<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< HOOK Hot-Key Router & Macro Facility >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Contents of HOOK22.ZIP FileName Description of File HOOKQDLL.DLL Dynamic Load Module - intercepts system message queue HOOK.DAT Sample data file for hot-key assignments - read by HOOK.EXE HOOK.EXE Executable File - Executes According to Key Combinations Struck HOOK.INI Binary file read by HOOK; has configuration data for HOOK. HOOK.INF INF file displayed by VIEW.EXE - has Help/Information for HOOK INSTALL.EXE Completely Install of HOOK including target drive and directory. README.TXT ASCII File with instructions on installing and using HOOK Install.EXE places all the files (except HOOKQDLL.DLL) into X:\HOOKDir\ where X: is the drive ID entered into the Install Window and HOOKdir is the directory name entered (HOOK is default). HOOKQDLL is installed in \OS2\DLL on the drive holding the OS2 system files(almost always C:) Since the DLL file is now in the \OS2\DLL directory there is no need to modify CONFIG SYS since the LIBPATH already contains \OS2\DLL and thus no need to REBOOT in order to start the program. WHAT THE HOOK DOES HOOK was designed to alleviate the need to clear up the Desktop of OS/2 in order to obtain access to Icons to load programs and to facilitate switching from one active program to another. I found myself all too frequently having to to minimize some of my active programs in order to access the Desktop to load another program that was required. Additionally I wanted a quicker way of switching to another program than using Alt-Esc to move through active programs until I came to the desired one or by accessing the Task List to select the program. Conceptually then, HOOK is akin to a DOS TSR. Whereas a DOS TSR is resident in Memory, HOOK works through a DLL, HOOKQDLL.DLL which is loaded into memory when HOOK is loaded. HOOKQDLL monitors the message queue for WM_CHAR messages, the equivalent of a TSR hooking the KB interrupt. WM_CHAR messages contain information on Keyboard activity and HOOKQDLL, depending on the Keyboard Activity sends messages to HOOK which executes according to the key combinations struck as defined in the DAT file HOOK.DAT . OS/2 itself by default assigns a variety of actions to Keystrokes. For instance F1 brings up HELP, Alt-F4 closes an active program, Ctrl-Esc brings up the Task List,Alt-Esc and Tab-Esc switch to the next program in the Task List, Alt-F7 moves a Window, Alt-F8 resizes, Alt-F10 maximizes, Alt-F5 restores and so on. In addition each program as a rule has its own set of dedicated Keystrokes to accomplish certain actions. Editors and Word Processors are very rich in such keystroke assignments. If a Hot-Key type program is to be useful, it should be as unobtrusive as possible and not interfere with programmatic hot-keys. I originally chose the triple key combination of Shift-Alt-X, Shift-Ctrl-X, where X can be 0,....9,A,B,.....Y,Z (case insensitive) for the Hot-Keys since in my experience to date, they had been almost unused. I also used those combinations with X being keys on the White(numeric) Cursor_Pad for Hard Coded actions relating to tasks involving HOOK itself. I have recently added the combination Alt-Ctrl-X to the Hot Keys increasing the capability by 50 %. There are some editors, the E.EXE OS/2 Editor for instance as well as the Editors built into many Compiler programs that use the Shift-Ctrl-Cursor_Pad keys very heavily for Block activities and thus I have added a Toggle key to HOOK that allows the user to temporarily toggle its trapping actions OFF so that the total Keyboard is available to the user. That same Toggle key then re-activates HOOK so that Hot-Key switching is back ON. PM programs also make use of Virtual Keys (usually those menus accessible with Alt-F, Alt-H, etc.). A problem with those keys has now been fixed in this version. Formerly if ALt-F was a menu option and you had a hot key assigned Shift-Alt-F, pressing that combination brought up the program menu item. It now executes what it is suppoed to. Alt-F alone brings up the menu item. Ditto for Alt-H, etc. There are two classes of hot-key assignments in HOOK. One class is hard coded and cannot be changed by the user. The other is under the user's control and allows the user to assign specific actions to a given key combination. That assignment is done in the user defined text file HOOK.DAT, which is read by HOOK.EXE . HOOK has an additional feature. It can (with some limitations) save a sequence of Keyboard and Mouse Actions so that they may be replayed. I have found this useful for establishing certain DESKTOP environments that I use repeatedly. These "Macros" may be saved to Disk and restored From disk to memory for replay. When saved to disk, the user is prompted for the name under which to save the macro and two files are saved in X:.\HOOKdir. One with the extension HEX which is the file that can be played back when loaded into memory and the other a Text file with extension MAC. The latter contains the information in the Message queue for the sequence of commands that are in the Macro. HOOK communicates with the user via a small window on the desktop. I have found it useful to have this window contain the current date and time as well as to display messages from the program. The window appears as: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KB¨ hh:mm:ss ³ ³ Day mm-dd-yy ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The time is updated every second and the updates are maintained via a separate thread started from HOOK . There is an option in the On Line configuration to make the Window Invisible as well as options to change its size, location and colors (if Visible).The default location is the lower right corner. Messages are displayed on the first line of the display temporarily overwriting the current time. INSTALLING THE HOOK To use the Install.exe program, be sure it is in the same directory as the rest of the files included in the ZIP file. If you are installing from a floppy, make the floppy drive the active directory and be sure that OS/2 is active. You should do this from an OS/2 window. IF a PREVIOUS VERSION IS ACTIVE, UNLOAD it before installing this version. INSTALL.EXE installs this version in a directory named \HOOKdir on a drive (X:) both modifiable by the user in a Menu Entry Field. The Install program verifies the validity of the Drive selected and the length of the name entered for the directory (no longer than 8 characters). To use INSTALL just enter INSTALL from the command line where the current directory contains INSTALL,EXE and the unzipped files. The files will be copied to the appropriate directory and if it does not exist it will be created. What INSTALL.EXE does in detail: A menu is presented with an input field of C:\hook prompting the user to accept the parameters as given or to edit them to meet his/her requirements. Both the drive letter and the length of the directory name are validated (directory name length <= 8 chars.). IF X:\HOOK\ does not exist, it will be created. If HOOK.DAT exists in X:\HOOK\ it will be renamed to HOOK.OLD. HOOK.DAT, HOOK.EXE, HOOK.INF, HOOK.INI, HOOK.TXT, ABOX.EXE will be copied to X:\HOOK\ . HOOKQDLL.DLL will be copied to \OS2\DLL on the drive where that directory exists. The program ABOX.EXE displays a message window on the screen that remains for a fixed number of milliseconds. The message and the time duration are passed to the program when it is called by HOOK. This message does not require any user intervention to close. !!! FOR USERS OF PREVIOUS VERSIONS !!! You should delete any current version of HOOKQDLL.DLL before beginning the installation of this version. After completing the installation you may substitute your current HOOK???.DAT file by copying it to X:\HOOKdir and renaming it as HOOK.DAT. BUT before doing that look at the header to the default DAT file which comments its structure for calling programs. Current DAT files can be used but there are enhancements that you may find useful. It would probably be wiser to just edit HOOK.DAT to reflect your current usage. CONFIGURING THE HOOK There are various configuration parameters for the program which are stored in the file HOOK.INI which is read in by the program when it is started and which remain in effect unless changed from the configuration menu. In addition HOOK.DAT which has the User Defined Hot-Key Assignments is also read in when the program is started . User Assignments in the DAT file may be modified when the program is active as may the other configuration options. The program window may be resized and relocated by using the Mouse Pointer at the window edges to change window dimensions, thus effectively resizing and relocating the window. The ability to save those changes for the next startup are among the configuration options for the program. These options for the program are available by placing the mouse pointer anywhere on the display window and pressing the right mouse button or by pressing the key combination Shift-Ctrl-5 (White Cursor Pad) or Shift-Alt-F2. Either brings up the menu displayed below: Quit KeyBoard Hook Select Editor to use for DAT File Edit Edit HOOK.DAT File (Updates HOOK when Edit HOOK.DAT exited) (To UPDATE while Editing : Save File then Shift-Alt-UpArrow(W) ) Change Colors Window Options Explanations: Quit KeyBoard Hook Closes the program in an orderly fashion. Select Editor to use for DAT File Edit Allows user to enter the filespec of the editor to use for editing the DAT file or to change the filespec of the default editor (E.EXE) if it is not in X:\os2\. The editor selected is saved in HOOK.INI. Edit HOOK DAT File By default uses the E.EXE editor of OS/2. It is assumed that editor is located in C:\os2. The filesper may be changed using the option listed above. (Updating the EXE file occurs when the Editor Above is Closed) The DAT file is automatically re-read into the EXE file and the appropriate buffers updated when the Editor used to modify the DAT file is closed. If one does not use this option to modify the DAT file, then the EXE may also be dynamically updated with the Key combination Shift-Alt-UpArrow(White). Change Colors Presents the user with a menu allowing the selection of Foreground and Background Colors from a group of 16 options Using Push Buttons. The changes are effected immediately and are saved in HOOK.INI. þF WHITE þB þF DARKGRAY þB þF BLACK þB þF DARKBLUE þB þF BLUE þB þF DARKRED þB þF RED þB þF DARKPINK þB þF PINK þB þF DARKGREEN þB þF GREEN þB þF DARKCYAN þB þF CYAN þB þF BROWN þB þF YELLOW þB þF PALEGRAY þB Default Foreground = Blue Default Background = White In the Menu the Actual Colors are displayed instead of the Text indicating the colors. Window Options Selecting the Window Options presents 6 check boxes allowing a selection of Window Placement/Size Options from [ ] Win-Left [û] Win-Center Default [ ] Win-Right [ ] Use Current Win Size/Position [û] Window Visibile Default = ON [û] Window Not Jumpable Default = Not Jumpable The four choices grouped together in the Win positions are mutually exclusive. Only one them may be chosen. The first three select a small window ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ KB¨ hh:mm:ss ³ ³ Day mm-dd-yy ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ positioned at the bottom of the screen as indicated. The fourth choice is meant to be used if none of the first three are acceptable. The user may reposition and resize the window by using the pointer to drag the sides to new locations and to resize the window accordingly. After it is positioned to your liking that selection will copy the data for the new window position to HOOK.INI and it will be used on starting up again. Changes made from this Menu remain in effect thru the remainder of the session while HOOK is active. When the session is ended, via Shift-Alt-End or Shift-Alt-Del the current values of these parameters are saved in HOOK.INI and these are restored for use when the program is next loaded. SELECTING THE EDITOR FOR EDITING THE DAT FILE As noted the default editor used for editing the DAT file is the E.EXE editor that is included with OS/2. The assumption is made that this is located in C:\os2 where it is placed when installing OS/2 2.0 or 2.1. If this editor is not satisfactory you should choose one that is. HOT-KEY ASSIGNMENTS-FIXED BY PROGRAM The fixed key assignments are all related to the functioning of HOOK and with one exception use the Shift-Alt or Shift-Ctrl keys in combination with the numerical(White) cursor pad. HARD CODED ASSIGNMENTS Explanations Shft-Alt-Del(W) Unload HOOK Shft-Alt-End(W) ShutDown System Shft-Alt-UpArrow(W) Re-Read ".DAT" into Memory Shft-Alt-Ins(W) Open Small OS/2 Window Shft-Ctl-LeftArrow(W) Start Macro Recording Shft-Ctl-RghtArrow(W) End Macro Recording and Save to Disk File Shft-Ctl-Ins(W) PlayBack Macro Currently in Memory Shft-Ctl-PgDn(W) Save Current Loaded Macro to DiskFile Shft-Ctl-PgUp(W) Load Selected Macro from Disk to Memory Shft-Ctl-? Display User Defined HotKeys for Shift-Alt-X * Shft-Ctl-? Display User Defined HotKeys for Shift-Ctl-X * Alt-Ctl-? Display User Defined HotKeys for Alt-Ctl-X * Shft-Alt-\ Display Prog Defined HotKeys (hot-keys.prg) Shft-Alt-5(W) Toggle Hot-Keys Off/On Shft-Ctl-5(W) Activate PopUpMenu for Configuration Options Shft-ALt-F2 Activate PopUpMenu for Configuration Options Shft-Alt-F1 Activate On LIne Reference Window Press Right Mouse Button Activate PopUpMenu for Configuration Options When Pointer Over Window *This display is automatically updated whenver HOOK.DAT is changed. No user intervention is required for these file displays (this is changed from earlier versions which required the user to create these displays) HOT-KEY ASSIGNMENTS-USER DEFINED The user defined hot-key assignments are made in the text file HOOK.DAT which is in the directory X:\HOOK\ . The default file loaded by INSTALL has a series of comments in it that describe the format of making key assignments and there are a number of assignments made in that file as examples. The user can delete them, reassign them or whatever. That file is reproduced below. Please Note that when HOOK is active, any changes to HOOK.DAT may be made active by pressing Shift-Alt-UpArrow. IF the EDIT option was chosen from the Pop Up Menu the changes automatically are read into HOOK.EXE when the Editor is exited. Either choice re-reads this file into memory making the current contents the active set of user defined Hot-Keys. It is thus easy to test out your key assignments by editing HOOK.DAT in an OS/2 window, re-reading it into memory and trying out the edited key assignments. USER DEFINED DATA FORMAT Displayed below is the content of HOOK.DAT supplied for you initially. ***************** Beginning of File HOOK.DAT ***************** ;; HOOK.DAT Key Assignment file for HOOK.EXE Sun 12-11-94 ;; ;; This file MUST be located in the directory X:\HOOK???? ;; where X and ???? were chosen by the user at install time ;; ;; NB the actuating Key strokes are Shift-Alt-X, Shift-Ctrl-X, Alt-Ctrl-X ;; ;; <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< The format is as follows >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ;; ;; A ";" indicates a comment and text from there to end of line is ignored ;; ;; Blank Lines are not allowed - place at least one ";" on any line ;; ;; There must be at least 1 space between each field and the next field. ;; ;; The first field in a line is either A#, C# or Q# indicating an assignment to ;; Shift-Alt-#, Shift-Ctrl-# or Alt-Ctrl-# where # is 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 or ;; AX, CX, QX indicating assignment to to Shift-Alt-X, Shift-Ctrl-X, Alt-Ctrl-X ;; where X is any letter from a .. z. ;; ;; No distinction exists between LowerCase or UpperCase. ;; ;; The next field is optional - it allows the user to include a descriptive ;; text (up to 20 characters long) to describe the program. It will appear ;; in the Task List after the Alt|Ctl|Qac-X Hot Key indicator ;; The text to be included must be between @-------@ as ;; @Fox Pro 2.0@ ;; ;; The next set of (4) fields are collectively optional and allow the user ;; the ability to set the location and size of the Window. ;; They are entered as x|X### y|Y### w|W### h|H### ;; where x|X y|Y w|W h|H denote the coordinates of the lower left corner ;; of the window and w|W / h|H denotes the Width / Height of the window. ;; All sizes are given in PELS so that a set of values OK for one screen ;; resolution will appear differently for another. ;; x0 y0 w300 h400 will create a window located at the lower left corner ;; of the Screen whose size is 300 pels wide and 400 pels high. ;; ;; The next field has the following options. ;; ;; 9 means that the key will not be recognized. This can be accomplishied ;; as well by commenting that assignment out with "; ;; ;Ad means that Shift-Alt-D is not assigned ;; Ad 9 a 0 means that Shift-Alt-D is not assigned ;; the 9 must be followed by any letter a space and "0" ;; ;; OR just omitting Ad from the text also means it is not assigned ;; ;; Otherwise the field has the following meaning ;; ;; 0 Allows the Shell to establish the session type - best as a rule ;; 1 Starts program as Full Session OS/2 ;; 2 Start Program in Windowed Session for programs using Base Video System ;; 3 Start Program in Windowed Session for programs using PM services ;; 4 Start Program in Full Screen DOS session ;; 7 Start Program in Windowed DOS session ;; !! A value of 5 is used if the program is to be loaded with the 0 ;; !! option but is a program that takes a long time to load, such as many ;; !! programs with options 3 or 4. This allows HOOK to set a flag that ;; !! ensures the Title to be displayed in the Task List (@......@) ;; !! is not correctly done. ;; ;; The next field is the file spec of the program to be executed and the ;; field after that is either a "0" indicating no command line parameters ;; or the command line parameters. If the command line parameters contain ;; any spaces the command line parameters must be contained within "". ;; ;; Ae 0 c:\os2\e.exe c:config.sys ; loads the system editor included in OS/2 ;; to edit c:config.sys and assigns this ;; command to Shift-Alt-e ;; ;; Ae @Edit Config.sys@0 c:\os2\e.exe c:config.sys ; loads the system editor included in OS/2 ;; to edit c:config.sys and assigns this ;; command to Shift-Alt-e displays description ;; "Edit Config.sys" in Task List ;; ;; Generically speaking the format below assigns programfilespec to Shift-Alt-x ;; ;; Ax 0 programfilespec "program command line" ;if there are command line parms ;; ;; Ax 0 programfilespec 0 ;if no command line parms ;; ;; The programfilespec must contain the extension .COM / .EXE / .BAT ;; BAT files can be loaded just like EXE files ;; ;; HOOK uses the DosStartSession Function of the OS/2 API to load programs. ;; It is documented on page 2-345 of the Control Program Functions Manual. ;; ;; DosStartSession does not like to load a CMD file directly so they must be ;; loaded with a command processor as ;; ;; A5 0 c:\os2\cmd.exe abcdef.cmd ; abcdef.CMD loaded by OS/2 command processor ;; ;; To assign a program to a key follow the examples/rules above ;; ;; If you edit this file while HOOK is Active, press Shft-Alt-UpArrow(W) ;; to re-read this file in and redefine the Active Set of Keys ;; ;; !!IF this file is edited from the HOOK Menu, it is automatically re-read!! ;; ;; In the Task List Shift-Alt-Key assignments are identified as Alt-X ;; In the Task List Shift-Ctl-Key assignments are identified as Ctl-X ;; In the Task List Alt-Ctrl-Key assignments are identified as Qac-X ;; ;; Please Note that As is assigned to Search and Replace Applet which may ;; not be valid for other than vs.2.1 and Cw for Windows is valid only for ;; OS/2 2.0/2.1 not for WARP!! ;; Q3 @3:OS/2 Command@ 0 c:\os2\cmd.exe 0 ;OS/2 window using OS/2 Command Processor A1 @1:OS/2 Command@ 0 c:\os2\cmd.exe 0 ;OS/2 window using OS/2 Command Processor A2 @2:OS/2 Command@ 0 c:\os2\cmd.exe 0 ;OS/2 window using OS2 Command Processor A3 @3:OS/2 FScreen@ 1 c:\os2\cmd.exe 0 ;OS/2 Full Screen using OS/2 Command Processor A4 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned A5 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned A6 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned A7 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned A8 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned A9 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned A0 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Aa 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Ab 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ac 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ad 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Ae @System E Editor@ 0 c:\os2\e.exe 0 ;OS/2 e.exe system editor Af 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ag 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ah 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ai 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Aj 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ak 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Al 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Am 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned An 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ap 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Aq 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Ar 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned As @Search and Seek@ 0 c:\os2\apps\pmseek.exe 0 ;OS/2 Search and Scan Applet At 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Au 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Av 9 x 0 ;Key not assigned Aw 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Ax 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Ay 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned Az 9 z 0 ;Key not assigned C1 @1:DOS Command@ 7 c:\os2\mdos\command.com 0 ;DOS window using built in DOS C2 @2:DOS Command@ 7 c:\os2\mdos\command.com 0 ;DOS window using built in DOS C3 @3:DOS FScreen@ 4 c:\os2\mdos\command.com 0 ;Full Screen using built in DOS C4 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C5 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C6 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C7 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C8 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C9 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned C0 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Ca 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Cb @QBasic@ 7 c:\os2\mdos\qbasic.exe 0 ;QBasic from dos in DOS window Cc 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Cd 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Ce 9 a 0 ;Key not assigned Cf 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Cg 9 b 0 ;Key not assigned Ch 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Ci 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Cj 9 d 0 ;Key not assigned Ck 9 e 0 ;Key not assigned Cl 9 f 0 ;Key not assigned Cm 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Cn 9 g 0 ;Key not assigned Co 9 h 0 ;Key not assigned Cp 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Cq 9 c 0 ;Key not assigned Cr 9 i 0 ;Key not assigned Cs 9 j 0 ;Key not assigned Ct 9 k 0 ;Key not assigned Cu 9 l 0 ;Key not assigned Cv 9 m 0 ;Key not assigned Cw@Windows 3.1@ 4 c:\os2\mdos\winos2\win.com 0 ;OS/2 DOS Win 3.1 Full Screen Cx 9 o 0 ;Key not assigned Cy 9 p 0 ;Key not assigned Cz 9 q 0 ;Key not assigned <***************** End of File HOOK.DAT *****************> When programs are loaded by a Hot-Key their title appears in the Task List (actuated by Ctrl-Esc) according to the following rules. IF A TITLE WAS NOT ASSIGNED USING @ASSIGNED TITLE@ then If assigned to a Shift-Alt key combination it appears as Alt-X name_as_assigned_in_field_3 where X is key assigned If assigned to a Shift-Ctrl key combination it appears as Ctl-X name_as_assigned_in_field_3 where X is key assigned If assigned to a Alt-Ctrl key combination it appears as Qac-X name_as_assigned_in_field_3 where X is key assigned In each case the string "name_as_assigned_in_field_3" contains up to a total of 24 characters from the filespec of the program to be loaded appended to "Alt-X ",to "Ctl-X " or to "Qac-X ". The reason for this is two fold. Most importantly it is because the program uses the Task List titles to determine if a program is currently active when that hot-key combination is struck and it switches to the running program. Secondly in the Task List it serves as a convenient reminder of the current hot-key assignments. The examples below reflect the Task List Title for some of the assignments above in the sample DAT file. IF THEY DID NOT INCLUDE AN ASSIGNED TITLE IN @.......@ Alt-E c:\os2\e.exe ;OS/2 e.exe system editor Alt-S c:\os2\apps\pmseek.exe ;the pmseek program Ctl-W c:\os2\mdos\winos2\win.c ;Win 3.1 (note the "om" missing) Ctl-3 c:\os2\mdos\command.com ;DOS window Please note that if the Alt-E assignment had been made as Ae 0 C:\OS2\e.exe 0 ;OS/2 e.exe system editor then its Task List title would appear as Alt-E C:\OS2\e.exe 0 IF the program had a title assigned between @ASSIGNED TITLE@ then that text would appear after the Alt-X or Ctl-X in the Task List. Programs not loaded by HOOK hot-keys will have their Task List titles reflect how the program is written. PM programs may have their Task List title reflect either the Program Name or the title that appears in their Window when loaded. In some cases the title bar is updated dynamically. The hot-keys Shift-Alt-/ ,Shift-Ctl-/ and Alt-Ctl-/ display on the screen a listing of the Hot-Key assignments in HOOK.DAT relevant to those hot keys. This screen listing is automatically read from the active listings in HOOK.EXE and displayed. This screen is removed by Shift-Alt-Esc. It is also useful to load separate window programs seamlessly so that they may be switched loaded and switched between with hot keys. The line below indicates this for MathCad assigned to Shift-Alt-M for OS/2 2.1 Am @Win MathCad@ 3 4os2.exe "Start /win /c e:\winmcad\mcad.exe &. exit" ;OS/2 DOS Win 3.1 Windowed Switchable The command processor defined by the OS/2 COMSPEC variable in the environment is used for the PopUp Command Window activated by the key combination Shift-Alt-Ins(White KeyPad). HOOK.EXE may be started by placing the appropriate command in a STARTUP.CMD file or by entering it from an OS/2 Window. Start X:\HOOK\HOOK IF X:\HOOK not in Path Start HOOK IF X:\HOOK is in Path TWO FINAL CAVEATS. Some programs take a long time to load and even if the session type is set as 3 or 4 to try to allow for this it does not always work. In addition, some programs change their Task Title when in use (one example is the Dialog Editor). In either case the Task List does not contain a Title the program can swtich to using the Task List as a basis. An attempt has been made to allow for this by storing the program's window handle when it is loaded and if the Task List Title search does not succeed, an attempt to load using the Save Handle is made. This usually works so that a loaded program can be accessed even if its Task List Title has been changed. Some PM programs use Accelerator Keys for ALt-X or Ctl-X key sequences and these were trapped and the user had to hit the hot-key sequence twice to effect its action. This has now been corrected in the new DLL, HOOKQDLL.DLL. RECORDING AND PLAYING BACK MACROS To begin the recording of KeyStrokes and/or Mouse Actions press Shift-Ctrl-LeftArrow(white). The program window will display a Window Message Prompting you with respect to your first recording action and will then display "Recording" as long as the recording is on. To conclude the recording press Shift-Ctrl-RightArrow(W) and the window will be closed indicating recording is ended. You will also at this point be presented a file dialog box to select a name under which to save the Macro. To abort Saving the Macro just enter Esc. To PlayBack the Macro just recorded press the Shift_Ctrl-Ins(W) key and the window will display the message "Playback" while it is playing back the events recorded. A Macro may also be saved after it has been recorded (if the original prompt for saving was ignored) by pressing Shift-Ctrl-PgDn(W). A dialogue box will be presented prompting you for the name of the macro file to be stored. The macro is written to X:\os2\HOOK with the assigned name in two forms. One form is the binary form that is playable back and has the extension HEX. The other form is in ASCII with the same name but extension MAC and is a listing of the following parameters recorded in the Macro; the values of all except TaskListName are given in HEX.(X above is the drive letter chosen by the user in Install.) Handle MessageID msgParam1 msgParam2 msgTime X_ScreenP Y_ScreenP TaskListName To play back a saved Macro, use Shift_Ctrl-PgUp(white) to activate a dialogue box that will present the list of saved macros. When one is selected it is read into memory and is activated by Shift_Ctrl-Ins(W) Any macro that is created or that is read into memory stays there until replaced by another and thus can be repeatedly used. If a macro is already in memory it can be played back(repeatedly) by Shift-Ctrl-Ins(W). LIMITATIONS OF MACRO RECORDING The Macro recorder does not record Alt-Esc or Alt-Tab key strokes. It will record and play back messages for actions initiated by the Alt Key and then choosing options from the Control Frame Menu, such as Alt-x to maximize the window, Alt-r to restore the window, etc. If you record a macro that includes MOVING or RESIZING the window, when that aspect of the macro is entered, for reasons I do not yet understand, the system waits for you to move the cursor keys to either resize or move the window. It does record the Ctrl-Esc key sequence and its actions and other keyboard entries including the Shift-ALt|Ctrl-X keys assigned to this program and their actions and also mouse actions. It does not however faithfully play back everything recorded for reasons I also do not frankly understand. For instance if you assign to a Macro the sequence (from an OS/2 window) Help DownCursor DownCursor CR, it does not play back the DownCursor DownCursor CR sequence though it does open the Help Window. However if you save (e.g.) the sequence "Help Dir" from a command line it will play that back correctly. When you are recording anything from the Command Line, after using the Shift-Ctrl-LeftArrow(W) key strokes to start the macro, you must use the Mouse to activate the window you were in or else an assigned Shift-xxx-xxx action to get back into that window. This is because displaying the Message "Recording" in the Hook window makes that the active window. There is a Prompt reminding the user to make the shift to the desired active window. When activating a Macro you must be careful that your setup is similar to that used when recording it, particularly if writing text is a part of the scenario - you might get the text written back in a non-intended window. Since the macros when recorded, record positions in screen coordinates, which are absolute relative to the bottom left corner, any actions depending on a mouse action such as clicking on a minimize or maximize button will be sensitive to where that button is on the screen. If a window is not displayed at exactly the same position as it was when recording, those mouse actions will not be what is intended. I find the macros most useful for storing and setting up different groups of windows. For instance I have one mode of operations where I have my editor open in two different OS/2 windows, 2 DOS windows open with different versions of FoxPro in them and an OS/2 window for command line use. I have that set of keystrokes assigned to a macro I have named to FOXLOAD.HEX and when I want to re-establish that set of windows I load it into memory using Shift_Ctrl-PgUp to select and load it and play it back with Shift-Ctrl-Ins. Finally the Buffer used to store the messages is of finite size. Each message is 28 bytes long and the buffer size is 56000 bytes and thus holds 2000 messages. If your recording exceeds the buffer size the program notifies you. The program macro PlayBack facility will now run under either OS/2 version 2.0 /2.1/WARP as it determines the Handle of the Task List Window on the Fly, in this respect it should be immune to updates. The messageID of the Task List is not documented but it is 082H and it has a fixed handle value that changed from version 2.0 to 2.1. The value is stored in the Task List Buffer at offset 8, which is where I get it on loading HOOK. Currently the macros are not played back at the speed at which they were recorded but somewhat faster. This is because it is presumed and certainly I do, that one uses Macros for convenience and speed. That sometimes gives a problem, especially if mouse movements are involved. For opening up icons on the screen I find it convenient to follow the procedure of going to the desktop, (or other window as the case may be) and clicking the left mouse button to establish the location, then press the Home key to bring you to the upper left icon of that window, and then use the cursor keys to bring you to the desired icon to open and then press enter to open it and so on. DOS WINDOWED SESSIONS and FULL SCREEN SESSIONS There are limitations to using the Macro Recorder from a DOS session. It will record and play back actions reflecting OS/2 aspects, such as using the Alt key to activate a frame menu and select an options, such as Alt-x (maximize),etc or Ctrl-Esc to activate the Task List and make a selection but it will not record ordinary keyboard entry or any activity from within a DOS session relating to the DOS software program. That is because in DOS the PM message queue is not active and normal DOS KB TSR's are required if you need to intercept Keystrokes in DOS. A similar comment holds for OS/2 Full Screen. There monitors are required to read Keyboard Activity and the PM message queue does not apply. If I need to use an application in Full Screen, then I use Ctrl-Esc to bring up the TaskList window and from there the Hot Keys are valid since you are in PM. Notwithstanding the limitations above, I have found this most useful and it is worth playing around with to understand both its utility and its limitations. FULL SCREEN APPLICATIONS INCLUDING FULL SCREEN APPLICATIONS If you have an application that you want to run in Full Screen then in HOOK.DAT so define it by entering the number 1 OR 4 in the column following the key id, AltX 1 or CtrlX 4 if you want the session to be Full Screen OS/2 OR Full Screen DOS respectively. Doing it this way assigns the Task List Title the name Alt-X or Ctl-X as when loaded with the 0 option or 7 option. This means that the program is loaded Full Screen with the assigned Key Combination and if the program is already loaded, it can be switched to from the desktop by hitting its Hot-Key and if you are in the full screen mode, then pressing Ctrl-Esc brings up the Task List, which is a PM and the hot keys are active from there. This means that switching to Full Screen applications from the Desktop is the same as if they are windowed and switching back from Full Screen applications takes only 1 more Key Combination to switch to a Windowed Application. Similarly switching between Full Screen applications also takes only one more Keyboard action, the Ctrl-Esc to the Task List and then the use of the appropriate Hot-Key. ABOUT THIS PROGRAM HOOK vs. 2.0 This program and its accompanying DLL was written in 32 bit Assembler. The assembler used was Microsoft's MASM 6.01 and the OS/2 2.1 ToolKit and its resources were used for compiling the INF file and the resource files used. If you have any interest in obtaining the source code and how to assemble it, contact me via compuserve or at the address indicated below. The program is FreeWare. Morton F. Kaplon 1047 Johnston Drive Bethlehem PA 18017 Voice: 610/758-9686 FAX: 610-758-9262 CompuServe ID 73457,437