=============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FileBar -- An OS/2 Application Launch Facility and Shell Replacement Written By Eric A. Wolf - Copyright (C) 1994 - All Rights Reserved This program is SHAREWARE! Please read the registration information at the end of this document for details on how to register your copy of FileBar. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================================================================== == Revision History ======================== Version 1.0 - initial release - released again to fix bug with ALT key pressed while FileBar had focus (would crash FileBar) Version 1.1 - Shutdown System option added to TaskList menu - maximum number of user definable menus expanded to 7 - option added to allow opening of WPS folders (use drag and drop to move a folder to the 'edit item' dialog and the application will automatically fill in pertinent info about the folder) - added doubling clicking to select menus and items to edit - modified so that removing an item does not selection cursor to top of list each time - added attaching WPS settings to each executable and using them to launch an object versus using user defined settings - still uses version 1.1 configuration files Version 1.2 - bug fixed that did not allow accessing settings button unless the edit item dialog was quit and re-entered if the path information was changed - modified resources so different fonts will not be cut off in text areas - modified launch code so some applications will not launch twice when using WPS settings - bug fixed that allows for the 7th menu to actualy be used - added international date and time options - added save menu configuration option - remembers and restores fonts dragged and dropped on it - allows use of version 1.1 configuration files and automatically updates them version 1.2 status - added reset and cancel buttons to edit item data dialog Version 1.3 - fixed bug to allow task list to jump to a hidden view of a WPS object, window, etc - became "drag and drop aware" for fonts (ie window will now automatically resize when font dropped onto it) - filebar.ini no longer appears in root of boot drive when used as a WPS replacement shell. (It appears in the directory that the executable is started from) - changed edit item dialog box so that minimized and maximized box cannot both be checked - added capabilities to task list: close, switch to, maximize, minimize, hide and show windows - much improved application launch (no intermediate REXX script or command window is used). Seamless window apps still use this intermediate rexx script, though. :( Still working on this one! Version 1.4 - fixed delay that would result when using FileBar as a Workplace Shell replacement. - fixed/improve close task mechanism so that it first tries a "friendly close" and if that doesn't work, then it kills the process forcefully. (Can now successfully close WPS objects from task list!) - Make FileBar menu item reduceable to a single symbol to reduce menubar real estate it takes up (if the option is chosen) - suppressed leading zeros in time and date display - Added ability to use [options] in parameter area of item settings to ask user to dynamically input command line parameters before application launch (ie program objects). - add ability to manipulate background bitmaps (useful ONLY if FileBar is used as a WPS shell replacement) - added error message if the launch of a non-WPS item fails - fixed memory problem with WIN-OS/2 full screen sessions (now fullscreen sessions are launched via REXX) - became "drag and drop aware" for colors (ie window will now automatically restore colors dropped onto it when restarted) - removed unrecognizable characters from task list that came from WPS objects that had a carriage return in their title - removed the ~ from title bar of launched applications Version 1.5 - Fixed bug with [ ] option (removed the *'s) - Changed edit menu and item buttons to read Done instead of OK (to limit confusion on the meaning of the buttons) - Revised task switching code (hopefully this will help a few of you out!) - Added a start up list so that FileBar will launch up to 10 items when it loads (primarily useful when used as a WPS replacement) - Added DOS settings support outside of the WPS. Now, when using FileBar as a WPS replacement, you can still access DOS settings via an external file. For each application you need these for, make a file called SETTINGS.INI and place it in the same path as the executable. Also, be sure WPS settings is not checked in the item editing dialog. The specific contents of this file and more information can be found in in SETTINGS.TXT. Version 1.6 - released primarily as a maintenance release of version 1.5 that attempts to relieve a user of an error that crashes his system when using DOS settings via SETTINGS.INI file - fixed bug that would crash filebar if separator used as first item of a newly created menu - optimized load routine that greatly improves load time for FileBar - added option to play an hourly chime (via a .WAV file through the MMPM extensions) Version 1.7 - fixed bug that did not restore FileBar to bottom of screen that was intoduced with FileBar's 1.6 faster loading scheme - changed launch code so that WPS objects no longer go through REXX to launch nor do opening settings go through REXX - changed code so that any WPS object can be dropped and used to fill in the item data (although only WPS folders, directory and executable objects work -- program objects do not!) - bitmap is now centered on screen when displayed using "normal" (when using the display background bitmap option) - fixed bug so that adding separators to an existing menu does not delete previously existing menu items - fixed bug so that switching to a task will no longer sometimes bring up the task following the selected one - added option to resize desktop upon boot of FileBar so that no icons or object icons are cut off by the FileBar menu - moved menubar up one pixel so that clicking the very first row of dots on the menubar now activates a menu - added a DLL to hook system messages so that we can intercept sizing messages so that maximizing a window no longer covers the FileBar nor does moving a window (this makes it possible for FileBar never to be covered up, greatly easing access to FileBar). - Gave a new "90's look" to the Product Information dialog box :) - changed FileBar's SVGA icon (40x40) to resemble the FileBar bitmap - integrated small-scale task scheduler and reminder code into FileBar to provide unassisted, timed launching of items or displaying of user-entered reminders. Items may be launched on any calendar day, at any time, and once done so, may be automatically rescheduled to occur hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Text reminders also have the option to play a .WAV sound file with the reminder to help raise attention to the reminder - added code to fix a bug found with BocaSoft's WipeOut that would cause FileBar to appear even when screen saver was activated version 1.7a- released primarily for maintenance purposes (ie fixing bugs!) - fixed bug that sometimes allowed "ghost menus" to appear - fixed bugs in launch code that prevented launch of some applications - a change in time does not cause an update (ie flicker) in the FileBar when the time or date is not displayed version 1.7b- fixed bug in DOS settings that would allows DOS settings to work but only once! (Let's hope this fixes everything this time!!!!) version 1.8 - fixed reminder snooze so that snooze time is based on current (beta) time rather than reminder alarm time - fixed so that settings notebook no longers moves to background with every click - added feature so that pressing a mouse chord (buttons 1 and 2 together) will bring up the FileBar menu as a pop-up menu (NOTE that this feature is still in beta and if you have any problems with it whatsoever, you can simply disable it and you will be back to normal) - added feature to hide primary filebar menu so that you may use solely the pop-up menu and more closely emulate X-Windows type behavior version 1.81- version # changed to 1.81 to avoid confusion with the version (release) 1.8 beta release - button (combination) that activates popup menu is now configurable between mouse button 3 and a chord of mouse buttons 1 and 2 (even though button does work when FileBar is used as a WPS replacement (why this is, I have no clue!) - condensed all pop-up menu options under one dialog to relieve FileBar menu clutter - expanded warning dialog box to mention that if a WPS object is not found, it could be due to the fact that you have replaced WPS and this feature is no longer available - added code so that quote characters can be used in menu and item names. You need to run version 1.81 on your existing .ini file once to convert it to the new format and then you can use any character in your menus (besides character #250 "ú", :) - improved data structure previously implemented to store scheduler tasks/reminders. Unused reminder tasks no longer take up massive storage space. - improved data structure previously implemented to store menu items and program launch information. Unused menu items no longer take up massive storage space. - Both of the above enhancements will reduce memory requirements for most users and speed up operations (memory is only allocated for items you have allocated and no space is wasted) - revised launch item code so that command shell sessions now come to foreground when launched from popup menu version 1.82- emergency release to fix a bug when adding a separator would immediately crash FileBar - improved code so that ALL applications come to foreground when launched (PM Apps had problems previously) version 1.83- sample .INI files updated to conform to newer .INI file type - text in dialog boxes expaned to accomodate different video drivers with different size system fonts - string reading corrected to correctly read in older .ini configuration files version 1.84- focus code corrected to give launched applications the focus version 1.85- max # of items per menu upped from 24 to 32 by user request - max length of parameters/argument string changed from 32 to 64 - corrected popu-up menu dialog to correctly reflect why 3rd button does not always work outside WPS - corrected bug so that restoring a WPS object via launching it again will no longer lock FileBar - it will timeout after a certain period if the object did not open - current day in scheduler calendar is now highlighted - optimized construction of task list for each pull down - added "Shell Awareness". If FileBar is acting as the shell FileBar will: - remove its entry from the window list - remove the 'exit' option - display background bitmap (if selected) - cleaned up loading process - no longer see intermediate form of FileBar while creating menu - Both Full-screen and seamless sessions of Windows (WIN-OS2) now support DOS settings (use SETTINGS.INI file) - Both Full-screen and seamless sessions of Windows (WIN-OS2) are now started directly (without REXX support) - removed redundancy in data-structure access thereby improving time and space performance version 1.86- using the option to hide the primary menubar has been corrected so that the option actually works again (bug was introduced in 1.85) - put back in the ability to allow a background bitmap to be displayed by FileBar even when it is not the replacement shell (not recommended or supported by IBM) - increased argument string length maximum from 64 to 80 by request of users - added passwording features which include the option for password protection for each user defined menu item (may have separate passwords for each different item). There is also a "system administrator" passwording option that password protects "system level" functions (such as editing the menus, closing the application, etc) - increased maximum storage capacity: now allowing 8 user definable menus with 40 items possible in each version 1.87- primarily released as maintenance to 1.86 - updated DLL so that it correctly works with BocaSoft's WipeOut screen saver 1.2 - fixed corruption problem that would destroy the bitmap settings for a background bitmap upon each boot up (this may have also caused other corruption to occur with the passwording options). - removed password protection from Shutdown option so any user can shutdown system - added documentation for how to obtain QVDM102 to the settings.txt text file. This is a freeware program to help you obtain settings.ini files from WPS objects. version 1.87b- released soon after 1.87 to correct two major bugs in that release. Both of these bugs were very obscure and did not present themselves during QA testing - fixed ALT+ESC bug when used as a shell replacement. The problem occured because FileBar removed itself from the task list and left the task list totally empty. Obviously, OS/2 did not like this situation. Now, the entry is still present but marked as invisible and not-jumpable - fixed bug with PM apps sometimes getting confused when no settings file is found (but only happened on some OS/2 configurations and scenarious)