Aporia(tm) User Manual Version 1.4 Copyright 1989, 1990 NewTools, Inc. All rights reserved. NewTools, Inc. PO Box 3269 Church Street Station New York, NY 10008-3269 (718) 789-5980 CONTENTS CONTENTS..................................................ii WARRANTY..................................................v LICENSE...................................................v REGISTRATION..............................................vi SUPPORT...................................................vi DISTRIBUTION .............................................vii TRADEMARKS................................................viii 1. Chapter 1: Introduction................................1 1.1 The Concepts Behind Aporia........................1 1.2 User Created Tools................................2 1.2.1 Tools are Attached to Files.................2 1.2.2 You Design Your Own Tools...................3 1.3 Overview of the Basic Tools.......................3 1.3.1 Desk Tool...................................3 1.3.2 Directory Tool .............................3 1.3.3 Tree Tool...................................4 1.3.4 Options Tool ...............................4 1.3.5 Copy Tool...................................4 1.3.6 Trash Tool..................................4 1.3.7 Size Tool...................................5 1.3.8 Hide Tool...................................5 1.3.9 Help Tool...................................5 1.3.10 Notes Tool.................................5 2. Chapter 2: Installation................................6 2.1 System Requirements...............................6 2.2 Installing Aporia On Your System..................6 2.2.1 Using Aporia As The Windows Shell...........7 2.2.2 Creating Tools From Program Manager Setup...8 3. Chapter 3: Getting Started, a Tutorial.................9 3.1 Running Aporia....................................9 3.2 Using Tools.......................................10 3.2.1 Moving Tools................................10 3.2.2 Running Tools...............................11 3.2.3 Getting Help On Using Tools.................11 3.3 Creating Tools....................................12 3.3.1 The Tree Tool...............................12 3.3.2 Creating User Tools.........................12 3.3.3 Creating Directory Tools....................13 3.3.4 Using the Copy Tool.........................14 3.4 Using Your Tools..................................14 3.4.1 Running Programs............................14 3.4.2 Running Files...............................14 3.5 Organizing Your Work..............................15 3.5.1 Using Desk Tools............................15 3.5.2 Hide a Desk's Contents......................16 Aporia User Manual ii 3.6 Customizing Tools.................................16 3.6.1 Using the Options Tool......................16 3.6.2 Using the Size Tool.........................18 3.7 Managing Your Files and Directories...............19 3.7.1 Managing Directories........................19 3.7.2 Managing Files..............................20 3.8 Summary...........................................22 4. Chapter 4: Aporia Reference............................23 4.1 Creating Tools....................................23 4.1.1 From a Directory Window.....................23 4.1.2 With the Copy Tool..........................24 4.1.3 Creating Directory Tools....................24 4.2 Running Tools.....................................24 4.2.1 Double-clicking Tools ......................24 4.2.2 Dragging One Tool onto Another..............24 4.2.3 Dragging a File onto a Tool.................25 4.3 Managing Your Tools...............................25 4.3.1 Moving Tools on the Screen..................25 4.3.2 Moving Groups of Tools......................25 4.3.3 Stacking Tools..............................26 4.3.4 Canceling Moves.............................26 4.3.5 Getting Information About a Tool............26 4.3.6 The Aporia Menu.............................26 4.4 The Desk Tool.....................................28 4.4.1 Storing Tools...............................28 4.4.2 Hiding and Displaying a Desk's Contents.....28 4.4.3 Moving Desks................................29 4.4.4 Running Desks...............................29 4.4.5 Removing a Desk.............................29 4.5 The Trash Tool....................................29 4.5.1 Removing Tools and Files....................29 4.5.2 Trash Management............................30 4.6 The Notes Tool....................................30 4.6.1 Notes on Tools..............................30 4.6.2 General Notes...............................31 4.7 The Help Tool.....................................31 4.8 The Copy Tool.....................................32 4.9 The Hide Tool.....................................33 4.10 The Options Tool.................................33 4.10.1 Individual Tool Options....................33 4.10.2 General Aporia Options.....................37 4.11 The Size Tool....................................40 4.11.1 Sizing and Positioning Windows Programs....40 4.11.2 Sizing Aporia Tools........................40 4.12 The Tree Tool....................................41 4.12.1 The Tree Tool Window.......................41 4.12.2 The Tree Tool Menu.........................42 4.12.3 Additional Tree Tool Features..............44 Aporia User Manual iii 4.13 The Directory Tool...............................44 4.13.1 Directory Windows..........................44 4.13.2 Managing Your Files........................46 4.13.3 The Directory Window Menu..................47 4.13.4 Additional Directory Tool Features.........52 5. Chapter 5: Advice for Experts..........................54 5.1 Running Aporia as the Windows Shell...............54 5.2 Passing Arguments to Tools........................54 5.3 Turning Off Trash Management......................55 5.4 Getting Rid of Prompts When Trashing Tools........56 5.5 Desks: Organizing, Repetitious Jobs...............56 5.5.1 Trees of Desks..............................56 5.6 Aporia Tool Files.................................56 5.6.2 Switching Tool Files........................57 5.7 Aporia WIN.INI Settings...........................57 5.8 Aporia on a Network...............................58 5.8.1 Tools and Options...........................58 5.8.2 Where to Locate Your APORIA Directory.......58 5.8.3 Registration on Networks....................59 5.9 Quick Menus.......................................59 5.10 Using Other Screen Blankers......................60 5.11 Large Tools for The Visually Impaired............60 5.12 Layouts..........................................60 6. Chapter 6: Image Maker Utility.........................62 6.1 Running Image Maker...............................62 6.2 The Image Maker Commands..........................63 6.2.1 File Menu...................................63 6.2.2 Capture Menu................................63 6.2.3 Options Menu................................64 6.3 General Notes.....................................64 INDEX.....................................................66 Aporia User Manual iv WARRANTY Aporia, and this manual, are provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. NEWTOOLS, INC. SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES. IN NO EVENT SHALL NEWTOOLS, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PRODUCT. LICENSE Aporia is a SHAREWARE program. It is NOT Public Domain software nor is it Free software. Aporia requires the user to register the program if he or she intends to use it except for the purpose of limited evaluation described below. Registration grants the user a licence to use Aporia on a single computer at any one time. Non-registered users are granted a limited licence to use Aporia on a trial basis for the purpose of evaluation and determining if Aporia is suitable for their needs. Use of Aporia, except for this limited purpose, requires the user to register the product. All users of Aporia are granted limited licence to copy the product only for the trial use by others, subject to the above limitations, provided that Aporia is copied in its full and unmodified form. That is, the copy must include all files necessary to permit full operation of the program, this licence agreement, registration form and full documentation. No fee, charge, licence, warranty, registration obligation or other compensation of any kind may be accepted by the donor or recipient in exchange for a copy of Aporia. Operators of Electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS Sysops) may permit Aporia to be downloaded by any user, and any user may be permitted to upload a copy of Aporia to a BBS, with the Sysop's permission, provided the above conditions are met. Use of non-registered copies of Aporia by any person in connection with a business, corporation, educational Aporia User Manual v establishment or government agency is forbidden. Such users must register the product and/or purchase a site licence agreement. Registered users are granted a license to use this software. You may use this software on only one computer at any given time. If you wish to use Aporia in on multiple computers concurrently, you should register one copy for each location. As a registered user, you will be notified of future Aporia upgrades and revisions and be offered the opportunity to acquire them at a preferred rate and also, for a limited time, you will be provided with minor upgrades and bug-fixes free of charge. REGISTRATION If you decide to use Aporia you must register it. The registration fee is $50 plus $4 for shipping and handling (for orders outside North America shipping and handling is $8). You will be sent a disk containing the latest version of the software and a printed, fully illustrated manual. When ordering, please use the order form included with the Aporia distribution files. The form is named ORDER.TXT. You can print it by changing to the directory where the file is located and typing: COPY ORDER.TXT PRN SUPPORT Support is available in a variety of ways. If you use either CompuServe you can leave an electronic mail message for CompuServe IDs: 73157,461 Or call (718) 789-5980 from 9am to 5pm Eastern time. Aporia User Manual vi DISTRIBUTION You may distribute Aporia freely provided you distribute all files unaltered and do not charge a distribution fee that exceeds $7. Aporia version 1.4 is distributed with the following files: AP_READ.ME Important information. You should read this file first. APLIB.EXE Aporia dynamic link library. APORIA.EXE Aporia executable. APORIA.INT This is Chapter 3 (the tutorial) of this manual in Windows Write format. It is intended to be read on-line using the Help tool. APORIA.GRP This is a Windows 3.0 Program Manager group file containing icons for Aporia and Image Maker. APORIA.MAN This manual in ASCII text format. AIF_16.EXE Self extracting file containing Aporia image files for the basic Aporia tools and for programs supplied with Windows 3.0. This file contains image files for use systems running in 16 color EGA, VGA, and SuperVGA display modes under Windows 3.0. AIF_256.EXE This is a self extracting compressed file containing Aporia image files for the basic Aporia tools and for programs supplied with Windows 3.0. This file contains image files for use systems running in 256 color EGA, VGA, and SuperVGA display modes under Windows 3.0. AP_ICONS.EXE Self extracting file containing the icons for the basic Aporia tools in Windows 3.0 icon (ICO) format. CHANGES.TXT A list of changes in this release. IMAGEMKR.EXE Aporia Image Maker utility. NOTES.TXT Default Aporia note file. ORDER.TXT Order form for Aporia. Please use this form when you order. SETUP_AP.EXE Run this program to setup Aporia on your system. Aporia User Manual vii TRADEMARKS Aporia(tm) and NewTools(tm) are trademarks of NewTools, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, and Excel are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.PageMaker is a registered trademarks of Aldus Corporation. Norton Utilities is a registered trademark of Peter Norton Computing, Inc. Aporia User Manual viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 THE CONCEPTS BEHIND APORIA Aporia is a program which provides you with a more convenient, flexible interface for Microsoft Windows. It makes Windows easier to use by adding a fully graphical, object-oriented user interface which lets you customize your working environment. It gives you a better way to organize your work by allowing you to display graphically your programs and data files. Aporia also has the ability to train your programs to run the same way each time for a given situation; thus, allowing you to work more efficiently. The heart of Aporia is the concept of tools. A tool in Aporia refers to both the icon that represents the tool and the object that you attach to the tool. That object can be any file on your disk drives, including programs and data files. You can arrange tools on the screen as you like, so your commonly used programs and files are always immediately available. Programs can be run by pointing the mouse cursor over a program's tool and double clicking the mouse button or by using the mouse to drag a tool for a data file onto the program's tool. One of the goals of the tools concept is to make the programs and files you work with on your computer easier to find and identify. This is done by letting you give a tool both an icon and a name. Aporia comes with a large number of icon styles from which you can choose; and tool names can be up to 30 characters long. You no longer have to struggle with the cryptic eight character file names that DOS forces you to use. Another goal of the tool concept is to allow you to set up your programs and files so that you can work with them in exactly the way you like. A tool can store information about the way in which a program is to run such as the size of its window, the directory where it runs, and the file it should initially load. Aporia comes with a number of basic tools to manage your work environment. The basic tools work together to allow you to create, configure, store and even combine the tools that you create. You use the Desk Tool to store groups of related tools together. The Directory Tool opens into a directory Aporia User Manual 1 Chapter 1: Introduction window that displays a list of the files in a directory which can be copied, moved, renamed, and sorted. The Tree Tool displays a graphic representation of your hard disk's directory structure. Several other tools are used to create, copy, and customize tools, as well as configure the way they behave. Because of the flexibility and power of the tools concept, Aporia has features that satisfy both the power user and the computer novice. Novices can create tools for their programs with one click of the mouse in the directory window. File management with Aporia is easy and intuitive. Power users are provided with everything they need to create a fully customized work environment. Aporia can be used in the creation of integrated applications on stand alone systems or on local area networks. 1.2 USER CREATED TOOLS 1.2.1 Tools are Attached to Files When you create a tool in Aporia you attach it to a particular file existing on one of your disk drives. In fact in most cases Aporia attaches the tool to the file for you. This tool then becomes a graphic representation of the file. As long as the tool is visible on your display you have easy access to the file. User tools can be run, no matter what kind of file they represent. If the file is a program, then running the tool runs that program. You can also run a tool by selecting the tool of a data file you want to work with (such as a document file) and dragging it onto the tool of a program (such as a word processor). Since you can see the tools you work with on your desk top you do not have to worry about remembering short file names contained in endless directories each containing many files. Your work becomes much more identifiable. You can personalize your file, with long names and icons of your choice. Also, since data files can be run, you don't need to worry about the programs so much anymore. Just click on your tool and get to work. Aporia User Manual 2 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.2.2 You Design Your Own Tools You can design the tools you create with names that can be up to 30 characters long and an icon. This icon can be chosen from over a 100 color and monochrome icons provided with Aporia. You can also create your icon using a paint program or by capturing an image from the screen. This ability to customize your tools appearance can help you to better organize your work. For example you can give all the files for a project the same icon. Aporia was designed to help you get real work done, but we also hope it will help people to personalize their computing environment. Many people put works of art or posters on their walls to personalize their office. Aporia lets you do the same thing with your electronic office. 1.3 OVERVIEW OF THE BASIC TOOLS The following is a general overview of each of the basic tools provided by Aporia: 1.3.1 Desk Tool - Storage The Desk Tool is a storage place for other tools. Think of the entire Aporia environment as an office and each Desk Tool as a desk. In an office there is a desk for the secretary, a desk for the book keeper, and a desk for the order entry clerk. Likewise in Aporia you can have a desk for word processing, a desk for spreadsheets, and a desk for database management. Since programs, data files, and even other desks can be placed in Desk Tools, they provide a powerful tool for organizing your work. Desks can also be run which means you can run a group of programs with one click of the mouse. 1.3.2 Directory Tool - File and Tool Management The Directory Tool has a look and a set of menus similar to the MS-DOS Executive. While it performs similar functions it is both more powerful and easier to use. You have any number of Directory Tools open on screen at a time, each showing a different directory. Files can be copied and moved between directories using only the mouse. The Directory Tool also Aporia User Manual 3 Chapter 1: Introduction gives you powerful options for customizing how your files are displayed. You can create permanent subsets of the files in a directory to create "virtual" directories. 1.3.3 Tree Tool - Directory Management The Tree Tool works in close conjunction with the Directory Tool to help manage your hard disk. It displays a graphical representation of your disk drives' directory structure. You use it to move quickly from one directory to another, viewing the files in each directory with a special Directory Tool that changes as you select a different directory in the tree. You use the tree to create multiple directory windows which you can save as Directory Tools. You also use the Tree Tool to create, remove and rename directories. You can have any number of Tree Tools open on the screen, each showing the directories of a different disk drive. 1.3.4 Options Tool - Customizing Tools The Options Tool lets you set various options for tools such the icon and name it will have. Aporia comes with over 100 different color and monochrome icons from which you can choose or you can specify the name of an icon that you create and capture using the Aporia Image Maker utility. You have complete control over how and where you want the tool to run. The Options Tool also lets you set general options for Aporia such as the size of tool icons and the color, size and, typeface of tool text. 1.3.5 Copy Tool - Duplicating Tools and Files The Copy Tool's primary function is to make copies of tools. You can also use it to copy files, though in most cases you will want to use Directory Tools for this. 1.3.6 Trash Tool - Removing Tools and Files The Trash Tool is used to remove both tools and files. It provides a powerful Trash Management feature which lets you restore files that you delete accidentally. Aporia User Manual 4 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.3.7 Size Tool - Sizing Windows and Tools The Size Tool allows you to set the size of any tool's window. This is a very powerful utility for customizing your screen so that each time you run a program it will be displayed in the same place with the same size. 1.3.8 Hide Tool - Showing and Hiding Tools The Hide Tool is used to hide any of the tools on your screen. This is helpful in avoiding a cluttered display. You also use it to "open" and "close" the drawers of a desk so that the tools contained in a desk can be put away when not in use. 1.3.9 Help Tool - Getting Help The Help Tool provides general help on using Aporia as well as specific help in using each basic tool. You can customize the Help Tool to provide help for any tool that you create. 1.3.10 Notes Tool - Keeping Notes The Notes Tool lets you keep notes for a tool to which you always have quick and easy access. This is very useful when you have files, such as graphics files, to which there is no easy way to add textual information. Aporia User Manual 5 Chapter 2: Installation 2. CHAPTER 2: INSTALLATION 2.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Aporia will run on any system set up to use Microsoft Windows 2.0 or later. When running it only uses only about 65 kilobytes of memory. Aporia requires a mouse or some other type of pointing device. The graphical, object-oriented nature of Aporia would make it very awkward to use without a pointing device. If you don not have space next to your keyboard for a mouse then consider a track ball takes up less space. Aporia lets you display your tools with color icons. Some color icons are provided with Aporia and the Image Maker program provided lets you capture or create additional icons. In order to maintain compatibility with all versions of Windows these icons are stored in a device dependent bitmap format call Aporia Image Files (AIF). For users of Windows 3.0 or higher we provide two sets of AIF files. One set (stored in the self extracting file AIF_16.EXE) is for EGA, VGA, and SuperVGA display systems running in 16 color modes. A second set (in file AIF_256.EXE) is for SuperVGA 256 color modes. Users with other types of displays may not be able to use these icons. Users with VGA monochrome monitors can use these AIF files provided they have set Windows to use the VGA color driver (and not "VGA with monochrome monitor"). If the AIF files provided do not work with your system you will still be able to use the set of monochrome icons provided with Aporia or you may use Image Maker to create your own. 2.2 INSTALLING APORIA ON YOUR SYSTEM You install Aporia by running the SETUP_AP.EXE setup program provided on the Aporia distribution disk. The setup program copies all Aporia program files into the directory where you have Windows installed. It will also create a directory named APORIA on the same drive where Windows is installed. In this directory Aporia will store special files that it uses. Once you have started Aporia you can change the APORIA directory to some other directory on any drive that you Aporia User Manual 6 Chapter 2: Installation wish. Refer to Chapter 4, Aporia Reference, in the section on the Options Tool, for an explanation of how to do this. To install Aporia insert the disk provided into your A: (floppy) disk drive. At the DOS prompt type: A: making A: the current drive and then type: SETUP_AP This runs the Aporia setup program. You will be ask some questions about how you want Aporia setup. The program will then copy the Aporia program files into the directory where you have Windows installed. It will also create a directory named APORIA on the same drive where Windows is installed. In this directory Aporia will store special files that it uses. Once you have started Aporia you can change the APORIA directory to some other directory on any drive that you wish. Refer to Chapter 4, Aporia Reference, in the section on the Options Tool, for an explanation of how to do this. 2.2.1 Using Aporia As The Windows Shell If you are using Windows 3.0, when the setup program runs you will be asked if you wish to make Aporia your Windows shell. This means that each time you run Windows Aporia will be the first that runs instead of the Program Manager provided with Windows. By running Aporia as the Windows shell you will save the memory normally used by the Program Manager. You can still use the Program Manager by running it as you would any Windows program. If you decide not to make Aporia the Windows shell when you run the setup program you can set it to be the shell later by changing a setting in the SYSTEM.INI file. Refer to Chapter 5, Advice for Experts, in the section on Running Aporia as the Windows Shell for and explanation of how to do this. When you use Aporia as the Windows shell it ignores the "Run=" and "Load=" setting in the WIN.INI file. The reason for this is that Aporia provides a much easier and powerful way to do this by setting a tool's "Run on Start-up" option. Using this setting you not only make a tool's program run when you first start but you can also control the size and position of its window. Aporia User Manual 7 Chapter 2: Installation 2.2.2 Creating Tools From Program Manager Setup When you run Aporia for the first time you will be asked if you wish to automatically create Aporia tools for all of the programs you have setup in the Program Manager. A dialog box will appear listing each of the groups you have setup in Program Manager. You can select which of these groups you wish to use to set up tools. For each group you select an Aporia desk will be created which contains tools for the same programs and files as set up in the group. This is a good way to get a quick start with Aporia since your programs will be available to use with Aporia right away. Please be patient during this process as it can take Aporia a while to find all of your groups files and create Aporia tools. If you prefer not to run this procedure the first time you run Aporia you can always do so later by using the Load Tools command found on the system menu which pops up when you click on the Aporia program icon. Aporia User Manual 8 Chapter 3: Getting Started 3. CHAPTER 3: GETTING STARTED, A TUTORIAL The following is a short tutorial to get you familiar with the basic operation of Aporia. It is assumed that you have at least a basic knowledge of how to use Windows including the use of the mouse, menus, scroll bars, and the manipulation of windows. Using Aporia to its fullest capabilities requires that you acquire an understanding of the simple concepts behind it. This tutorial will attempt to teach you these concepts while showing you the basic operation of Aporia. This tutorial assumes that you already have Aporia properly installed but have not yet set up any of your own tools. If you have already set up some tools it will not cause you any problems when using this tutorial, but your screen may appear differently than as described in this tutorial. 3.1 RUNNING APORIA How you run Aporia depends upon whether or not you have set it up as the Windows shell and upon what version of Windows you are using. If you have set up Aporia as your Windows shell it will automatically be the first program loaded each time you run Windows. Just run Windows as you normally would. win<> If Aporia is not the shell and you have Windows 286 or Windows 3.0 or later, at the DOS prompt type: win aporia<> If Aporia is not the shell and you have Windows 386, at the DOS prompt type: win386 aporia<> When Windows comes up on your screen you will see ten icons along the right side of your screen. These icons are the basic tools that make up Aporia. Aporia User Manual 9 Chapter 3: Getting Started If you let Aporia set up tools from your Program Manager setup you will also see desk tools corresponding to your Program Manager groups. To see the tools in a desk double- click on the desk with the left mouse button. Aporia tries to organize the tools it creates around the desk they are stored in. You will probably want you re-arrange the tools to suit your tastes. Note that when you move a desk the tools in the desk move along with it. For this reason it's best to locate tools near to the desk in which they are stored. If you do not do this you may find that when you move a desk you will move some of the tools stored in it off the screen. Note: The way the tools appear on your display may differ from the illustrations in this manual depending upon the type of display adapter (such as EGA, VGA, etc) you have in your computer. 3.2 USING TOOLS Aporia tools are visually similar to the icons that Windows uses to represent minimized programs and the icons in the Program Manager. They can also be arranged on the screen using the mouse in much the same way as Windows icons. 3.2.1 Moving Tools Moving a tool is done by dragging it with the left mouse button. Move the mouse cursor over the Tree Tool. Notice that the cursor changes to look like a hammer. It does this whenever it is over a tool. Press and hold down the left mouse button. The cursor will change to look like a pair of pliers. It does this whenever you move a tool. With the left button held down, move the mouse to drag the tool to another area of the screen. As you move a tool its image is replaced by an outline. Once you "put the tool down" by releasing the left button, the image will return. Aporia User Manual 10 Chapter 3: Getting Started Release the left mouse button. The tool will reappear at the place you dragged it to. 3.2.2 Running Tools Running a tool is a simple matter of placing the mouse cursor over the tool and double-clicking the left mouse button. Move the mouse cursor over the Tree Tool and double click the left button. The Tree Tool will open up to a window displaying the directories on your hard drive. In the next section you will learn how to use this tool. 3.2.3 Getting Help On Using Tools You can get quick help on how to use any of the basic tools using the Help Tool. Use the mouse to move the Tree Tool over the Help Tool, making sure that the upper left corner of the Tree Tool is over the Help Tool, and release the mouse button. A dialog box appears explaining the basic information you need to know to use the Tree Tool. When you are done reading the help text, click the mouse button on the OK button in the dialog box to remove it from the screen. Help is available for all of the basic tools in this way. Important: The upper left corner of a tool is its "hot spot". This means that whenever you move one tool over another to perform some action, you should make sure that its upper left corner is over the tool below. Aporia User Manual 11 Chapter 3: Getting Started 3.3 CREATING TOOLS 3.3.1 The Tree Tool The Tree Tool, which should already be open on your screen, displays a graphical representation of the directory structure of a disk drive. You use it in conjunction with Directory Windows to quickly get at your files. Think of the Tree Tool as a map for your disk drives. With the Tree Tool you can quickly find a directory and then open a window into that directory to get to the directory's files. You also use the Tree Tool to create, delete, and rename directories. Click on the down arrow in the Tree Tool scroll bars until the directory where your Windows program files are located comes into view. If your Windows directory is on a drive other than the one currently loaded into the tree, you will first have to use the Drives menu to change to that drive. Double click on your Windows directory with the left mouse button. A Directory Window will appear on your screen. The Aporia Directory Window is similar in appearance and function to the MS-DOS Executive. It displays a listing of all the files located in one directory. 3.3.2 Creating User Tools One of the most important uses of Directory Windows is to allow you to create your own tools. These tools you create are called user tools. When you create a user, Aporia creates a new tool which is attached to a file on your disk drive. This file can be either a program or a data file (such as a text file). Using the scroll bars in the Directory Window, find the listing for the file named NOTEPAD.EXE. You can use the Directory Window View menu commands just as you do for the MS-DOS Executive to help you find the file if you like. The NOTEPAD.EXE file is the executable file for the Windows Notepad program. If you have for some reason deleted this Aporia User Manual 12 Chapter 3: Getting Started from your drive you can use any program that will read a plain text file. Double click with the right mouse button on the NOTEPAD.EXE file listing. A new tool named "notepad.exe" will appear in the upper right corner of your screen. Using the mouse, move the tool you just created to an open area of your screen. 3.3.3 Creating Directory Tools Aporia Directory Windows can be created in a number of different ways, each of which has its own advantages. The way you just did it is useful when you want to quickly open multiple Directory Windows in different directories. Another way is to use the Tree Tool Options menu to create a Directory Window that is "attached" to the tree. This window always displays the directory that is currently highlighted in the tree. The third, and possibly most powerful way to create a Directory Window is with a Directory Tool. The advantage of using Directory Tools is that they save any settings you make in their Directory Windows, thus allowing you to store "views" of the files you work with that match the way you work. Make sure that the Directory Window for your Windows directory is still open on your screen. Using the mouse, open the Special menu in the Directory Window and choose the Make Directory Tool command. A new Directory Tool will appear in the upper right corner of your screen. From now on each time you double click the left mouse button on this tool a Directory Window will appear displaying your Windows directory. With the Directory Window for your Windows directory still open, find the file named AP_READ.ME and double click the right button on over it. A tool named "AP_READ.ME" will appear on your screen. Aporia User Manual 13 Chapter 3: Getting Started 3.3.4 Using the Copy Tool Another way to create a new tool is with the Copy Tool. You will now use the Copy Tool to create a new Desk Tool which later on you will use to store all of the tools you are creating. Using the mouse drag the Desk Tool (which by default is located at the upper right corner of your screen) onto the Copy Tool and release the mouse button. A new Desk Tool will appear on the right side of your screen. Move the newly created Desk Tool to an open area of your screen. When a tool is copied it will have the same appearance as the tool from which it is was copied. Later on you will learn how to customize your tools so that each one has a unique look. 3.4 USING YOUR TOOLS You should now have four new tools on your screen. Pretty icons are nice but the real power of tools is in using them. All Aporia tools, whether basic tools such as the Desk and Directory Tools you created, or user tools such as the Notepad program or text file, are run by double clicking on them with the left mouse button. 3.4.1 Running Programs Move the mouse cursor over the "notepad.exe" tool and double click the left mouse button. The Notepad program will run, opening a window on your screen. Close the Notepad program. 3.4.2 Running Files Files can be run by dragging their tools onto the tool of the program you want them to run in. This causes the program Aporia User Manual 14 Chapter 3: Getting Started tool to run, and load the file associated with the tool to be loaded. Move the mouse cursor over the "ap_read.me" tool. Hold down the left mouse button, drag the tool over the "notepad.exe" tool, and release the button. The Notepad program will run with the AP_READ.ME file loaded. 3.5 ORGANIZING YOUR WORK One of the most powerful features of Aporia is the ability it gives you to organize your work. The primary tool you use to do this is the Desk Tool. 3.5.1 Using Desk Tools The Desk Tool acts as a container for other tools. All of the tools you create are stored in Desk Tool drawers. Desk drawers can be opened and closed, allowing you to display or hide the tools inside. By using desks you can group related programs and files together. Using the mouse, drag the "ap_read.me" tool onto the Desk Tool you created earlier. Aporia prompts you to confirm that you want to place the tool into the desk's drawer. Click on the OK button to confirm. Now drag the Directory Tool you created onto this Desk Tool also. Aporia will display the same prompt again. Click on the OK button to confirm. You now have two tools in this Desk Tool. Aporia User Manual 15 Chapter 3: Getting Started 3.5.2 Hide a Desk's Contents When you are done using a desk you can close its drawer, that is hide what it contains, by double clicking on it with the left mouse button. Double click over the desk you created with the left mouse button. The directory and "ap_read.me" tools disappear. Double click over your Desk Tool again. The directory and "ap_read.me" tools reappear. 3.6 CUSTOMIZING TOOLS Aporia provides a large number of ways for you to customize your tools. You change a tool's icon, its name, and tell the tool how you want it to run. Only a few of the most important options will be covered in this tutorial. To learn, more refer to Chapter 4, Aporia Reference. 3.6.1 Using the Options Tool Changing Tool Names Most of the customizing you will perform on tools will be done with the Options Tool. Let's use it now to customize the tools you just created. Drag the Desk Tool you created onto the Options Tool. The Options Tool dialog box appears. You use this dialog to customize all of the different types of tools. Note that not all of the options have an effect on all of the tools. The Displayed Name field should be highlighted. Type: Aporia Tutor. The Options Tool dialog box will disappear and the name of the Desk Tool is now changed to "Aporia Tutor." Drag the Directory Tool you created onto the Options Tool. Aporia User Manual 16 Chapter 3: Getting Started In the Displayed Name field type: Windows. The Directory Tool's name is now "Windows." Changing Tool Icons Aporia uses two types of icons. There are color icons which are stored as separate files and there are "built-in" monochrome icons which are stored within the Aporia program. The color icons bring you the advantages of full color and the ability to create your own icons. The monochrome icons will work with any type of display running any version of Windows. You will now use the "notepad.exe" tool you created earlier to learn how to use the two types of icons. Drag the "notepad.exe" tool onto the Options Tool. If you system is set up to use the color icons you will the text "NOTEPAD" in the Image File field of the Options Tool dialog box. This is the name of the Aporia image file (AIF) for the Notepad program provided with Aporia. Notice that the Options dialog also displays the image for the Notepad program just as it appears on the tool you created. When you created this tool Aporia searched for an AIF file with the same name as the program. Press the key three times until the Image File field is highlighted. When the field is highlighted press the key. When you remove the name from the Image File field the image displayed in the Options dialog changes to display one of the built-in monochrome icons. Also a scroll bar appears below the icon. Using this scroll bar you can choose from the many monochrome icons. Try using the scroll bar now to view the various icons. Make sure the cursor is still in the Image File field and type: notepad The icon displayed will change back to the color Notepad icon and the scroll bar will disappear. You can enter the name of any AIF file stored in your IMAGES in this field. Refer to Chapter 4 in the section on the Options Tool for description of AIF files and the IMAGES directory. Aporia User Manual 17 Chapter 3: Getting Started Tools Without Icons One important benefit to being able to name your tools is that it allows you to give files names which are much longer (up to 30 characters) than the eight character limit imposed by MS-DOS. This can make it much easier to identify files. When you give a tool a particularly long name you may want to turn off the icon for that tool. The icon for a tool always stretches to be as wide as the name. With a long name an icon can take up a lot of space on the screen and may become distorted in appearance. Drag the "ap_read.me" tool onto the Options Tool. Press the key once, highlighting the "Displayed Name" field and type: Aporia Readme File In the box labeled "Show..." click on the check box labeled "Image" to turn off that option. Click on the OK button to close the dialog box. The name of the "ap_read.me" tool has changed to "Aporia Readme File." 3.6.2 Using the Size Tool The ability to run multiple programs in different windows has always been one of Windows most useful features. The annoying thing about this is that when you run multiple programs you have to size and move each one to create an arrangement that works well for you. With Aporia this is no longer a problem. Using the Size Tool can store the size and position of a tool's window so that each time you run the tool its window will appear in a size and position that you choose. Let's size the "Notepad" tool. Double click the left mouse button over the "Notepad" tool to run it. Size and move the Notepad window to any position you like. Drag the "Notepad" tool onto the Size Tool. Aporia User Manual 18 Chapter 3: Getting Started A dialog box appears giving you the options to either set the tool's window size or to clear it. Click on the OK button. The size cursor appears. Move the cursor over the title of the Notepad window and click the left button. 3.7 MANAGING YOUR FILES AND DIRECTORIES WITH APORIA Aporia has powerful tools for managing the files on your hard drive. The primary tools for file management are the tree and Directory Tools. 3.7.1 Managing Directories As you have already seen, the Tree Tool provides a graphical display of the directories on a disk drive. It can be used as a way to create Directory Windows. You also use the Tree Tool to create, delete, and rename directories. Creating a Directory Creating a directory with the Tree Tool is easy. You simply select the directory in which you want the new directory to be located, choose the Create command from the Directories menu, and enter the name you wish to give to the new directory. Let's create a new directory in the Aporia directory on your "C" drive. Make sure the Tree Tool is open and that the current drive is "C". Find the"APORIA" directory and select it by clicking on it with the left mouse button. From the Directories menu choose the Create command. A dialog box appears prompting you to enter the name of the directory you wish to create. Type: temp Aporia User Manual 19 Chapter 3: Getting Started The dialog box disappears and a the "TEMP" directory appears beneath the "APORIA" directory. 3.7.2 Managing Files You use Directory Windows for most of your file management needs. Using the Tree Tool Directory Window Earlier you created a Directory Window by clicking on a directory in the tree and by using Directory Tools. Another way is to create a Directory Window which is attached to the Tree Tool. The benefit of this type of Directory Window is that as you change the selected directory in the tree the Directory Window is updated to show its files. You turn this window on and off using the Tree Tool Options menu. From the Options menu choose the Directory Window command. A Directory Window appears displaying the currently selected directory. Click the left mouse button on the "APORIA\TEMP" directory to select it. Selecting Files You select files in a Directory Window by clicking on them with the mouse or with the cursor keys. Selected files have their text and background colors reversed. Since the "APORIA\TEMP" directory is empty, you will now open another directory that has files in it. Double click the left mouse button on the "Windows" Directory Tool you created earlier. A Directory Window for the your Windows directory appears. Click the left mouse button on the first file listed in the window. Additional files can be selected by holding down the key while you click with the mouse. Aporia User Manual 20 Chapter 3: Getting Started Hold down the key and click on another file. You should now have two files selected. Copying Files You can copy files by selecting the ones you want to copy and dragging them to the Directory Window you want to copy them to. In the Directory Window for the Windows directory first locate the cursor over the file you want to copy and then press and hold down the left mouse button. The cursor changes to a graphic representation of a file being copied as illustrated above. Holding down the left button, move the cursor over the window for the"APORIA/TEMP" directory and release the button. A dialog box appears asking you to confirm the copy. Click on the OK button to confirm. The cursor changes to an hour glass while the files are copied. Moving files You can move files from one directory or drive to another just as you copy them. The only difference is that to move files you use the right mouse button. Deleting Files Deleting files is similar to copying them except that instead of dragging the file onto another Directory Window you drag it onto the Trash Tool. In the "APORIA\TEMP" Directory Window locate the cursor over the file you want to delete and then press and hold down the left mouse button. The copy cursor appears. Aporia User Manual 21 Chapter 3: Getting Started With the left button still down, move the cursor over the Trash Tool and release the button. A dialog box appears prompting you to confirm that you want to delete the files. Click the mouse button on the OK button to delete the files. Deleting Directories To delete a directory, select the one you want to delete in the Tree Tool and use the Delete command. You can not delete a directory if it contains any files. Select the APORIA\TEMP directory, open the Directories menu and choose the Delete command. A dialog box appears asking you to confirm. Click on the OK button to carry out the deletion. 3.8 SUMMARY You have now learned the basic functions of Aporia. You should now be able to: 1. Create user tools. 2. Use the Copy Tool to make new Desk Tools. 3. Use the Desk Tool to organize your tools. 4. Use the Tree Tool to view and manage directories and make Directory Tools. 5. Use Directory Windows to manage your files. Aporia User Manual 22 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference 4. CHAPTER 4: APORIA REFERENCE This chapter of the manual contains a detailed description of each of the Aporia basic tools, how to create your own tools, and how to manage the tools you have created. If you are new to Aporia you probably want to read the first three chapters before getting to this one. Examples are give in this chapter only for those functions not covered in the tutorial (Chapter 3). 4.1 CREATING TOOLS There are number of ways to create tools. Any tool can be duplicated using the Copy Tool. User tools can be created from Directory Windows. Directory Tools can be created from Directory Windows and from the Tree Tool. 4.1.1 Creating User Tools from a Directory Window The easiest way to create new user tools from the files on your disk drives is from a Directory Window. To create a new tool just double-click with the right mouse button over the name of the file in the Directory Window that you want to make into a tool. The new tool will appear on the screen and flash momentarily so you can easily spot it. You can also create user tools using the Directory Window Make User Tool command found on the Special menu. The advantage of using this command is that it lets you create a number of tools at once. To use it first select the files you wish to make tools for and then choose the command. Refer to the section on Directory Tools in this chapter for a complete description of how this command is used. When you create new tools they will initially be stored in which ever desk the tool you created them with is in. When you are going to create a large number of tools that will all go into the same Desk Tool, first store the directory or Tree Tool you are going to create them with in that desk. This will save you from having to copy each of the tools into this desk after you create them. When you create a new tool Aporia searches in the IMAGES directory for an Aporia image file with the same base name Aporia User Manual 23 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference as the file you are creating the tool for. If such a file exists it will be used as the image file for this tool. If you wish you can later change the image file to something else. 4.1.2 Creating Tools with the Copy Tool You can create new tools by duplicating an existing tool with the Copy Tool. This is the only way to create new basic tools other than with Directory Tools. Tools created this way inherit all of the settings of the tool they were created from except for the tool's window size. Refer to Chapter 3, Getting Started for an example of how to use the Copy Tool. 4.1.3 Creating Directory Tools Directory Tools can be created from Copy Tools, Tree Tools, and Directory Windows. In the Tree Tool window they are created by double-clicking the right button over the directory you want to create the tool for. From Directory Windows you create them using the Make Directory Tool command on the Special menu. 4.2 RUNNING TOOLS To use tools you run them. There are two ways to run a tool: double-clicking on it or dragging another tool onto it: 4.2.1 Double-clicking Tools To double-click, put the cursor (which will change to a hammer when over a tool) onto the tool, and press and release the left mouse button twice quickly. The tool will flash, and the cursor will change to an hourglass, and the program attached to the tool will run. 4.2.2 Dragging One Tool onto Another You can drag a tool onto another by moving the mouse cursor onto the tool, pressing down the left mouse button and, keeping the button down, move the mouse. The cursor will become a pair of pliers and as the mouse moves the tool will Aporia User Manual 24 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference move or "drag", along with it. Move the tool so that its upper-left corner, the hot spot, lies inside of the tool you want to run it on, then release the left button. This will run the tool below with the tool on top as an argument. You can cancel a drag at any time by pressing the right mouse button. 4.2.3 Dragging a File onto a Tool You can drag a file from a Directory Window onto a tool. This will run the tool with file passed to it as an argument. See the section in this chapter on Directory Windows for a complete description of this function. 4.3 MANAGING YOUR TOOLS Aporia tools can be arranged on the screen in any way that you wish. This allows you to group related tools together. Tool arrangements are saved between Aporia sessions so that each time you start Windows your tools will be arranged in the same way. 4.3.1 Moving Tools on the Screen Moving a tool is done by dragging it with the left mouse button in the same way you move standard Windows program icons, as explained above. 4.3.2 Moving Groups of Tools When you move a desk tool all tools contained in that desk, except for other desk, will move along with it. This provides an easy way to move a group of tools together. A tool's position on the screen will change when its desk is moved even if the tool is hidden at the time. When moving desks keep in mind that you may inadvertently move tools contained in it off of the screen. Aporia User Manual 25 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference 4.3.3 Stacking Tools Tools can be stacked so that tools can be placed all or partially over other tools. This can be a way to have more tools on your screen without taking much space. Tools are stacked by holding down the key while dragging one tool onto another tool. Normally, when you drag one tool onto another, the tool below will attempt to run. Holding down the key prevents this from happening allowing you to stack tools. 4.3.4 Canceling Moves If you begin to move a tool and decide you want to put it back where it came from, you can cancel the move by clicking the right mouse button. The tool will return to its original position. 4.3.5 Getting Information About a Tool You can get brief information about a tool by double clicking on it with the right mouse button. A message box appears displaying the following information: Name: The name of the tool Path: The path name of the file it represents Dir: The directory it will run in (blank means the current directory) Args: Any arguments it will be given when it is run Pos: Were on the screen its window will be positioned In Desk: The desk it is in and the other tools in that desk. Parent Desk: The desk that the tool's desk is in and the other tools in that desk. 4.3.6 The Aporia Menu The Aporia menu provides a number of commands that let you manage Aporia and get information about your Windows environment. You access the Aporia menu by clicking the left mouse button on the Aporia icon. About Aporia User Manual 26 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Selecting this command displays an dialog box which provides information about Aporia. Pressing the HELP button displays a dialog box providing general help for Aporia. Pressing the REGISTER button displays a dialog box in which you can enter your Aporia registration name and ID number. If you have already entered your registration information pressing this button has no effect. Memory Status This command brings up a dialog box which displays memory information and, under Windows 3.0, the mode that Windows is running in. The information it displays will be different depending upon which version of Windows you are running and whether or not you have expanded memory installed in your system. If you do not have expanded memory, or are running Windows 3.0 in Standard or 386 Enhanced mode, it will display a single figure representing the total amount of memory available to your applications. Running in real mode with expanded memory it will display the amount of conventional memory available to Aporia, the total expanded memory you have in your system and the amount of expanded memory available for your applications. Save Tools This command saves all of your current tools and their options to disk. Normally Aporia only saves your tools when you exit either Aporia or Windows. You can use this command to assure that any changes you have made to your tools will not be lost in the event of a system crash. Load Tools When you use this command Aporia will ask you if you wish to automatically create tools based on the programs and files setup in Program Manager. This is the same procedure that Aporia asked you if you wanted to do when you ran Aporia for the first time. Read Chapter 2, Installation, for an explanation of this procedure. Blank Now Aporia User Manual 27 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference This command turns the screen blanker on immediately. It is disabled when screen blanker time set in the General Options dialog is set to zero. 4.4 THE DESK TOOL 4.4.1 Storing Tools Desk Tools (also referred herein simply as desks) store other tools. Each Desk Tool has a drawer in which you put other tools. All tools are in a desk. By default all tools are in the top desk which is the desk on your screen when you first install Aporia. To store a tool in a desk, drag in onto the Desk Tool icon you want it to be stored in. A tool can be in only one desk at a time. When you store a tool in one desk, it leaves the desk it was previously stored in. You can put a desk into a another desk. Thus, you can make a tree of desks, each inside the other. You can take a desk, and the desks in it, and attach it to another desk, but you cannot put a desk into its own sub-tree; no desk can be inside itself. 4.4.2 Hiding and Displaying a Desk's Contents When you double-click the left mouse button on a desk, the default action is to display or hide the contents of the desk. This can also be done by dragging the desk onto the Hide Tool. Think of displaying a desk's contents as taking them out of the desk's drawer and placing them on the desktop. Hiding the desk's contents is like putting them back in the drawer. If the contents of a desk are only partially displayed double-clicking the left button on the desk or dragging it onto the Hide Tool will cause all of the tools stored in the desk to be displayed. Doing this again will cause all of the desk's tools to disappear. The illustration below shows how this works: When you hide a desk's contents, each desk it contains and their contents are also hidden. When you re-display the Aporia User Manual 28 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference desk's contents, all the desks within it will be appear on the screen but their contents will remain hidden. 4.4.3 Moving Desks When you move a desk tool all tools contained in that desk, except for other desk, will move along with it. To move a desk without moving its contents hold down the key while moving the desk and keep it pressed until you release the mouse button. 4.4.4 Running Desks You can use the Options Tool to set the Run Desk's Contents option on for a desk so that double-clicking the left mouse button on it runs the desk. When a desk is run every tool stored in it will be run except for any Desk Tools within it. This allows you to run a group of applications with one action. When you use this option for a desk you can still hide and re-display its contents using the Hide Tool. 4.4.5 Removing a Desk You remove a desk one at a time; that is, by dragging it onto the Trash Tool. When you remove a desk you remove all tools stored in that desk. For each tool in the desk you will be asked if you wish to delete the file attached to the tool. By pressing the Cancel button at any time you can abort the removal of the desk and its tools but any tools you have already deleted are gone. 4.5 THE TRASH TOOL The Trash Tool has three primary functions. Deleting tools, deleting and trash management files. With Trash Management accidentally removed files can be recovered. 4.5.1 Removing Tools and Files You remove a tool by dragging it onto the Trash Tool. If the tool is a user tool, you will be asked if you wish to remove the file that is attached to the tool. Using the Options Tool's General Options dialogue you can have Aporia prompt Aporia User Manual 29 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference you before it removes a tool. This prevents you from removing tools by mistake. You can delete files by selecting them in a Directory Window and dragging them onto the Trash Tool. Refer to Chapter 3 for an example of how to delete files with the Trash Tool. 4.5.2 Trash Management When you run the Trash Tool by double-clicking on it with the left mouse button, the following dialog box appears: When Trash Management is on, any file that is deleted is first copied to the !TRASH sub-directory of the APORIA directory, from which it can be recovered. You can recover the trash or empty it by double-clicking left on the Trash Tool and pushing the Manage the Trash button. You will get a Directory Window which you can use to copy out removed files, or, to finally remove the trashed files entirely. When you set Trash Management on you will notice that file deletions will take longer than usual. This is because of the time it takes to store the files in the !TRASH directory. Important: The !TRASH directory is emptied each time you exit Aporia. Once you have left Aporia the files you deleted are gone for good. The Trash Management option is turned on and off using the Options Tool's General Options dialog box. Refer to the section in this chapter on the Options Tool for an explanation of how to set general options. 4.6 THE NOTES TOOL 4.6.1 Notes on Tools Any tool can record notes for the program or file it represents by dragging it onto the Notes Tool. By default, the Windows Notepad program is run. The first time you drag a tool onto the Notes tool you are prompted to create the Notes file. If you answer "yes" and create the file the next time you drag the tool onto the Notes tool the Notes file is loaded and ready for use. The default name of a tool's Notes Aporia User Manual 30 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference file is the first eight characters of the tool's name with the extension TXT. These two defaults, the Note Program and the Notes file, can be overridden for each tool by dragging it onto the Options Tool. The default Note Program can be specified for all tools by running the Options Tool. The default directory for Notes files is the Aporia directory, C:\APORIA\NOTES, and can be changed by running the Options Tool. 4.6.2 General Notes Double-clicking, the left button on the Notes Tool itself provides general notes that can be used for anything at all. This can be used as a to-do list. The Notes Tool is very useful when you want to jot down notes about a file you are working on or a description of the various tools in a desk. 4.7 THE HELP TOOL The Help Tool provides different types of help. Dragging any of Aporia's basic tools onto the Help Tool provides help on the use of that tool; dragging your own user tool lets you display your own customized help for that tool, finally, running the Help Tool provides a tutorial on Aporia. When used to provide help for user tools (those that you create) the Help Tool works much like the Notes Tool. Drag your tool onto the Help Tool to display or create a help file. The default notes program is Windows Notepad (NOTEPAD.EXE). The default name of a tool's help file is the first eight characters of the tool's name with the extension HLP. The default help file and help program can be changed on an individual tool basis by dragging the tool onto the Options Tool and setting the Help File there (leaving the field empty causes the tool to use the default), and the default Help Program can be changed for all tools by running the Options Tool and setting the general Help Program option. When you create a new tool for program Aporia checks to see if there is a Window Help program help file for the program Aporia User Manual 31 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference located on your system's path. If there is it uses this file as the help file for this tool and Windows Help as the help program. The Help Tool is intended to be used to display files, rather than to create or edit them. The idea being that help materials can be created for a specific application and distributed to users in a read-only format. For simple help text, a browse program will work. For more advanced needs one of the hypertext programs available for Windows, such as the Windows Help program, could be used. Double-clicking left on the Help Tool displays the file APORIA.INT. This file, as distributed with Aporia, contains the text and graphics of the tutorial chapter of this manual. This file is normally located in your WINDOWS directory, but you can put it in any directory in your systems PATH. You can also change this file to provide any type of help information you wish. 4.8 THE COPY TOOL The Copy Tool is used to copy tools. You can use it to copy both basic and user tools. The only way to make copies of the basic tools is with the Copy Tool (the Directory Tool can be duplicated by other means). You Copy Tools by dragging them onto the Copy Tool. An exact duplicate of the tool will appear on the screen, flashing for a moment so that you can find it easily. All the information in the tool is copied except for the size information. When copying a user tool the file attached to the tool is not copied, there is simply another tool referencing the file. Refer to Chapter 3 for an example of how to use the Copy Tool. If you double-click left on the Copy Tool alone a dialogue appears which you can use to copy files. This is the same dialog box that appears when you use the Copy command on the Directory Window File menu. A more efficient way of coping files is provided by using Directory Windows. Refer to the section on the Directory Tool later in this chapter for an explanation of how to use the copy dialog. Aporia User Manual 32 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference 4.9 THE HIDE TOOL The Hide Tool is used to both hide and re-display tools on your screen. You hide a tool by dragging it on the Hide Tool. The tool will disappear from the screen. Once a tool is hidden it will remain hidden, even between Aporia sessions, until you use the Hide Tool to re-display it. To re-display a tool, drag the desk it is in onto the Hide Tool, and it will again appear on the screen. Desks work differently with the Hide Tool than other tools. When you hide a desk, all the tools in the desk, including other desks and everything in them, are hidden. The Desk Tool itself is not hidden. The contents of desks can also be hidden and re-displayed by double clicking on them with the left mouse button. Refer to the section on Desk Tools earlier in this chapter for a complete discussion on hiding and re-displaying the contents of desks. Double-clicking left on the Hide Tool will hide everything except the Hide Tool. This is a quick way to clean up the screen. Double-clicking on the Hide Tool again will re- display all tools that were on the screen when the Hide Tool was first double-clicked. Tools hidden this way will appear on the next Aporia sessions. 4.10 THE OPTIONS TOOL You use the Options Tool to set various options about how a tool looks and behaves. You also use it to set general options for Aporia. 4.10.1 Individual Tool Options You customize a tool by dragging it onto the Options Tool. A dialog box appears in which you can set a number of options. The different items you can set in the Options Tool dialog box include the following. Note that certain options that do not apply to a particular tool will not appear. Displayed Name Aporia User Manual 33 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference This field contains the tool's name. When you create a tool from a file, Aporia will insert the name of the file in this field automatically. You change this to any name you wish up to 30 characters long. Displayed Icon This window shows the icon currently displayed by the tool. When there is the name of an image file entered into the Image File field (see below) that image is displayed. If the Image File field is blank a built-in monochrome icon is displayed and a scroll bar appears below. Use the scroll bar to select one of over 50 different monochrome icons. Show Three check boxes control how the tool appears. Check the Icon box to display the tool with an icon. Check the Name box to display the tool with a name. These boxes can be used in any combination. The Dir Tool Dir Name box is used only for Directory and Tree Tools. When it is checked the Directory Tool displays the name of the directory it is attached to. When it is used with the Tree Tool any directory tools you create from the tree will display their directory names. Image File In this field you enter in the name of an image file that you wish to use for the tool's icon. The file must be located in the IMAGES directory (the IMAGES directory is by default located in your APORIA directory). These files must be created using the Image Maker program provided with Aporia. Image Maker lets you capture an icon, a window, or a portion of the screen that is saved as a bitmap. These files must have the extension "AIF". As you type in the name of the file Aporia will search for it in the IMAGES directory. If it finds the file it will display the bitmap in the Displayed Icon window. If it can't find the file no image will be displayed and Aporia will not let you leave the dialog until you either enter in the name of a file that does exist or clear the contents of the field. Aporia User Manual 34 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Notes File Enter the name of a note file you want to associate with this tool. Use of this field is optional. By default the name for a tool's note file is the first eight characters of the tool's name with the extension "TXT". Note Editing Program Enter the name of a program you want to use to edit the note file for this tool. Use of this field is optional. The default note editing program is set in the general options. Help File Enter the name of a help file you want to associate with this tool. Use of this field is optional. By default name for a tool's help file is the first eight characters of the tool's name with the extension "HLP". This option is only used for user tools. Help Display Program Enter the name program you want to use to view the help file for this tool. Use of this field is optional. The default help viewing program is set in the general options. This option is only used for user tools. Program/File This field contains the name of the program or data file that is attached to the tool. It is the file that the tool represents. It can be any file on your disk drives. When you create a tool in a Directory Window, Aporia will copy the files path into this field automatically. You can change it as you wish. This option is only used for user tools. File names do not need to be the full path name, so long as they can be found on your DOS environment PATH. When you drag one file onto another the text in this field for the tool on top will be passed to the tool below. For example if you drag a tool for a text file onto a tool for a word processor, the word processor will load the text file listed in the top tool's Program/file field. Aporia User Manual 35 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Directory To Run In This is the directory in which the tool will run. When the tool is run, Aporia makes this the current working directory, so long as the "No Chdir Before" running field is clear. When you create a tool from the Directory Window, Aporia will copy the file's directory path into this field automatically. This field is also used to specify the directory a Directory Tool will display and the drive that a Tree Tool will display. Default Arguments In this field you can enter a default argument that will be passed to a program listed in the Program/file field. If you enter ?? anywhere in this field Aporia will prompt you to enter arguments each time you run this tool. This is useful for a program which has may different command line options and for which you don't want to have a different tool for each of them. By entering %1 into the argument text, you can substitute a tool in its place. Drag a tool onto one that is using a replaceable parameter, the dragged tools attached file (as listed in the Program/file field) will be substituted in place of the %1 in the argument list. Once all the substitutions are done the lower tools program is run with this argument list. %0 is replaced by the tool's own program/file field. Refer to Chapter 5, Advanced Techniques, for an example of how you can use this feature to create a print tool for Aporia. Default/Fullscreen/Iconic This check box is be used to set how the tool's program will run. Clicking on the box will cycle through the three options. When it is set to Default the tool's program will run either with a default size and position determined by Windows or a size and position you have set with the Size Tool. If it is set to Full Screen it will run as a full screen (maximized) window. If it is set to Iconic it will load as an icon. Note that if you run a program Iconic and later open the program's window Aporia will not be able to Aporia User Manual 36 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference size the window, even if you have set its size with the Size Tool. No Chdir Before This causes the tool to ignore the directory entered in the Directory To Run In field. Use this option when you temporarily want to run a tool in the directory where its file is located. Run On Start-up Setting this option will cause this tool to be run each time you run Aporia. The tool will run whether or not it was visible on the screen when you last ran Aporia. You can run a set of tools that you commonly use by setting this field for each tool. Use of this option replaces the WIN.INI "Run=" and "Load=" settings. Run Desk's Contents Setting this option for a Desk Tool changes it so that double-clicking the left mouse button over the desk causes all tools contained in the desk to be run. By turning on the RUN ON START-UP option as well, you can run a group of programs each time you load Aporia. Protected Fields Some tools will not let certain fields be changed and will indicate this by not letting you edit those fields. Customizing the Options Tool To customize the Options Tool itself, double-click on the Options Tool and push the "Change Options Tool" button. 4.10.2 General Aporia Options The general Aporia options can be set by double-clicking on the Options Tool. Aporia User Manual 37 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference The different items you can set in the Change Tool dialog box include: Set Tool Size Clicking on this button brings up a dialog box with which you can set the size of your tools. In the Size of a Tool field enter the size, in pixels (a pixel is the smallest point that your screen can display), that you want your tools' icons to be. The default tools size is 32 pixels. Changing your tools size to some other size may result in some distortion. A tool's icon is normally made up of both an icon and a displayed name. If you have made tools that have no displayed names you may notice that these tools are smaller than others on your screen. You may want to use the Extra amount to add to tools that are icons only field. This will increase the size of tools that are icons only by the number of pixels you specify. The default value for this field is 0. Tool Name Font Clicking on this button brings up a dialog box with which you can set the typeface, size and color of the names for your tools. Changing the size of the font used will change the overall size of your tools. On monochrome displays you will probably want to make your font color white. Directory Font Clicking on this button brings up a dialog box with you can set the typeface, size and color of the directory names for your Directory Tools. Its function is identical to the dialog box you use to set the tool name font. This option only has an effect for Directory and Tree Tools which have the Show Dir Tool Dir Name option turned on. Set Screen Blanking Enter the number of seconds of no keyboard or mouse activity before the screen is blanking. Entering a value of 0 will turn off screen blanking and disable the Blank Now command Aporia User Manual 38 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference on the Aporia system menu. While a DOS application window has the input focus this time before screen blanking turns on is increase by a factor of four. This is done since Aporia has no knowledge of the keyboard activity in a DOS window. Screen blanking is disabled when you are using some Windows applications (such as the tutorial for Microsoft Excel) which handle keyboard and mouse input in a non- standard way. Enable Trash Management When this check box is set Trash Management enabled. When Trash Management is enabled, all files that you delete using Aporia are temporarily copied to a special trash directory !TRASH under the Aporia Directory. Running the Trash Tool will give you the choice of restoring accidentally deleted files. Ask Before Removing Tools When a tool is dragged onto the trash and this check box is set on Aporia will prompt you before it removes the tool. This is to help prevent the accidental removal of tools. Aporia Directory This is the drive and directory where Aporia stores various files and directories it uses. These include the HELP, NOTES, !TRASH, and TOOLS directories, and various files. By default this directory is C:\APORIA but you can set it to some other drive and directory if you prefer. It should not be located on a ramdisk. Help Program This is the name of the default program used by the Help Tool to display help files. The default program is the Windows Notepad program. To specify another program enter it here. This default can be overridden for individual tools by setting the tools Help Program field. Notes Program Aporia User Manual 39 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference This is the name of the default program used by the Notes Tool to display note files. The default program is the Windows Notepad program. To specify another program enter it here. This default can be overridden by setting the tools notes program field. 4.11 THE SIZE TOOL 4.11.1 Sizing and Positioning Windows Programs You use the Size Tool to size a window run by a tool. Each time you run a tool, its window will appear with the same size and in the same place. Tools are sized by dragging them onto the Size Tool. The procedure is as follows: Run a window and put it at the desired position and with the desired size. This does not have to be the window of the program attached to the tool whose size you want to set. Drag the desired tool onto the Size Tool. A box appears containing three buttons. Click on the "Yes" button to size the tool, "No" to clear all size information from the tool, and "Cancel" to exit making no changes. After clicking on the "Yes" button, click on the window whose size you want to save with the tool. For best results click on the window's title bar. Refer to Chapter 3 for an example of using the Size Tool. 4.11.2 Sizing Aporia Tools You can set the size of the tools themselves, by running the Size Tool itself. Tool size can also be set with the Options Tool. Refer earlier in this chapter to the section on the Options Tool, General Aporia Options, for a description of how to use this feature. Aporia User Manual 40 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference 4.12 THE TREE TOOL The Tree Tool displays a graphical "map" of your disks' directories. It is used to manage directories and create Directory Tools and Windows. When run, the Tree Tool loads the disk drive specified in its Directory To Run In field. You can run multiple Tree Tool windows allowing you to easily work with files from different disks at the same time. 4.12.1 The Tree Tool Window Selecting Directories You can scroll through the directory tree in the Tree Tool window using the mouse and scroll bars or the , and and cursor keys. Directories are selected by clicking the left button over a directory name or by moving the highlight to the directory using the cursor keys. Only one directory can be selected at a time. Creating Directory Windows and Tools Double-clicking the left button over a directory name creates a Directory Window for that directory. This can be done with the keyboard by moving the highlight to the desired directory and pressing the key. Double-clicking the right button, over a directory name creates a Directory Tool for that directory. Reloading the Tree Tool In order to be able to show all of the directories on a disk drive the Tree Tool must search the entire disk to find every directory. On a hard disk with many directories this can take a long time, as much as ten seconds or more depending on the speed of the drive and the number of files on it. Aporia's Tree Tool greatly speeds up this process by storing the drives directory structure information in a cache file. Aporia User Manual 41 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference The only caution with this is that if you create, delete, or rename directories outside Aporia, the Tree Tool has no way of knowing about it. This means that any changes you make to directories do not appear until you reload the drive. Fortunately reloading a drive is easy. Just select the Reload command which appears at the bottom of the Tree Tool Drives menu. The Tree Tool will automatically reload a drive's directory information when the drive's directory cache file is more than two days old. You can also reload directory information by selecting letter of the currently displayed drive from the Drives menu. 4.12.2 The Tree Tool Menu The Tree Tool window's menu bar contains three menus: The Drives Menu This menu contains a list of all disk drives in your system. Use this menu to change the current disk drive displayed in the tree window. Changing the drive this way does not change the default drive for that Tree Tool. This is set by changing the Tools directory to run in field with the Options Tool. When you try to change the current drive to a floppy drive Aporia checks to make sure the drive is ready. If it is not selecting the drive will have no effect. The Drives menu also contains the Reload command mentioned above. Selecting this command reloads directory information for the drive currently displayed in the Tree. The Directories Menu This menu contains three commands which you use to maintain your directories. Before using any of these commands you must first select the directory where you want the commands to be carried out. Create Aporia User Manual 42 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference After you choose this command a dialog box appears in which you enter the name of the subdirectory you want to create in the currently selected directory. Delete This command deletes the currently selected directory. You are prompted to confirm that you want to carry out the deletion. You can not delete directories that contain files or subdirectories. Rename After you choose this command a dialog box appears in which you enter the new name you want to give to the currently selected directory. In this dialog box only the To field is enabled. The Options Menu This menu contains the Directory Window command. This command creates a special Directory Window which is attached to the Tree Tool. Each time you change the selected directory in the tree window the tree's Directory Window is changed to show that directory. When you move the tree window its Directory Window moves with it. The tree's Directory Window has all the function of any other Directory Window. For use of Directory Windows see the section on Directory Tools. If the tree's Directory Window is open when you close the tree, when you next open the Tree Tool its Directory Window will open automatically. Any options you set in the tree's Directory Window are saved between sessions, as they are for Directory Tools. The Special Menu This menu contains the three useful commands. Disk Information Aporia User Manual 43 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference This command displays information the disk drive currently displayed by the Tree Tool. Information includes the size of the drive, the amount of free space, the total number of directories. Make Directory Window This command creates a Directory Window in the directory currently selected in the tree. This is the same as if you double-clicked the left button on a directory in the tree. Make Directory Tool This command creates a Directory Tool in the directory currently selected in the tree. This is the same as if you double-clicked the right button on a directory in the tree. 4.12.3 Additional Tree Tool Features Copying Files Dragging a user tool onto a Tree Tool (when an icon) copies that file to the disk directory specified by the Tree's Directory To Run In field. Quick Change of a Tools Directory Dragging a basic tool onto a Tree Tool (when an icon) will change its directory to the root directory of the disk drive that the Tree Tool is currently set to. 4.13 THE DIRECTORY TOOL You use the Directory Tool to manage your files and to create user tools. 4.13.1 Directory Windows Double-clicking the left button on the Directory Tool opens a Directory Window. Directory Windows can also be created from the Tree Tool. Aporia User Manual 44 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference The Directory Window Display Directory Windows display a listing of file information including each file's name, extension, size, date, time and attributes. Attributes are displayed by the letters "R", "A", "S", and "H" which stand for "read only", "archive", "system", and "hidden". A file can have any combination of attributes or none at all. You move through the Directory Window using the mouse and scroll bars or by using the cursor, and keys. Selecting Files Files in a Directory Window are selected by clicking on their listing with the left mouse button or by moving the highlight with the cursor keys. Multiple file selections can be made by holding down the key and clicking the left button on the file. When using the keyboard selections can be toggled on and off using the . To select a continuous range of files first select the file to start the range. Then hold down the key and click on the last file in the range. To select multiple ranges repeat this process keeping the key pressed on the first selection and both the and keys pressed on the second. Running Files Files can be run from a Directory Window by either double clicking on them with the left button or by pressing the key. Pressing the will run all selected files. Creating Tools Double clicking the right button over a file will create a new user tool that is attached to that file. You can also create tools using a menu command (see below). Aporia User Manual 45 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference 4.13.2 Managing Your Files With Directory Windows Directory Windows provide powerful features for copying, moving, deleting, and renaming files. Two methods are provided for carrying out this actions: direct manipulation and menu commands. Direct manipulation means that a selected group of files are dragged to another Directory Window to start a copy or move, or to the Trash Tool to be deleted. No menus are used, just the mouse. With Menu commands selected files can be copied, moved, deleted, and renamed. You must use menu commands to rename files. Using Direct Manipulation of Files Copying Files To copy files you must first have open Directory Windows for both the location and destination of the file(s) you want to copy. Select the files you want to copy and then hold down the left mouse button, this turns on the copy cursor. Holding down the button, move the cursor to the destination Directory Window and release the mouse button. You will be prompted to confirm that you want to copy the files. The hot spot for the copy cursor is the tip of the arrow. Moving Files When you move files they are copied to the destination directory and then deleted them from where they were originally. Moving files is identical to copying them except that you use the right mouse button. When you hold it down you will see the move cursor. The hotspot for the move cursor is the tip of the arrow. Deleting Files Aporia User Manual 46 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference The process for deleting files is identical to copying them except that instead of moving the copy cursor onto a Directory Window you drag it onto the Trash Tool. Dragging Files onto Tools You can drag a file from a Directory Window onto a tool. This will run the tool with file passed to it as an argument. This can be used to, for example, load a text file into a word processor when you have not created a tool for the file. You can drag the file with either the left or right mouse button. Make sure when you drag the file that the cursor's hotspot (the tip of the arrow) is over the tool you want to use. You can only drag one file at a time onto a tool. If multiple files are selected only the first listed in the window will be passed to the tool. Working With Multiple Files If you have selected multiple files and the mouse button is no longer pressed you can turn on the copy or move cursor by pointing the cursor to the area above, below, or to the right or the file listing in the Directory Window. Refer to Chapter 3 for examples of copying and deleting files. 4.13.3 The Directory Window Menu The Directory Window's menu bar contains three menus: The File Menu The File menu contains commands for manipulating and running files. Run This command runs all files in the window that are selected. If no files are selected a dialog box appears into which you can enter the name of a program you wish to run. Aporia User Manual 47 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Load This command loads all files in the window that are selected. After loading the programs will appear in their iconic state at the bottom of your screen. If no files are selected a dialog box appears into which you can enter the name of a program you wish to load. Copy When you select the Copy command a dialog box will appear in which the names of files that you want to copy and the destination where you wish to copy them can be entered. If any files are currently selected in the Directory Window they will appear in the From field in the dialog box. Standard DOS wildcard characters ("*" and "?") can be used in both the From and To fields. Multiple file specifications can be entered in the From field but not the To field. This can be very useful as it allows you, for example, to copy all files with the extensions "DOC" and "XLS" in one copy operation. Move The Move command works just like the Copy command except that it moves files from one location to another. Delete When you select the Delete command a dialog box will appear in which the names of files that you want to delete can be entered. If any files are currently selected in the Directory Window they will appear listed in the dialog box. As with the Copy command standard DOS wildcard characters and multiple file specifications can be used. Rename This command is used to rename files. After you choose this command a dialog box appears in which you enter the name of a file or files you want to rename and the new name you want if to have. If any files are currently selected in the Aporia User Manual 48 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Directory Window they will appear in the Rename field in the dialog box. As with the Copy command standard DOS wildcard characters can be used. Multiple file specifications can be entered into the Rename field but not the To field. Since DOS does not allow two files in the same directory to have the same name, if you enter multiple file specifications into the Rename field you must use wildcards in the To field. The View Menu The View menu contains four groups of commands which control how the contents of the Directory Window will be displayed. In each group only one of the commands can be set on at a time. And is indicated by a check next to it. Long The Long command causes the window to display full information for each of the files. Long information includes the file name, extension, size, date, time, and attributes. Using this command also changes to the width of the window so that the entire width of the listing is displayed. This is the default command for the first group of View commands. Short The Short command causes the window to display only the name and extension for each of the files. Using this command narrows the width of the window to match the width of the listing. All The All command changes the window so that all files in the directory are displayed. This is the default command for the second group of View commands. Partial When you choose the Partial command a dialog box appears in which you can enter one or more file specifications. Only Aporia User Manual 49 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference those files which meet one of the specifications will be displayed. The standard DOS wildcards can be entered. For example entering a file specification of: *.DOC A*.TXT will cause the window to only those files with the extension "DOC" and those files beginning with the letter "A" that have the extension "TXT". The specification is saved when the window is closed. When you enter a partial file specification in one Directory Window it will appear when you bring up the Partial dialog box in another Directory Window. Programs The Programs command changes the window so that only those files that are programs will be displayed. These files are those that have the extension "EXE", "COM", or "BAT". By Name The By Name command sorts the file listing so that files are displayed in alphabetical order based on the name of the file. This is the default command for the third group of View commands. By Date The By Date command sorts the file listing so that files are displayed in date and time order with the files with the most recent date and time at the top. By Size The By Size command sorts the file listing so that files are displayed in the order of their size with the files that are greater in size at the top. By Kind Aporia User Manual 50 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference The By Kind command sorts the file listing so that files are displayed in alphabetical order based on the extension of the file. Update The Update command causes Aporia to re-read the contents of the directory currently displayed in the Directory Window. The Special Menu The Special menu contains commands for making tools and selecting and getting information on files. Make User Tool This command will create user tools for all currently selected files. When you create new user tools, they are stored in which ever desk the tool you create them with is in. When you are going to create a large number of tools that will all go in the same Desk Tool, first store the directory or Tree Tool you are going to create them with in that desk. Then create your tools and they will be in that desk. This will save you from having to copy each of the tools into this desk after you create them. Make Directory Tool This command makes a Directory Tool for the directory displayed in the window. This tool stores all information for the Directory Window, except for the window size (set separately using the Size Tool). Information stored with the tool includes both the name of the drive and directory the tool's window will display and any of the View menu options such as how the file listing is displayed, any text entered in for the Partial command, and the order the file listing is sorted in. This ability to save the Directory Window settings is a very powerful feature. It allows you to create "file sets" which display only the files you wish to view for a particular application. For example, you can set multiple Directory Aporia User Manual 51 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Tools for one directory, one which sorts by date and is used when you do backups, and another which sorts by name and is used to find files quickly. Since the Partial command lets you enter multiple file specifications, you can create tools which permanently display a complex subset of the files in a directory. Select All The Select All command selects all files currently displayed in the window. Files not currently displayed in the window as a result of the Partial or Programs commands are not effected. Disk Space Used The Disk Space Used command displays a count of selected files, the total combined size of the files and the amount of disk space they use. The amount of disk space used will usually be higher than the total combined size of the files due to the 2 kilobyte minimum DOS disk block size. 4.13.4 Additional Directory Tool Features Quick Copies and Directory Changes Dragging a user tool for a data file onto a Directory Tool copies the file attached to the tool to the Directory Tool's directory. Dragging a user tool for an executable (program) file onto a Directory Tool changes the directory the tool runs in to the Directory Tool's directory. Dragging a basic tool onto a Directory Tool will change the directory of that tool to that of the Directory Tool. Changing Where a Directory Tool Runs The directory a Directory Tool runs in, that is the directory it will display when it is opened to a Directory Window, can be changed by dragging it onto the Options Tool and entering the name of the directory in the Directory To Aporia User Manual 52 Chapter 4: Aporia Reference Run In. Enter a "." in this field causes the Directory Tool to run in the current directory. Aporia User Manual 53 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts 5. CHAPTER 5: ADVICE FOR EXPERTS The ideas here are intended to help you think through some of Aporia's uses, and to help those who no longer consider themselves novices. The subjects here are all independent of each other... Plunge in! Also, we welcome your suggestions and shortcuts to share with other users. 5.1 RUNNING APORIA AS THE WINDOWS SHELL Running Aporia as Window shell program causes Aporia to be run first when you start Windows 3.0 without the Program Manager program being run. When you run the Aporia setup program (SETUP_AP.EXE) you are given the option of making Aporia the shell at that time. If you decline to make Aporia the shell at setup time you can do so later by modifying the "SYSTEM.INI" file located in your Windows directory. Open the file with any text editor and replace the line: shell=progman.exe with: shell=aporia.exe In effect you are replacing the Program Manager with Aporia. This makes sense if you find (as most Aporia users do) that you are using Aporia more than Program Manager. You can still run the Program Manager as you would any Windows program. When running Aporia (or any program) as the Windows shell exiting the program will cause you to exit Windows. 5.2 PASSING ARGUMENTS TO TOOLS, OR, MAKING A PRINT TOOL Aporia lets you pass replaceable parameters to tools. The following is a demonstration of this function's use in the creation of a tool which you can use to print text files. To make a print tool, create or copy one of your own file tools, then drag the new tool onto the options tool and change the following fields: Program/File: command.com Argument: /c copy %1 prn Aporia User Manual 54 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts To use the tool, drag the file you want printed onto your printer tool and voila. Explanation: The program command.com will run the line "copy %1 prn", substituting the first dragged tool for the "%1", so that the program line of the tool will be copied to the printer. If there is no dragged tool %1 will be null, empty. The "/c" tells DOS to execute the command and return automatically. A fancier alternative is to use something like the Norton Utilities line printer, lp, which will format the pages and supplies form feeds at the end. Change the tools options to: Program/File: lp.pif Argument: %1 /w80 Explanation: Run the lp program on the first dragged icon and set the line length to 80. You could not do this with a PIF file alone. Note: if you change the Argument line to Argument: %1 %1 %1 /w80 you could print the file in triplicate. Note: the pattern %1 can be picked anywhere out of a line so that, for example, the following lines are each legal. hello%1world %1%1%1 Note: the pattern %0 is the filename of the bottom, base tool. 5.3 TURNING OFF TRASH MANAGEMENT Trash management provides a way of preventing the accidental removal of files by users. This feature is intended for inexperienced users or for those with lots of disk space. Aporia will copy the file to its "!TRASH" directory under its default directory before it removes it. The file can be recovered by running the Trash Tool. This copying takes a time and disk space. If you want to prevent this copying, then run the Options Tool and turn off the Enable Trash Management check box. Aporia User Manual 55 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts A way to speed up Trash Management significantly is to use a RAM disk for the "!TRASH" directory. 5.4 GETTING RID OF PROMPTS WHEN TRASHING TOOLS Aporia provides a way for inexperienced users to protect themselves from accidentally removing tools. The default mode for Aporia is to ask if you really want to remove a tool. If this is annoying for more expert users, it can be disabled by running the Options Tool and turning of the Ask Before Removing Tools check box. 5.5 DESKS: ORGANIZING, REPETITIOUS JOBS 5.5.1 Trees of Desks Desks are the main tools for organizing your work. Besides clarifying the types of work you do, the use of desks can make your screen less cluttered. We highly recommend their use. You might make a desk of "Spreadsheets" associated with your accounting, another for your "General Ledger" files, and another of for correspondence with your "Accountant". All these separate desks could be put into one desk called "Accounting". Hiding the "Accounting" desk will hide all the desks in it. Finding Tools If you double-click right on any tool, you can see what desk that tool is in and what other tools are in that desk. This provides a way to find out what desk a given tool is in and what tools are in a given desk. This listing function shows not only what is in a desk, but what is in all desks in that desk. It also shows the order in which tools are stored in the desk. 5.6 APORIA TOOL FILES The tools you create are stored in an ASCII format file, "APORIA.TUL" in the TOOLS directory which by default is located in your APORIA directory. Aporia User Manual 56 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts 5.6.1 Switching Tool Files You can maintain different sets of tool files by saving and restoring different tools files. One way to do this is to have a batch file to run Windows, such as: REM ** Run Aporia with a special set of tools cd c:\aporia\tools REM ** Save the previous Aporia tools and load in our REM ** special set. ren aporia.tul oaporia.tul copy saved.tul aporia.tul REM ** Run Aporia with our special setup win aporia REM ** Restore the original set of Aporia tools. ren oaporia.tul aporia.tul REM ** Fini! The beauty of this is that pre-designed tool setups can be maintained and supplied to users, and users can come to rely on seeing the same tools in the same places. 5.7 APORIA WIN.INI SETTINGS The WIN.INI file stores all the general options about Aporia except for the tools themselves. All of the information used by Aporia is stored in a section labeled "Aporia". Most of this information is only intended to be changed by Aporia. There are however settings that you can add yourself which control where Aporia stores files that it uses. By default all of these directories are created in the APORIA directory which you can specify using the Options tool. Using the following WIN.INI options you can locate these directories anywhere you wish. This can be very useful in certain situations such is on a local area network where you may want to share Aporia files between a number of users. Add the line "ToolsDir=" where is the directory where you want Aporia to the tools file (APORIA.TUL). Add the line "TrashDir=" where is the directory where you want Aporia to store files for Trash Management. Aporia User Manual 57 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts Add the line "ImageDir=" where is the directory where you want Aporia to look for Aporia image files to be used as images for your icons. Add the line "HelpDir=" where is the directory where you want Aporia to look for Help files that you use with the Help tool. Add the line "NotesDir=" where is the directory where you want Aporia to look for Notes files that you use with the Notes tool. 5.8 APORIA ON A NETWORK Aporia works with local area networks though it currently has no features that specifically support them. There are some issues involved with its use that you may want to be aware of. 5.8.1 Tools and Options As is discussed earlier in this chapter, the Aporia tools file ("APORIA.TUL") and the Windows "WIN.INI" file both store information about Aporia's setup. On a network, where more than one person is using Aporia, the best option is for each user to have their own tool and "WIN.INI" files. By setting the various options for Aporia special directories in WIN.INI (see above section) have complete control which Aporia files are accessed by users. For example each user can have their own tools file while all of them can share the same set of image files. Sharing Tools and Options When users share these files they will be forced to use the same set of tools and the same general options for Aporia. Also problems may occur in the (unlikely) event that two users save their tools at the exact same time. In general the sharing of these files by users is not recommended. 5.8.2 Where to Locate Your APORIA Directory Where you chose to locate the APORIA directory can be an issue on networks. By default Aporia creates it in the root Aporia User Manual 58 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts directory of the C drive with the name APORIA ("C:\APORIA"). Using the Options Tools you can locate it on any drive with any name you wish. By default all of the other directories needed by Aporia are created in the APORIA directory, but you can place them anywhere you like using settings in the WIN.INI file (see above). An important decision to make is whether all users should share one APORIA directory or if each one should have their own. If users share the directory then all can have access to the same help and note files. This may or may not be a good thing depending upon the way they use these files. Conflicts may occur if two users attempt to create help files with the same name. Sharing the directory also gives users access to the same Tree Tool cache files. This will cause problems for local drives since the directory structure for each user's drive will be different. When a user accesses his local drive using the Tree Tool he may see the directory structure for another user's local drive. On network drives problems can also occur since different users will have different access rights for directories. If a user has no rights to a directory it will not appear in the Tree Tool. The effect is that even on network drives the directory structure can differ from user to user. In general the safest approach is to give each user their own APORIA directory. In cases where users have local drives this is taken care of by Aporia automatically. Where a user has no local hard drive the Options Tool general options must be set to the directory to something other than "C:\APORIA". 5.8.3 Registration on Networks Remember that each Aporia registration is for one user on one machine. Multiple users on a network are only allowed when a registration has been purchased for each person who will be using Aporia. 5.9 QUICK MENUS Directory tools can be used as a menuing system for your files. Just make a directory tool in the directory where the files are located, and set the View Programs option to show Aporia User Manual 59 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts programs, or use the View Partial display to show a certain list of programs and/or files. Each time this directory tool is run it will show this list so that the programs listed can be quickly run. This is great for directories (such as your Windows directory) where you store a large number of programs that you run only once in a while. This can also be a way to run DOS applications since you can put a group of PIF files in one directory, set the View Partial option to "*.PIF", and have easy and quick access to any of your DOS programs, no matter where they are located on your hard disk. 5.10 USING OTHER SCREEN BLANKERS You can use any screen blanker you'd like with Aporia but first be sure to turn off Aporia's screen blanker by running the Options Tool and setting the blanker time period to zero. 5.11 LARGE TOOLS FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED The tool images and fonts can be made very large in a way suitable for the visually impaired. Tools can be sized by double clicking left on the Size Tool. Similarly the text in a tool can be made large by selecting a large font, up to 72 points big, by double clicking left on the Options Tool and setting both the Directory and Tools Fonts. We also recommend that directories be set to a different color than the other tools by dragging a directory tool onto the Options Tool and setting the Dir Tool Dir Name checkbox on. 5.12 LAYOUTS You are encouraged to experiment with placing the tools around the screen to visually organize your work. Suggestion: We have found that making the desk display as text only and moving its contents near it has the effect of making a label for its contents. Using the text only display and image only display can be effective ways of making your work look clear and orderly. Aporia User Manual 60 Chapter 5: Advice For Experts Suggestion: Make a desk and put all the basic tools into it. Call the desk "Basic Tools" and set it to display text only. Arrange the tools into a 3x3 grid at the top right. This frees the rest of screen for other things. Hiding the "Basic Tools" hides all the tools. Suggestion: Make multiple Hide Tools and put them at either side of the screen. Then if you want to hide an tool it you can do it quickly. Aporia User Manual 61 Chapter 6: Image Maker 6. CHAPTER 6: IMAGE MAKER UTILITY The Aporia Image Maker utility is a simple program which lets you capture an image to be used as an icon for an Aporia tool. It is designed to let you capture a window, icon, or any area of the screen and store the image to a file which is used by Aporia. An image file is used by specifying it for a tool with the Aporia Options Tool. Using Image Maker you can create tools which display the icons for your programs. You can also create your own icons for tools by creating them with any Windows paint program (such the Paintbrush supplied with Windows) and capturing them with Image Maker. 6.1 RUNNING IMAGE MAKER Image Maker works by getting a copy of a bitmap from the Windows clipboard. When Image Maker is running it will display any bitmap that is copied into the clipboard from any program. Along with the actual bitmap it will display textual information such as the dimensions and number of color planes of the bitmap. You control the size at which the bitmap will be displayed. This can be different than the actual dimensions of the bitmap. The displayed size of the bitmap can be set from the Options menu. The default displayed size if 32x32, which is also the default size of the images displayed on Aporia tools and for Windows icons. Since Image Maker grabs bitmaps from the Windows clipboard any program that can generate a bitmap can be used to create Aporia icons. For example you can create a chart in Microsoft Excel, copy it to the clipboard, and create a new tool to represent chart files. Aporia User Manual 62 Chapter 6: Image Maker 6.2 THE IMAGE MAKER COMMANDS 6.2.1 File Menu Save You use the Save command to store the image you have captured in a file. For Aporia to use the bitmap files they must be stored in the IMAGES directory which by default it located APORIA directory specified in the Options tool (for example: C:\APORIA\IMAGES). When Image Maker it determines where the IMAGE directory is so that when you go to save a file this directory is already specified. When saving files give them a standard (up to 8 character) DOS name, the extension "AIF" will be added to the end. Note that if make changes to an existing image file you will not see those changes show up in the tools where you are already using them until you exit and re-start Aporia. Load The Load command lets you load an existing image file. Use this command when you want to load an make changes to an existing image file. Load the file, paste in into your paint program, and then capture it again with Image Maker. 6.2.2 Capture Menu Area The Capture Area is used to capture any area of the screen to Image Maker. After selecting the Area command a crosshair cursor will appear which you can use to select an area of the screen to capture. Hold down the left mouse button over the upper left corner of the area you want to capture, drag the cursor to the lower right corner, and release the button. The area will appear in the Image Maker window. Aporia User Manual 63 Chapter 6: Image Maker Icon Use the Capture Icon command to capture the icon of a Windows application or for an icon in the Program Manager. After selecting the command click the mouse over the icon you want to capture. Note that the background of the icon will be captured as well. For this reason when capturing program icons you may want to set your desktop color to the color for the background of your tools. Unlike Windows icons Aporia tools have not transparent areas. Window Select Capture Window command to capture the contents of an entire window. After selecting the command click the mouse over the window you want to capture. 6.2.3 Options Menu Displayed Size Use the Displayed Size to specify the displayed size of the bitmap in the Image Maker window. The default size is 32x32. In order to get an idea of what a bitmap will look like on as an Aporia tool you should set the displayed size to the same size you use for your tools (as set with the Options tool). 6.3 GENERAL NOTES The files created by Image Maker are actually device dependent bitmaps (the type used with Window 2.x). These type of bitmaps were used, instead of the device independent bitmaps provided with Windows 3.0, so that they could be created by users of both Window 2.x and 3.0. There are some limitations to these types of bitmaps. If you are running Windows 3.0 or later the image files you create can be used on a variety of display types. Aporia comes with two sets of color image files for all of the basic Aporia tools, plus image file versions of the icons for programs supplied with Windows 3.0. One set is for 16 colors display modes and the other is for 256 color modes. We have used these image files successfully on EGA, VGA and Super VGA Aporia User Manual 64 Chapter 6: Image Maker systems though we can not guarantee that the will work on all type of displays. If you are using a monochrome VGA system and use the standard color VGA driver supplied with Windows (VGA.DRV) you should be able to use the 16 color image files. If you are running under Windows 2.x things do not work quit as well. The image files you create on a particular display type (such as EGA) will likely not work on another type of display (such as SuperVGA). This means that you may not be able to share the bitmap files between different systems. This problem can be gotten around by creating your images in a paint program such as Paintbrush (the PCX file format is fairly device independent) and then capturing them with Image Maker on the target display type. Included on your Aporia distribution disk you will find a file named "AP_ICONS.EXE". This is a self-extracting archive which contains all of the images for the basic Aporia tools in Windows 3.0 icon (ICO) file format. These are included for those of you who may be using a display type not compatible with the image files provided. You can use these icons to create image files for the basic tools by displaying them in Program Manager (or an icon editing program), capturing them with Image Maker, and saving them as image files. Aporia User Manual 65 Index INDEX Aporia File menu 47 memory usage 6 multiple file specification options 37 49 registering 27 selecting file 20 system requirements 6 selecting files 45 Aporia as the Windows shell 54 Special menu 51 Aporia as Windows Shell 7 updating 51 Aporia directory 39, 58 View menu 49 Aporia Image File 34, 62 Directory Window command 20, APORIA.TUL file 56 43 Basic tools Disk Information command 44 creating 24 Disk Space Used command 52 Blank Now command 28 EGA 6, 64 By Date command 50 File By Kind command 50 copying 46 By Name command 50 dragging onto tools 25 By Size command 50 moving 21 Canceling move 25 Files Canceling moves 26 copying 21, 48 Copy command 48 deleting 21, 47, 48 Copy cursor 21, 46 disk space used by 52 Copy Tool 4, 14, 24, 32 dragging onto tools 47 Create (directory) command 19, listing 49 43 moving 46, 48 Delete (directory) command 22, recovering deleted 30 43 renaming 48 Delete (file) command 48 sorting 50 Desk Tool 3, 15, 23, 28, 51 working with multiple 47 hiding contents 16, 28, 33 Fonts 38, 60 moving 29 Help removing 29 for basic tools 11 running 29, 37 for user tools 31 showing contents 16, 28 Help Tool 5, 31 storing tools in 15, 28 program 39 Desk Tools Hide Tool 5 moving 25 Hot spot 11, 25 Direct manipulation 46 Icons Directories changing 34 creating 19, 43 changingAporia uses two deleting 22, 43 types of icons. There renaming 43 are color icons which Directory Tool 3, 44, 59 are stored as separate changing directory of 36, 52 files and there are creating 13, 24 "built-in" monochrome font 38 icons which are stored showing directory name 34 within the Aporia Directory Tools program. The color icons creating 23, 41 bring you the advantages Directory Window 12, 13, 20, of full color and the 17 23, 35, 41, 43, 45 Image File 6, 23, 34, 62 Aporia User Manual 66 Index Image Maker 62 dragging 10, 24 Installing Aporia 6, 7 finding 56 Load command 48 fonts 38 Load Tools command 27 hiding 16, 28, 33 Load= 7 information 26 Local Area Networks 58 moving 10, 25 Long command 49 naming 16, 34 Make Directory Tool command removing 29, 56 13, 44, 51 running 11, 14, 24, 37 Make Directory Window command saving 27 44 sizing 38, 40 Make User Tool command 51 storing 15, 28 Memory status 27 user 2 Move command 48 Tools concept 1 Move cursor 21, 46 Tools file 56 Note Tool 5 Trash Management 30 Notes Tool 30, 35 enabling 30, 39, 55 program 40 Trash Tool 4, 21, 29, 39, 47, setting program 35 55, 56 Options Tool 4, 16, 33 Tree Tool 4, 12, 34, 41 general options 37 Directory menu 19, 42 individual tool options 33 directory window with 12, Partial command 49 20, 43 Programs Drives menu 42 loading 48 Options menu 20, 43 running 24, 45, 47 reloading 41 specifying in tools 35 Special menu 43 Programs command 50 Update command 51 Rename (directory) command 43 User tools 2 Rename (file) command 48 creating 12, 23, 45 Replaceable parameters 36, 54 VGA 6, 64 Run command 47 Run= 7 Screen Blanking 28, 38, 60 Select All command 52 Short command 49 Size Tool 5, 18, 36, 40 sizing tools 40 sizing windows 18, 40 Stacking tools 26 Tools 1 arguments 36, 54 basic 3 copying 14, 24, 32 creating 12, 14, 23, 45 customizing 3, 16, 33 directory to run in 36 double-clicking 11, 24 Aporia User Manual 67