README.TXT: SMILERSHELL LITE 2.0 QUICK START AND INSTALLATION QUICK START / HINTS AND TRICKS SMILERSHELL LITE is a Windows command line. It's just like shelling out to DOS. You type a command and press ENTER. It supports pipes, redirection, and internal DOS commands (and runs Windows programs too). It works just like the DOS command line. SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION or SMILERSHELL PRO provide the best command line you've ever seen, as if the plain-vanilla DOS prompt was enhanced by lots of handy utilities. (See below for more information on SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION and SMILERSHELL PRO.) Though SMILERSHELL LITE has fewer of these built-in utilities, it is still quite useful. Here's how to get the most out of it. INSTANT INSTALL: You can install SmilerShell automatically, using the enclosed auto-installer. To do this, simply run install.exe. You can run it using File Manager, or the Run item on Program Manager's File menu, or in whatever other convenient way you choose. Give it the directory to put SmilerShell's files into, and the Program Manager group name for the SmilerShell icons (appropriate defaults are suggested). It'll do the rest. The installer will make no changes to your system setup. It just copies files to the directory you specify, and adds icons to the Program Manager group you specify. If you choose to uninstall, just delete these files and icons. COMMAND HISTORY AND SEARCH: Every time you run a command, it is saved on the command stack. To find a previous command of interest, type the first letter or two of that command, then press the up or down arrow key. Up-arrow searches back, down-arrow searches forward. It's a circular buffer, the last command is connected to the first, so you can search in either direction. COMMAND LINE EDITOR: A retrieved previous command, or anything else you type, can be edited to suit. Think of SmilerShell as a one-line word processor. It supports insert mode, overtype mode, and clipboard cut/paste. GET SMALL: SmilerShell has a very small window, but you can make it even smaller. Use the Options menu to get rid of the menu bar (or type Alt+M). If you like, you can then mouse SmilerShell as small as it will go, about as big as two icons. SMILERSHELL NEVER FORGETS: In the ini file, set winwidth=PREV and SmilerShell will start up next time in the same directory, in the same screen position, and with the same settings, as when you shut it down this time. CHANGE INI FILE SETTINGS ON THE FLY: Click the Edit Ini File item on SmilerShell's File menu. It'll start up Notepad with your ini file (and create an ini file first, if none exists). When you're done editing and you close Notepad, SmilerShell will know. It'll read the ini file and reset itself as indicated there. DOS IN A WINDOW: Do you prefer to have DOS commands run fullscreen or in a window? Toggle this on the fly with the Options menu's DOS In Window item. Or to run one command as if DOS In Window is set to the opposite of its current value, start that command with a right-bracket (for example >dir \dos). INACTIVES STAY VISIBLE: After you run a DOS command, do you want the command's inactive window to stick around, or immediately vanish? Toggle this from the Options menu. Or to run one command as if Inactives Stay Visible is set to the opposite of its current value, start that command with an asterisk (for example *copy *.* b:). REMOVE INACTIVES: Too many inactive windows cluttering your screen? Get rid of 'em with this Edit menu item, or just type Alt+R from the keyboard. CLOCK: Toggle the titlebar clock from the Options menu, or just type Alt+C. Prefer 12-hour or 24-hour time? Use the timeformat ini file parameter. CURRENT DRIVE/DIRECTORY: Toggle this onto the titlebar from the Options menu, or just type Alt+D. SYSTEM RESOURCES: Toggle the System Resources display onto the menu bar from the Options menu, or just type Alt+S, to see a real-time running report of your available Windows memory and resources. INSERT OR OVERTYPE MODE: Toggle this from the Options menu, or just type Alt+O. In overtype mode a flag appears in the title bar, above the second 'e' in 'SmilerShell'. TOPMOST WINDOW: Make SmilerShell a topmost window from the Options menu, or just type Alt+T. That way, it's always visible and ready for use, even when you're working in another window. SAVE YOUR STACK: You can save the current command stack to a file and reload it automatically at startup, or at any other time. The startup loading is set up in the ini file. HANDY CONFIGURATIONS: Make SmilerShell topmost, turn on the clock, turn off the menu, mouse it as small as it goes (about as big as two icons) and stick it in the corner. The clock shows, and it's always ready for action. Or make SmilerShell topmost and maximize it. When maximized, it only takes up the top line of your screen, not the whole display. OTHER SMILERSHELL UTILITIES SMILERSHELL LITE is the baby in Bardon's family of Windows command-line utilities. Here's some information on its bigger siblings, the mid-level SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION, and for those who want the very best, SMILERSHELL PRO, the ultimate Windows command line. Both versions also include free utilities, special offers, and other bonus gifts, described below. SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION does everything that SMILERSHELL LITE does, and in addition has these features: QUICK DIRECTORY CHANGE: DC is SmilerShell's built-in quick-change tool. Type DC and the first few letters of the directory you want to be in. If it's unambiguous, boom, you're there, otherwise a list box pops up with the first possible match highlighted. DC tracks directories on multiple drives, and changes drive as well as directory if necessary to get you where you want to go. HIDE THE TITLE BAR: Toggle away the title bar! It's just as easy as turning off the menu bar in SmilerShell Lite. And with no title bar, Windows doesn't enforce a minimum window size, and lets you mouse SmilerShell even smaller. TYPE-IN ALIASES: Hate typing long commands? Set up an alias list. An alias is a short command that is replaced by a longer command. When you press Enter, the first word on the line is compared to your alias list. If anything matches, the replacement text is substituted for that first word. Very handy, that. FUNCTION-KEY ALIASES: Want to type even less? You can also hang aliases off function keys; hit the key and the command runs, no need to press Enter. Either kind of alias can run DOS commands, Windows commands, or even other aliases. SMILERSHELL PRO does everything that SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION and SMILERSHELL LITE do, and in addition adds these features to everything listed above: PRESS THE BUTTON: SmilerShell Pro takes up no space on your desktop. None. That's because it's usually a tiny button that hops unobtrusively into the titlebar of whichever application is currently active. Press the button to bring up the command line window. Click the SmilerShell menubar's Hide item (or type Alt+H) and the command line window vanishes again. MULTIPLE COMMANDS ON ONE LINE: You can type multiple commands on one command line. Hit Enter and they are submitted in order. And unlike everything else in Windows, SmilerShell makes sure the previous command ends before it starts the next one. CHANGE YOUR PATH: By default SmilerShell Pro uses the DOS search path. You can change this by typing a PATH command, just like in DOS. Later, go back to the old DOS path by typing PATH= (an equals sign but no parameters). As you'd expect, PATH by itself shows the current path. A TINY WINDOW: Want the smallest possible window? With SmilerShell Pro, if System Resources is enabled and you toggle off the menu, the resources report will appear in the command line. Press any key and your command line returns. The cursor is where you left it, selections are still selected, and the key you pressed is typed into place in the command text. Turn off the titlebar as well as the menu for an incredibly small SmilerShell, with no loss of information! IT'S FAST: Because of special software technology, SmilerShell Pro runs commands faster than SmilerShell Standard Edition or SmilerShell Lite. Both SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION and SMILERSHELL PRO come with a printed manual, support by phone, mail, or Compuserve, and these Extra Free Bonuses: two more handy Bardon utilities (WHATSNEW lists files not yet backed up, or directories containing such files; PR/PRFILTER format output for printing, and add a header with filename, size, create date, and print date), discount certificate for JCSM shareware CD-ROMs at half price, discounts on PsL shareware-by-mail (up to 2/3 off!), discount on Shareware Magazine, free Compuserve startup kit, and a disk-full of top Windows shareware I think you'll like. SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION is usually sold for $19.95, and SMILERSHELL PRO is usually $29.95. But as a SMILERSHELL LITE user, you can purchase SMILERSHELL STANDARD EDITION for $15.95, or SMILERSHELL PRO for $23.95 (plus $3.50 for shipping). Be sure to mention this offer when you order! Send orders to: Barry Smiler Bardon Data Systems 1023 Key Route Blvd. Albany, CA 94706 With a MasterCard or Visa you can order by phone, at (510) 526-8470. Or simply mail in your card number and expiration date. Outside North America please add $6 for overseas shipping charges. WHY IS THIS A SHELL? The word "shell" is sometimes used for a wrapper that surrounds another application and hides it. SmilerShell is the opposite of that. It makes all the power of the command line available from an environment in which that power is not otherwise accessible. But since it makes things more visible, rather than less visible, why is it called a shell? It's a shell in another sense. Maybe you've seen programs that let you "shell out" to DOS, for example WordPerfect's Ctrl+F1 command, Shell. When you "shell out" it's like having a window into another environment, a pathway to a different level of functionality. That's what SmilerShell is, and that's why it's a shell. INSTALLING SMILERSHELL LITE SmilerShell Lite includes the following files: smilite.exe the program smilite.hlp the documentation, in Windows help file format readme.txt overview and installation instructions install.exe automated SmilerShell installer invoice.wri how to upgrade to SmilerShell Standard or Pro You can install SmilerShell Lite automatically, using the enclosed auto- installer. To do this, simply run install.exe from within Windows. You can run it using File Manager, or the Run item on Program Manager's File menu, or in whatever other convenient way you choose. Give it the directory to put SmilerShell's files into, and the Program Manager group name for the SmilerShell icons (appropriate defaults are suggested). It'll do the rest. If you prefer, you can install SmilerShell manually: 1) Copy the files to a convenient directory on your hard disk. (Actually, only smilite.exe and smilite.hlp need to be in this directory. The others are not required to run SmilerShell.) 2) Put the SmilerShell icon into a program group. To do this, bring up File Manager and set it to the convenient directory you chose in the previous step. Then drag-and-drop smilite.exe into your favorite Program Manager group. The SmilerShell icon should appear there. (How to drag-and-drop: While the mouse is pointing at the word "smilite.exe" in File Manager, press and hold the left mouse button. While continuing to hold the button down, move the mouse to point into your favorite Program Manager group. Let go of the button. The SmilerShell icon should appear in the group.) Optionally, you can set up an initialization file. But if you start SmilerShell without an initialization file, you'll be asked if you'd like SmilerShell to create one and fill it with reasonable values, then let you edit it in Notepad before proceeding. See the section The Initialization File in the documentation. Optionally, give a non-default location for the initialization file. See the section The Initialization File in the documentation. Optionally, you can create a command stack file, having a list of commands that you want loaded into SmilerShell. See the section Command Stack Files in the documentation. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Requires Microsoft Windows 3.1