Help Index
SuperBar Icon Manager Contents

General Topics

Getting Started

Using the SuperBar Icon Manager

Menu Commands

Defined Terms

Definitions


Getting Started

The SuperBar Icon Manager is a Windows program for creating and editing user-defined icons for use in the SuperBar program.

The following steps demonstrate how to create a new user-defined icon.

1)	Run the SuperBar Icon Manager.

2)	Select Add Icon from the Edit menu to add a new user-defined icon to the icon library.  A new icon will be displayed.  It will initially have the image of a red X.

3)	Select the icon by clicking on it.

4)	Select Edit Icon from the Edit menu.  The Edit Icon dialog will be displayed.

5)	Use the Pen and Flood tools along with the Color Palette to create a new icon.

6)	Enter a caption in the Caption edit box for the new icon.

7)	Click the Ok button.  The Edit Icon dialog will close and the new icon and caption will be displayed in the icon list box.

8)	Return to the SuperBar program and edit the layout of an existing SuperBar (See the on-line help for the SuperBar program for instructions on editing SuperBars).

9)	When in the SuperBar Layout dialog box, the new icon will be in the Icon list box, sorted by caption.

10)	Select the new icon and finish editing the SuperBar layout.  When editing is complete, the new icon will be displayed on the SuperBar.


Using the SuperBar Program
Using the SuperBar Icon Manager

The SuperBar program main window consists of a list box containing either user-defined or predefined icons.  User-defined icons are those icons created with this program and stored in the user-defined icon library.  They may be created, edited or deleted.  Predefined icons are those built into the SuperBar program  They may only be copied to the Clipboard as a start for creating new  user-defined icons.

Determining which icons to display

To display the user-defined icons, select the User-Defined command from the View menu.  To display the predefined icons, select the Predefined command from the View menu.

Copying icons to the Clipboard

To copy a user-defined or predefined icon from the list box to the Clipboard, click on  the icon and select the Copy command from the Edit menu.  The icon will be copied to the Clipboard.  The icon may then be pasted into the Edit Icon editor or another graphic editor.

Adding a new icon

To add a new user-defined icon, select the Add Icon command from the Edit menu.  A new icon will appear at the end of the icon list.  It will initially have the image of a red X.  This command only works if user-defined icons are displayed.

Editing an icon

To edit a user-defined icon, click on the icon and select the Edit Icon command from the Edit menu.  The Edit Icon dialog box will be displayed.  This command only works if user-defined icons are displayed.

Removing the last icon

To remove the last user-defined icon, select Remove Last Icon from the Edit menu.  The last icon will be removed.  This command only works if user-defined icons are displayed.


Menu Commands

File Menu

Exit

Edit Menu

Copy

Add Icon

Edit

Remove Last Icon

View Menu

User-Defined

Predefined

Help Menu

Index

About


Exit command (File menu)

This command terminates the SuperBar Icon Manager.


Copy command (Edit menu)

This command copies the currently selected icon to the Clipboard.  Once on the clipboard, the icon may be pasted into the Edit Icon editor or another graphic editor.


Add Icon command (Edit menu)

This command adds a new icon to the user-defined icon library.  The icon is added to the end of the library and, initially contains a red X.  The icon can be edited by selecting the Edit Icon command from the Edit menu.


Edit Icon command (Edit menu)

This command opens the Edit Icon dialog box.


Remove Last Icon command (Edit menu)

This command removes the last icon from the user-defined icon library.

Note:  SuperBar uses an icon's position in the list box to determine which icon to display on the SuperBar.  This method does not allow icons to be moved in the icon library.  It also does not allow deleting icons other than the last icon.  If an icon in the library is no longer needed, it should be replaced with a new icon rather than deleted.  If an icon used in an existing SuperBar is deleted, it will be displayed as a red X.


User-Defined command (View menu)

This command displays the icons from the user-defined icon library.


Predefined command (View menu)

This command displays the predefined icons built into SuperBar.


Contents command (Help menu)

This command displays the index of the SuperBar on-line help. From the index, you can access information on General Topics, Menu Commands or Defined Terms.


About SuperBar Icon Manager command (Help menu)

This command displays the About dialog box.


About Dialog

This dialog box displays information on this version of SuperBar.  It displays the version number of the program.

Dialog Options

Ok

Closes the dialog box.


Edit Icon Dialog

This dialog box is used to edit a user-defined icon.  The dialog box contains a drawing area, a sample button and several tools and commands.  The drawing area is used to create the icon image.  The sample button shows how the buttons will look on the SuperBar.  The tools and commands are described below.

Dialog Box Options

Selects the Pen tool.  This tool allows freehand drawing in the current color.  To draw freehand lines, press the left mouse button and drag the cursor over the icon image.  Release the mouse button to stop drawing.

Selects the Flood tool.  This tool allows filling in any closed shape or image with the current color.  To fill in a closed area, place the cursor inside the area to fill and click the left mouse button.

Accesses the Color Palette.  The palette changes the current color.  Clicking on a color of the palette changes the current color to that color.  The current color is displayed in the box to the right of the palette.

Caption

Sets the caption associated with the icon.  To associate a caption with the icon, enter it into the Caption box.  This caption will be used to sort the icon within the Icon List of the SuperBar Layout dialog box.  It will also be used as the button caption if it is not changed in the SuperBar Layout dialog box.

Copy

Copies the icon to the Clipboard.  Once on the clipboard, the icon may be pasted into the Edit Icon editor or another graphic editor.

Paste

Pastes an image from the Clipboard to the current icon.  If the image on the Clipboard is not the same size as an icon, the image will be stretched or shrunk to fit.

Clear

Clears the icon to solid light gray.

Grab

Allows grabbing an icon from the desktop.  The cursor is changed to [image].  Place this cursor so that the desired icon is within the box area of the cursor and click the left button.  The area within the cursor box will be copied to the icon.

Hide&Grab

The same as Grab above except the Edit Icon dialog box and SuperBar Icon Manager main window will be hidden.  This allows grabbing an icon from the desktop that is obscured by the SuperBar Icon Manager windows.

Ok

Saves the user-defined icon into the icon library and closes the dialog box.

Cancel

Ignores all changes and closes the dialog box.

Help

Displays this help information.


Definitions

-A-

application

-B-

button

-C-

caption

Clipboard

-D-

desktop

-I-

icon

icon library

-S-

SuperBar


Clipboard

The term Clipboard refers to the a temporary storage location used by Windows to transfer data between applications.  The SuperBar Icon Manager uses the Clipboard to transfer icons to and from other Windows graphic editors.


Icon Library

The tern icon library refers to the file used to store all user-defined icons.


Application

The term application refers to a Microsoft Windows application which is compatible with SuperBar.  To be compatible with SuperBar, the application must have a standard Windows Menu Bar.


Button

The term button refers to a single button on a SuperBar.  Each SuperBar can contain up to 50 buttons.  Each button corresponds to an application's menu command.  Clicking on a button sends the corresponding menu command to the application.


Caption

The term caption refers to the caption text displayed on a button.  The caption is user configurable.  The caption is only displayed on certain button styles.


Desktop

The term desktop refers to the screen background for Windows.  Each Windows application executes in a window on top of the desktop.


Icon

The term icon refers to the graphical picture displayed on a button.  The icon is selected from a list of predefined graphic and character icons.  The icon is only displayed on certain button styles.


SuperBar

The term SuperBar refers either to the SuperBar program itself, or the actual bar located on the application.  A SuperBar is a gray bar containing several buttons, each assigned to an application menu command.  Clicking on a button invokes the corresponding command.  Double-clicking on the gray background of the bar allows editing of the SuperBar.