Contents for Desktop Icon Hider (DIH) Help

Desktop Icon Hider (DIH) is a tool for hiding the icons of minimized windows applications on the desktop you don't like to see.
To learn how to use Help, press F1.

General
   Setup DIH
   Hide a minimized application
   Un-hide a hidden application
   Licence agreement
   Credits

Technical reference
   DIH.INI file entries (format)
   Version history

This program is copyright © 1993-1994, J.C.A. Gremmen


Hiding a minimized application

To hide a minimized application, select 'Hide icon' from the system menu. The mouse cursor will change and the text associated with the DIH-icon shows 'Hide...'; you are now in icon capture mode. Select the minimized application you like to hide by placing the mouse cursor over the icon and pressing the left mouse button. DIH will not hide the application before you release the left button.
If you didn't select an icon, DIH will show an error message. This will also happen when you reach the limit of 16 icons or when you try to hide DIH itself.
To exit the icon capture mode, press the right mouse button or ESC.
DIH will rearrange the icons on the desktop right after you selected an icon to hide; the DIH-icon will always be at the leftmost position.

Related Topics:
Un-hide hidden icons


Un-hide hidden applications
Un-hide a hidden application

To un-hide a hidden icon or application, choose one of the applications shown in the 'icons' menu in the system menu. The application will be activated and restored to the position and size it had before it was minimized, if possible.
Some applications cannot be restored because they only have an icon (just like DIH). These applications must be restored by activating the icon in the 'icons' menu while pressing the shift-key. DIH will never hide this application again until you restart DIH.

Related Topics:
Hiding a minimized application


DIH.INI file entries (format)

The settings for the Desktop Icon Hider are stored in a initialization file DIH.INI, which is located in the same directory as the main program (DIH.EXE). Desktop Icon Hider uses the initialization file to store the classnames of the applications you like to hide.

[Hider]
ArrangeInterval=<n>    (default=3)

<n> represents an integer in the range 0-60 and specifies the number of seconds between the arranging/hiding of the icons on the desktop. Every <n> seconds DIH will try to hide minimized applications on the desktop. To disable this feature, specify 0 for <n>.
This value can be changed only by editing the initialization file.

[Hider]
AutoArranging=Yes|No    (default=Yes)

The auto arranging flag determines whether or not the icons on the desktop will be rearranged each <n> seconds. If you specify an interval of 0 seconds, this flag has no effect.
This entry can be changed only by editing the initialization file.

[Class list]
HideClass1=<class1>
HideClass2=<class2>
etc.

The Class list section contains the classnames of the icons to be hidden. Each application must register a unique classname when it requires to use a window so if that window is minimized and its classname is contained in the Class list section DIH will hide the icon.


Setup DIH
Setup Desktop Icon Hider

The installation of Desktop Icon Hider is very easy. The only thing you have to do is to select or create a directory and copy the files DIH.EXE and DIH.HLP to it.
Since DIH checks for the existance of the help at startup, this help file can be ommited.

There are 3 ways to run DIH:

Just run it.

Add DIH.EXE to the end of the LOAD= line in your WIN.INI file. If your path doesn't include the directory of DIH, make sure you specify the full pathname.

Install DIH.EXE as the last entry in the Startup folder of the Program Manager.

The program will load itself as an icon at the leftmost position on the bottom of the screen and hide all icons that have a classname listed in the DIH.INI file.
The program is designed to only allow one instance of itself.


Version history

Version 2.2    March 17, 1994
  Fixed a bug that caused the DIH-icon to be destroyed when pressing the right mouse button.
  Rewritten some procedures.

Version 2.1    March 14, 1994
  DIH-icon will always stay at the leftmost position.
  Added warning dialog when a mouse is not found.
  Fixed a bug that caused some applications to be activated in icon capture mode.
  DIH traps the killing of a hidden application.
  Right mouse click will cancel icon capture mode.

Version 2.0    February 4, 1994
  Place DIH-icon at the leftmost position on the bottom of the screen when hiding a window.
  (Not released)

Version 1.4    January 23, 1994
  Removed 'help'-option when the help file is not available.
  (Not released)

Version 1.3    December 31, 1993
  Added 'DIH already active' message.
  Added 'AutoArranging' entry in the initialization file.
  Disabled possibility to hide DIH-icon.
  Fixed a bug that caused a GPF.
  Eliminated dead code.
  First official release!

Version 1.2ß    December 3, 1993
  Added help file.
  Increased maximum number of icons to 16.
  Right mouseclick on DIH-icon replaces Re-hide command.
  Code optimized.
  Increased delay for 'Saving...' message.
  Added checkmarks in icon popup menu indicating that the classname is saved.
  BUG: 'Setup saved' message in the about dialogbox changed.
  Only thinking about an official release...

Version 1.1ß    November 27, 1993
  Added 'error' information below the DIH-icon.
  Added possibility to change timer interval for icon hiding/arranging.
  Moved saved classnames from WIN.INI to DIH.INI.
  Decreased maximum number of icons that can be hidden to 8.
  Re-hide menu command removed when timer is enabled.
  Removed unused commands from the system menu.
  Still, no official release (released among friends).

Version 1.0ß    November 25, 1993
  First version. no official release.


Hide Icon Command

when you select 'Hide icon' from the system menu, the mouse cursor will change and you are enabled to select the minimized application you like to hide.

Related topics:
Hiding a minimized application


Credits

Desktop Icon Hider is a product based on a program named CLOAK written by P. Moore. The only thing version 1.0ß of this program has in common with CLOAK is the outside appearance. The program has not been disassembled, every line of code is my own design!

I like to thank the following people who contributed in any way to this program:

P. Moore, for donating his program CLOAK to the public domain.

H.W.A.M. de Beer, for his suggestions and for inventing new bugs.

G.G.C. Klemans, Yes... this help file is very helpfull indeed.....?

Myself!


License agreement

By possessing or using Desktop Icon Hider (DIH), or software that is based substantially upon DIH, or has been derived from DIH, you agree to the following conditions:

You accept that DIH nor its author is responsible for any damage done to your computer or its accessories, and even if it is responsible, it isn't. It was probably a virus that you missed. Or maybe the nextdoor neighbour's kid or the neighbour himself was playing with your computer again.... you never know!

You cannot accept a charge for distributing DIH, other than the cost of the medium it is distributed upon.

Please send bug-reports, suggestions, remarks or donations to the address below. You can also use this address if you like to know more about feature releases of DIH.
If you like to distribute this program with some magazine, please let me know so I can send you the latest version.

J.C.A. Gremmen
Postbus 153
5080 AD   Hilvarenbeek
The Netherlands
E-mail: jeroeng@blade.stack.urc.tue.nl