Contents
New Generation Software presents...

WinEZ Pro

Absolutely the fastest way to start and switch between Window's applications!

Welcome to WinEZ Pro.  A Windows add-in program that makes working with Windows even easier.

Getting Started

Shareware and Registration

Running WinEZ Pro

Using WinEZ Pro

Trouble Shooting

WinEZ Pro Online Help. Revision 1.4


How to reach NGS

New Generation Software

P.O. Box 9700,  Suite 282

Austin, TX 78766

Technical Support	(512)795-8300

Order	(800)944-7638

(512)795-8587

Fax	(512)795-9990

Compuserve	70312,127


Trademarks

Information in this documentation is subject to change without notice.

No part of this documentation and/or software may be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior expressed written authorization of New Generation Software.

WinEZ Pro Users Guide

Copyright © 1993, 1994 New Generation Software

All rights Reserved.

Microsoft is a registered trademark, and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Norton Desktop is a trademark of Symantec Corporation.

Manual Version 1.4


Limited Warranty

This program and the accompanying documentation is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect to defects in the program or documentation.  New Generation Software assumes no risk as to the quality and performance of the program.  Should the program prove defective, you assume the entire cost of any loss of profit or any other commercial damage.  Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties so the above exclusion may not apply to you.  This statement shall be construed, interpreted, and governed by the laws of the state of Texas.


Getting Started

WinEZ Pro Overview

WinEZ Pro is an add-in utility for Microsoft Windows 3.1.  It adds task switching and application launching capabilities to the currently active window.  This is done by attaching the WinEZ Pro Icons to the title bar of the active window.  By using the mouse, or other pointing device, you can use these new icons to jump directly to another application, or launch an application defined in your Program Manager.

WinEZ Pro also provides a pop-up toolbar (Power Toolbar) that represents a single group of the Program Manager.  This toolbar becomes available with a single mouse click over the WinEZ Pro icons.  By placing your most commonly used applications in a single Program Manager group, you can have instant access to them from most any Windowed application.

The WinEZ Pro desktop save and restore feature allows you to save the current layout (all windowed applications running, including their size and placement on the Windows desktop) of a Windows session.  Each saved desktop configuration will be represented by a single menu item within the WinEZ Pros pop-up menu.  A desktop configuration can easily be restored by selecting the menu item represented by the saved desktop configuration name from the pop-up menu.

You can also launch any other application directly from the active window by using the WinEZ Pro run dialog.  WinEZ Pro provides a run dialog, similar to the Program Manager or File Manager, that allows you to launch any application directly from the current window.

WinEZ Pro is also compatible with the Norton Desktop for Windows shell, versions 2.x and 3.x.

Features

System Requirements

Installed Files

Created Files


System Requirements

·	Microsoft Windows 3.1

·	3.5 Diskette drive for installation

·	Mouse or other pointing device

·	Hard Disk with 500KB free


Running WinEZ Pro

To run WinEZ Pro, simply double click on the WinEZ Pro icon from within the Program Manager group WinEZ Pro.

WinEZ Pro

If, during installation, you selected the option to have WinEZ Pro run at Windows startup,  WinEZ Pro will automatically be started when Windows is started  (The LOAD= line within WIN.INI will contain the program name WINEZPRO.EXE).

e.g.  LOAD=C:\WINEZPRO\WINEZPRO.EXE

If you wish to have WinEZ Pro loaded automatically when Windows is started, you can either modify WIN.INI to include the WinEZ Pro program name or add another item to the Program Manager group Startup.

To modify WIN.INI, use the standard Windows Notepad to open the WIN.INI file.  Search for the word LOAD and append the program name for WinEZ Pro (WINEZPRO.EXE) to the end of the line.  Remember to include the full path name of the directory to which WinEZ Pro was installed.

To add WinEZ Pro to your Startup group, you can either use the File | New menu item to add a new Program Item, or you can drag the WinEZ Pro Icon from the WinEZ Pro group to the Startup group.

When WinEZ Pro is loaded, you will see two new icons added to the title bar of the active window.  The icons will be left justified in the title bar area, right next to the system menu icon.

Note:  When WinEZ Pro is run for the very first time, you will notice a dialog window indicating that WinEZ Pro is reading the Program Manager group information.  This is done to create a summary file (WINEZ.DAT) for the WinEZ Pro Power Menu.

The left most icon is the EZ Launch Icon.  This icon is used to display a pop-up menu (Power Menu) representing the groups and their associated applications of the Program Manager.  This icon is also used to access the Power Toolbar.

The right most icon is the EZ Task Icon.  This icon is used to display a pop-up menu containing a list of the currently active task windows, plus other WinEZ Pro features (Desktop, End Task, and Options).


Using WinEZ Pro

To use WinEZ Pro, simply click the mouse buttons over the WinEZ Pro Icons to display the pop-up menus or the Power Toolbar.

By default, a left click over the EZ Launch Icon will display the WinEZ Pro Power Menu, a pop-up menu which represents the Program Managers groups and their applications.  This menu will allow you to directly launch any Program Manager application for the current window without having to go to the Program Manager. A right mouse click over the EZ Launch Icon will bring up the WinEZ Pro Power Toolbar Window.  This window is a toolbar icon view of a single Program Manager Group.  By placing your commonly used applications in a single group, you can have a pop-up toolbar available to the current window.

A left mouse click over the EZ Task Icon will display a pop-up menu containing a list of the currently active task windows (a single menu item for each windowed application).  This pop-up menu also allows you to End other task windows, Save or Restore desktop configurations, Run another application, or change WinEZ Pros options.

WinEZ Pro Desktop Manager


 EZ Task Icon

The EZ Task Icon displays a pop up menu of currently active tasks, by window title, along with other functions of WinEZ Pro.  Each window is represented by a single menu item identified by the windows titlebar caption.  In addition, these same menu items appear as a sub-menu to the End Task menu item.  These sub-menu items can be used to directly close the associated window application.

The Run... menu item will bring up the WinEZ Pros enhanced run dialog.  This dialog is similar to the run dialog of the Program Manager or File Manager, with the exception of being able to save the last 5 command lines previously executed.

The Desktop menu item brings up a sub-menu containing any saved desktop configurations, plus a Save... and Delete... sub-menu item to manage the desktop configurations.

The Options... menu item will bring up the WinEZ Pro Options dialog.  This dialog is used to change the default behavior of WinEZ Pro.

The Help menu item will display a sub-menu for WinEZ Pros online Help and About box.

Using the EZ Task Icon

Switching to Other Windows


Using the EZ Task Icon

To bring up the task pop-up menu, simple click and hold the left mouse button and over the EZ Task Icon.  The task menu will be displayed.  While holding down the left mouse button, drag the pointer over the menu item of your choice.


Switching to Other Windows

The topmost entries of the task pop-up menu represents the active tasks currently running.  The menu items that represents the active window are derived from the title bar text of each respective window.  To switch directly to one of these tasks, select the menu item (title bar text), using the mouse, of the application that you wish to jump to.


Ending Tasks

The End Task sub menu allows you to close an application directly from the current window.  The entries in the task menu are the same items that represent the active windows.  Select the End Task menu item to bring up the its sub menu.  Select the sub-menu item of the application that you wish to end.


Running Other Programs

Select the Run... menu item to bring up the WinEZ Pro enhanced run facility.  This dialog is similar to the Program Managers or File Managers run dialog.  WinEZ Pros run dialog adds the capability to remember the last 5 commands that were previously issued.


Destkop Configurations
Desktop Configurations

The Desktop menu item displays its submenu of previously saved desktop configuration plus menu items for the desktop configuration maintenance, Save... and Delete....

The desktop maintenance feature of WinEZ Pro allows you to save the current position and sizes of the applications that are currently running.  The restoration of a desktop will reposition all of the previously saved windows back to the location at the time the desktop save took place.  By default, WinEZ Pro will attempt to launch any program that is not currently running but was saved in the selected configuration.  This auto launch feature can be disable through the WinEZ Pro Options dialog.  See WinEZ Pro Desktop Manager for details on how to save, restore, and delete desktop configuration.


WinEZ Pro Options

The Options dialog allows you to set the default behavior of WinEZ Pro.

Switching Options

EZ Launch Icon Behavior

WinEZ Icon Position

Power Group

Desktop


Switching Options

WinEZ Pro's switching option relates to the behavior of how WinEZ will restore the currently active window when it switches to another window by the use of the Active Task Switching menu.

Default

Select this option to set the switching behavior that tries to restore the currently active window to the state at which it was found. This behavior will only occur if you used WinEZ to jump to the application.

Always Minimize on Switch

Selecting this option will tell WinEZ Pro to always minimize the active window when switching to another.  This behavior will only occur if WinEZ Pro is used to switch to another window.


EZ Launch Icon Behavior

The EZ Launch Icon can respond to both the left and right mouse buttons.  This option allows you to set the actions taken when the left or right mouse button is clicked over the EZ Launch Icon.  Use the drop down list to select the Mouse button to which the following options will relate.

Power Menu

Selecting this option will display the WinEZ Power Menu when the specified mouse button (above) is clicked over the EZ Launch Icon.

Power Toolbar

Selecting this option will display the WinEZ Power Toolbar when the specified mouse button (above) is clicked over the EZ Launch Icon.

Jump to Window

Selecting this option will jump directly to a specified window as described by its title.  To use this, enter the title text that appears in the window of the application that you wish to jump directly to. i.e. "Program Manager"

Rebuild on Startup

Check this option to force WinEZ to rebuild the Power Menu each time it is run.  This will insure that the Power Menu reflects changes from your last session.


WinEZ Icon Position

WinEZ Pro can be positioned anywhere along the title bar.  By default, WinEZ Pros icons will be position along the left size of the title bar, right next to the System Icon.

Select the Left radio button to left justify the WinEZ Icons on the titlebar.

Select the Right radio button to right justify the WinEZ Icons on the titlebar.

Select the Pixel Position radio button to allow a specified distance from the left side of the title bar.  Enter this distance, in pixels, into the edit field to the right of this radio button.


Power Group Selection
Power Group

This option allows you to select the Program Manager Group that will be displayed as the Power Toolbar.  The drop down list displays the currently active group assigned to the Power Toolbar.  Use the drop down list to select the group of your choice.  Next time the Power Group is show, it will display the icons of the chosen group.


Desktop Option
Desktop

This option allows you to set the load behavior of applications when a previously saved desktop configuration is restored.  At the time a desktop is restored, not all of the applications that were running at the time it was saved, may be running.  This option tells WinEZ Pro to attempt to load the appropriate application.


Exiting WinEZ Pro

Select the Exit... menu item to remove terminate WinEZ Pro.  You will be asked to confirm this action just in case you really didnt mean it.


 EZ Launch Icon

This icon can be use to display the WinEZ Pro Power Menu, Power Toolbar, or jump directly to a specified window.  By default, a click of the left mouse button will display the Power Menu while a click of the right mouse button displays the Power Toolbar.

To change the default mouse click behavior, use the WinEZ Pro Options dialog.


Power Menu

{bitmap ezlaunch.bmp}

The Power Menu is a pop-up menu based on the groups found in the Program Manager.  Each menu item represents a single Program Manager group.  Selecting the group name menu item displays a sub-menu which represents the applications within that group.

The topmost menu item is the currently selected group for the Power Toolbar, while the last menu item requests a rebuild of the Power Menu (re-read the group information).

The Power Menu can read the Windows 3.1 Program Manager groups as well as the Norton Desktop for Windows (2.x, 3.0) groups.  Sub groups in the Norton Desktop shell are represented as separate menu items at the same level as the main groups.

Launching Program Manager Applications

Rebuilding the Power Menu


Launching Program Manager Applications

To launch a Program Manager group application, bring up the Power Menu by pressing and holding the mouse button over the EZ Launch Icon (left mouse button by default).  You should see a pop-up menu containing the names of all the group names.  While holding down the mouse button, drag the mouse cursor over the group name containing the application you want.  Release the mouse button will display the submenu for that group menu item.

The submenu represents the applications within that group.  Move the mouse cursor over the application you wish to launch and click the left mouse button.  The application will be launched.

To cancel the launch request, either release or click the mouse button outside of the menu area.


Rebuilding the Power Menu

The Rebuild Power Menu item is used to refresh the Power menu in the event that the contents of the Program Manager changes (new Groups or Applications added, old Groups or Applications deleted).

When you install new application or change a group in anyway, you will need to rebuild the Power Menu to reflect these changes.


WinEZ Pro Power Toolbar

{bitmc toolbar.bmp}

The Power Toolbar is an icon view of a single Program Manager group.  It can be displayed from any windows application while WinEZ Pro is running.  It provides a quick way to launch your most commonly used applications.

By default, clicking the right mouse button over the EZ Launch Icon displays the WinEZ Power Toolbar.  Use the Power Tool Bar to quickly launch your most commonly used applications.

Setting up the Toolbar

Using the Toolbar

Toolbar Options


Setting Up the Toolbar

Before you can use the Toolbar, you will need to tell WinEZ Pro which group you wish to use as the Power Toolbar group.  You can either use an existing group or create a new one.

Hint: Create a separate group specifically for the Power Toolbar (i.e. Power Group).  Place your most commonly used applications in this group by either copying the application from another group or using the File | New menu item of the Program Manager.

From WinEZ Pros EZ Task Icon, select the Options... menu item to bring up the WinEZ Pro Options dialog.  Under the Power Group section, use the drop down listbox to select the Program Manager group of your choice.  The next time the toolbar is displayed it will contain the icons of that particular group.

If the toolbar is already displayed, you can use the Options icon to bring up the toolbars options dialog.  From this dialog, you can select the default group to be referenced by the toolbar.  Use this dialog to also change the Power Toolbar group at anytime.


Using the toolbar

To use the toolbar, right mouse click over the EZ Launch Icon (left most icon).  By default, this should display the Power Toolbar.  You should see and array of icons, one for each application defined in the selected Program Manager group.  A single click over any one of these icons will select it and display its description in the status bar (if available, see EZ Toolbar Options on turning the status bar on and off).  Double clicking the left mouse button over the icon will launch the application.

The toolbar will attempt to save its current size and position between sessions.  These values are stored in the WINEZ.INI file contained in your Windows subdirectory.

Double clicking the left mouse button over the Options icon will bring up the Toolbars Options dialog.


EZ Toolbar Options

The Default Power Group allows you to select a Program Manager group whose icons will be displayed in the toolbar.  Use the drop down list to select the group that you want to display.  Press Rebuild Power Toolbar or Ok to refresh the toolbar.

The Power Toolbar Behavior modifies how the toolbar will react once the application is launched.

Hide on Launch - Select this option if you wish the toolbar to just hide itself after launching an application from the toolbar.  This is useful when you have a large number of application in the toolbar.  Normally, every time the toolbar is run, it has to read the information from the disk.  This may be too slow on some machines.  By hiding the toolbar after launching, the information is not longer re-read from the disk, but rather is cached in memory.

Exit on Launch - This is the default option.  Select this option to force the toolbar to remove itself from memory.  If you have memory constraints, then this might be your choice.

Remain Visible - Select this option if you wish the toolbar to always remain visible, even after launching an application.  A Stay on Top option is available through the Toolbars system menu.  Check this menu item to keep the toolbar on top of all other windows.

Check the Show Description option to turn on the status bar text on the bottom of the toolbar.  The status bar displays the descriptive text associated with the application icon.

Press the Rebuild Power Toolbar button to refresh the contents of the Toolbar.  This may be handy if the contents of the Program Manager group associated with the icon changes while the toolbar is running.

Ok save all changes and refreshes the contents of the toolbar window.  Cancel abandons any changes.


WinEZ Pro Desktop Manager

{bitmap dsktop.bmp}

The WinEZ Pro Desktop Manager allows you to save and restore the state of all currently running windowed applications.  At the time a desktop configuration is saved, all of the applications and their placements are saved.  A saved configuration can later be restored which will check the current session for all running applications that were previously saved, making note of those application that are not running.

The restore process can attempt to start those missing applications that were saved in the desktop configuration.  It will also reposition the windows to the point at which they were saved.  Any window that was not in the saved configuration will be minimized.

Saving a Desktop Configuration

Restoring a Desktop Configuration

Deleting a Desktop Configuration


Saving a Desktop Configuration

To save a desktop configuration, select the submenu item Save...  This will bring up the Add/Rename Desktop dialog.  Use this dialog to save the current desktop configuration to a new configuration name or replace the configuration under an existing name.

{bitmap dtsave.bmp}

When this dialog comes up it will create a default configuration name for you.  You can accept this name and choose the Add button.  This will save the new configuration name under the given name.  If you dont like the default name, just modify it before choosing the Add button.

You can also save the current desktop configuration under an existing configuration name.  To re-use a configuration name, you can either re-type the name or select the existing name from the listbox.  If you select an existing name, choose the Add button to replace the old configuration with the new.


Restoring a Desktop Configuration

To restore a previously saved desktop configuration, select the submenu item that matches the name of the corresponding desktop configuration.  WinEZ Pro will reposition all windows back to the location of which they were saved.  Any window that it does not recognized, or that was not saved will be minimized.  If an application that was saved is not currently running, WinEZ Pro will attempt to start the application for you.  The auto start behavior can be turned off through the WinEZ Pro Options dialog.


Deleting a Desktop Configuration

To delete a desktop configuration, select the submenu item Delete...  This will bring up the Rename/Delete Desktop dialog.  Use this dialog to rename or delete an existing configuration.

{bitmap dtdelete.bmp}

To rename an existing configuration, select the configuration name to be changed from the Existing configurations listbox.  The selected name will appear in the Configuration Name edit field.  Modify the name as needed and select the Replace button.  The renamed version will be replace in the listbox.

To delete an existing configuration, select the configuration name to be deleted from the Existing configurations listbox. Choose the Delete button.  A message box will be displayed to confirm the deletion.  Choose Yes to complete the deletion, No to cancel.


Installed Files

These files are copied from the installation diskette to the target WinEZ Pro subdirectory.

Filename	Description

WINEZPRO.EXE	Main program

WINEZPRO.HLP	Windows Help file

WEZDSKTP.EXE	Desktop Manager

WEZTBAR.EXE	Power Toolbar

WINEZGRP.EXE	Group reader

WEZPWIN.DLL	Used by Group reader to read Program Manager group files.

WEZPNDW.DLL	Used by Group reader to read Norton Desktop for Windows group files.

WINEZDLL.DLL	WinEZ Pro system DLL

WINEZLIB.DLL	Used by the Power Toolbar

README.TXT	Latest news


Created Files

These files are created by WinEZ Pro during execution.

Filename	Description

WINEZ.DAT	Contains summary of Program Manager Groups and their applications.  Located in Windows directory

WINEZ.INI	Holds WinEZ Pros option settings between sessions. Located in Windows directory.

DESKTOP.CFG	Relates desktop configuration names to their respective DTCFGxxx.CFG file.

DTCFGxxx.CFG	Single saved desktop configuration file.


Trouble Shooting

Q: WinEZ Pro is always rebuilding every time it starts.  How do I prevent this from happening?

A: Bring up the WinEZ Pro Options Dialog.  Make sure that the option Rebuild on Startup is not checked.  If it is not checked, use any text editor and edit the WINEZ.INI file that is located in your Windows subdirectory.  In the [Version] section, check the value of the Number= keyword.  Delete the value after the equal sign and save the file.  Restart WinEZ Pro, the Power Menu should rebuild once.  It should no longer be rebuilt on startup.

Q: The Power Toolbars size and position are not saved between sessions.  Why not?

A: The Power Toolbars size and position are not saved until the toolbar is Exited.  By default, the Hide on Launch behavior is set so that the toolbar is hidden from view when you launch an application or close the window via the system menu.  It may look like the window closes but in reality it is still running.  Being hidden allows the window to reappear quickly when called upon.  This behavior is present mostly for performance reasons.

To get the toolbars placement to be saved between sessions, bring up the Power Toolbar Options dialog.  Under the Power Toolbar Behavior section, select the Exit on Launch option.  This will make sure that its placement is saved between sessions.


Features

-	WinEZ Pro attaches two icons, "EZ Launch Icon" and "EZ Task Icon", to the title bar of the active window without taking up valuable screen space.  This gives the current window additional features of launching and jumping to other applications.

-	Jump directly to another running task window with the convenient pop-up task list.  Click on the EZ Task icon to display the pop-up task list.

-	Launch any of the applications defined in your Program Manager directly from the current window.  Click on the EZ Task icon to display popup menu of the Program Managers Groups and Applications.

-	Launch any application from WinEZ Pro's enhanced Run dialog facility. It even remembers the last 5 commands allowing quick recall of previously executed applications.

-	End an active task directly, using the "EZ Task Icon" icon's popup menu.

-	Norton Desktop for Windows support, versions 2.x and 3.0.

-	Use the Pop-up Toolbar to quickly launch your favorite applications.

-	Save the state of all the active windows with WinEZ Pros Desktop Manager. Restore the placement and have WinEZ Pro automatically launch the applications saved with a click of the mouse.

-	Support file associations from the Window 3.1 registry as well as the [Extensions] section in the WIN.INI file.


Shareware and Registration

WinEZ Pro is a shareware product and is available to you, free, for an evaluation period of thirty days.  If you like what you see and feel that it will be useful, you are encouraged to register with us.  The base registration fee is $29.95.

Previous owners of WinEZ, can upgrade to WinEZ Pro for $19.95, plus shipping and handling.

By registering WinEZ Pro, you will:

*	Receive a diskette containing the latest version of WinEZ Pro.  (You can register via Compuserve and receive a registration number that will remove that annoying "About box" that appears every time you start WinEZ Pro.  This will save you any shipping and handling charges)

*	Receive a Published User's Guide when you request a diskette be sent out with your order (see order form at end of document).

*	Receive FREE or discounted upgrades to future versions of WinEZ Pro.

*	Encourages NGS to continue producing new high quality Windows utilities.

How do I Register

How to Reach NGS

ASP

Limited Warranty

Trademarks


How do I Register
How do I Register?

You can register your copy of WinEZ Pro by:

Phone:	Call our toll free number, (800)964-7638 or (512)795-8587, and charge it to your Visa or Mastercard.

Mail:	Complete the order form (ORDERFRM.TXT) and mail it to:

New Generation Software

P.O. Box 9700, Dept. 282

Austin, TX  78766

Fax:	Fax the order form directly to NGS at:  (512)795-9990

E-Mail:	Sending the order form electronically (E-mail) to NGS on Compuserve.  Our Compuserve user id is:  70312,127

If you wish to register by Phone, Mail, or Fax, you will be sent a diskette containing the latest version of WinEZ Pro.  A small shipping and handling fee will be added, $3.00 (outside the US $5.50).

Those who register via E-Mail can request a registration number only and avoid the shipping and handling fee.  A reply to your E-Mail will contain your registration number to remove the startup About box.

Our Japanese Customers can contact locally, Patrick Hochner of P. & A. BBS

     Phone: 0425-46-9141

     Fax:   0425-46-9142

     NIFTY-Serve: PAF02461


ASP

WinEZ Pro is a Shareware program conforming to standards as established by the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) located at 325 118th Ave.  S.E., Suite 200, Belleview, WA 98005.