DESK MANAGER 3.3 Copyright ½ 1988, 1989, 1990 Charles F. Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software Revision: Friday, May 11, 1990 Desk Manager is a program that goes in the AUTO folder of your boot disk. It will automatically select the correct DESKTOP.INF file for your desired resolution, and allow you to choose which AUTO programs and desk accessories will load. In addition, if one of your AUTO programs is named GDOS*.PRG (the asterisk means "any characters"), Desk Manager will also let you choose the ASSIGN.SYS file which will be used with GDOS. And one of the nicest things about it - even though Desk Manager runs from the AUTO folder it still lets you use the mouse to select files! The original version of Desk Manager was published in ST-Log and only allowed the choice of desk accessories. The latest versions of Desk Manager have many significant improvements over the original. Up to 128 DESKTOP.INF files, AUTO programs, ASSIGN.SYS files, and desk accessories can be displayed and selected from. A "timeout" feature has been added, so that if you don't press a key for a configurable amount of time on any selection screen, Desk Manager continues to the next screen. You can abort the program without changing anything at any time, or back up to previous screens after exiting them. Desk Manager can display a startup picture during bootup before entering the selection screens, in either Spectrum 512 compressed (color) or DEGAS uncompressed (monochrome) format. A "Help" function is also added, to clear up any confusion about how to use Desk Manager. Desk Manager works on color, monochrome and extended resolution monitors, takes up very little disk space, and was written entirely in 68000 assembly language. *** NOTE: If you're already familiar with the basic operation of *** Desk Manager, you may want to skip ahead to the section at the *** end of this document titled "NEW STUFF." Copyright Information --------------------- Desk Manager (DESKMG33.PRG) and the documentation (DESKMG33.TXT) are: Copyright ½ 1988, 1989, 1990 Charles F. Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software. All rights reserved. Desk Manager is distributed as SHAREWARE. This means that you are free (under the conditions explained below) to give copies of the program to friends, upload it to bulletin boards, etc. If you end up using the program, you are expected to become a registered user by sending a shareware payment of at least $15.00 to: Charles F. Johnson P.O. Box 1250 Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Shareware can be a feasible alternative to the normal means of distribution; but it will only work if you do send in your registration fee. So if you'd like to see further updates to Desk Manager and other useful shareware programs, your support will make a difference! If you have suggestions for improving Desk Manager, your opinions will carry more weight if you're registered; I'll work to include any suggestions that seem useful. If you have an account on Delphi, GEnie, or Compuserve, please include your user name or ID number when registering - this is the easiest way for me to get in touch with you if I need to. If you'd like an acknowledgement that I've received your registration fee, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope along with your payment. If you also include a disk (and enough postage) I'll fill it up with the latest versions of all Little Green Footballs shareware products and mail it back to you. Desk Manager may be freely distributed as long as both of the above-mentioned files are included, and as long as neither file is altered in any way whatsoever. The program may NOT be sold or included with a commercial product without the express written consent of the author. Also, this documentation may not be reprinted without the express written consent of the author. Preparing to use Desk Manager ----------------------------- First, if there is no pre-existing AUTO folder on your boot disk, you must create one. You can do this from the desktop by opening a window on the drive containing your boot disk, and choosing "New Folder" from the "File" menu. Enter AUTO in the dialog box that appears, and press Return. The AUTO folder will be created. Now, copy DESKMG33.PRG into the AUTO folder. Do this by double-clicking on the folder name (or icon); this will open the folder. Then click and drag DESKMG33.PRG to the open AUTO window. For best results, DESKMG33.PRG should be as close to the first program in your AUTO folder as possible. Remember that AUTO programs run in the order in which they are written to the folder. If you already have programs in your AUTO folder, you may have to copy them all to another disk, delete them, and copy them back in the order you wish them to run, to ensure that DESKMG33.PRG runs first. NOTE: If your hard disk driver needs to run from the AUTO folder (it shouldn't if you are autobooting from the hard disk), the driver should be copied into the AUTO folder _before_ DESKMG33.PRG. IMPORTANT: Do NOT rename DESKMG33.PRG! The program writes configuration data to itself to avoid the need for a separate data file, and looks specifically for the filename DESKMG33.PRG. If you've given it a new name, the configuration option will not work (although the program itself will still run). Now, with the AUTO folder still open, create another new folder inside AUTO called DESKMGR. This folder-inside-a-folder will hold your DESKTOP.INF files and your ASSIGN.SYS files. Arrange your desktop the way you like it for each resolution and save it with the "Save Desktop" function in the "Options" menu. After saving your desktop, rename DESKTOP.INF to LOWDESK.INF, MEDDESK.INF, or HIGHDESK.INF, depending on the resolution. Then copy these .INF files to the DESKMGR folder inside AUTO. Now, whenever Desk Manager starts up, it will read the correct DESKTOP.INF file for the current resolution and copy it to the boot drive so GEM will find it when the desktop runs. To use the startup picture option, copy any Spectrum 512 compressed picture (*.SPC) to the DESKMGR folder and rename it to DESKMGR.SPC. Monochrome users should copy a DEGAS uncompressed picture (*.PI3) to the DESKMGR folder and rename it to DESKMGR.PI3. People with both monitors may have both DESKMGR.SPC and DESKMGR.PI3 in the DESKMGR folder. If you have any ASSIGN.SYS files (used by GDOS), rename them to something more descriptive (e.g. WORDUP.SYS, EASYDRAW.SYS, etc...as long as you keep the .SYS extension) and copy these files into the DESKMGR folder as well. (If you are using CodeHead Software's G+PLUS instead of GDOS, this option will still work.) You're now ready to go. Running Desk Manager -------------------- The first time you run Desk Manager, it will ask you "Which drive holds the AUTO programs?" and "Which drive holds the accessories?" You can type any letter from A to P for the AUTO programs, since some current hard disk drivers will let you boot from any drive; but you can only type 'A' or 'C' at the "accessories" prompt. (Floppy disk users will most likely type 'A', hard disk users will probably use 'C'.) After the "AUTO program" and "accessory" prompts Desk Manager will ask you, "Write DESKTOP.INF to which drive?" Type the letter (A through P) of the drive to which you wish to write the DESKTOP.INF file. This will usually (but not always) be the same as the drive from which your desk accessories run. Next, Desk Manager asks how many seconds to hold the startup picture. Type a number from 0 to 9 (0 means 'don't show the picture'). The next prompt asks you for a 'timeout length'. This is the number of seconds that Desk Manager will wait for input before proceeding automatically. After you answer this prompt, Desk Manager asks you whether you'd like to it to ring a bell when it's awaiting input (in case you have a habit of dozing off at the computer as you boot up). The next question you have to answer is "Default: Run or Bypass?" This is asking you whether you would like Desk Manager to go through its selection screens each time you boot up (unless you type the "Run/Bypass" key [see below] before Desk Manager runs), or to be bypassed (unless you type the "Run/Bypass" key). Desk Manager next asks you "Which key will you use to Run/Bypass Desk Manager?" At this prompt, you should type the key you wish to use to "invert" the normal operation of Desk Manager. In other words, if your copy of Desk Manager is set to "Run" and you do not want to see the selection screens at bootup, type the "Run/Bypass" key before Desk Manager runs (at bootup). If Desk Manager is set to "Bypass," you will not see the selection screens unless you type the "Run/Bypass" screen before Desk Manager runs. The last question you'll need to answer is, "Write DESKTOP.INF even when bypassing?" This lets you write the DESKTOP.INF file even if Desk Manager is set to bypass automatically unless Undo is pressed. This way, when you change monitors (if you're lucky enough to own both color and monochrome monitors), the desktop will still be set up correctly even if you don't actually run Desk Manager. At this point Desk Manager will show you a list of all the configuration choices you've made, and ask you "Are these choices correct?" Type Y to continue, or N to start the configuration process over if you've made a mistake. After you've answered all these questions and confirmed your choices, Desk Manager asks if you want to save this configuration. Type 'Y' to save, and all the choices you've just made will be written directly into the DESKMG33.PRG file itself, so you won't have to answer these questions again. Any other key continues without saving the configuration. REMEMBER: you can always reset your configuration data at any time by typing the Help key before Desk Manager runs. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not rename the DESKMG33.PRG file or you will be unable to save your configuration! You will also be unable to save your configuration if you use a program like PACK or DC SQUISH on Desk Manager. (DESKMG33.PRG must be un-packed or un-squished before the configuration save feature will work again. Desk Manager is so small anyway that it doesn't really make sense to Pack it.) Desk Manager will now attempt to read LOWDESK.INF, MEDDESK.INF, or HIGHDESK.INF (depending on the current res) from the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder and write it to the main directory of the boot drive as DESKTOP.INF. If Desk Manager is unable to find one of these three default .INF files when it runs, the first selection screen will be for the DESKTOP.INF file. All files in \AUTO\DESKMGR with an extension of .INF will be displayed and you may choose one in the manner described in the next paragraph. When you select an .INF file, it will be immediately read into memory and re-written to the main directory of your boot disk as DESKTOP.INF. Desk Manager will then proceed to the AUTO Program selection screen. In the AUTO selection screen, Desk Manager reads the names of all files with an extension of .PR? ('?' means 'any character') in your AUTO folder and displays them in the upper half of the screen. These are all your AUTO programs, which will be automatically executed when you boot your computer if their extensions are '.PRG'. When Desk Manager is ready to accept input, you'll hear a bell tone and see an arrow pointer resting on the first name in the upper left; you can move this pointer around with the arrow keys or the mouse. Type Return or press the left mouse button to select and de-select files, and type Esc or press the right mouse button to continue to the next screen. If you don't type anything for about 2.5 seconds following the bell, Desk Manager will continue to the next screen. (This "timeout" feature is active in all the Desk Manager selection screens.) Typing any key will cause the timeout feature to be deactivated for the current screen. If Desk Manager finds a file named GDOS*.PRG in your AUTO folder after processing the AUTO programs, you will then see a list of all the ASSIGN.SYS files which you've copied into the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder. Move the pointer among the names and select one by typing Return or pressing the left mouse button. The chosen file will then be read into memory and immediately written out to the main directory of your boot disk as ASSIGN.SYS. If Desk Manager does not find a GDOS*.PRG file in the AUTO folder the ASSIGN.SYS selection screen will be bypassed. The last selection screen displays the desk accessories in the main directory of your boot disk. All files with an extension of .AC? will be shown sorted alphabetically, to a maximum of 128. The selection procedure works just as with the other screens, with the keyboard or mouse. Since the desktop allows a maximum of six desk accessories, you may only select six filenames on this screen. If you try to select more than six, you'll hear a bell to alert you that you've reached the limit. While in the ASSIGN.SYS or Desk Accessory selection screens, you may return to any previous screen by typing the Backspace key. If you type Backspace while on the AUTO Programs screen, you will enter the DESKTOP.INF selection screen, even if one of the default .INF files has already been installed. On any screen the Help key will display a brief explanation of how to set up and use Desk Manager, and the Undo key will immediately quit the program, without changing any filenames on the current screen. Also on any screen, you may type the 'W' key to turn disk write verify on and off. In the AUTO and Desk Accessory selection screens, any programs or accessories that are already active will be shown in inverse. Therefore, to go to the next screen without changing the current setup all you have to do is hit the Esc key (or wait for the timeout). In either of these screens, typing Clr Home will de-select all files and let you start with a clean slate. When you use a color monitor, Desk Manager will default to using the medium resolution DESKTOP.INF file, MEDDESK.INF. If you wish to boot into low resolution (using LOWDESK.INF), type 'L' any time before Desk Manager runs. If you wish to bypass Desk Manager entirely, type Undo any time before the program runs. To reconfigure Desk Manager to use different drives for AUTO programs and accessories (like you do the first time it runs) type Help before the program runs. You may notice that the desk accessory filenames are alphabetized, while the AUTO programs are not. There's a reason behind this seeming inconsistency. The order in which desk accessories load is rarely very important; in fact, the GEM desktop seems to have its own way of ordering the accessories, regardless of the order in which they actually load. Therefore, Desk Manager sorts the accessory names alphabetically to make it a bit easier to find a particular accessory in a screen full of names. However, the order of the AUTO program names on the Desk Manager screen is the same as the order in which they will run. Many times, the order of the AUTO programs is important; for example, if you use a reset-proof RAMdisk, you'll probably want it to run before anything else (even Desk Manager) because most such RAMdisks employ a "double-boot" procedure. As a consequence, any programs copied into the AUTO folder before the RAMdisk will run twice. Also, many AUTO programs are picky about the order in which they run, especially if they do any fooling around with system vectors or other tricky stuff. The problem is, there's really no way to tell from the desktop in what order the AUTO programs will run. None of the "View" options will show you which programs were copied into \AUTO first. Desk Manager shows the true arrangement of the AUTO folder programs, and can also help you to diagnose incompatibilities between various programs. Running Desk Manager from the GEM Desktop ----------------------------------------- When you double-click Desk Manager from the GEM desktop to run it, an alert box will appear, asking if you want to reinitialize the AUTO folder programs. If you answer 'Yes', then after running, Desk Manager will perform a warm start (equivalent to pressing the reset button) so that the programs in your AUTO folder can reload. If you answer 'No' to this prompt, Desk Manager will give you the option of reinitializing your desk accessories without actually rebooting your system, through the use of a poorly- documented GEM call (shel_write). But there's a drawback to using this feature -- sometimes it will work, other times it will crash. Unfortunately, this is due to problems in the shel_write call itself and there's nothing Desk Manager can do to fix it...so use this feature at your own risk! Caveats ------- My lawyer (if I had one) would probably want me to say that I cannot be responsible for any damages caused by the use or misuse of Desk Manager. The responsibility for operation of the program is assumed entirely by the user, and no guarantees of any kind are made as to its usefulness for a particular purpose. With that out of the way, let me just say that in three years of use Desk Manager has never caused damage to any disk to my knowledge. *** NOTE: One thing to keep in mind is that Desk Manager works by *** renaming AUTO programs and accessories. (It does NOT leave *** behind any resident code when it runs...after it's finished, *** it's gone from your memory.) Be CAREFUL not to hit the reset *** button while the "Renaming..." or "Creating..." messages are *** on the screen; you could destroy a disk's directory if you do *** it at the wrong second. (This is not a problem with Desk *** Manager; the same is true of hitting reset while writing *** anything to a disk at any time!) If you already have more than six accessories on your boot disk with extensions of .ACC, it may be a good idea to rename the ones you aren't using with an extension of .ACX before you run Desk Manager for the first time. If you have a suggestion for Desk Manager, you may write to the address listed above. If you have a question about its use, the fastest way to reach me is to leave Email on Delphi, Compuserve, or GEnie to: GEnie - C.F.JOHNSON Compuserve - 76004,2232 Delphi - CFJ ************************** NEW STUFF ****************************** DESK MANAGER 3.0! ----------------- Desk Manager 3.0 contains a major new feature: you can create "preset files" which will set up your entire system with one keypress or mouse click! These preset files contain all the information that Desk Manager needs to select your DESKTOP.INF file, AUTO programs, ASSIGN.SYS file, desk accessories, and ANY other "custom" files you designate. The "custom" files can be copied from one place to another or simply renamed in place, letting you use Desk Manager to select configuration files for any type of AUTO program or desk accessory (as one example) if you wish. When Desk Manager runs, it looks in the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder for files with an extension of .PRE. This is the extension used by Desk Manager to denote its preset files; any .PRE files in the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder will be sorted alphabetically and displayed in a selection screen. If preset files are found, they will be the first thing Desk Manager displays, before any other file types. Preset files can have an optional 32-character title that will appear at the bottom of the Desk Manager selection screen as you move the cursor through the list. NOTE: Make sure you've read and understood the instructions in "Preparing to Use Desk Manager" before attempting to set up and use preset files! The Desk Manager Preset File Creator ------------------------------------ A separate utility program is included to help you create preset files for Desk Manager -- DMPRESET.PRG. The Preset File Creator contains on-screen documentation explaining how to use it; just run the program and follow the prompts. Preset File Format ------------------ Preset files are ordinary plain-vanilla ASCII text files, with each line terminated by a carriage return/line feed combination. You can create and edit these files with any word processor or text editor, as long as it has the ability to "Save as ASCII" or print to disk. (The included Preset File Creator does not edit existing preset files; it only creates new ones.) An example preset file might look like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------ ; Desk Manager: My Basic Setup ; DESKTOP.INF File HIGHDESK.INF ; AUTO Programs G+PLUS.PRG HOTWIRE.PRG LGSELECT.PRG MACUTLT2.PRG PINHED14.PRG SPOOLER.PRG TEMPL112.PRG ; ASSIGN.SYS File PSCAPT.SYS ; Desk Accessories MULTDESK.ACC ; Custom Files C C:\AUTO\DESKMGR\RAMDISK.CCP C:\CODE_RAM.CCP C C:\AUTO\DESKMGR\BIGMONTR.MLT C:\MULTDESK.MLT R C:\AUTO\DESKMGR\DESKMGR.PI3 C:\AUTO\DESKMGR\DESKMGR.PIX ------------------------------------------------------------------ Each line in the preset file must start flush with the left margin. The first line in the preset file must start with the text "; Desk Manager:" (excluding the quotes of course). Desk Manager checks this first line to make sure the file you select is a real Desk Manager preset file. Anything following the colon at the end of "Desk Manager:" is taken as the title for that preset file, and will be displayed when Desk Manager shows the preset file selection screen. You should use the title for a descriptive comment about the purpose of the preset file. (An eight-character filename just isn't enough for this, most of the time.) In our example, the first line is followed by a blank line. The blank line is optional. Each group of filenames in the preset file must be preceded by a line which starts with a semicolon. The text following the semicolon does not matter, but I'd suggest you use the comments in the example preset file (or something like them), just so you know the purpose of each group of files. If the line following the comment line is blank, NO files in that group will be selected. The next two lines designate the name of the file which will be copied to the name DESKTOP.INF when Desk Manager executes the preset file. This file should be located in the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder (see "Preparing to Use Desk Manager" above.) The next section of the preset file contains the names of the AUTO programs you wish to have renamed to .PRG when this preset file is executed. All AUTO programs that are not listed in this section will be renamed to .PRX, which causes the system to ignore them during bootup. There may be up to 128 filenames in this list. Following the list of AUTO programs is the name of the file which will be copied to ASSIGN.SYS. This file, like the .INF file, should be located in the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder. Next is the list of desk accessories that Desk Manager will rename to .ACC when the preset file is executed. Any files not listed here will be renamed to .ACX, so the system will ignore them during bootup. The last section of the preset file contains the list of "custom files". Custom files can be either copied from one location to another, or renamed where they are. The first character of each custom file line denotes which action will take place when Desk Manager executes the preset file; if the first character is "C" the file will be copied from the first name to the second. If the first character is "R" the file will be renamed from the first name to the second. (NOTE: If you choose to rename a file, the two filenames must be located on the same drive. They may however, be in different directories on that drive; GEMDOS performs a 'Move' operation if a file is renamed from one directory to another on the same drive.) Option to Reboot If Files Before DESKMG30 are Changed ----------------------------------------------------- Desk Manager 3.0 now detects if you've changed the status of an AUTO program that runs before it, and gives you the option of doing a warm or cold boot if you have. Running Desk Manager from the Desktop or a Shell ------------------------------------------------ In Desk Manager 3.0, I've removed the option which allowed you to reinitialize the desk accessories without actually rebooting the system, because it was just too unreliable and because I don't think anyone was actually using it. Now, when you run Desk Manager after bootup either from the GEM desktop or from a shell program such as CodeHead Software's "HotWire", you'll see an alert box which gives you the option to either run Desk Manager as is, or reconfigure Desk Manager by answering the series of questions again. (See "Running Desk Manager" above.) When Desk Manager is finished, it will put up another alert box asking if you wish to reboot the system, and giving you the option of doing either a warm or cold boot. (NOTE: a "warm" boot is the equivalent of pressing the reset button on the back of your ST, while a "cold" boot is the equivalent of turning your computer off and on again. A cold boot will wipe out any reset-proof ramdisks etc. that you may have installed.) ******************************************************************* DESK MANAGER 3.1 ---------------- Version 3.1 of Desk Manager follows quickly on the heels of version 3.0, to fix a bug which caused preset files to work incorrectly if there were no accessories listed. You can now leave any of the fields in a preset file blank, and Desk Manager will either not copy any files (in the case of the DESKTOP.INF and ASSIGN.SYS files) or rename all the files to .??X (in the case of AUTO programs and desk accessories). Desk Manager 3.1 also includes a slightly revised version of the DMPRESET Preset File Creator, that allows you to leave the DESKTOP.INF entry blank. (The version supplied with Desk Manager 3.0 would not proceed unless you selected a DESKTOP.INF file.) ******************************************************************* DESK MANAGER 3.2 ---------------- Timeout Values Up to 99 Seconds ------------------------------- When configuring Desk Manager 3.2, you will be allowed to enter a timeout value up to 99 seconds in length, for either the picture display time or the selection screen timeout. Previous versions of Desk Manager limited you to a maximum of 9 seconds. Cursor Wrap-Around Option ------------------------- Desk Manager 3.2 allows you to specify whether you wish the cursor to "wrap around" when it reaches the edges of the selection screens. This is one of the questions you'll be asked during the Desk Manager configuration process (see "Running Desk Manager" above.) Exit From Preset Selection Screen --------------------------------- When configuring Desk Manager 3.2, you will be given the choice of exiting from the preset selection screen when the timeout expires, without having to go through the individual screens for INF files, AUTO programs, SYS files, and desk accessories. If you don't type a key or move the mouse before the timeout expires, Desk Manager will install the default preset file for the current resolution (if one exists - see below) and exit. Default Preset Files -------------------- Desk Manager 3.2 lets you install separate default preset files for either color or monochrome systems. (If you have both color and mono monitors, this lets you switch between them very easily.) When Desk Manager 3.2 runs, it searches the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder for files called either MONO.PRE or COLOR.PRE, and will automatically install the correct one for the current monitor. Even if you don't have both monitors, you can still use this feature to set up a default preset configuration. If you "Bypass" Desk Manager, the default preset file will not be installed. (I figure if you say "bypass" you mean "bypass".) Assign Preset Files to Function Keys ------------------------------------ Desk Manager 3.2 now lets you call up any preset file directly, simply by typing a function key of your choice. 20 function key combinations are supported; F1 through F10 and Shift-F1 through Shift-F10. The new Preset File Editor (see below) lets you insert and change function key assignments in your existing preset files. Display Function Key Assignments -------------------------------- If you type the Help key while Desk Manager is displaying the preset selection screen, the function key assignments for all preset files will be shown at the bottom of the screen. While the function key help menu is shown, you may type any of the assigned function keys to immediately select that preset file. Any other key will return to the main Desk Manager selection screen. NEW PRESET FILE EDITOR! ----------------------- The Desk Manager Preset File Creator has been greatly revised and (hopefully) improved, and as a result is now called the Desk Manager Preset File EDITOR. The Preset Editor not only lets you create new preset files; you can also edit your existing preset files, using a series of selection screens and commands very similar to those in Desk Manager itself, and even insert or delete entries in more than one preset file at a time. The operation of the Desk Manager Preset File Editor is self-explanatory; there are on-screen prompts and help messages at every step, and the program is menu-driven. If there's a big hue-and-cry for it, I'll write documentation for the Preset Editor -- but it really shouldn't be necessary. Try it and let me know your opinion, on Genie or Compuserve. A couple of things about the Preset Editor do need to be documented, however. First and foremost: before using the Desk Manager Preset File Editor, be sure to set things up according to the instructions in "Preparing to Use Desk Manager" (above). Any DESKTOP.INF and ASSIGN.SYS files you want to choose from should already have been copied into the \AUTO\DESKMGR folder, any AUTO programs should be in the \AUTO folder, and any desk accessories should be in the root directory of the drive you're using. Note that one of the selections in the Preset Editor's main menu is titled "Prompt For New Name". If you click on this entry it toggles between "YES" and "NO". If this entry says "YES", then when you choose to insert or deletre entries in one or more preset files, the Preset Editor will prompt you (with the file selector) for the name for each file as it modifies them. This allows you to save the preset file under a new name, for example, if you've changed just a few entries and wish to keep the original preset file. If "Prompt For New Name" says "NO", then you will not be warned after selecting the preset file(s) to modify; the Preset Editor will just go ahead and modify the files where they are. ******************************************************************* DESK MANAGER 3.3 ---------------- Automatic Bypass After Rebooting -------------------------------- Desk Manager 3.3 now writes a small file called IGNOREME.DM to the \DESKMGR\ folder, whenever you choose to reboot your computer from Desk Manager. (If Desk Manager is running at AUTO time, you'll be given the option of rebooting whenever you change an AUTO program that runs before Desk Manager. If you run Desk Manager after bootup [from the desktop or from a shell], you will be given the option of rebooting when exiting the program.) After the reboot, when Desk Manager runs again, it searches the \DESKMGR\ folder for the IGNOREME.DM file. If Desk Manager finds this file, it knows that you have just rebooted after installing a new setup and exits immediately without doing anything. New Key Commands on Preset Screen --------------------------------- While the preset file screen is displayed, there are two new key commands in effect. If you hold the Alternate key and type the Esc key, you will continue immediately to the next Desk Manager screen WITHOUT executing any default preset file that may be in the \DESKMGR\ folder. (See the description of "Desk Manager 3.2" above for more details on default preset files.) If you hold the Alternate key and type the Return key, the current preset file will be selected...but instead of exiting Desk Manager after executing the preset file, you will continue on to the next screen. This lets you start out with one of your known setups and add or subtract a few things as needed. Command Line Control -------------------- Desk Manager 3.3 can be controlled with a command line, to tell it to execute a certain preset file and then reboot the computer. When used with HotWire, this can be a very powerful and easy way to change your entire setup and reboot your system, all with only ONE keypress or mouse click. The format of the command line that Desk Manager expects is simple. The first thing on the line should be the name (including a complete drive and path specifier) of the preset file. The drive and path information _must_ be included; a filename alone is not sufficient. If, after executing the preset file, you wish Desk Manager to automatically reboot your system, follow the pathname of the preset file with a single space, then a hyphen and the letter 'W' or 'P'...for Warm or Cold boot. (Actually, the hyphen is optional.) If there is nothing after the pathname of the preset file, Desk Manager will execute the preset file and then prompt you to type 'W' for a warm boot or 'C' for a cold boot. If you run Desk Manager with a command line, and the command line specifies a reboot (with the 'W' or 'C' flag), Desk Manager will pause for five "ticks" before performing the reboot. During those five ticks, if you press any key the reboot will be cancelled and Desk Manager will exit normally. Some examples: C:\AUTO\DESKMGR\BASIC.PRE -w This example executes the preset file named BASIC.PRE, then performs a warm reboot. D:\AUTO\DESKMGR\SPECTRE.PRE This example executes the preset file SPECTRE.PRE, then prompts for a warm or cold reboot. A:\BARE.PRE C This examples executes the BARE.PRE file from the root directory of drive A, then performs a cold boot. If you'd like to do this from the GEM desktop, you can install DESKMG33.PRG as an application for .PRE file types; then, whenever you double-click a file with the .PRE extension the desktop will run Desk Manager and pass it the name of the selected preset file. (See your ST User's Manual for more details on "Install Application.") NOTE: If you're using a version of TOS earlier than 1.4, this feature of the desktop may not work correctly unless the preset file is located in the same directory with Desk Manager. The disadvantage to using the desktop's "Install Application" feature to execute a preset file with Desk Manager is that you cannot tell Desk Manager to immediately reboot the computer afterward. When Desk Manager is run via "Install Application" all it gets passed is the name of the preset file. Using Desk Manager 3.3 with CodeHead's HotWire ---------------------------------------------- If you use HotWire (the desktop alternative from CodeHead Software), you can set up an entire menu of preset files, and instantly reconfigure your entire system with a single keypress or mouse click. To do this, click on any blank line in the HotWire menu with the left mouse button. When the file selector appears, locate DESKMG33.PRG, select it, and click the OK button. The HotWire 'Program Options' box will appear; type in a title for the preset file you wish to use in this spot. (That's right...let's title this slot after the preset file, even though we're actually running DESKMG33.PRG.) Now select the button labelled 'Command Line', and click the OK button. You should now have a slot in the HotWire menu with the title you've chosen for your first preset file. Click on that slot -- HotWire will present you with its Command Line box. On the command line, enter the full path and name of the preset file you wish to use, followed by the optional warm/cold boot flag. As the last thing in the line, type the '~' (tilde) character. (You can get this character by holding either Shift key and typing the key immediately to the left of the Backspace key on the top row.) The tilde is a special character which tells HotWire not to pause and present the Command Line box when this entry is run; instead HotWire will immediately run the program and pass it the currently defined command line. IMPORTANT! Do NOT click the OK button after entering this command line; instead click Cancel and save your .HOT file before going any further. If you've chosen to reboot after executing this preset file, you will lose your new menu if you proceed to run Desk Manager at this point. (Unless you hit a key before the "reboot timeout" expires.) Follow this same procedure for as many preset files as you wish to install in the HotWire Menu, remembering to save your .HOT file after each one. New Feature in Preset Editor Program ------------------------------------ Accompanying Desk Manager 3.3 is a new version of the Desk Manager Preset File Editor. This new version now shows you the current state of your AUTO folder programs and desk accessories when you 'Create' a new preset file, allowing you to easily create a 'snapshot' of your current setup. This version of the Preset File Editor now has a version number as well; since there have been two previous versions (neither one numbered) I've numbered this one version 1.2. *******************************************************************