Copyright: Copyright ® 1992-1993 Windows OnLine.
Citation: All rights reserved, Copyright ® 1992-1993 Windows OnLine.


The_Front_Page

Shareware Roundup

From the pages of Windows OnLine™  The REVIEW

February 1, 1993


Title Page

(Click Above For Table Of Contents)

About Windows OnLine™

Windows OnLine™ is an on-line (modem) service dedicated to supporting Windows users and Windows network professionals. WOL prides itself on having the most complete and up-to-date library of Windows shareware in the world. We have over 8,000 Windows 3.x programs and files to download. With 13 phone lines, (all equipped with US Robotics high speed dual standard modems), operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year... there are no busy signals.

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Why not

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Rich Young - Editor

Copyright © Information

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Copyright Notice: The entire contents of this issue and all issues of the REVIEW are copyrighted by Windows OnLine and Frank J. Mahaney

All right reserved Copyright © 1992-1993, Windows OnLine


Index Page

Shareware Roundup

(Click all Buttons)

  Shareware News,  by Bob Gollihur

  Orator 1.12,  by Rich Young

  Shareware Math Programs,  by Ed Hoffman

Convert It 1.51

Berlin's Cheat Sheets

  Screen Saver Activator,  by Bob Gollihur

  GrabIt!,  by Hugh E. Hardie

  UltraClip,  by Bob Gollihur

  Windows Launchers,  by Ed Hoffman

  Steve's McTrash Dumpster ,  by Bob Gollihur

  WinCD,  by Randy Wong

  InContact,  by Bob Gollihur

  WinDial,  by Rich Young

  Metz Task Manager,  by Ed Hoffman

  ArcMaster 1.1 for Windows,  by Rich Young

  BoardWatch Contest


Shareware

a compendium of the latest good, bad

and ugly in the world of Windows Shareware

DIVINE INSPIRATION . . . . . . Decisions, Decisions

I won't spoil the surprise, but this program really cracked me up! Essentially, Divine Inspiration is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek decision maker program, like the old eight-ball you used to turn over to get an answer. It comes with a three WAV files and, well, you'll see when you try DIVINE.ZIP! Just $5.00 to Apogee for this shareware program will bring a disk in return with additional advice for your consultation. My wife thought I was a bit off, but it gave me a chuckle.

IMAGE CONVERT . . . . . . . . Graphics Conversions

Image Convert is definitely worth a look if you do a lot of graphic file conversions. Taking full advantage of the drag and drop features of Windows, the activated program leaves only its icon visible to which you drag a graphics file. A popup dialog box appears with conversion options to GIF, PCX, BMP, TARGA, DCX, TIFF, WPG, and WMF. Check out IMGCON.ZIP from MTE Industries, a shareware product well worth its $20.00 asking price.

WINCAPTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Screen Capture Utility

Professional Capture Systems offers its WinCapture utility to the shareware market. A user specified hotkey activates its screen capture capabilities, changing your cursor to a crosshair ready to outline your target. Various options for capture are available. It's a very handy utility, available as WINCAP.ZIP, but it seems priced unreasonably high at $44.00, including shipping. Perhaps someone should tell them so.

PRINTENVELOPE. . . . . . . . Envelope Printing Utility

This very popular and well designed envelope program from Maurer Associates (reviewed in Issue 63 of Windows Online, the Weekly -WOLW63.ZIP) has graduated to Version 2.32. Now written in Visual Basic 2.0, it adds dBase file imports and easier maintenance to envelope Note Text, but otherwise remains the fine program is has always been. ENVEL232.ZIP is high on our list and always on our computer.

VBREADER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offline Mail Reader

This appropriately named offline mail reader was written by Daniel Page in Visual Basic. This freeware program is nicely done and a very nice alternative to other QWK packet readers. READER12.ZIP is worth a look and a try. It's not as quick as WinQWK (pun intended), and the screen layout takes a bit of getting used to, but I liked it and look forward to future versions. Mr. Page is to be congratulated on his work and generosity; he is actively soliciting input from all.

MIXCASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  ASCII Text Convertor

This handy Windows utility will convert text files to mixed upper and lower case. Two modes are available, file and clipboard. Mixcase first converts all characters to lower case, and then capitalizes the first letter of sentences and table items. A dictionary can be updated and used for reference by the program to capitalize chosen words. Files and text pasted to the MixCase text box receive the same treatments. If you have the requirement, MIXCASE132.ZIP may be your Windows solution. This shareware program is priced at $35.00, which seems a bit high, but your need may justify its cost.

WINBENCH . . . . . . . . . Measure your Windows Speed

Version 3.1 is available to put your PC to the test. If you'd like to see how your machine stacks up, or produce benchmarks to compare against changes you make, check out WNBNCH31.ZIP and see how it flies . . . or doesn't. WinBench is from PC Magazine and is freeware. One word of caution: be careful whom you give this program and the one that follows to. I passed it on to a friend with a 486-50 and graphics accelerator board and he made me feel real bad! Perhaps ignorance is bliss.

WINDSOCK . . . . . . . . .  Windows Performance Utility

Here's another Windows performance program with extensive options to measure your system. This freeware package written by Chris Hewitt has very attractive graphical features and you can save your results for future comparisons. This program is very impressive, with complete online help and a number of configurations to suit your preferences. WindSock is available as WSK302.ZIP and well worth the download.

FONT MONSTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Font Data Editor

Don't expect Font Monster to change the look of your fonts; it is not an editor for that purpose. However, it will alter any of the vast array of identification data which internally describes and sometimes limits the use of your True Type and Type 1 fonts. This monster is easy to handle with a very nice interface and ease of use. No problems with foreign currency registering FMONSTR.ZIP, written by an American living in Taiwan; just send him a crisp $20 bill and he's happy.

HI, FINANCE!  . . . . . . . . . Financial Planning & more

Speaking of monsters, HiFinance! is definitely a monster of a financial program. Very sharp in the look and feel categories and flush with modules for personal and business financial purposes. I believe this program may warrant a complete review in the near future. Two files, HIFI214A.ZIP and HIFI214B.ZIP are needed to install the program. Not inexpensive at $64.00 including shipping, though its capabilities may justify your investment.

FONTSEE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Handy Font Utility

A bit different than some of the other font managers we've seen, at first FontSee only seems to display your collection on screen. But there's much more. View font names, character displays, reference cards or keyboard layouts. Font samples can also be printed. Use FontSee's virtual keyboard instead of the Windows Character Map and type directly to your chosen application. FNTSEE24.ZIP is a very worthwhile download and an excellent piece of shareware from REEVEsoft priced at $15.00.

WORD STALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Word Game

This fun word game pits you against the computer. How many words can you form from the letters in the matrix before time runs out? How many will the computer find? The answer lies with a download of WORDSTLK.ZIP, a cute and challenging shareware game with a registration of $15.00.

PHONEVU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Call Tracking Utility

PhoneVu does its best to save trees by providing a way to keep track of all your telephone contacts. This freeware package by John White offers an attractive and easy to use interface. His documentation states that you might encounter problems in lower resolutions than 1024x768, but my vanilla 640x480 VGA display had no problem. Check out PHONEV11.ZIP to solve your own little pink paper proliferation problems.

GRPICON . . . . . . . . . . . . . Customize Program Manager

Increase the OQ (obnoxious quotient) of Program Manager with this nicely done shareware program. With GrpIcon you can select background colors or wallpaper your individual groups as well as specify a unique icon for the group when minimized. Extensive and quality help is provided, though the program is easily installed and understood. See if you can outdo your friends with GRPICN20.ZIP, a $20.00 entry into the shareware market.

WIN FAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Program Access Utility

Win Fast is a clever program launcher with no set-up required. Start the program and a small platform appears, and just a quick click gives you instant access of an alphabetical list of your program groups. Select a program group and an icon bar for the group drops down from the platform that can be iconized if desired. Win Fast is not a replacement for Program Manager, but I really liked this quicker, neater and nicer approach to program access. Check out WINFST.ZIP, a great tool and a shareware value at $15.00.

POPCAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pop-Up Calendar

This freeware program pops up a colorful calendar, complete with running digital clock. Browse with ease through the years and return to today's date with a mouse-click. Thanks to author Nathaniel S. Johnson for POPCAL20.ZIP.

PLANVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . .Resource Planner/Scheduler

Seek out this very impressive event planner for projects or other time-based activities scheduling and resource planning. It's very detailed and useful for quick overall project planning, activity scheduling and resource scheduling. It provides on-line help and is quickly and easily learned. PLANVW10.ZIP is merely $29 from Sapphire Software.

PERIODIC TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Elements of Life

Display the Periodic Table of the Elements and learn more than you ever knew about them. Much improved over other versions, you can display and sort entries by multiple criteria. This shareware program, listed as PT200_1.ZIP and PT200_2.ZIP, is a must for Chem 101 students, a handy reference source for $15.00.

DRAGGIN' VIEWER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Text Viewer

Another exercise in drag and drop, Draggin' Viewer will display text or Windows Write files dragged to its icon. One could wonder aloud "what about a file association?". True, in the case of WRI files and the predictably named ASCII files, but quickly and easily viewing text files with odd extensions is a problem that Draggin' Viewer solves. DVV100S.ZIP may very well be worth the minimal $5.00 requested by author P.M. Chefalo for this convenience.

MORE CONTROL . . . . . . . . .Control Panel Addition

If you haven't got a version of More Control in your Windows configuration, it's time to seek out MORCN11B.ZIP and download it. Just two files (three if you want the on-line help) in your SYSTEM subdirectory will automatically add the More Control icon to your Control Panel. Activation will bring you convenient ways to change your configuration right to your fingertips. Change file associations, Icon spacing and fonts, 386Enh settings and much more. Now you can easily replace your pop-up color to highlight those WinOnLine Review pop-ups! Freeware from Sloop Software.

BOOKBASE . . . . . . .Personal Library Database

Build a database of your book collection with BookBase. The program has many options as well as features for searches and reports and it's priced at $15.00. BookBase should be sought out (BOOKBV1.ZIP) if only to see my personal nomination for 1992's most annoying nag screen.

ZIP-IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .File Compression Shell

Just what the world needs: another Zipper/Unzipper! Actually, this one is quite nice, offering its own file selection dialogs and the wonderful opportunity to make directories from within the program. However, you may never get far enough with ZipIt to appreciate it if the every-minute registration reminder screen bugs you as much as it did me. ZIPIT11.ZIP is still worth a look, and certainly seems worth the $15.00 shareware cost.

All programs listed above are available to members of Windows OnLine in the directories shown below. To learn more about this premier BBS, call 1-510-736-8343 (modem) and download WOLMEMBR.ZIP for a list of available file directories and membership information.

Program	Filename	Directory

FontSee	FNTSEE24.ZIP	26

Word Stalk	WORDSTLK.ZIP	8

PhoneEVu	PHONEV11.ZIP	23

Grpicon	GRPICN20.ZIP	80

Win Fast 	WINFST.ZIP	5

PopCal	POPCAL20.ZIP	5

PlanView	PLANVW10.ZIP	80

Periodic Table	PT200_1.ZIP and

PT200_2.ZIP	5

Draggin' Viewer	DVV100S.ZIP	4

More Control	MORCN11B.ZIP	80

Bookbase	BOOKBV1.ZIP	17

Zip-It 	ZIPIT11.ZIP	5

And thanks, authors, for all your fine and dedicated work!

CIS 71334,2065


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PrintEnvelope and many other new releases and updates are beginning to use Microsoft's Visual Basic Version 2.0. If you haven't done it already, VBRUN200.ZIP deserves a download and the unzipped VBRUN200.DLL deserves a place in your Windows subdirectory for current and future use. A word of advice, though, don't remove VBRUN100.DLL! The update engine is not backwards compatible. No registration or charge for VB 2.0 . . . consider it a Holiday gift (?) from Bill Gates.


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Orator

Reviewed by Rich Young

Orator is one of the few good off line QWK mail readers for Windows. Off line readers are a must for us BBS users, and Orator makes messaging simple and efficient. Orator is long on features and will satisfy most users who need a reliable off line mail reader.

After installing the program, the first thing I had to do was configure it for my system.

This is simply a matter of pointing Orator to where my mail packets are kept, and where to put the reply packets. You also need to point out where PKZIP and PKUNZIP reside. Here you can also specify a signature file to be added to your replies, if you so desire. Now I can open a QWK packet and read mail.

Orator has opened the packet and is now displaying the vital statistics for that packet. Pulling down the Window menu item reveals all the actions and options available for the open packet. The Welcome and Session items allow you to view those items with Oratview, which is a utility that shows those screens as they look on the BBS that the packet is from. The same goes for Bulletins, News and Files etc. The Replies option allows you to view any previous replies you may have in that particular packet.

My first choice in this menu is of course Messages. This brings up the Messages window and is where I will do all the reading and replying to the open packet.

Notice the stylish 3D effect the header information section has. All this information is easy to read and quite complete. Below is the actual message screen, which even has scroll bars in case the message is longer than the screen allows. By the way, the first message displayed is the top message in the first conference in your packet. Below the message portion is a series of action buttons that are your tools to navigate through your packet and act on individual messages etc. The buttons function as follows:

The Next button simply takes you to the next message forward. After the last message in a particular conference, this button will take you to the first message in the next conference.

The Previous button takes you back one message.

The Print button will print out the displayed message.

The List button brings up the list window listing all messages in the current conference, if you like to skip around.

The Steal button allows you to swipe a good tagline with the Tagline Thief.

The Search button brings up the search dialog box where you can search out text using several different criteria.

The Reply button allows you to reply to the current message, or enter a new message to anyone in any conference.

The Save button allows you to save the current message to a folder for later reference.

The Conference button lets you change to another message conference quickly by choosing one from the Conference selection dialog box.

The Cancel button simply closes the messages window and returns you to the open packet ID window.

Now I want to reply to a message or enter a new one. From the messages screen I hit the Reply button which brings up the Reply Entry box. From here I either confirm that the header is of the message I want to reply to, or in the case of entering a new message, I enter the appropriate header information. Clicking on the Conference button or box brings up the Conference selection window if I need to change conferences. After confirming or entering the To, From, Subject, Tagline and Conference information, and clicking on OK, I go to the Reply/Messages window shown above. Here the message being replied to is entirely quoted with the authors initials heading each line. I simply delete the lines I don't wish to quote and enter my message as I see fit. Choosing Save from the File menu retains your message and brings you back to the messages window.

One improvement I would suggest in Orator is that when you want to enter a new message to someone else, that you should get a blank screen instead of a quoted message. As it is now, no matter who your message is to, the last message is still fully quoted, forcing you to delete the unwanted text to start your fresh message.

Orator has a great system for saving messages for later reference. From the messages screen I click on the Save button to bring up the Save Message To Folder dialog box. From here I simply select the folder I want to save to, or I can create a new folder as I deem appropriate. Anytime I want to refer to a saved message, I just select the Folders menu item from the main window which brings up the Folders window.

From here I just select a folder, which then lists all saved messages within that folder. I highlight the message I want, and choose Show to view the message, or I can Delete it, Move it to another folder, and Pack the folders, which involves the purging of deleted records from the message database and it rebuilds indexes. I found this system to be a great feature of this program.

Another great feature is the ability to remotely configure the QMAIL door. By opening the Doors menu item from the main window, and selecting Qmail, you can Add or Drop conferences and Reset message pointers among other things. Future versions of Orator may support other mail doors in the same manner.

In Conclusion:

I found Orator to be a fine mail reader in most respects. I did find it a little slow in opening a packet, but all of the great features made up for the wait. The author made the program user friendly and very convenient to use. There is no need for documentation as the interface is basically fool-proof. Registering this product can be a bit of a hassle in this country, as the author requires payment in English Pound Sterling, but this program is worth the hassle.

For more information about Orator contact:

Nick Dyer

EvaWare UK

5 Grosvenor Court

Louth

Lincolnshire LN11 9LT

England

Orator v1.13 is available to members on Windows OnLine (510) 736-8343 under the filename #ORA113.ZIP, so you can try it out for yourself.

Brought to you by

   (Click)

  Rich Young
  Staff Writer
  Windows OnLine


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MATH

Math Solutions At Your Finger Tips

Mathematics and working with numbers is an area many of us would prefer to avoid. But, be it for business or pleasure, the ability to work with mathematics is an important part of everything most of us do everyday. For this reason there are a few shareware math programs you might wish to look at to help you make sense of this subject. No matter what type of mathematics you may be involved with, from simple conversions to detailed shop calculations, these programs can help you survive your adventures in mathematics.

Convert It 1.51

Conversions are something most of us take for granted. But when was the last time you tried to figure out how much wine you actually got in ounces or quarts from a bottle marked in liters? Or quick, how much water will you need to fill a small swimming pool that has a volume of 65,000 cubic feet? Even that 10k race you heard about might make you wonder how many miles they'll actually run. No matter how you try to avoid it, conversions are something we do quite often. So, rather than guess at the required values, you could use Convert It 1.51 to find the actual answer with little or no pain.

Convert It is a program that is both easy to use and completely covers the conversions most people require. The program menu offers ten different types of useful conversion tools. These conversions are grouped into the more common categories such as temperature, distance, mass, volume, and area. But some of the less common conversions of angles, power, energy, pressure, and time are also included.

Within each of these individual categories are all the frequently used units. If, for example, you wanted to convert between inches and millimeters you would call up the distance tool. You could then type in the number of inches and the equivalent size in millimeters is shown to the right. In addition to millimeters, a wide range of other units associated with distance are also shown. This same arrangement is used for each of the other types of conversions as well. This eliminates the need to make several conversions to find an answer.

The program has a good on-line help system to help you through some of the more complex as well as the simple conversions. The program also has an area which shows the formulas and methods used to make all the conversions. Convert It, version 1.51, is a math utility program that is well worth the registration fee. Members of Windows OnLine can find Convert It 1.51 as CV151.ZIP in Directory #4.

Convert It 1.51

SMI Corporation

P.O. Box 582221

Tulsa, OK 74158

(918)560-9536

Registration fee: $10.00

Berlin's Cheat Sheets 1.0X

For those people who need a mathematics program to do more than conversions, Berlin's Cheat Sheets might be just what you need. Anyone who has ever done any work in a home workshop knows the frustration of being in the middle of designing a project and needing to find a particular size? You then drag out your mathematics handbook, or similar text, and your handy calculator, and try to find the necessary formulas for the calculations. This is especially exasperating if you are working on a computer, using a CAD system. I've often wondered why someone hasn't written an affordable Shop Math program to make these calculations easier. Well at last a Shop Math program does exist, its called Berlin's Cheat Sheet, and is one of the more useful additions anyone can make to their computer software. This program was originally written to handle the types of mathematics problems typically found in the machine shop. But, there is a lot more than just machine shop applications contained within this program.

All you need to do is select the desired Cheat Sheet from the Sheets menu and type in the known values. With the triangle, for example, only two values are needed for the calculation. Once these are typed in, the program automatically calculates the remaining values and displays them in their respective boxes. In addition to the triangle, the program will also make many other calculations needed for the shop. The collection of Cheat Sheets available is amazing for such a reasonably priced program. I'm not sure, but I think I would have killed for a program like this when I was in school. Each of the individual "Cheat Sheets", when minimized, stays within the main window of the program. This places them within easy reach and not all over your desktop.

Another unique feature of the program is the built in calculator. So, for example, if the value you wanted in one of the boxes was a calculated value, you could simply type the formula and the program makes the required calculation and places the value in the box. If the side of the triangle were 1 15/16", rather than looking up the decimal equivalent of 15/16ths you could simply type in 1+15/16 and the program will make the conversion for you. Members of Windows OnLine can find Berlin's Cheat Sheets as BCS104.ZIP in Directory #80 - (Windows-New Uploads). At $25.00 this program is a real bargain and if you work with mathematics regularly it should be part of your system.

Berlin's Cheat Sheets 1.0X

Berlin Software

4841 Woodbury Drive

Erie, PA 16510

Registration fee: $25.00

Brought to you by:

Ed Hoffman

Staff Writer


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Screen Saver Activator
Are you just a bit paranoid writing your resume at work? Does a covey of nosy co-workers flock to your PC the minute you walk to the water cooler? You need to consider Screen Saver Activator. With this simple freeware program you can instantly activate the Windows screen saver to hide your work from prying eyes.

It seems that screen savers have taken on a life of their own. It is beyond me why anyone would actually spend real money on a program to send inanimate objects scurrying across their screen when they're not there! But I guess I really can't say anything. I once bought a pet rock.

Once run, the Screen Saver Activator will instantly invoke the Windows screen saver in two ways: Simply place your cursor on the Screen Saver Activator clock icon and press your right mouse button, or put your cursor in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Both options can be used, or either one selected for use from the configuration screen.

There are serious advantages to being able to secure your work with the screen saver built into Windows. It can be password protected so your confidential work can be hidden while you're away from your computer. Screen Saver Activator is a great way to trigger your screen saver quickly and easily.

               Summary

Installing and using Screen Saver Activator certainly isn't brain surgery. No on-line help is available or required, but the author has included a two page WRI file with graphics as well as a TXT file. The program performed well and it was easy to hide the fact that I was reading QWK packets on company time. I did find that my sloppy mouse work did bring up the screen saver when I didn't want it, but I still liked the convenience of that particular trigger.

Author Chris Rossi presents his pride and joy to us as Freeware, but did not divulge anywhere that we could contact him about his creation. Thanks, Chris, where ever you may be! I think you may have saved my job last week.

Screen Saver Activator is available to members from Windows OnLine at (510) 736-8343 (modem) as SCRNAC12.ZIP.


Shareware Review

Grabit Pro

by Hugh E, Hardie

Grabit Pro is a program designed to make the capturing and storing of screen grabs easier. Whereas Windows allows the capture of an entire screen, Print Screen, or the current active window, ALT/Print Screen, Grabit Pro offers much more flexibility.

Installation and Setup

Installation is a snap. Unzip the file and move it to the directory of your choice. There is no setup. You simply start using the program.

Operation

When you start Grabit Pro, GP, it comes up minimized. When you click on the program icon at the bottom of the screen, the following menu appears.

As you can see, it not only includes the normal Restore, Close, etc., commands but four others which are directly related to functions in the program, Selected Area, Entire Window, Client Area and Desktop.

Selected Area allows you to select via mouse only a part of the screen which is showing immediately after you click this selection.

Entire Window will capture the entire window you click on. You must click on the Title Bar for this to work. If you click on anywhere other than the Title Bar, the feature works the same as Client Area described below.

Client Area will capture a part of the window you click on. The Client Area is defined as an area below the title bar which is bounded by a border. The border could be the Window's window border or a border placed on the screen by the application. For example, if I press ALT/ESC and cause all the application icons to punch through this document as I am writing it, then select Client Area and click on part of the text in this document, I would end up with an image like the one below.

When I tried Client Area on Packrat, I got the portion of the screen I click on up to the point a border of some kind is painted on the screen. A portion of the Packrat screen is displayed below.

If I select Client Area, I get the following image captured if it click on the area of the calendar.

Desktop captures the entire desktop and displays it in a child window.

When a screen or part of a screen is captured, it is placed in a child window inside the GP window. Thus, multiple screen captures can be made without having to stop and save them after each one. When you are finished grabbing, they will all be there each in their own window.

Strategy for Capturing Screens

As I hinted at earlier, their is a particular way you have to use GP to ensure you are in a position to capture a screen. If you are running the application you wish to grab from in a Window, it is quite easy. Click on GP at the foot of the screen and select the grab you want. Move the pointer to what you want in the Window and click.

If you are running the application you want to grab from full screen, you must first press ATL/ESC to bring the running applications' icons to the front. Click on GP and select the appropriate grab and click on the portion of the window you want. Remember that the icons that punch through when you press ALT/ESC will still be on the screen when you click on the window or part of a window you want to capture.

Saving Files

One of the ways GP differs from the Clipboard is the in the options it offers when you save a file. The following illustrates the choices.

As you can see, GP does offer some unique options. In the file types, it is particularly nice to be able to save direct to an RLE file. You will probably already know that RLE files take up far less space that BMP files. In the color options, it is also a real help to be able to save in Monochrome especially if you are going to use the image as an illustration in a black and white document.

One annoyance is that the user is responsible for typing in the file name, a normal situation, but also the extension. This even after you have selected BMP or RLE in the Save Option dialog box.

Major Minus

GP can print images but not without much effort. GP sizes the current image to the size of the paper in your printer definition. Thus, if you grab the first four menu items off a normal Windows application, they will be printed on the page scaled up to 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches. They come out with all the dots showing and are virtually useless. The user must go in and alter the size of the paper in the printer definition to get them to print life size. The documentation mentions creating program documentation or training manuals. I would want to provide illustrations in such documents life size and I do not have the time to alter the paper size for all the different screen captures I might use. In discussing the review with the author, he stated that the problem lies with the Windows 3.1 printer drivers and will not easily be overcome.

In Conclusion

With its minor warts, Grabit Pro is a useful and efficient way to capture screens or parts of screens in Windows. Its file save options offer more than Windows itself can offer. The product is worthy of consideration if you capture screens more than once a month. Grabit Pro is available to members on Windows OnLine, (510) 736-8343, with the filename, GRABPR31.ZIP.

For more information contact:

Software Excellence By Design Inc.

107 East Paradise Lane

Phoenix,  AR  85022

Voice (602) 375-9928

Fax (602) 375-9928

BBS (602) 375-0531  2400 BPS

BBS (602) 375-9945  9600 BPS

Investigation conducted by

Hugh E. Hardie

P.S. I can be reached on Window OnLine, of course, in either the I-Link Windows or Relaynet Windows conferences and at Compuserve 70421,635 for questions or for tips.


hughpop2
Hardie & Associates Inc.

Walnut Creek, CA

(510) 935-3994


UltraClip
One of the more useful tools in the Windows arsenal is the Clipboard. It's so easy to copy and paste text and graphics from application to application without a second thought. Do you remember what you had to go through in DOS?

UltraClip is termed "a Clipboard Extender" and brings further convenience and functionality to the Windows clipboard concept. In essence, it provides for multiple "clipboards" to store and use for copying and pasting.

The display windows show representations of available text or graphics that you have sequentially saved in the multiple clipboards. Graphics are shrunken to window size, but text is presented full size, albeit unformatted, for easier reading. UltraClip can be run full screen or sized to taste, and each window within can also be sized to preference and arranged per your requirements. Configuration options also allow you to specify a default window size. That size can be changed during a session to affect future clipboards pasted into UltraClip.

Options allow you to automatically copy clipboard contents to UltraClip using the AutoPaste mode, or to manually add clipboards that you might need. The Autopaste mode can be set to start when you enter UltraClip and can be discontinued during the session if required. However, you cannot then reenter the Auto Paste mode within that same session.

Button icons are available to readily access some of the most-used functions:

Cut to Clipboard - copy the currently active window to clipboard, then delete window

Copy to Clipboard - copy the currently active window to clipboard

Paste from Clipboard - create a new image window from the clipboard contents

Delete Window - remove the currently active image window from UltraClip

Clear Clipboard - delete the current contents of the clipboard

Uniform Tile - tile the image windows in a grid for easy viewing

The text display window will show if you are in the Auto Paste mode and information about currently active object (if any): Size of DIB/BMP stored in memory, width height resolution/planes of image, PICT memory size, Text object size, Native size if OLE data available or a short explanation of active icon if the right or left mouse button is depressed.

The convenient Auto Paste function automatically adds clipboards to the UltraClip stable, but you must be cautious: clipboards are stored in memory. After a few bitmaps you may find yourself very short on system resources. You can activate or discontinue the Auto Paste function from menu selections. The function will ignore clipboards copied from within UltraClip.

The program is OLE aware. While you cannot embed or link objects you can still store OLE data for embedding or linking in other applications. It behaves as the Windows Clipboard would, storing the original data in the same order and format.

UltraClip is incompatible with the original release of Norton Desktop for Windows 1.0. The author also notes that the program ignores owner-display formats that therefore can result in color distortions in non-active windows.

               Summary

I found UltraClip to be a very useful utility. It adds convenience when assembling pieces of graphics to combine, or if you are excerpting text to include in another document. Using the Auto Paste mode you can continue to assemble your clips without being interrupted to paste them to the recipient at that time. No on-line help is provided, though the functions of the icon buttons do appear in the text window when either the right or left mouse buttons are pressed. The author's documentation is more than adequate to explain the operations of UltraClip.

Registration for UltraClip is an extremely reasonable $5.00 if you continue to use UltraClip after the 21 day trial period. UltraClip is available to members through Windows OnLine at 510-736-8343 as UCLP13.ZIP. Windows 3.1 is required.

For further information please contact:

Doug Overmyer

1817 San Pedro Avenue

Berkeley, CA 94707

Compuserve (71021,2535)

Internet: overmyer@netcom.com


bobpopup120


Windows_Launchers
by Ed Hoffman

Program launchers, though an important part of any windows system, are some of the least exciting forms of software. All program launchers are a variation of the features that already exist in the windows. And even though the program manager, file manager, or command line may be used to launch any program, the right program launcher may be a useful addition to your system.

Program Manager is the primary program launcher in windows. Here you can setup your programs in any number of specific groups. Then when you need the program, you simply go to the program manager, open up one of the groups and select the program you want. This sounds very simple, and works well if you have only a few programs. But, if you are like me and have a variety of windows programs, you'll often forget where you put a particular program. "Let me see - is it under System Utilities, Windows Utilities, or Accessories?" Sometimes, by the time I find the program, I've forgotten why I wanted it.

To help resolve this problem you might want to look at one or more of the following program launchers. These programs are all shareware and are grouped into two general categories: program manager type launchers and simple program launchers. The program launchers are further divided into two types: icon style program launchers, and text based menu style program launchers. These launchers will not help you remember where you put your programs, but they may help make sense of your program filing system.

Program Manager Launchers

Program manager launchers are programs that either replace or augment the windows program manager. This type of program usually offers several features not available with the windows program manager. Most notable of these features is the ability to change the group icons. So, instead of having all group icons the same, as with the windows program manager, these programs allow you to use custom icons for each program group. This makes finding the group you want a bit easier. In addition to changing icons, most of these programs offer added launch features, as well as other custom options to make windows more personal and efficient.

Plug-In 1.12

Plug-In is a add-on enhancement program for the windows program manager. But, unlike some shells that replace the program manager, Plug-in has the same look and feel as the windows program manager, but much more power. Plug-In allows you to customize both the group icons as well as the individual program icons. The program also allows you to activate and deactivate individual groups. When a group is deactivated it stays on the disk, but is removed from the program manager. Icon changing is much faster with Plug-In and the complete setup process is also greatly simplified.

In addition to icons, Plug-In also allows you to change the cursor. A variety of custom cursors are also furnished with the program. Plug-in also offers a variety of enhancements for the menu bar. A QuickRun option allows you to configure the program manager to run your more commonly used programs without opening any groups. The program also has an enhanced RUN option with a browse option, a history list, and other runtime options. The system resources and available memory may also be displayed on the menu bar. Other notable features includes a fine-grain program alignment, low-system resources alarm, and detailed system information window.

Plug-In

Plannet Crafters, Inc.

2580 Runic Way

Alpharetta, GA 30202

Registration fee: $20.00

KBDock 1.2

The KBDock program is a windows shell that replaces the program manager with a vertical application bar. When loaded the application bar is positioned on the right side of the screen. KBDock is equipped with a CONVERT utility to change your existing program manager groups to KBDock groups automatically. These group icons may be customized to suit your preferences. The existing program icons are also included in the application bar. The individual programs may be modified by manually changing the data file or by using the drag-drop feature to load programs from the file manager.

When KBDock is launched, the application bar first shows the listing of program manager groups. When one of the groups is selected the buttons in the application bar change to the icons of the program with that particular group. KBDock may be setup to show a descriptive name as you pass the cursor over each icon in the application bar. This allows you to read the name of the group or program rather than memorizing the meaning of each icon. The icons are cached after their first use. This saves valuable memory space and makes the program very fast. The program may be setup to activate the button with a single or double click and the program may be configured to stay on the desktop or on top of any running programs.

KBDock

Keith Burton Consulting

1800 Grier's Creek Road

Varsailles, KY  40383

Registration fee: $20.00

Program Launchers

Program launchers are typically intended to launch individual programs rather than program groups. These launchers are most often used to keep the programs you use most frequently close at hand. So, rather than starting a specific program by roaming through the hierarchical structure of the program manager or file manager, the program is launched directly from an icon or menu. Depending on the specific program launcher, almost any type of program, or combination of programs, may be started with a single mouse click. The main advantages in using any program launcher are in their increased speed and convenience. The two general styles of program launchers are the icon type launchers and the text based menu style launchers.

Applications Dock  4.10

The Application Dock is an icon style program launcher that allows you to setup the programs you use most often in a convenient dock, or group of icons. The major strengths of this program are its flexibility and easy configuration. The dock may be setup to contain as many as 50 icons and may be locked in one position on the screen or left to float. When set to float on the screen a simple click and drag allows you to reposition the dock whenever it gets in your way. The dock will also change its shape as you drag it to the edges of the screen. So if you have a dock that is two buttons wide and six high, dragging it to the bottom of the screen can change it to three wide and four high, four wide and three high, or down to twelve wide and one high. The dock may also be set to stay on the desktop or on top of any running programs.

Programs may be added to the Applications Dock by editing the .INI file, by editing each button command line, or from the file manager using the drag-drop feature. The program offers a range of startup options and parameters for each program added to the dock. The dock also has a very useful "RUN" option to launch additional programs. The program has a wide array of setup options and may be configured to suit almost any individual taste.

Applications Dock

David R. Black

23651 Verona

Laguna Hills, CA  92653

Registration fee: $10.00

'Lectric Toolbox 1.0

The 'Lectric Toolbox is another icon style program launcher. This program makes extensive use of the windows drag-drop feature. Although programs may be entered by editing the command line, the drag-drop feature is a much faster and simpler way to add programs to the toolbox. The program also makes arranging the buttons very easy. Rather than re configuring or editing the command line for each button, the toolbox may be rearranged by simply moving the icons to the desired button location. The tool box size is set by dragging the borders of the toolbox to the desired size. The size of the toolbox can be set from a single icon to a grid of 18 X 18 icons.

Another benefit of the 'Lectric Toolbox is multiple toolboxes. The program allows any number of different toolboxes to be configured to suit your specific situation. Once the program is loaded the specific toolbox may be selected from the list of existing toolboxes. If you have one tool box you normally use on a regular basis the program can be configured to load this toolbox at the startup. Any additional toolboxes may then be accessed from the startup toolbox. When not needed the toolboxes may be minimized to an icon to save screen space.

'Lectric Toolbox

James Robinson

2809 Brookside Circle

Paragould, AR 72450

Registration fee: $15.00

Usher 1.4d

Usher is a small text based menu style program launcher. One of the more attractive features of Usher is its very low memory overhead. Usher only requires 9k of memory. This type of program launcher is well suited for those people who prefer words to icons when launching programs. Also, since the program is a simple text menu, it takes up much less space on your screen than the icon based launchers. Usher is a very simple and easy to configure program that keeps everything you need close at hand. The program is furnished with a sample USHER.INI file that serves as an example when configuring the program. Usher allows up to ten levels of menu hierarchy and may be configured without leaving the main window. So, no more searching the file manager for the program .INI file.

Usher may be set up to work with any combination of mouse buttons. If you have a three button mouse, for example, a convenient configuration would be using the right button to load the program and the center button for the Usher configuration. This keeps your left mouse button free to select the program. If you have a mouse with two buttons, the configuration area of Usher can be added to the main menu. The program is activated by clicking at any blank space on the desktop. The specific appearance of the program depended on where on the desktop it is activated. So, if the menu is activated on the left side of the screen, additional menus will appear to the right. But if activated on the right side of the screen the menus will open over the main menu. The program has a variety of additional features such as an easy to use run option and an arrange icons command to keep you desktop neat and tidy.

Usher 1.4d

George Browning

5124 Melbourne Road

Raleigh, NC  27606

Registration fee: $15.00

Launch 2.7

Launch is one of the more sophisticated variations of the text based menu style program launchers. Rather than editing an .INI file, the Launch program has a self-contained configuration program to help you setup the launching menu. When the program is first run the configuration program looks for your existing setup and copies it to the Launch program. So, when you click on the program manager menu item your existing configuration is shown. All programs currently loaded in each of the listed groups may be launched with a simple click on the program name. Or if you wish the program may be launched from the keyboard with a hot key combination that may be configured within the program.

Launch is activated by clicking on any blank spot on the desktop. The main menu that appears when the program is launched may also be configured to suit your personal tastes. The main menu is usually the best place to put the programs you run most often.

Launch 2.7

David Stafford

65 Grandview Unit 1

Santa Cruz, CA  95060

Registration fee: $29.95

All of these programs are furnished with very good help files and reasonably complete and well written documentation. The best suggestion this reviewer can offer to help you determine which of the programs is best suited for you is to download all of the programs. Then by working with each you'll be able to find which programs work best for you and your style of work.

Members of Windows OnLine BBS can download these files located as follows:

Plug-In 1.12 is named PLUGN112.ZIP in Dir 5.

KBDock 1.2 is named KBDOCK12.ZIP in Dir 4.

Application Dock 4.10 is named APDCK410.ZIP in Dir 4.

`Lectric ToolBox 1.0 is named LECTBX10.ZIP in Dir 2.

Usher 1.4d is named USHER14D.ZIP in Dir 5.

Launcher 2.7 is named LAUNCH27.ZIP in Dir 4.

Brought to you by:

Ed Hoffman

Staff Writer


Mctrash

There I was, finally finishing up my review of Drag and Zip, so I decided to drag my completed group of files down to the Drag and Zip icon to neatly compress them for transmission to Windows Online. Great, huh? NOT! My aim was off, and they ended up dragged and dropped into my cute little trashcan. Urp! They were gone in a flash! If only I had known about Steve's McTrash Dumpster!

There are at least three trillion "Trash Can" programs in the shareware and freeware market. Ever vigilant, they stand ready to swallow files you no longer need by taking advantage of the Windows drag and drop feature. They are all a blessing in order to avoid the multiple slides and clicks of the inconvenient File Manager deletion methods. McTrash goes one better by giving you the option to dip your hand into that trashcan to retrieve those files inadvertently zapped.

After you've deleted files, the icon changes from empty [image] to full [image]. Options you select affect the disposition of those files. There are three modes to choose from. Double clicking on any of the options describes what they each do. No other help files or documentation are provided, nor are they necessary.

VerifyHose will retain the files in the trashcan and add them to the list. When the Empty Trash button is activated you are prompted for a decision on each file. Yes deletes the file, no will return it to your drive.

AutoHose also retains the files, but when you empty the trash, down the chute they go!

SuperHose retains no files. Those dragged to the trash are deleted.

You can retrieve files before you empty the trash if you've chosen the VerifyHose or AutoHose Mode. Simply highlight the file and select the Undo Trash button and your file is removed from the dumpster and returned to your drive.

You can, of course, still use other utilities to restore files if they are deleted by Steve's McTrash Dumpster. Nothing different than an ordinary erasure is done, so recovery utilities or DOS' undelete will work.

     Summary

You can hardly be critical of something that's free. But even if it wasn't, I think that the program accomplishes its chosen mission well and deserves kudos. Thanks, Steve Peschka, for letting us use your dumpster!

Steve's McTrash Dumpster is available to members of Windows Online at 1-510-736-8343 as MCTRSH.ZIP.

Send your thanks to:

Steve Peschka

CompuServe #76244,3163


WinCD_Review
Now that you've got that new CD-ROM connected to your computer, does it sit there idle half the time? For me, yes, it does. What I did, was join the thousands of users who use their CD-ROM as an expensive CD audio player. This way, I get to hear the music that soothes me and I see the player in use. Since there is no CD audio player included with Windows 3.1, you have to look elsewhere to find a player for Windows. There are not many Windows CD audio players available yet. Of the ones I found, I liked Win CD. It does not show a flashy graphical CD Player, but something simple and functional. In this case, the player is only used to play music in the background.

Win CD 1.30 is an audio CD player for Windows 3.1. It simulates a regular home audio CD player. If you have more than one CD-ROM player, you have the option to choose which one is in use. In the display windows, you get a real time display of the track time. A graph below the time display shows a graphical representation of the track (percentage) played. The track selection is shown in different colors. The green track numbers are tracks that have not been played. Yellow represents tracks that has been played. The red track number displays the currently playing track. It has the standard play, pause, stop, eject, previous track, skip reverse, skip forward, and next track buttons. You can also display information about the CD disk.

 When you drop Win CD to an icon, it displays a real time track counter and the track number. You have an option to keep the icon on top of all applications running in foreground. If by some chance, you need to pause the current CD, all you have to do is just click the right button of your pointing device on the icon. To resume, just click on the icon again.

Win CD covers almost every function a real audio CD player has. There are four playing modes. They are normal, shuffle, programmed, or timed. The CD database keeps all my CDs on file. All I do is pop the audio CD into the CD-ROM, and Win CD knows that I want to hear only certain songs off the CD. Of course, I had to program which songs I wanted the first time around. To ensure that Windows 3.1 is setup correctly to play audio sound from your CD player, the CD audio driver must be loaded. Windows CD audio players have a problem with loading without an audio CD loaded. An error message pops up and the application fails to load. Eventually, this problem will be corrected.

Win CD does everything I wanted for playing audio CDs on my computer. With its extra features, such as shuffle and timed, it has a few functions that the other Windows CD audio players missed. It does lack a sexy graphical representation of a CD audio player, but that is not a necessity. The author has included some trouble shooting information for users who are having problems with their CD-ROM drive. It is simple and easy to use, very straight forward in operating. As time goes by, other features such as a volume control and an improved look to the application, will keep this software on the top of my list.

  Windows 3.1 or higher.

  Any MS Window based computer (286 or higher processor).

  Windows operating in standard or enhanced mode.

  121K of disk space is required to install.

  Any Windows pointing device.

  CD ROM drive with MSCDEX.EXE 2.1 or higher.

  CD Audio Driver installed in Win 3.1.

Other BFM Software products

For more information, please contact:

BFM Software

Brett McDonald

20278 Old Homestead

Harper Woods, MI 48225

Compuserve ID 73770,1254

AOL ID BrettMc

WCD200.ZIP can be found on your local Bulletin Board System

or to members from

Windows Online 510-736-8343

This program is shareware. If you like the program and continue to use it, please support the shareware concept. Registration Fee: $9.95 U.S.


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RV_WCD_Select


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RV_WCD_DiskCat


RV-WCD-Pop1


RV-WCD-Pop2


RV-WCD-Pop3


RV_WCD-Pop4


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InContact

The are a number of moderately expensive, complex contact managers on the commercial market. InContact! fills two gaps very nicely with its deceivingly simple appearance but multi-featured functionality and its reasonable and flexible pricing policies.

Thoughtful design is apparent the moment you start InContact! The opening logo offers three choices: Continue into the program, display Shareware information, or be presented with an informative Overview. Shareware authors take note of this intelligent approach to making a first impression.

The main screen of InContact! presents all of the information about a particular contact and the mechanisms to move from one to another or select groups of contacts. However, it can be customized to hide any unnecessary or unused components of the data to reduce the size of the screen (see View on menu composite graphic).

Category, Status and Flags are all initially blank and available for customization to your individual needs. Contacts can be quickly categorized from the drop down selections you place in your configuration, and Status can contain anything from a hot to cold rating or your very own business or personal system to determine action plans. Eight flags can be named and used for each contact and later used for selection criteria or just general information about a contact.

Entries for six telephone numbers are provided, all of which can be accessed from the phone dialer. Work and home addresses can be entered, or the home address fields can be used for other purposes such as letter salutations, etc., since InContact! has the capability to integrate any data field into form letters or extract to a file. Random notes up to 64,000 characters are easily placed and later scanned in the window provided.

Finally, dates of Last Call, Call Back and Birthday along with an automatically calculated Age are shown. Clicking on the ellipsis adjacent to the date fields will pop up a convenient calendar which can assist you in selecting and inputting a date.

The slider on the toolbar of the main screen browses through your contacts, but pressing Locate pops up a list of all in your database in alphabetical order, the name being the key to the database. A quick double click on any selection will bring that contact to the screen.

The first of three pushbuttons on the toolbar allow quick access to Attached Files. You can attach any number of files, an invoice, a document, etc., to a contact, and clicking on that file will bring up the application to which the file extension is associated.

The second will bring up the Call dialog box. Any of six numbers in the contact record can be dialed after you've set up InContact! to recognize the com port to which your modem is attached. When you dial out, a Call Log dialog box is activated and your call is timed and logged with notations you make through easy check-off options describing the result of the call.

The final icon on the toolbar activates a Print Letter dialog box which provides for the selection of a form letter file. InContact! instructs you on how to make a document template into which fields from your contact database can be inserted by placing certain character strings in the letter.

Facilities are even provided to produce user-defined reports or labels directly from InContact! A variety of label formats are offered, and the ability to customize label formats is even available! Your library of fonts can be accessed for use in production.

Another method to take advantage of your contact database is the ability to import and export data to and from InContact! Various delimiter formats are available to accommodate nearly any interface. Fields can be selected for export, including blank lines, to work with many other applications, and formats established can be saved.

Selection criteria to extract contacts for a specific purpose is extremely flexible. Text searches can be accomplished as well as keying in on specific fields which do or do not meet the data specified. The flags which you have defined can be used as keys to maintain certain mailing lists or contact groups for easy extraction.

InContact! is a surprisingly full-featured program with many dimensions that are at first not apparent. Multiple databases can be created and accessed by the program so it can be useful for multiple personal and/or business purposes. A menu option even offers user defined program launching directly from InContact! Extensive and well-written on-line help is available. The following composite of the menu system provides additional perspective on the richness of the program:

                     Summary

InContact! is a wonderful entry to the world of shareware and provides a very nice array of features. It seems very well designed for the first version right out of the starting gate. Clearly David Balmer is not just the author of the system he created, but a user as well. While not quite in the league as various commercial programs, it must be recognized that not everyone needs all the bells and whistles of those $300.00 behemoths. And InContact! makes quite a bit of noise itself, and for a fraction of the cost.

One could comment on additional components which would be complementary to a contact manager, such as scheduling. However, certain features begin to cross over into the Personal Information Manager (PIM) category, and debate could very easily break out as to what features should be exclusive to either program.

Various pricing options are available dependent upon the need for a manual and telephone support. The program can be registered for as little as $20.00, extraordinary for such an extensive contact manager. Site licenses are available.

Requirements are Windows 3.X, VBRUN100.DLL, and at least 1 meg of RAM. It will run in either standard or enhanced mode. Networks are not supported. Members of Windows OnLine can download InContact! as INCT11A.ZIP and INCT11B.ZIP.

For further information please contact:

Serious Shareware

P.O. Box 5523

Arlington, TX 76005-5523


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Windial

Reviewed By Rich Young

I have run across a neat little shareware phone dialer from Dameware Development. WinDial 2.1 is simple, yet everything one could ever need in a phone dialer. I have always thought that a dialer would be more hassle than it was worth, but WinDial has changed my mind. WinDial is convenient to use and quite handy. Dialing a number is as easy as double-clicking on a name/number from your list. I was able to master the program within minutes without needing to refer to any documentation, of which the help file is all that comes with this version.

This is the main window you see after installing and launching the program. As you can see the interface contains the usual pull down menus with a button bar underneath. The columns contain all the information you wish to keep on each entry. You can sort by last name, first name, company name, city or state. Create as many different phone books as you wish.

The first thing I needed to do was the modem setup:

All I had to really change here was the com port and baud rate settings. The initialization string was just fine, as were the dial and hangup strings. If you need to dial a number to access an outside line, you just need to make sure to put it in one of the three Prefix boxes.

Then I went to the Options menu and chose Display to set the look of the directory from the following choices:

This display menu item offers five categories.

Window Size and Location. If the User Defined option is selected, the program will remember the size and location it was last displayed. The next time it is started it will have the same location and size. If the Windows Default option is selected, the program will start as a standard Windows program.

Stay on top. This function allows this program to stay on top of other programs whether or not it is active. This function is particularly useful if you are using full screen Windows and this screen is minimized.

Display Time and Date. These options will or will not display the time and date whether it is minimized or maximized. However, when it is minimized only the time will show.

Phone List Display. The single column option will display last name, first name, telephone number, company name, address and city, depending on screen resolution, font size and window size. If you, with the single column option, also select the horizontal scroll (H-Scroll), you will also be able to display the state and zip code by scrolling to the right. The multicolumn option will display only the last name and first name of each record which enables you to display more records at one time.

Caption Info. This option will allow you to turn on or off the information bar at the bottom of the window. Note: Clicking the right mouse button to the right of the manual dial button, will display the number of records in the current database.

Using WinDial is so simple, 90% of the functions are a click away on the button bar. From adding numbers to the dialing, the button bar is complete. Now I just have to add my own entry:

This button brings up the Add Entry dialog box:

Here I simply fill in the information I wish to add to the database. Although WinDial is only a dialer, you still get the opportunity to store the full address for each entry, if you so desire. This can come in handy at times. When adding in the names, keep in mind how you are sorting your data, so it comes out the way you intended. If you make a mistake, or need to update any of the information for an entry, then just click on the next button:

And this will bring up the Edit Entry dialog box:

At this point, you get pretty much the same box as the Add Entry box. You can change any of the data already in place, or add data to the appropriate places. This way you can keep your data current.

This button allows me to find entries via a key word:

When your list gets big and you maybe have several contacts at the same company, you may want to search through a particular group for an individual number. For example you talked to a Fred at Adobe, but you forgot his last name. Type Adobe in the box and WinDial will find the first (and any subsequent) entry with the word Adobe in it. Or type in Fred to find everyone with that first name in you database. Hitting the next button takes you to the next entry that contains the key word you specified.

Hitting this button will delete the highlighted entry from your database:

When you no longer need to keep an entry, or that company went out of business, keep your data lean and mean by deleting those entries that are useless. Remember, a well groomed database is a happy database!

This button allows me to attach a note to an entry:

And what a handy feature this is. You can keep track of what you talked about last time, or need to talk about next time. Keep track of birthdays and other critical events. You can also store other reference phone or fax numbers, extensions or whatever your little heart desires.

By clicking on this button, WinDial will dial the highlighted entry:

When this box appears, your modem has dialed the number. You then simply pick up the receiver and hit the Pick Up button to disconnect the modem. Your call has been placed! Keep in mind that this same action can be accomplished by just double clicking on the entry itself, which is more than likely the fastest method.

If you ever need to dial a number that isn't on your list, you can use the Manual Dial button:

Here you simply click on the appropriate numbers on the keypad and hit the dial button to place your call. It doesn't get any easier than this!

An added bonus to WinDial is the WinDial Call Log, which can be accessed from the View menu:

This is a particularly useful feature to refer to when you need to remember the last time you called an entry. It gives the date and time of call and the entry dialed. When you no longer want to keep the entries in the log, you just need to choose Flush Log from the File menu, or you can even print the log file out if you wish.

In Conclusion:

I found WinDial 2.1 to be a fine utility, one that is surprisingly useful. The program is simple to operate and gives a host of features for a small application. This is one phone dialer that I would not hesitate to recommend to all users. I like the way the author had the kind foresight to let the user customize elements such as the background color and fonts in the directory window. I give WinDial 2.1 a hearty "thumbs up", to a job well done. You can register WinDial 2.1 for $20.

You can try WinDial 2.1 for yourself, it's available to members now on Windows OnLine under the file name WD21.ZIP.

For further information, contact:

DAMEWARE DEVELOPMENT

4517 STALLION

ORANGE, TEXAS  77630

CompuServe ID 75020,1044

Fax at (409) 883-5632

Brought to you by

   (Click)

  Rich Young
  Staff Writer
  Windows OnLine


Metz_Task_Manager

Task Manager 2.0

Reviewed by Ed Hoffman

One of the first features of Windows 3.X that many people trip over is the utility called "Task List". The "Task List", in case you have not yet found, is started by double clicking the blank desktop, or by clicking "Switch to..." in the Control-Menu of any windows program. You can also bring up this window with the Ctrl+Esc key combination. When I first stumbled over this built-in Windows utility my first thought was, "That's nice, but what else does it do?"

The original intent of the "Task List" was to make task switching easier. But, as is often the case, Microsoft left quite a bit of room for improvement in this program. And improve the program is just what Metz Software did. But rather than simply adding a few new features, Metz completely redefined both the basic concept as well as the program. The end result is the METZ Task Manager 2.0.

Task Manager is like a Swiss Army Knife for Windows. It contains virtually every important feature needed to use Windows efficiently and effectively. Task Manager may be run as a stand alone program or as a Windows shell. As a replacement shell, Task Manager offers many of the benefits and much of the power or larger shell replacements like Norton Desktop for Windows. Despite its compact design, Task Manager is deceptively powerful and fast. The three main functions of Task Manager are in the areas of Task Management, File Management, and Scheduling.

Task Management

Task Manager offers three separate choices for launching programs. The "Launch Pad" allows you to setup the nine programs you use most often. These programs are started by simply clicking on the program icon. In addition to simply adding buttons, the program also allows you to customize the way the program runs. Each program may be launched in any of four ways: Normal, Minimized, Maximized, or Hidden. Hot keys may also be assigned to each program to allow the programs to be launched from the keyboard.

A second type of program launcher is the LAUNCH command on the Menu Bar. This menu puts any number of programs just a mouse click away. Instead of using icons, this menu shows the programs as text entries. The menu is fully customizable and may be setup with a single menu or a series of cascading sub-menus. Again, each program may be setup to run virtually any way you wish. For those committed to the DOS like command line, the "Run" box at the bottom of the window will allow you type commands directly. The "Run List" will keep track of up to 99 specific commands and permits a doubleclick return to any previously "Run" task.

In addition to providing a convenient method of launching programs, the Desktop Arrangement Buttons, above the Launch Pad, allow you to keep the Windows Desktop setup and arranged. A simple click on any of these buttons will allow you to arrange the icons, launch programs either minimized or maximized with a simple drag and drop, and set up the screen arrangement for cascade, tile, or grid arrangements. There are even "End Task" and "Switch To" buttons that appear when a program is selected. Again, each works with a simple drag and drop.

The "Task/Group Combo Box" and the "Task/Group Window" on the left side of the Task Manager Window show both the currently running programs and allow easy access to all your Program Manager Groups. The down-pointing arrow on the right switches the Task Window to the listing of Program Manager Groups. To change, simply select the group you want and the Group Window appears with all the programs. When you want to return to the Task Window, simply click the up-pointing arrow on the left. Both these windows are fully customizable and either the Program Manager or Norton Desktop for Windows Groups may be shown. The "Task Window" may be setup to show only normal programs or hidden programs as well. Even the sequence and appearance of the listing can be set to suit your preference. So, if you prefer the description, command line, or no text may be shown. Even the icons can be turned on or off.

File Management

Managing files is handled in Task Manager with the "Quick Utilities" buttons located above the Desktop Arrangement Buttons. These utilities provide quick and easy access to perform many of the file housekeeping chores. The first two buttons are for the Select Directory and the Quick File Manager options. If Task Manager has one weakness, this splitting the directory and files is that weakness. But these do allow you complete, if somewhat cumbersome, access to all your files for copying, moving, renaming, deleting, printing, or launching. Again, the drag and drop feature many be used for each of these operations. One other unique feature of Task Manager is the "default application" option. When you select a file that has an extension that is not listed in the Windows Associations, rather than an error message Task Manager will run the program you preset. The default program is Notepad, but you can set it to run any other viewer or program you desire.

The next two buttons are the Quick File Find and Quick Text Search options. The Quick File Find is without doubt the fastest file finder for Windows this reviewer has ever seen. The speed rivals some of the better DOS file finding programs. The Quick Text Search, while not as fast as the Quick File Find, is fast enough for most routine searches for specific words or text passages. Both these programs also offer a nifty launch feature. So, once the file is found a simple double-click will launch the program or a viewer to look at the file.

The last Quick Utility button is the System Status option. This program is a very quick popup array of system information. The data shown includes memory allocations, system setups, and drive space. There are also a series of five icons for opening and editing the WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI, METZ.INI, AUTOEXEC.BAT, and CONFIG.SYS files.

Scheduling

The scheduler program, which is installed in the Program Manager group, rather than the Task Manager itself, is another feature that this reviewer has learned he can't live without. From running simple pop-up reminders to scheduling lengthy print jobs or system backup tasks, when your away from the computer, the scheduler is a very useful utility. The scheduler even has a memory and if you have a system shut down, scheduler remembers what the computer did not do and allows you a "Run Missed Event" option.

The final feature of the METZ Task Manager that deserves mention is the built-in screen saver. Once again the screen saver is fully customizable and allows you to set either a blank screen, the Metz logo, or a custom bitmap. The screen saver may be set to activate at any interval from 0 to 99 minutes of inactivity. The delay interval that moves the logo or bitmap around the screen may also be set.

The program has excellent on line help and a very well written manual. Task Manager runs on IBM AT, PS/2, 286 (and up) or compatible, and requires Windows 3.0 or 3.1, DOS 3.1 or higher, 720K disk space for a complete installation and a mouse is recommended.

From: Metz Software, P.O. Box 6699, Bellevue, WA 980080699

Telephone orders - 8004471712

Technical Support - 2066414525

Fax - 2066446026.

Retail Price: $49.95

Brought to you by:

Ed Hoffman

Staff Writer


ArcMaster_for_Windows

ArcMaster 1.1 for Windows

by Rich Young

I have been a long time user of ArcMaster for DOS, and have been waiting patiently for the Windows version of this first rate utility. New-Ware did not let me down. While AMW is not exactly the same as its DOS counterpart, there is enough of it combined with the skillful exploitation of the Windows environment to make this user a happy camper. AMW is a Windows 3.1 program designed to make the management of file compression systems and the files they produce much easier. In addition, AMW offers normal file management capabilities such as file copy, move, and deletion, directory tree management, and more.

Installation of the program is so easy, it doesn't warrant explanation. The first time you start the program, you'll want to configure it to suit your needs. That process is also very simple. After you have your preferences configured, it's time to start in with an AMW session. You are presented with this main screen:

This is the upper left hand quarter of the screen.

And this is the upper right hand quarter of the screen.

This is the lower left hand quarter of the screen.

And of course the lower right hand quarter of the screen.

The main AMW display consists of two file list windows, a status box for each list window, and operating controls. All AMW functions are available through the main pull-down menu and many of them are accessible through button and keypress controls.

The active directory path name appears on a control above each file list window. You can click on this control to activate the Directory Tree display.

A cluster of 8 control buttons is located in the lower center area of the main display:

1 Tag Ops

2 Fil Msk

3 Browse

4 Launch

5 Unpack

6 Arc Opt

7 Set Sys

8 No Tags

There are two control buttons located just below each file list window:

Clear Tags - Which simply clears all tagged files in that window.

Focus Left/Right - Just makes either the left or right window the "active" window.

In addition, there is an EXIT button located at the very bottom center of the display.

Most AMW functions are available through the keyboard as well as via the menu, buttons, and the mouse. The main menu shows the associated keyboard command for each AMW function.

Tagged File Dialog

AMW makes it quick and easy to perform functions on groups of files. I usually like to delete my ZIP files after I have un-packed them, so all I have to do is tag them and hit the TAG OPS button to get the Tagged File Dialog box.

This dialog displays the list of all tagged files. The list is flanked by six action buttons. The current default archive system status is displayed in the lower left hand corner. You may change the destination directory via the edit control in the lower center of the dialog.

The six action buttons function as follows:

  Starts compression of the tagged files using the default archive system.

  Starts decompressing tagged compressed files.

  Starts conversion of tagged compressed files to the default archive system.

  Starts copying tagged files to destination directory.

  Starts moving tagged files to destination directory.

  Starts deletion of tagged files.

You may remove a file name from the list by positioning the selector bar over a file name and pressing the Del key.

Unzip & Zip With Ease

With so many options for executing functions, you have the advantage of picking one that suits you. When I go to unzip a file with AMW, my preferred method is to simply double-click on the file in the left window. That immediately brings up this window:

Here I can view and then select only those files that I need out of the archive, leaving the "filler" behind. Then I can choose from any of my preferred options from the UnPack Zip dialog window.

The fastest method is to click on the Unpack Button , which will quickly extract all the files in the selected archive (with default parameters) to the directory in the right hand window.

Creating an archive is just as easy, and works along the same lines. You need only select the files you want to compress and hit the F9 key, or select the Tag Ops button to bring up that window where you select the Pack Files button. If you select the F9 key, you get the Compress Window:

After making your selections, or when you hit the Pack Files button from the Tag Ops window, you then have to give your archive a Name. From here you can select the Cmds Ops button to change any of the PKZIP default options for compression. After the compression is complete, your new archive appears in the right hand window.

In Conclusion

ArcMaster for Windows is a superior archive utility. It is the best in the Windows environment to date. New-Ware does have to smooth out the rough edges, and I would like to see more of the keystrokes from the DOS version incorporated, but the program is first-rate in my book. I would also like the compressing and uncompressing done internally, instead of shelling out to DOS. I would at this point highly recommend ArcMaster for Windows to all users that deal with many archived files.

For more information, contact:

New-Ware Shareware Products

8050 Camino Kiosco

San Diego, CA 92122

(619) 455-6225

You can try ArcMaster for Windows v1.1 for yourself. It is available to members on Windows OnLine as AMW11.ZIP.

Brought to you by

   (Click)

  Rich Young
  Staff Writer
  Windows OnLine


TAG OPTS


File Mask


browz


AMW LAUNCH


Un Pak


Arc Opts


Set Sys


NO TAGS

This merely clears any and all currently tagged files in both windows!


DIR TREE


UnPack Zip


Zip Name


Compress Opts


Vote
Want a chance to WIN a new high speed modem

and to

help Windows OnLine too?

If you have not otherwise noticed, the on-line world is growing rapidly. The use of high speed modems is becoming quite common. Due to the current low cost of these modems more and more computer users are connecting to the rest of the world at high speed every day. Specialized on-line services, such as Windows OnLine, are growing in popularity. Boardwatch Magazine is another popular service that caters to the on-line (modem) user. This publication is distributed as a printed magazine, by subscription, and is available at your newsstand. It is also distributed as an on-line file similar to this magazine, the WinOnLine REVIEW.

Boardwatch Magazine is sponsoring a contest to find the 100 most popular bulletin board systems in North America - and the ONE BBS most popular among callers. The contest will run from January 1, 1993 through July 1, 1993. Winners will be announced at the Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON) held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado, August 26-29 1993. The Boardwatch 100 list will be published in subsequent issues of Boardwatch Magazine and distributed in electronic form world-wide. This REVIEW will also print the list of the TOP 100 bbs's when they're announced.

PRIZES FOR BULLETIN BOARD OPERATORS

1ST PRIZE: The BBS system receiving the largest number of valid ballots will be named the most popular BBS. A trophy will be awarded to the top BBS at the Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON) held August 26-29th, 1993, at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Additionally, the winning BBS will receive air fare, hotel accommodations and registration at ONE BBSCON for the primary BBS operator as the guest of Boardwatch Magazine. Additionally, the system will be featured on the cover of Boardwatch Magazine with an accompanying feature length story about their system and a free full-page black and white advertisement in Boardwatch Magazine for a period of three months.

TOP TEN: The ten most popular bulletin boards selected by the voters will each receive an award trophy at on their system in Boardwatch Magazine, inclusion in a special top ten BBS listing in the magazine, and a free quarter-page black and white advertisement in three successive issues. Additionally, they will be listed in the Boardwatch 100 BBS HST.

TOP ONE HUNDRED: The 100 bulletin boards receiving the most votes will each be listed in the Boardwatch 100 readers choice BBS list. This list will be published in Boardwatch Magazine and freely distributed electronically on thousands of bulletin boards world-wide.

IN CASE OF TIE: Positions for which an identical number of votes are received will be determined by point value established by the date stamp assigned to each received ballot. Time/Date stamp values are accumulated for all votes and a cumulative score assigned to each BBS based on date of receipt of ballots. Votes receive a date stamp value between 1 and 180 based on the day of the contest the vote is received. System with lowest (earliest) cumulative date stamp score will prevail in event of tie.

PRIZES FOR VOTERS

All valid ballots submitted by voters will be entered in a random sweepstakes drawing. As of the opening date of this contest, prizes include two U.S. Robotics Courier Dual Standard 16.8K Modems, two Hayes OPTIMA 14400 + FAX 144 modems, and two ZyXeL U-1496 14,400 bps modems - and more are on the way. A minimum of six valid ballots will be selected from all entries and each will receive a free modem - from the most popular modem manufacturers in the world.

RULES FOR CALLERS

Each voter can vote once, for a single bulletin board system. Each ballot must be fully completed, and individually mailed by each voter. We will verify ballots as necessary. There are three ways to vote:

1. Complete this ballot and mail to:	BOARDWATCH MAGAZINE

READERS CHOICE BBS CONTEST,

5970 South Vivian Street

Littleton, CO 80127

2. Complete this ballot and FAX to (303)973-3731.

3. Or, dial the Boardwatch BBS at (303)973-4222 and complete the online ballot provided on the main menu.

Balloting closes at 23:59:59 on June 30,1993, Last year it ended at midnight on July 1 and caused all manner of grief and confusion so we're cutting a second off of this year's contest.

This contest is not limited to Boardwatch Magazine subscribers, and no purchase of anything is required to participate in this contest. Reasonable facsimile's of this ballot are acceptable, so long as all specified information is included.

Boardwatch held this contest during 1992 and it generated 11,152 votes by the close of balloting for some 1250 different bulletin boards. The TOP system received about 450 votes. Your individual vote can have a tremendous impact on the outcome of this contest. Further, the odds of winning a modem in last years contest, were 1 in 1394. You won't get those odds in the lottery.

Windows OnLine,

the best Windows bbs in the world, (we think),

who is the publisher of the WinOnLine REVIEW

 and of  the Weekly,

is asking for your support.

We ask you to print out the following form

 fill it out and VOTE for WOL in this contest.

Please mail it TODAY!

   (Select Print Topic from the file menu to print).


Vote_Form
TITLE OF BBS YOU VOTE FOR AS THE BEST:      Windows OnLine

PRIMARY BBS ACCESS TELEPHONE NUMBER:      510-736-8343

VOTER NAME:

VOICE PHONE NUMBER:

STREET ADDRESS:

CITY: STATE:                                                                                     ZIP CODE:

Primary COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE YOU USE:

PRIMARY MODEM MANUFACTURER AND MODEL:

HIGHEST SPEED YOUR MODEM SUPPORTS: 1200bps   2400bps   9600bps   14400bps   19200bps

DO YOU USE MS WINDOWS (Y/N):

DO YOU HAVE A SECOND TELEPHONE LINE FOR USE WITH YOUR MODEM (Y/N):

TOTAL CALLS YOU MAKE TO BBS PER MONTH:

WHEN DID YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST BBS CALL (MM/YY):

AGE:     	SEX (M/F):      	PROFESSION:

SIGNATURE:      	DATE: