       It  sounds  complicated,  but once you've gotten the  hang  of  it,
       creating  different configurations on the fly can be easy and  give
       you a tremendous amount of flexibility.






       A Tale of Two Batch Files

       For  the sake of illustration, let's say that you want  Windows  to
       come  up in one of two configurations.  One will be for your  kids,
       and  is started from a batch file called KIDWIN.BAT. The  other  is
       for you and the other adults in your home or office, and is started
       from a batch file called BIGWIN.BAT.

       If  all  you want to do is make sure that the  kids'  configuration
       shows  only  the Games group in the Program Manager,  this  can  be
       handled  easily by Config Control alone.  To make this happen,  the
       KIDWIN.BAT  batch  file  would call upon  Config  Control  to  edit
       PROGMAN.INI  and "comment out" all references to groups other  than
       GAMES.GRP.  That way, when Windows started up, the Program  Manager
       would show only the Games group window.  Your other groups -  Main,
       StartUp, and so on - would still be in existence, but would not  be
       loaded  by Program Manager.  This makes these groups  inaccessible,
       so your little ones can't fire up the File Manager and delete  your
       C: drive, bless their hearts.

       To Network or Not to Network

       On the other hand, you might have a more complicated  configuration
       problem  in  mind.   One common example  would  be  establishing  a
       different  set of icons in Program Manager depending on whether  or
       not  your PC or laptop was connected to a network when Windows  was
       started.

       If  a  network was running, you might want a certain  icon  in  the
       Network  group  to run a utility from the network  server.   If  no
       network  was  detected, you might want the same icon  to  launch  a
       different program located on the local hard disk of the PC.

       This  situation would require that you start Windows from  a  batch
       file (whether AUTOEXEC.BAT or some other file) that detects whether
       or  not  a  network is running.  To do this,  you  might  insert  a
       command  that  looks  for  a particular file,  which  can  only  be
       detected if the network is up:

            IF EXIST N:\NETWORK\FILENAME.TXT GOTO NET

       A command like this could lead to a :NET section of the batch file,
       which  would load GRP21NI to convert NETWORK.GRP into a text  file.
       The  batch  file would then use Config Control to run a  series  of
       commands, which would revise the meaning of the icon in the Network
       group that you wish to automatically configure.  INI2GRP would then
       convert  the  text file back into a GRP file.  Finally,  the  batch
       file would start Windows, and Program Manager would come up with  a
       Network group exactly as you had redefined it.

       Using GRP21NI and CFGCNTRL

       Because  it  is  unwise to write a new GRP file  while  Windows  is
       running - and because most of the configuration changes, in Windows
       should  take  place before Windows is started up  Group-To-Ini  and






       Config  Control are DOS command-line programs.  You use  them  like
       many  other  DOS utilities, by calling them  from  AUTOEXEC.BAT  or
       other  batch  files  to  operate  automatically  on  your   Windows
       configuration, using whatever criteria you feel are appropriate  to
       branch between two or more alternative configurations.

       You  can  download  the unlicensed  shareware  files,  G21.ZIP  and
       CFGCNT.ZIP,  from the PC/Computing forum.  Once you get them,  it's
       important that you peruse the documentation that accompanies  these
       programs.  Because they are DOS character-based programs, there are
       many options that are not apparent from simply running the programs
       at  the command line.  The programs are relatively easy  to  learn,
       but  are powerful, so you'll want to know in advance how they  work
       on  your  files.  Be sure to make backup copies of your  CFG  files
       before you test these programs.

       To  obtain a licensed copy, send $29 for Group-To-Ini, or  $69  for
       both  Group-To-Ini and Config Control, to TNT, P.O. Box  1791,  San
       Ramon,  CA 94583.  For credit card orders, call  510-244-5449.  TNT
       stands  for  "Tessler's Nifty Tools," a series of  handy  utilities
       that are described in the accompanying documentation files.

       If you need to automatically configure Windows on the fly, I  think
       you'll  find that these programs give you a degree of control  that
       has previously been very difficult to achieve.

       -Brian Livingston