TASKBAR FOR OS/2 version 1.05 Program description ------------------- The taskbar program allows rapid switching among multiple running programs by providing a popup button bar containing a list of all running programs in the system. The taskbar is activated by moving the mouse cursor to the bottom edge of the screen. The desired task can then be selected by clicking on the appropriate button with the mouse. In order to re-hide the taskbar, simply move the mouse cursor outside of the taskbar. Taskbar is shareware with a 14 day evaluation period. The registration fee is $15.00 per copy (see the file Register.TXT for registration information). If you are running an unregistered version of the program, a nag dialog will come up the first time the program is run, and every time the program is started after the 14 day trial period has expired. System requirements ------------------- * OS/2 version 2.1 or higher Taskbar files ------------- TaskBar.EXE Taskbar program executable file. TskBarHk.DLL System message queue DLL. ReadMe.TXT Program documentation. Register.TXT Registration information. Install.CMD Installation program. BootDriv.EXE Utility used by the installation program. MakeObjs.CMD Utility to recreate Taskbar desktop objects. Changes.TXT Summary of changes made in different versions. Installation ------------ To install the taskbar program, start an OS/2 command line session and unzip the contents of the distribution zip file into a temporary directory. Then make the temporary directory the current directory, and run the installation program by typing 'INSTALL destDir' where destDir contains the drive and path name of the directory where you want the taskbar program files stored. The installation program will: 1) if necessary, create the destination directory. 2) copy Taskbar.EXE, TskBarHk.DLL, and MakeObjs.CMD to the destination directory. 3) make sure the LIBPATH statement in your Config.Sys has a reference to either the '.' directory or the destination directory. Your Config.Sys LIBPATH statement will be automatically updated if necessary. 4) create a program object on the desktop for the taskbar program. 5) create a shadow of the taskbar program object in the startup folder. The installation program requires that the OS/2 REXX support be installed. If REXX support is not installed, you will need to do an OS/2 selective install and install REXX support before installing Taskbar. Note: If you are upgrading from a previous version of the program, make sure that the old version of the program has been shut down before running the installation program. If for some reason the Taskbar program objects should be accidentally deleted, you can recreate the Taskbar program objects by using the provided MakeObjs utility. To run MakeObjs, start an OS/2 command line session, set the current directory to the taskbar program directory, and type 'MAKEOBJS'. Starting the program -------------------- By default, a shadow of the Taskbar program object is installed in the Workplace Shell startup folder, so Taskbar will be automatically started when the system is started, thus no user intervention should be necessary to startup the program. An alternative method of starting Taskbar if the Taskbar startup folder object has been deleted is to double click on the Taskbar program object that was created on the desktop. Using the program ----------------- In order to display the taskbar, move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen where the taskbar is to be shown (on initial install this is set to the bottom of the screen). The taskbar will remain visible as long as the mouse pointer remains over the taskbar. Moving the mouse pointer over a button will cause a small bubble help window to appear containing the text description of the program. Press the appropriate button with the mouse to switch to the desired task. If more programs are running than can be fit in the taskbar, the two scroll buttons on either end of the taskbar will be enabled, allowing you to scroll through the list of tasks. The most recently started tasks will always appear at the beginning of the list. Right clicking on a task button will display a popup menu containing the following items: Menu item Description --------- ---------------------- Close Closes the selected task. Show Makes the selected task's window visible on the desktop, places it in front of all the other open windows, and switches to the task. This option is equivalent to pressing the task button with the left mouse button. Minimize Minimizes the selected task's window. Maximize Maximizes the selected task's window. Hide Hide the selected task's window. Restore Restore the selected task's window to its original size. Taskbar settings Displays the taskbar program settings dialog. Shutdown taskbar Shuts down the taskbar program. Note that, depending on the type and state of the task's frame window, one or more of the menu choices could be disabled. For example, the 'Restore' item will only be enabled if the task's frame window is minimized or maximized. Right clicking on a non task button portion of the taskbar will display a popup menu with the following items: Menu item Description --------- ---------------------- Taskbar settings Displays the taskbar program settings dialog. Shutdown taskbar Shuts down the taskbar program. Customization ------------- Taskbar can be configured so that the taskbar is located at any one of the four edges of the screen. The taskbar is activated by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen where the taskbar popup is to be displayed. On initial installation, Taskbar is configured so that the task bar is displayed across the bottom of the screen. To access the program settings dialog, activate the taskbar by moving the mouse cursor to the appropriate edge of the screen, right click somewhere inside the taskbar, and select the 'Taskbar settings' option on the displayed popup menu. The location where the taskbar is displayed can then be set by checking the appropriate check box in the settings dialog box. Press the 'Ok' button to cause the change to take effect. Press 'Cancel' to abort the change. If you are running Warp, the settings dialog contains an additional checkbox labeled "Use small icons". When this is checked, the buttons in the taskbar will be displayed at half the normal size. The taskbar program has the capability to always display a line along the activation edge of the screen as a visual indicator of the current setting of the taskbar location. This feature can be turned on/off with the checkbox labeled 'Show taskbar location'. The color of the indicator line can be changed by pressing the 'Color...' button. Note to ATI Mach-32 users: There is a bug in the ATI Mach-32 display drivers included with Warp that prevents the visual indicator from being visible if the activation edge is set to the left edge of the screen. If you are running Warp, the taskbar program has the capability to automatically float the Warp launchpad window to the top whenever the taskbar is activated. This feature can be turned on/off with the checkbox labeled 'Surface Launchpad'. The program settings dialog also contains two additional buttons, 'Register' and 'Info'. The 'Register' button appears only in unregistered copies of the program, and is used to enter the program registration information. The 'Info' button displays a dialog containing the program version number and registration information. Support ------- On-line support is available by sending messages to one of the following: Compuserve 73457,521 Internet ryoder@ibm.net