
        
                        Runner -- A Desktop Alternative
        

                            ADD / CHANGE DIALOG BOX
                    Parameters / Installed Apps / QuickKeys


                       Copyright (C) 1991 by Dave Thorson
                       Version 1.50         March 10, 1991



        Runner uses a single dialog box to obtain much of the 
        information it needs to run your programs and manage your menus.  
        This "Add/Change Dialog Box" (ACDB) appears whenever you add a 
        program or menu.  The same ACDB appears if you choose to change 
        a program's information, a menu name, or Runner's title line.  
        The ACDB looks at least a little like this for one program:
        
        ---------------------------------------------------------------
          Desk     File     Menus     Colors
        ---------------------------------------------------------------

                             Mr. Dave's Runner
        
                          -----------------------
                         |   CYBRMATE.PRG        |      t m p
                         |                       |
                         |   Description:        |
                         | > Cybermate^_________ |        m p
                         |                       |
                         | x Low    Hold Screen  |        m p
                         | x Med    Use Mini-Run |        m p
                         | x High x Low or Med   |        m p
                         |   QuickKey:  (none)   |        m p
                         |   Colors:    current  |          p
                         |   Install:   (none)   |          p
                         |                       |
                         |   Comment (wait):     |          p
                         |   ^__________________ |          p
                          -----------------------
        
        The components of this box vary for menus, programs, and title 
        line changes, but each works the same whenever it appears.  The 
        t, m and p shown to the right of the box indicate when that part 
        of the box is available (title, menu, or program/data/document 
        file).  "x" represents a checkmark.

        To exit the ACDB and return to Runner's menu list, press Return 
        or click the right mouse button.  There is no Cancel function, 
        but then there's not much to go wrong!

        In the example, the top line gives the actual filename of the 
        program.  For menus, this line will say "Menu".  For title 
        changes, this line says "Title".  You can't change this line.  
        For program and data/document files, the path to the file is 
        displayed in the GEM menu bar area.  Otherwise the menu bar area 
        is blank.
        
        
$$      Description
        
        This is the text that will appear in Runner's menu lists.  Put 
        in whatever you like.  When adding programs, Runner attempts to 
        "beautify" the program name by dropping the extension, 
        converting to lower case, and inserting spaces where it thinks 
        it makes sense.  Runner is not always right, but you can change 
        the description as much as you want.  Backspace moves the cursor 
        (a triangle in the program) one space left, erasing the last 
        character in the line.  The Esc key clears the line altogether, 
        unless it's on a blank line; then Esc will recall the line that 
        you saw when the ACDB first appeared.

                
        The following functions are only available in menu and program 
        changes or adds:

                
$$      Low / Med / High

        These are screen resolution indicators.  They control whether a 
        program or menu name will be visible in a menu list for each 
        resolution (apologies to TT users; if someone would only send me 
        a TT for testing I might be able to add the other three 
        resolutions ;-).  So, for a program like Word Writer that doesn't 
        work in low res, click on Low to turn off the checkmark in front 
        of it.  When you use Runner in low res, Word Writer will not 
        appear in a menu.  Click on Low, Med or High to turn the 
        checkmarks on and off ("on" means the item will appear in that 
        resolution).  Default values are all on.
        
        Note: if you disable a program from the resolution you're 
        currently using, it will NOT appear on the menu when you exit 
        the Description dialog box.  Press the Tab key to show items 
        from other resolutions; press Tab again to hide them.  You can 
        create a "hidden" menu for things like installed applications or 
        Strip Poker by clearing the checkmark from all three 
        resolutions.  Due to a programming constraint, if an item is 
        hidden in all resolutions and doesn't use Mini-Run (see below), 
        then Hold Screen is forced to be on.  Don't worry about it!

        
$$      Hold Screen (ignored for menus)
        
        This is the default for .TTP programs.  If a check mark appears 
        here, Runner will prompt for a key press or mouse button click 
        before clearing the screen and returning to Runner's screen when 
        a program exits.


$$      Use Mini-Run (ignored for menus)
        
        Click here to force the program to be run via Mini-Run instead 
        of directly from Runner.  If a checkmark appears in this line, 
        Mini-Run will be used regardless of the Mini-Run flag on 
        Runner's menu list screen.  See OTHERS.PRG for more info on 
        Mini-Run.

                
$$      Low or Med (ignored for menus)
        
        The check mark always appears here because one of these options 
        is always selected.  Clicking here cycles from "Low or Med" 
        (program will run in either low or medium res, whatever mode the 
        computer is in), "Low => Med" (forces computer in low resolution 
        to run the program in a medium res screen), to "Med => Low" 
        (forces computer in medium res to run the program in a low res 
        screen) and back to "Low or Med".  This is a way to fool GEM 
        into displaying the desired resolution, but the mouse control or 
        other things may not be what you expect.  These options can be 
        useful, but try them to be sure they work for a given program.  
        You might find several programs that are at least usable in the 
        wrong resolution.

                
$$      QuickKey

        You can assign up to twenty QuickKeys for menu items you use 
        frequently.  When you press a QuickKey, it acts exactly as if 
        you had selected its associated menu item from the menu (you can 
        even force Mini-Run to be used for programs by holding Control 
        or Alternate as you press the QuickKey, or press Esc before 
        pressing the QuickKey).  QuickKeys can be used no matter which 
        menu is currently displayed.

        To assign a QuickKey to the menu item you are adding or 
        changing, click on the "QuickKey" line in the ACDB.  A brief 
        menu appears in the menu bar area at the top of the screen:
        
           Avail: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 10 (Esc=Clear)
        
        In low res, you may only see the first few choices.  From this 
        menu, press one of the function keys listed ("10" is used for 
        "F10") to assign that key as a QuickKey.  If you have assigned 
        all the QuickKeys already, the message "(none)" appears instead 
        of any function key numbers.  If you press Esc or click the 
        Right mouse button, then no QuickKey assignment is made.

        If you change a menu item that already has a QuickKey assigned, 
        the QuickKey option lets you clear the assignment.  If, for 
        example, QuickKey F6 had been assigned to CYBRMATE.PRG, and keys 
        F4 and F7 were also available.  The QuickKey menu would be:
        
           Avail: F4 F6 F7 (Esc=Clear)
        
        Notice that F6 has ALREADY been cleared from CYBRMATE.PRG, and 
        you must press F6 to reassign this QuickKey if you want to keep 
        using it for this program.  "F6" still appears in the ACDB below 
        as a reminder, in case you forget which key was assigned.
        
        An alternate set of QuickKeys is available for a total of twenty 
        QuickKeys.  Press Shift when selecting the QuickKey line in the 
        ACDB to assign or clear from the alternate set.  The menu then 
        appears as:
        
           Shift: F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 10 (Esc=Clear)
        
        Press Shift when pressing the desired function key.  To use this 
        QuickKey after leaving the ACDB, press Shift and the function 
        key.  Shifted and regular QuickKeys are really two separate 
        lists but both work the same way.

        QuickKey assignments can be viewed in place of the normal Runner 
        menus by selecting "QuickKeys show" from the "Menus" menu in the 
        Gem menu bar, or by pressing BOTH mouse buttons.  Use either of 
        these actions return to the normal Runner menu lists.  To view 
        the alternate set, hold down Control or Alternate (or either 
        Shift) when requesting the QuickKeys list.

        When the QuickKeys list is displayed, you can run any of the 
        programs as if you were in Runner's usual menus, with mouse or 
        arrow keys and Return.  You can use the Change command to modify 
        any program attributes.  Drop works differently: here it only 
        clears a QuickKey assignment (the program disappears from the 
        QuickKeys list, but is not dropped from Runner's normal menus).  
        Restore is disabled, and you cannot add programs or menus or 
        assign QuickKeys here (how would you pick a program to assign?).  
        Don't forget that programs set not to appear in menus in the 
        current resolution will not appear in QuickKeys lists either, 
        unless (as usual) you press the TAB key.

        
        The following functions are only available when adding and 
        changing program or document/data files:
        
        
$$      Colors
        
        The ACDB lets you select which color palette to use when running 
        a program.  The default is "Current", meaning that the Current 
        Palette will be used.  Clicking on the Colors line switches to 
        "desKtop", "iNitial", "backGround", "Text" and back to 
        "Current".  Any selection but "Current" will override the 
        Current Palette while running the program.
        
        
$$      Install
        
        Here is where you can install an application in Runner.  This is 
        similar to Install Applications in the Desktop, under the Set 
        Preferences menu, but Runner doesn't know what's installed in 
        the Desktop any more than the Desktop know's what Runner has.  
        Any program can be installed in Runner: you tell Runner what 
        file extensions (such as .PI1 or .DOC) should trigger the 
        program to run, then when you select a file whose name ends with 
        that extension, Runner loads the program.  The selected filename 
        is also passed to the program so it can load the file for you.  
        Not all programs will do this, but some (like Word Writer) 
        handle it well.
        
        For example, say you installed Word Writer (WWRITER.PRG) to be 
        triggered by the extension ".DOC".  When you select a file like 
        "DEAR_SIR.DOC", Word Writer will run and load DEAR_SIR.DOC for 
        you, all with a single mouse click!
        
        When you select the Install line in the ACDB, this menu appears:
        
                       Add/Change/Drop/Next/Quit   [none]

        Press A to add a new file extension.  You'll get this prompt:
        
                       Add/Change/Drop/Next/Quit   >.

        which is asking you to type in a one to three letter file 
        extension.  You can use the wildcard characters ? and * if 
        needed (? matches any single character and * matches anything 
        from that character position to the end of the extension).  So, 
        if you enter ".P?1", then selecting files ending in .PI1 or .PC1 
        will trigger the application.  Be careful though, if you enter 
        ".P*" or ".P??" with the intent of catching .PI1, .PC2, and so 
        on, you will also trigger your application with any .PRG files!  
        You can use Backspace to erase characters; press Return when 
        done.  Now the extension appears in the menu line like this:

                       Add/Change/Drop/Next/Quit   [.P?1]

        To change this extension, press C.  To drop it, press D.  Runner 
        lets you install multiple extensions per program if needed; 
        press A to add another one.  Pressing N displays each one in the 
        list for that program, circling back to the start from the end 
        of the list.  C and D only work on the extension displayed.  
        When you have the extensions set the way you want, press Q or 
        the Right mouse button.
        
        A total of 63 applications can be installed.  You can assign 63 
        to a single program or one to each of 63 programs or any 
        combination in between.  Overhead in memory is small; 2 bytes 
        for each program with an installed application and 7 bytes for 
        each extension used.  If an installed application is dropped 
        (using "Drop" in the Menus menu) then the extensions it used are 
        fair game for installing elsewhere.  If you do not reassign them 
        before restoring the program ("Restore" in the Menus menu) then 
        they will still be intact.  Runner doesn't prevent you from 
        assigning the same extension to more than one program but you 
        will get a warning message telling you to clear the extension 
        from one of the programs.  If you use the same extension twice 
        then the first program found installed for that extension will 
        be run.  Since it's harder to describe how Runner finds programs 
        than to tell you not to do this, Don't Do This!
        
        Within Runner's menu list screen you can view a list of all 
        installed applications by selecting "Installed apps" from the 
        File menu, or by pressing the "I" key.

        
$$      Comment / Parameter
        
        Clicking on this line cycles through four possibilities:
        -  Comment (wait)
        -  Comment (auto)
        -  Parameter (wait)
        -  Parameter (auto)
        These will be described below.  Associated with whatever you 
        select is the text field directly underneath this line.  To get 
        to the text field, click on the field with the left mouse button 
        or press the Tab key to move between Comment/Parameter text and 
        the Description text field at the top of the ACDB.  A ">>" 
        symbol indicates which of the text fields is active.  The 
        Comment/Parameter text field can be edited just like the 
        Description text field (described near the start of this file).

        The Comment/Parameter function is probably the most confusing 
        thing in Runner so don't worry if you don't use it.  The idea 
        here is that many programs, in particular those with a ".TTP" 
        (TOS - Takes Parameters) file extension, will accept a list of 
        parameters (also called arguments or even a command line).  The 
        ARC program is a classic example.  It's filename is ARC.TTP; it 
        expects parameters.  If you double click on ARC.TTP from the 
        desktop, a dialog box opens to ask you for the parameters.  You 
        might enter a string such as "L E:\CBURST.ARC *.DOC" to list the 
        names of all the files ending with ".DOC" within the archive 
        file CBURST.ARC in the root directory of drive E:.  Compilers 
        and assemblers and directory listing programs frequently expect 
        or accept parameters.
        
        For .TTP programs and installed applications, Runner normally 
        asks you for a command line.  If the program was triggered as an 
        installed application, then the name of the file is 
        automatically placed in the command line for the program.  
        Selecting either of the Parameter options here will override the 
        normal process and will let you pass parameters to other 
        programs as well.  Simply type in the command line parameters 
        you want in the text field.  If you leave the field blank but 
        select one of the Parameter options (either wait or auto) then 
        no parameters are passed as a default.  If you are setting up 
        parameters for an installed application, then use a tilde "~" to 
        mark where the name of the file that triggers the application 
        should go.  Using the previous example for Arc, you might set up 
        a parameter field like this:        L ~ *.*

        Now, if you install Arc to be triggered by files with an 
        extension of .ARC, and then select A:CBURST.ARC, the command 
        line passed to Arc becomes:     L A:CBURST.ARC *.*

        The (auto) and (wait) options are simple:  "Parameters (auto)" 
        means that the command line Runner builds will be passed to the 
        application or program automatically, without stopping to ask 
        you anything.  "Parameters (wait)" means Runner will display the 
        command line and let you edit it before running the program.  
        For the Arc example, you would probably choose (wait) because 
        you can then edit the first character to be E for extract, V for 
        verbose list, A for add, etc. (these are all ARC functions and 
        have nothing to do with Runner).  For others, such as Word 
        Writer, which accepts only the name of a file to open, you 
        should use (auto) with a default parameter list of "~".  You can 
        use more than one "~" in the parameter list if needed.  If a "~" 
        is followed by a period, then Runner assumes you want to force a 
        different file extension onto the selected filename and it 
        removes the original extension.  For example, you might set up a 
        compiler with this parameter line:    ~ -o ~.O -l ~.LST

        Then, if you install your compiler to trigger from ".C" file 
        extensions and select "CLOCK.C", Runner will build this command 
        line and send to your compiler:
        
                        CLOCK.C -o CLOCK.O -l CLOCK.LST

        If you don't use parameters for a program, you can use this line 
        as a comment to yourself.  Selecting "Comment (auto)" means the 
        comment will only appear in the ACDB.  If you select "Comment 
        (wait)" then before the program runs a dialog box will display 
        the comment text and give you the choice of running the program 
        or canceling the request.  A blank comment line, even if 
        "Comment (wait)" is selected, is ignored by Runner.  (wait) 
        comments can be used for messages like "Key disk in A:" or other 
        reminders.  (auto) comments could be used to store program 
        version numbers or other info that won't fit in the description 
        field.

        
$$      Priority
        
        Since there could be some confusion if you set up options for 
        an installed application, and then set different options for 
        a document/data file that triggers it, the following rules 
        tell who wins:

        *  Options set for a triggering file override options for an 
           installed application.

        *  Exception 1: use of a parameter option always overrides use of 
           a comment option.

        *  Exception 2: Hold Screen and Mini-Run will be activated if 
           either a triggering file or a program request them.

        
        [end of DIALOG.HLP]
        
