~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HOW TO USE HOUSE: The buttons ICON,S,M,L,^^^,<,> Can be used anytime to make HOUSE small, medium, large, thin, narrower, wider,etc. NOTICE that after you press a button, the MENUBOX in the CENTER of your HOUSE has a new menu that ALSO contains controls that could size, move, etc. USUALLY WHEN YOU CLICK A BUTTON you select a new MODE, which in turn selects a related sub-menu in the MENUBOX (CENTER SCREEN). To use the MENUBOX FUNCTIONS, click the abbreviated LABEL portion of the display in the menu box, such as LMB - for Left Menu Bar. Just MOVING your Mouse OVER THE MENUBOXES changes the messages you see... indicating what the MENUBOX FUNCTION will do IF you CLICK it. Some MENUBOX Functions are nested more than one LAYER deep, which only means that sometimes, SELECTING A MENUBOX FUNCTION might only CALL-UP a 'deeper' MENUBOX, containing 'sub functions.' After using some functions You MAY NEED to RE-CLICK the MAIN BUTTONS to reselect the MODE you want to use, such as MENU or FILES mode. Just 'seeing a file list' doesn't mean you are always in FILE mode. HOW DOES HOUSE WORK? ****************************************** HOUSE keeps one menu on-board, with up to 200 programs. You can easily load others by DOUBLE-CLICKING their name, (HOUSE.hse, YOUR.HSE, etc) in any FILE LISTING. By DOUBLE CLICKING any LIST, you will activate the item in the list! So....your menu launches menu items/programs, file lists launch files, etc..all with a DOUBLE CLICK! REMEMBER THAT! You can DOUBLE CLICK the TOP WINDOW (ROOF) to DIRECTLY LAUNCH MENU programs. So....that's what you do...DOUBLE CLICK to launch! Select a BUTTON/MODE, such as FILES, then LAUNCH DIRECTLY from the FILE LIST, or use MENUBOX FUNCTIONS to do things like set Windowstates, change fonts, delete, copy, get info, etc, etc, etc! NEVER FEAR, HOUSE is VERY SMART and has "ARE YOU SURE??" messages WHEN YOU NEED THEM! DOUBLE CLICK with confidence because it is SAFE to do so....EXPLORE HOUSE...it's fun to use, and easy. Menus are easy to use, and ADDING ITEMS TO YOUR MENU is easy too. Using the FILE LIST, select any file or program and CLICK - ADD in the MENUBOX. It's THAT easy! Your file is NOW a MENU ITEM! Click the menu text boxes to edit your new menu item's description. *************************************************************** How to "Get Around" It can be a little tricky at first...here's what to do. The FASTEST way to move your HOUSE around is by CLICKING the MOVING SQUARES--to the right of the main buttons. The moving squares represent NINE screen positions... the four corners, and center positions of your screen. A single click on any square places your HOUSE in a similar position to the square in the box. You can also press the button "P". (PLACEMENT) This is a more traditional way of moving Windows ...using A MENU bar to drag HOUSE to some point on your screen. You will soon notice that HOUSE does NOT let you move to a position off--screen. HOUSE normally corrects for 'overshoots' of the edges. In other words, HOUSE will always pick an address that's on your screen!" CLICKING the HOUSE.FORM to SIZE it...... It takes some getting used to, but clicking around the form will change the size of your House...you'll see how things work with a little practice. All modes, except CITY mode, will size HOUSE when a FORM.CLICK occurs. Try clicking the right edges of the HOUSE. If you just want a FEW MORE LINES OF YOUR LISTS, click the +2L, +5L, or +10L Buttons at the bottom of the HOUSE. These buttons will increase the HEIGHT of the HOUSE by the number of LINES on the button. The actual amount of height will depend on the FONT SIZE you are using at the time. MEMORIZED POSITIONS: Once your HOUSE is the way you want it... CLICK the SET button and then click DEC & MEM to STORE your layout. (MENUBOX) HOUSE can store or recall your color schemes & layouts. Your screen position, HOUSE size, Window colors and Font size, Font colors & more are stored for later recall. To recall..the sequence is SET-DEC-DO-. (Resetting a layout takes about 3-5 seconds...32 changes occur each time.) Decore files are labelled (Anyfile).HID H(OUSE) I(nterior) D(ecore) ******************************************************************************* **UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN BUTTONS******** [ICON, S,M,L,P ^^^ < > ] These buttons can help you size & place your HOUSE. Icon = Make House as small as possible. S = Make HOUSE very small, but not an ICON. M = Make House Medium sized. L = Make House LARGE. P = PLACE/MOVE House manually. NOTE: Clicking the CPU Window (Blinking Squares) will place/move HOUSE very rapidly..try it! ^^^ Toggles between THIN and NORMAL HOUSE Height. Think of this as the door to the ROOF if you like! < Makes HOUSE Narrower > Makes HOUSE WIDER RUN: In SMALL-Menu-Mode this button runs the current HOUSE MENU item. In ALL other modes (bigger sizes) this button allows you to set the WINDOW STATE before the next launch of programs. You can then RUN the menu program or currently selected file by clicking !M or !F in the MENU BOX. (Center) SET: Decorate: DO - Recalls one of seven sets of Colors, Fonts, & Screen Positions from Memory (BLUEPRINTS). (Redecorates your HOUSE from memory!) MEM - Memorizes your current HOUSE colors, Font Size, and Screen Location. Color: (TOP RM INF MNU DIR EXT HSE T/B) Allows you to change the colors of the various display lists, info Windows & more, within HOUSE itself. ? = Help (Explains how to change colors) T/B toggles use between COLOR-AS-TEXT and COLOR-AS-BACKGROUND. Font: SML SM MED ML L VL XL BLD Chg HOUSE lets you set new Font Sizes or CHANGE Font Types. (Does not affect system fonts. You would use the Control Panel to do that.) PSW: Allows you CHANGE the CURRENT PASSWORD for THIS SESSION! TIM: Toggles the CLOCK in the upper right, on or off. (The clock can be DRAGGED to new locations.) CPU: Toggles the 'thinking lights' on or off! Those dizzy little blinking squares! (Quick Placement Window still works, regardless.) GRB: GRAB...Makes HOUSE 'come out on top' if MOUSE passes over it. On/Off toggle. When GRAB is ON, (Default) HOUSE will grab the FOCUS anytime your mouse passes over the form. **!!!** END: END HOUSE Session..quit the program....board up the HOUSE! REMEMBER TO QUIT....the command is SET-END ?: ? : Get this help file. Need HELP or have questions? Use the question mark button to FND: Find the HOUSE.EXE and the HOUSE resident directory. SYS: Show free RAM and diskspace. Hst: See/Edit HOSt Profiles for file.ext associated launches Abt: Show HOUSE Banner Psw: Show Current Password CMI: CONFIRM MENU INFORMATION: Remove Items from menu if they are not on disk! TSK: Launch the Windows Task Manager - See current tasks. CITY: Draw colorful cities automatically! Just move your MOUSE AROUND! MOD: Sets the PEN color-logic for drawing. AND NOT OR XOR INVERT & More OBJECTS: Choose from TRE Trees BLD Buildings LWR Low Rise Buildings RF Roof or hills CLd Clouds Sqr Little Squares S : Set object zoom size, and hollow/fill attribute of Houses/Buildings. PS : Switch your pen's drawing sides from left to right. Lnd: Creates a landscape background effect..erases current drawing! (Best with SVGA and 32K-colors mode. Choose a BRIGHT Background First.) CLR: Clears (ERASES) your picture! AD : AUTODRAW COMPUTER GENERATED CITIES N : Normal..temporary drawing mode. No cut & paste. P : Permanent drawing - paste mode. Allows cut & paste. Clp: Copies House drawing to the clipboard. DRAWING ACTION is activated (ON/OFF) by your MOUSE CLICKS.!!! OH: OPEN HOUSE!!! RUN up to 20 programs/files at once! LOAD ANY SMALL HOUSE and you can use OH to launch the ENTIRE MENU as an OPEN HOUSE. Remember..you can remove items from your menu before a launch using the remove menu function...in case you decide against launching a couple items. Just take them off the menu! You can always re-load the original. AGAIN: SAV: Save a list to--disk of the programs & files you have been using...up to 100. Logs the time you used them too. Rmv: Removes a single item from your on-board launch-log. DAB: Remove ALL launch-log items BEFORE the currently selected item...(Erases your tracks...) MENU: Get: Load a new HOUSE menu from disk. Sav: Save the current menu to disk. Rmv: Remove an ITEM (Room) from your HOUSE menu (Doesn't delete the file). Srt: A fast way to sort the menu alphabetically. Add: Add ON additional Rooms by merging-in another House menu. New: Start a new HOUSE menu from the ground up...... Dup: Duplicate a menu item...'clone' a room. Clr: Clears the menu-item Command Line (Furniture!) info passed to the program at run-time. Of COURSE..you CAN edit your HOUSE menu directly by clicking your mouse inside any of the MENU TEXT boxes! Fnd: Where is this room? Hansel, Gretel, and HOUSE all know! But only HOUSE will take you there. DIR: MAK: Make a directory on disk. Otherwise known as a hallway! REM: Remove a directory from disk. CDI: Copy the FILENAMES, DATES & SIZES to a record-file on disk. Only INFO is recorded, not the files themselves. Think of it as a PHOTOCOPY of the current directory listing but with more info. CHG: Rename Directory FILES: Add: Adds the currently selected FILE or program to your HOUSE MENU!. HOUSE chooses HOSTS when needed, but you can change them if you like...just click on the menu info-window text & 'edit away'. Put: Puts the currently selected file in the COMMANDLINE of the CURRENT menu item. Like furniture in a room, this info compliments' the room. You could PUT a file called pic.bmp into a room with PAINTBRUSH...then it would run with PIC.BMP already loaded. Inf: Shows file date & size for the currently selected file. Cpy: Allows you to setup for file coping. TAKE your time here! HOUSE is rather 'unusual' in the way it copies! Once you 'get the hang of it' you may find it VERY useful! The file names are 'cached' so you can easily copy a big list of programs to several places, without re-loading the file names. Just remember to CLEAR them when you should. Del: Delete 1 file at a time, or ALL in the current listing! Both have 'ARE YOU SURE?'..of course! Chg: Rename, Change attributes or duplicate. Has sub menu. PIF: Can create an instant DOS PIF for exe,com or bat files! Typ: View Files by type, size, date, time, attributes, etc. REF: REFRESH the current file listing. This is done by HOUSE most of the time..but when you need to...it's a quick way to get an updated files listing. ********************************************************************* DOUBLE CLICK ANY FILE LIST TO LAUNCH a program, file, picture, macro or any other program/sourcefile. THE ROOF: The menu-ruler at the top of your HOUSE is called the ROOF. Click it to latch or unlatch your MENU. Moving the mouse across the roof will select your menu items. You can then double click to launch, or use RUN to set a launch state first. The roof has HOTKEYS. (WHEN the ROOF HAS THE FOCUS) USE your SHIFT key for caps and type: P = To Set Security Mode ON: PASSWORDS required to get into HOUSE. S = To Show System Free RAM D = To Show Free Drive Space (SPACE) = To Show TIME/DATE (ENTER) = To RUN the current menu item. - = To Go BACK ONE MENU ITEM on the list. + = To Go FORWARD ONE MENU ITEM on the list. MISCELLANEOUS: HOST programs are determined by HOUSE. Double click the HOST-LIST for more info on editing HOST files. DOUBLE CLICKING an EXTENSION LIST will allow you to ENTER A CUSTOM file pattern. Such as *.* or more elaborately... House.*; H*.hse;Names*.?? In other words..compound filters can be entered...separated by SEMI-COLONS. DOUBLE CLICKING THE CPU WINDOW: (The moving squares..will RUN TASK MANAGER, and send it a keystroke, the default is ALT-T which will TILE the Windows on your desktop. If you type C after clicking the CPU window, this keystroke will be ALT-C as in CASCADE...(you still have to DOUBLE click to activate..) CPU-Window DESKTOP-ARRANGEMENT LETTERS ARE: T=Tile (Default) C=Cascade The JUMP buttons will alternately select the bottom and/or top of the list you select. Click JUMP to view the bottom/top items of any list. ********************************************************************** WHAT ABOUT HELP! Help is available within the MENUBOX FUNCTIONS for some modes, meaning you have ON-LINE help. Also, NOTICE the TOP WINDOW for MESSAGES. Many functions will display HELP along the way at the top of the HOUSE. It's easy to find 'good help these days'... THE HOUSE-HELP' like to party on the roof! Once you press HELP, help mode is activated, which means a few additional messages will POP UP as you mouse around. They appear just once, and you can disable them by clicking the CPU window, then typing d . HOW TO: Edit a menu: Click on the text boxes at the top of your HOUSE. Any typing instantly becomes the new data for the menu item you are working on. You can even use the Text Windows like a 'Commandline', by putting the program name, commandline, and path in directly. Add Menu Items: Click files to see files. Click ADD in the menu box when the program/file you want is selected. This will add the file to your menu, with host programs if needed. FAST ROOM ADD!: Click a filename & type ! For an instant menu item..no questions asked! FAST REMOVE!: When viewing the menu LIST, click any item & type ! It's a no questions asked way of removing rooms! Push a file into the HOST PROFILE: When in files view, click on any exe and type $. (Your HOSTS will hold parties for cash! $) The $ will push the program into your HOST PROFILE. You are then asked for the EXTENSION you wish the HOST to support. THAT'S ALL FOLKS! SURE HOPE YOU ENJOY HOUSE! Check out CITY mode for some drawing FUN! Remember, EXPLORING HOUSE BOLDLY is the ONLY WAY TO GO! P.S. Enjoy HOUSE for 30 days free.... Copy it for your friends too....it's shareware!