Contents
Calypso Help Contents

Welcome to Calypso, a Windows 95-like file and program manager for Windows 3.1.

Introduction

Installation

Using Calypso

Customising icons

Associating programs

Advanced settings

Known Problems

Contacting the author

What's new

Next version

Calypso is Freeware, and distributed as is with no warranty, express or implied, including but not limited to, fitness for a particular purpose.  You may freely distribute copies of this program, provided that it remains in its complete form with all support, documentation, and configuration files.


What's new
What's new in Calypso 1.2

Mostly bug fixes this time, with certain version 2 features as INI file settings...

New stuff

PMGroups has been replaced with a built-in converter (right click on menu tree view)

Startup group -- after loading as the shell, Calypso runs all programs in a menu called StartUp.

Open group - items in a menu captioned Open are shown in the "Open with" dialog.

Command line parameters can be stored in INI file

Improved cursor display

Improved progress box with less flicker.

Open icon windows can be saved from session to session using /SaveWindows switch.

"Save" button in options dialog -- immediately saves all settings, trash and the desktop.

Option to not extract registered program icons to speed up loading.

$FOLDER macro for items in Start menu to open a window

Calypso is now "maximizable" using the taskbar.

Internal icons can be replaced by icon files.

Changes

Sounds are no longer accessible from the Options dialog (see Advanced Settings).

Settings are always saved when you press OK in the Options dialog.

Right clicking on a file will select it as well as open the popup menu.

Confirmation is asked for before deleting a shortcut.

Captions can be added to programs in the system window.

Icon windows are centred on the screen to ensure the scrollbar is reachable.

Version 1.1 bugs

Embarrassing memory leakage

File searching is 6 times slower than it should be

Settings from Options dialog are lost without quitting Calypso directly

Shortcuts don't use the working directory properly.

File drop cursor is sometimes the wrong image.

Icon windows appear too far to the right on low-res displays.

"Activate window under cursor" doesn't work properly (ironically, it did in 1.0).

Potential problems with quitting during a background search

"List index out of bounds" errors when deleting menus from Start tree.

Check boxes in File Properties dialog are allowed to be greyed when they shouldn't.

Invalid timestamps will cause an error if the Windows date separator is not a "/".

"List index out of bounds" if progress box is dragged while moving files


 Introduction

Calypso is a file management system and facelift for Windows 3, giving it a modern iconic interface like Windows 95 and the Apple Macintosh.  There's been enough hype from Microsoft and Apple to last a lifetime, so I won't bother explaining the concepts.  Here's what Calypso does:

-  displays each directory in an independent window

-  displays Windows programs and documents with the correct icons

-  runs programs and opens documents

-  handles most operations in File Manager such as copying, moving, deleting etc..

-  supports drag and drop between multiple windows

-  allows dragging of files to a bin, to move them to a storage directory

-  creates shortcut icons for disk drives, folders and files that stay on the desktop

-  shows cascading nested program menus (like the effect of the Start button on Win95)

-  interacts with File Manager, should you be addicted to it

-  lots of other things, too numerous to list

Calypso is a normal Windows program that will run on most systems that support Windows 3.1, and is best suited to computers that can't quite take the strain of running Windows 95 but are not totally obsolete either.  Generally, any machine which runs Windows 3.1 acceptably should have no problem with Calypso.

You won't need to re-configure your computer, and Calypso won't modify any settings -- it provides an instant, attractive interface to replace or complement File Manager and Program Manager.


Installation

Minimum System Requirements

80386 processor

4 MB memory

Colour graphics in 640x480

1 MB free hard disk space

Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Essential Files

You'll probably receive Calypso as a ZIP file, but whatever the form, here is what you'll need to get it running:

CALYPSO.EXE	The main program file

CALYPSO.INI	Stores various settings and options

CALYPSO.HLP	This help file that you're reading

CALYPSO.TXT	Last minute notes I frantically typed into Notepad

START.INI	Stores program menus -- a small sample menu is included

Copy or unzip these files into a single directory.

Upgrading from Calypso 1.0/1.1

Version 1.2 can use your old CALYPSO.INI and START.INI files, so you don't need to replace them.  PMGroups has been replaced by a built-in converter -- go to the menu tree in the Options dialog, press the right mouse button over the tree and choose Convert from the popup menu.

You may want to edit the [Programs] section of the INI file and add captions for each item e.g.

c:\windows\control.exe=Control Panel.

3D controls dynamic link library

Calypso requires CTL3DV2.DLL, which is supplied inside CTL3DV2.ZIP.  If you don't already have this file in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, unzip the file into there.  Do NOT place CTL3DV2.DLL in the same directory as Calypso, or you may receive a General Protection Fault.

Ctl3dv2.dll  Copyright © Microsoft Corp.

Running

You can run Calypso like most other Windows programs, and there are various ways to do so:

-  Double click on CALYPSO.EXE in File Manager.

-  Drop it into Program Manager and run it from there.

-  Place it in Program Manager's start-up group to run when you load Windows.

-  Set it up as your shell (see Advanced Settings).

UnInstalling

Just delete the entire directory Calypso resides in (please make sure it is not running when you delete it!).  Don't forget to check the trash!


Custom icons

You may not wish to use the associated program's icon -- for instance, if a graphics package handles different graphic file formats, you might want to show each type of file differently.

To use your own icons:

1.  Extract the icon into a standard icon file (with an ICO extension).

2.  Copy the file to Calypso's home directory.

3.  Rename the icon with your chosen extension as its name.

For example, to show all BMP files with a particular icon, call that icon BMP.ICO.  Any icon files present will be used to override the default icons, even if there is no associated program.  For example, if there is a file called JPG.ICO in the Calypso directory, all JPEG files will use that icon even if you don't have a graphics program to open them with. There are many utilities available to extract icons from programs and DLL files.

Note that any file named EXE.ICO has no effect because Calypso chooses program icons by searching the executable file.  If you have chosen to search for extra icons (using the /EXTRAICONS switch), then DLL, ICO, SCR and DRV icons will also have no effect.

You can change the default icons built into Calypso - see Changing default icons.


Associating Documents

Document files created by most programs are associated with the program when it is installed.

Calypso runs the associated program to open the file when you double click on a document icon or try to print it.  Also, the document file is displayed using its program's icon (this can be changed -- see Custom Icons).

Files are usually automatically associated when you install a new program, but if you find that a particular file type is not, you can do so manually using File Manager:

1.  Select a file with the required extension

2.  Choose Associate from the File Menu.

3.  Select a program name from the registered program list, then press OK.

You will need to re-start Calypso for new associations to have full effect.


Advanced Settings

Command line parameters

Configuration file

Start menu file

Using Calypso as the shell

Changing default icons

Adding sound effects

Extra features


Command line parameters

Most of these options will be included into the Options dialog in version 2. They are all case insensitive, and most can be placed in CALYPSO.INI under the [Parameters] section (see below).

Parameter	Effect

/NoSplash	suppresses the splash screen during loading

/FastQuit	quits without asking for confirmation

/Open folder	opens the specified folder after loading

/NoArrows	displays shortcuts without the arrow symbol in the corner

/Hollow	uses hollow moving and resizing on icon windows, strongly recommended for slower machines.  v1.1 fully supports this feature, without the need to throw away the close box.

/ExtraIcons	extends icon extraction to ICO, DLL, DRV and SCR files. Extracting icons takes time, so reading the Windows or System folders will take longer if DLL files are searched too.

/Font {name}	forces icon windows to use the named font which must be available in 8 point (default is MS Sans Serif) e.g. "calypso /FONT Times New Roman".

/RightTrack	allows the start menu to be operated entirely with the right mouse button.

/FixCursor	stops the cursor from changing shape when dragging over the desktop.  Use this if your cursor disappears partially or completely.  This function does not affect drag-drop  operations, it's purely aesthetic.

/SysErrors 	enables the Windows critical error dialog boxes.  Normally, Calypso disables System Error messages from Windows, but you can turn leave them in place if it affects other programs.

/ProgDrop	lets you drop files into program icons (inside icon windows) as an alternative to the "Open with" command.  The cursor keeps the current shape, so you'll have to decide exactly what you are dropping into.

/SaveWindows	causes open icon windows to be saved when exiting, so the next time you run Calypso, they are opened automatically.

/NoRegIcons	prevents Calypso from searching registered programs for their icons.  This can considerably speed up loading, especially if lots of programs are registered.


Start menu file

The recommended method of changing menus is to use the controls on the Start dialog page.  If you already have some sort of menu system you would like to translate for use with Calypso, you should backup the existing START.INI and then create a new START.INI file.

There must be at least one section called [Start].  The left hand side of each string specifies the caption.  For submenus, it contains a trailing asterisk (*) and the right hand side contains the "pathname" of the submenu e.g. an Accessories menu within the Windows menu would have a path of Windows\Accessories.  For menu items, there is no asterisk and the right hand side contains the menu details, separated by semicolons.


Configuration file

If you accidentally mess up CALYPSO.INI, it should be OK to delete it or replace it with the original version, although you'll lose your settings.

[Programs]

This contains the names of programs loaded into the system window.  The string on the left of the equals sign should be the full pathname of the program.  Version 1.2 will use a string on the right hand side as the caption, although some strings such as "Program Manager" are too long to fit in the box.

[Folders]

This section is used by the /SaveWindows switch to store the pathnames and window sizes of icon windows which were left open when you last quit.  The format is

Foldername=Left,Top,Width,Height

e.g., c:\windows=10,10,128,128

If you never use the /SaveWindows feature, you can use this section as an alternative to the /Open switch.  The advantage is that the INI file allows you to specify the position of the window, whereas /Open resizes and places the window automatically.

[Parameters]

Default values for command line switches (except /Open and /Font) can be placed here, and you can still override them using the command line.  Only boolean (0 or 1) values are accepted, and strings are case insensitive.  For example

[Parameters]

NoSplash=1

Hollow=1

ExtraIcons=1

[Bin]

If, for some reason, you wish to examine the contents of your bin outside Calypso, or manually recover some files, the [Bin] section stores the mapping of temporary filenames, which all have an extension of TRS.  (The filenames must be changed so that two files of the same name can co-exist in the bin).  The actual files are stored in the hidden directory Bin, which is in Calypso's home directory.

[Sounds]

See Adding sound effects.


Changing default icons

Calypso 1.2 includes a test feature that allows you to replace the default icons with your own (but it might not work properly yet!).  This process similar to using your own icons for documents (see Custom icons).  Simply copy new icon files into Calypso's home directory, with the special filenames given below.

Filename	Where/when the icon is used

file.ico	files which are not programs and not documents, and don't contain an icon

folder.ico	folders inside icon windows, and also minimized icon windows

letter.ico	files which are registered as documents but where the owning program does

not contain an icon (e.g. a DOS program)

windows.ico	Windows files that have been searched for an icon but none were found

(e.g. DLL files)

msdos.ico	EXE files that are not Windows programs.

system.ico	the System window when minimized

fullbin.ico	the bin when it contains files

emptybin.ico	the bin when it does not contain files

multifil.ico	Properties dialog when you have selected multiple items

hard.ico	hard or fixed disk drive

floppy.ico	floppy drive

cdrom.ico	CD-ROM drive

network.ico	network or remote drive

ramdrive.ico	RAM disk


Using Calypso as the shell
Using Calypso as a shell

Calypso does not conform to the shell program guidelines set out by Microsoft.  Specifically, it does not perform the role of a DDE server application for the WinOldApp task to communicate with.  However, Microsoft has not said what effects a non DDE server shell would have!  Try at your own risk...

Edit SYSTEM.INI and in the [boot] section, change shell=progman.exe to point to the Calypso program file, for instance, shell=c:\calypso\calypso.exe.  Some setups of Windows may require the shell program to be in the Windows directory, in which case you should move all related files there as well.  You should try this if you get an error message like "Cannot load PROGMAN.EXE".

Calypso detects whether it is running as the Windows shell.  If it is, then closing it will shut down Windows as well.  While previous versions were plagued with inconsistencies (due to the various ways a Windows program can be shut down), 1.2 should cope pretty well.

Copy the items from your Program Manager Startup group into a menu called Startup, and they will be run when Calypso loads as the shell.  The Startup menu is not processed when Calypso runs normally, to prevent executing the same programs twice when you change your shell.

SYSTEM.INI does not accept any parameters for the shell program, so you should place any required settings in CALYPSO.INI in the [Parameters] section.


Adding sound effects

The Sounds dialog page has been removed to reduce overheads and increase flexibility.  To change the sound settings, edit the [Sounds] section of CALYPSO.INI.  Each sound event is listed.  To assign a sound, enter the full pathname of the WAV file on the right side of the equals sign.  To remove a sound, use <None> instead.  For example

WindowOpen=<None>

WindowClose=<None>

WindowMinimize=<None>

WindowRestore=<None>

WindowMaximize=<None>

NotifyCompletion=c:\windows\ding.wav

BinDropFiles=<None>

BinEmpty=c:\sounds\flush.wav

BinRestore=<None>

In previous versions of Calypso, all sound files had to be in the home directory.  Since this is no longer the case, you'll need to add pathnames for any existing sound settings from 1.0/1.1.


Extra features

Here are some interesting additions that haven't been fully tested yet, but feel free to try them out.

Virtual desktop

Adding the /AllowMax command line switch allows Calypso's application window to be maximized.  You'll need a utility such as Calypso's task bar which can maximise programs.  When you maximize Calypso and click on a shortcut or the System window, all other programs disappear; you are left with Calypso sitting on your wallpaper.  The other's haven't really gone, they've just been covered up by the application window, but in effect, Calypso gets a desktop all to itself.

To return to the old-style of operation, restore Calypso to normal, again using the taskbar.

External file viewers

You can add two extra switches in the [External] section of CALYPSO.INI as an alternative to the Open With command or a shortcut.  Try this:

[External]

Inspect=c:\windows\notepad.exe

Default=c:\windows\notepad.exe

Typically, you would specify a general purpose file viewer rather than Notepad!

The first line creates a new menu item in the File context menu.  When you right click on a file, you can choose to open it directly with Notepad.  The second line tells Calypso to run Notepad on a non-executable file that you double click on instead of saying "This file is not executable...".


Known problems

Task switching

If you use Alt+Tab or the Task Manager to switch to Calypso, you might find that a shortcut is activated if you had clicked on it last.  This seems to be something to do with the messages Windows sends to re-activate a program -- the effect is as if you pressed Enter.

Calypso's task bar is now available to provide an alternative task manager.  Look for CALTASK1.ZIP.

Resizing windows

Despite the big improvements in hollow resizing, problems might occur if there is a lot of background disk access while you resize a window, because some of the mouse messages are lost.  Specifically, parts of the stretching box might not be completely erased -- this is just a cosmetic problem, and the screen should redraw properly when you cover the marks with a window.

Registered programs on CD-ROM

Programs stored on removable drives will not be searched for icons in case there is no disc present.  This is to prevent Windows from stalling with one of its wonderful system error messages which are so joyful to behold...

Program group conversion

Some people have reported that previous versions of Calypso won't convert all the program groups.  I would think that this is either due to some specific group files or variations of Program Manager itself.  If you have problems with this, you can drag files into the System icon to put them at the end of the menu, then use the Options dialog to rearrange them.

File sharing

Some programs demand exclusive access to the documents they have opened which stop other tasks from opening them.  If you try to copy such a file using Calypso, you will get a "Unable to open file..." or similar message.  You must close the document to make it accessible for copying.

Inconsistencies in help file

I haven't had time to really scour the source files, but I'll write a new set for version 2.  Due to constant updating of the program, there might be some slight anomalies but I'm sure everyone is clever enough to figure out what I mean.

Irregular date and time stamps

In previous versions of Calypso, it was not possible to open a folder which contains files with invalid time stamps (i.e., they specify dates like 20/20/20).  Calypso 1.2 overcomes such errors, but the internal date format requires proper values, so the affected dates are stored as the current date.  The original files are left untouched, but the results of copying such files depend on your particular version of DOS.


Next version

Calypso 2

This is scheduled for late summer 1996.  Features include

- a better taskbar

- start menu macros to interact with taskbar e.g. $RUN, $SHUTDOWN

- file based shortcuts

- tree view like Explorer

- Program Manager style icon selection.

- support for multi-user desktops

- a big Options dialog to store command line switches etc.

- option to replace default icons with something to your own taste

- customisation for screen dimensions, colours and fonts

Calypso Lite

In the fight against "feature creep" that seems to be plaguing so many programs, I would also like to prepare a cut-down version of Calypso 1.2 (with some improvements from 2.0), which would be highly optimised for speed and low memory use rather than a big feature list.

For example, it won't bother with silly ideas like sound effects, and trash management might not be included.  It would also sacrifice a little of the user-friendliness to reduce the code size, but still be much better than File Manager.

The Lite version would be useful for people really pressed for computing power or running on notebooks.  So it's time to email me with nominations for which features should go...


Contacting the author

Thanks to all of you who wrote in last time.  Once again, don't hesitate to mail if you run into any problems or have anything to say....  As an added bonus, I'll keep you informed of new versions and any life threatening bugs that I happen to discover :-)

If you're a new user, please mention where you downloaded or received Calypso from if possible.  I'll upload the latest versions to the most popular sites first.  At present, new releases go straight to WinSite but if you have any favourite sites, let me know and I'll forward a copy provided that I can get a reasonable connection.

Email: lhh@doc.ic.ac.uk (until June 1998)

Snail mail to:

Li-Hsin Huang

59 Bromefield

Stanmore

Middlesex HA1 1AG

England UK

Additional credits

Many thanks to:

Peter Below (CIS 100113,1101) for CD-ROM and RAM disk detection

Brian Andersen (brian@fiol.nbrock.dk) for drag drop server code

Dave Rigsby (BranhamTch@aol.com) for sample DDE code

Columbus Circle Investors (CIS 74763,2032) for Version Resource component

Tim Noonan (CIS 75212,664) for VisualApp component

Lots of others who have kindly shared their Delphi wisdom on the 'net

A special thanks to everyone who took the trouble to go bug hunting on my behalf...


Using Calypso

User guide

System window

Icon windows

Selecting items

Working with files and folders

Wastepaper bin

Creating and using shortcuts

Drag and drop techniques

Use with File Manager and other programs

Menus and dialogs reference

Menu commands

File properties dialog

Options dialog

Search dialog

Shortcut properties dialog


System Window

This contains all the drives which Calypso has detected, plus a few system oriented programs. Double click on the minimized icon to restore the system window, or right click on it to display the Start menu.

Double click on a drive icon to view the contents of the disk in an icon window, or double click on a program to run it.  For commonly used drives and programs, you should make a shortcut for easier access.

Right clicking on the icon area displays a popup menu, with the following items.  Some of these commands are also available when the system window is minimized.

Quitting Calypso

When you close the system window, Calypso will shut down, returning you to plain vanilla Windows.  Your desktop settings are always saved, whether you close Calypso yourself, or just close Program Manager.


Icon Windows

Whenever you double click on a disk drive or folder, an icon window is opened.  These display the contents of each directory/folder -- sub-directories are shown as folders, and Windows programs and documents are given their proper icon.

Icon area

Double click on :

   - a folder, to display its contents

   - a program, to run it

   - a document file, to open it using its associated program.

When you click on an icon, it becomes focused (it has a dotted box around it).  It is also selected if it has a grey background.  You can select multiple files which can then be copied, moved, deleted etc..

You can use the cursor keys, Home, End, PageUp and PageDn keys to move around.  If you press a number or letter key, the focus will move to the next file or folder beginning with that character.

Popup menu

Press the right mouse button to show the popup menu.  Different menus appear depending on where the cursor is and which files you have selected.  See Context Menus for more details.

Status bar

The label on the left shows the total number of objects in the window and their total size.  The label on the right shows how many are selected and the total selected size.  The total sizes only include file sizes -- to find out about folder contents, select the folders of interest and choose Properties from the popup menu.

The status bar labels can be conveniently used for some common operations:

Left click	Right click

Left label	Refreshes the window	Displays disk properties

Right label	Displays file/folder properties	Selects or deselects all files

See also:

Selecting items

Working with files and folders


Selecting Items

When you click on an icon, it becomes focused (it has a dotted box around it).  It is also selected if it has a grey background.  Operations that work on multiple files will be carried out on all selected files.  Those that only use a single file will be carried out on the focused one.

Your selection is maintained even when you minimize, maximize or resize a window.

Selecting a single item

Click on the icon with the left mouse button.

Selecting multiple items

To select a range of files

1.  Select the first file in the range.

2.  Hold down SHIFT.

3.  Select the last file in the range.

To toggle the selection of a single item, hold down CTRL when you left-click on it.

Using the rubber box

To start stretching the box, press the left mouse button when the cursor is to the top left of an icon and drag.

De-selecting multiple files

Either click on an unselected file, or click on a white area with no icon.

Selecting and de selecting all files

Right click on the item label.  If there are items currently highlighted, all items are de selected.  Otherwise all items are selected.


Working with files and folders

Here are the basic operations which you can carry out on files and folders:

  Copying files and folders

  Moving files and folders

  Deleting files and folders

  Undeleting

  Renaming files and folders

  Creating a folder

  Viewing and changing attributes

See also:

Selecting items

Drag and drop techniques

Use with File Manager and other programs


Copying files and folders

1.  Make sure the destination is visible, either as a window or an icon.

2.  Select the items you wish to copy.

3.  Drag the items to the destination.

When you copy a folder, its entire contents are copied as well, including all sub-folders.

While you are dragging, you can change the copy to a move and vice versa by clicking the right mouse button.


Moving files and folders

1.  Make sure the destination directory is visible, either as a window or as an icon.

2.  Select the items you wish to move.

3.  Hold down the ALT key.

4.  Drag the items to the destination.

When you move a folder, its entire contents are moved as well, including all sub-folders.  You will be asked for confirmation before a read only, hidden or system file is moved.

While you are dragging, you can change the copy to a move and vice versa by clicking the right mouse button.


Deleting files and folders

1.  Select the items you wish to delete.

2.  Choose delete from the popup menu or press Delete.

Warning: when you delete a folder, its entire contents are deleted, including all sub-folders.  Calypso will usually ask before deleting each folder -- it is possible to turn this off, but is not recommended.


Undeleting; files
Undeleting

Calypso does not restore deleted files, but provides a hook to an undelete program.  By default, this is the one provided with MS-DOS 6, which is C:\DOS\MWUNDEL.EXE, but you can change it to whatever you prefer (see Misc dialog page).  Selecting Undelete from the popup menu will run this program from the current directory, hopefully allowing you to restore deleted files.


Renaming files and folders

At present, you can only rename a single selected file or folder.

1.  Select the item to rename.

2.  Choose Rename from the popup menu or press Ctrl-R.

3.  Type in a new filename and press Enter.

If you rename a file with a different extension, the icon will also change accordingly, so don't be surprised if the file disappears -- it has just moved to another part of the icon area.


Viewing or changing attributes

1.  Select the items.

2.  Choose Properties from the popup menu, or press Alt-Enter.

You can inspect file and folder attributes using file hints -- make sure Show File Hints is turned on in the File View page of the Options dialog.  Then, leave your mouse cursor briefly over the target file, and a popup window will show the file's date and any attributes which are turned on.


Creating Folders

1.  Open up an icon window of the parent folder, and make sure it is active.

2.  Choose Create Folder from the popup menu, or press INS.

3.  Then type in the name of the new folder.


Wastepaper bin

The icon of a bin can be a target for dropping files (but not folders).  When a file is dropped, it is moved to a hidden storage directory so that you can still recover it later.

Examining the trash

The bin's icon changes to show if there is something in it.  To see the contents of the bin, double click on it.  Select multiple files using SHIFT and CTRL. Drag the listbox header to adjust the width of each field.

Restoring binned files

Select the items to restore, and drag to the destination window or icon.  The files will be moved there, regardless of where they came from in the first place.

Deleting items and emptying the bin

To delete some files, select them, then choose Delete from the popup menu (opened with the right mouse button).  The Empty command in the menu will clear the bin.

Automatically clearing the bin

The Misc page of the Options dialog has settings which allow the bin to be cleared whenever you quit Calypso.  You can choose to keep a certain amount of disk space free, so that when free space falls below this limit, Calypso starts deleting files from the bin.

See also:

Drag and drop techniques

Use with File Manager and other programs


Shortcuts

A shortcut is an icon that stays on the desktop, providing a permanent link to a disk drive, folder or file.  They are very useful for speeding up common tasks.

Creating a shortcut

Shortcuts can be created from icon windows or the system window.

1.  Select a file, folder or disk drive.

2.  Choose the Create Shortcut command from the popup menu. A new desktop icon appears.

3.  Drag the shortcut to the desired position.

4.  Click once to open a menu, then select Properties to customise it.

Alternatively, you can drag an icon from a window and drop it onto the desktop, which also creates a shortcut.

Activating a shortcut

Either double click on it to open the associated item, or drop files onto it.  Dropping files onto a file shortcut will open the program or document, and use the dropped files as extra parameters.

Deleting a shortcut

Choose Close from the shortcut's popup menu.

All remaining shortcuts are saved when you exit Calypso, and restored the next time it is run.

See also:

Drag and drop techniques

Use with File Manager and other programs


Start menu

This contains a cascading set of menus which allow you to run programs and open documents without using Program Manager.  It is accessed from the System Window -- when it is minimized, press the right mouse button over the computer icon.  When the System Window is its normal size, right click on the close box instead.

To add items to this menu, you can

-  Open the Options dialog and choose the Start page to edit the menu tree in detail.

-  Drop files or folders into the System Window's icon (items are added one at a time).

-  Run the PMGROUPS utility, which reads in your Program Manager groups.

A separate taskbar program (CALTASK1.ZIP) is available, which will use the Start menu when Calypso runs in the background.  .


Drag and Drop techniques

There are various ways of dragging items between different components of Calypso and external programs such as File Manager, shown below.  Drag and drop functions involving the bin or search box only support files.

Interaction with File Manager is discussed in detail in Use with File Manager.

Dragging between two icon windows

This either initiates a copy or a move operation -- if you hold down ALT when you begin the drag, the files/folders will be moved, otherwise they are copied.  Before you drop the files, you can distinguish between the operations by observing the cursor -- a copy cursor has a small "plus" symbol on it. To change the operation (between copy and move) in the middle of a drag, just  click the right mouse button.

The target folder is determined by where on the window you drop the files.  If you drop it into a folder in an icon area, the files are copied/moved to that folder, otherwise the target is the actual window.  You can drop files into the same window, but only if you target a folder or a program.  In the latter case, the program is run with the dropped files as parameters

Any file operation performed within Calypso should automatically update all affected windows owned by Calypso.  So if you drop files into a folder in an icon area, but that folder already has its own window, then the window is updated to reflect the changes.

Note:  This is not the case if you use SUBSTed or JOINed drives, or any similar drive/directory re-mapping utility -- Calypso treats them as separate drives, so you must manually refresh some of the icon windows.

Dragging and dropping into the bin

All files dropped in the bin are moved, regardless of whether you pressed ALT or whatever shape the cursor is.  All files dragged out of the bin are moved.

Dropping in shortcuts

Drive and folder shortcuts act as if they were minimized icon windows -- any files dragged from icon windows or the bin are handled as if the shortcut was an icon window.

File shortcuts behave differently.  For a start, they don't accept trash.  When files are dropped, the program or document is opened as if double clicked, except that the names of the dropped files are concatenated and passed as parameters.

For example, dropping the three files README.TXT, COMMAND.COM and CONFIG.SYS onto a Zip shortcut will run zip readme.txt command.com config.sys.  The exact placement of the file names on the command line can be determined using the Shortcut Properties dialog.


Use with File Manager and other programs

Copying or moving dropped files

When files are dropped into an icon window, folder shortcut or drive shortcut, they can be copied or moved.  You can choose to use either action as default, or be prompted every time.  The settings can be found in the Confirm page of the Options dialog.

Binning files

As with normal use of Calypso, all files dropped in the bin are moved, and you will not be asked.

Viewing or opening dropped files

File shortcuts allow dropped files to be opened, used or viewed.  Dropped files are simply passed on the command line when the program is executed so the result depends entirely on which program is run.

For example, dropping files onto a text editor should open the files, while dropping them onto a search program might initiate a search.

Dragging files into other programs

When you drag files from icon windows or the search box, the cursor will change shape when it moves into the title bar of another program which accepts files.  Release the mouse button to drop the files -- all selected filenames are passed to the program but most programs will only use the first filename.  (The first filename is not necessarily the focused item).

Precautions

1.  Except for File Manager, which notices a change in drive contents, most other programs won't realise if you move a file or bin it via drag and drop.  You should be careful not to move files which are essential to the operation of the program.

2.  Calypso does not keep a track of disk contents changed by other programs.  If any files have changed, you should refresh the icon windows.


Menu Commands

Click on a menu item for more information.

System window menu

Icon window context menus

For a more detailed explanation, see Context Menus

Window submenu


Context menus

Within icon windows, the right mouse button opens a different popup menu depending on the cursor position.

File/folder menus

To access these commands, select some files or folders first and then right-click over an icon.  The Properties and Delete commands are always available and work on all selected items.  The other commands are present depending on the item in focus and work on that item.

Icon window menu

If you right-click in a blank area, the following menu appears, giving access to commands which affect the icon window and the folder it represents.

Window and path lists

Pressing the right mouse button over the title bar will show a menu of open icon windows -- select one to bring it forward.  Pressing the right button over the close box will show the list of paths leading to the current folder -- select one to return to a higher level.


Open

Opens the selected file or folder.

File type	Effect

Program	The program is run

Document	The document's associated program is run.

Folder	The contents are displayed in an icon window.


Open with...

Asks you to type in program name.  If you press OK, the selected file is opened with that program.  If the program's home directory is not on the DOS path, you must include the full path name.  You can also open a file with a program by dragging the file onto the program icon.

The listbox beneath the combo box is filled with the items from a top level menu captioned "Open", which you can double click on to activate.  Use the Start page to add the menu.


Properties

Brings up the Properties Dialog box that allows you to view detailed information about the selected files/folders, and change their attributes.  Selecting this from the menu has the same effect as clicking on the right hand label of the status bar.


Rename

Allows you to rename a single selected file or folder.  You will be prompted for a new name, which must be unique within the current folder.


Duplicate

Lets you make a copy of a single file in the same directory.


Delete

Deletes all the selected items from disk.


Undelete

Runs the specified undelete program.

Calypso does not undelete files itself, but runs a program of your choice.  The default is the one supplied with MS-DOS 6, and you can change this in the Misc page of the Options Dialog.


Create Folder

Asks you to specify a new folder name, and then creates that folder/directory.  The folder is created in the active window, so you should not specify a path name.


Create shortcut

Adds a new shortcut of the selected file or folder to the desktop.


Run

Allows you to execute a program by typing a command line.  If you check the DOS command box, your command will be processed by COMMAND.COM rather than Windows so you can enter strings like copy *.exe c:\temp.


Print

Printing is handled completely by Windows so you should make sure that Windows "knows" how to print your chosen file by associating it with a program, if it is not already.


View

Opens the View menu, which allows you to specify which files to show and how to sort them.  The settings made from this menu only affects the current window.  (see also Options Dialog).


Window

Opens the window submenu, which lets you rearrange icon windows and the desktop.


Disk properties

Displays the disk space usage for the current drive.  A quicker way to do this is to right-click on the left label on the status bar.


Search

Displays the Search Dialog, where you can search for files.


Options

Brings up the Options Dialog, which allows you configure and customise Calypso.


Help

Shows the contents of this help file.


About

Opens the About Box, which shows the version of Calypso you are running, plus the free system resources.  In case you haven't noticed, if resources reach about 20%, Windows will become unstable.


Parent Folder

Brings up a new window showing the parent folder of the current one.  If a window already represents that folder, it is brought to the foreground.  You can reach the parent folder more quickly by right clicking on the close box.


Refresh window

Updates the window by reading the directory information from disk. A quicker way to invoke this command is to click on the left label on the status bar.  See Refreshing Windows.


Clear desktop

Clears the Windows desktop by hiding all icons, shortcuts and windows belonging to Calypso, greatly reducing the clutter without needing to quit the program.  You will be left with a single Calypso icon, which you double click on to restore the desktop to its previous messy state.


Arrange Icons

This has similar effect as pressing the Arrange Icons button in the Task Manager.  When you restore Calypso after clearing the desktop, some icons may obscure icons from other programs,  and you will need to rearrange the icons to see them all.

This command preserves the placement of shortcuts, whereas if you use Task Manager, all shortcut icons are arranged as well (a minor bug).


Cascade

Arranges all open Calypso windows so that they are the same size and their title bars are all visible.


Close path

Closes all windows which show folders that are parents to the current one, e.g. if you are looking at c:\programs\word\docs, this command will close c:\, c:\programs and c:\programs\word if they are being shown.

This is useful when you are browsing deep into a tree and no longer want to see the folders you just passed through.


Close lower

This closes all windows showing folders which are lower in the hierarchy than the current one.


Close others

Closes all icon windows except the active one.


Close all

Causes all icon windows to close, leaving just the system window, bin and shortcuts.


Refreshing windows

Choosing Refresh Window will cause the active icon window to re-scan information from disk.  You will need to do this when you

1.  swap floppy disks.

2.  modify the disk contents using other programs.

3.  encounter a serious disk error of some sort.

4.  re-map network or logical drives.

5.  run a DOS command.

As a side effect, icon windows will resize themselves if you have "Automatically size new windows" selected in the Misc page of the Options dialog.  Also, if the window represents a disk or folder that no longer exists, the window will close when you try to refresh it.


 Properties Dialog

This dialog can show information on single selected files or folders, or a multiple selection.

File properties

For a single file, the Properties Dialog will show the filename, location (parent folder), DOS date/time stamp and file size.  Some files such as Windows programs and DLL files contain version information, which is displayed as well.  Calypso will search the registration database and attempt to establish the file's type, regardless of whether there is any version information.

Folder properties

For a single folder, you will see the folder's name, location, date/time stamp, and content size (the total size of files in the folder, excluding any files in subfolders).  A deep scan is obtained by searching the entire tree structure in the folder.  Since a deep scan on a floppy disk or CD-ROM might take a while to execute, you need to click on the label to start it off.

Multiple items properties

For multiple files/folders, you will be shown the total file and folder count, and the total selection size, which does include files in all sub-folders.  Showing properties for multiple folders always involves a deep scan through each one, so be prepared to wait a while for slower devices.

Attributes

For all selections, you can change the attributes by checking or unchecking the relevant check boxes.  If a check box is greyed when showing multiple file properties, this means that two files differ in this attribute.  If you set or clear the greyed box, the attribute is set or cleared for all files.  If you leave it greyed, this particular attribute is left untouched.

Note: when multiple files/folders are selected, only the ones you have directly selected get their attributes set.  Files lower down inside folders are not modified.

Hidden or System files

When you make a file hidden or system, and you have previously chosen not to show hidden/system files, the file will be displayed in the icon window until you refresh the window.  The File Properties dialog will take into account any hidden files which you have "indirectly" selected by highlighting a folder somewhere up in the hierarchy.


 Options Dialog

There are several pages to this dialog, providing access to most available settings.  Click on a  tab for more details.


File View dialog page

Click on a control for more information.


Sort by

Determines how to sort the files in icon windows.  Folders are always shown at the top of the window so that they are immediately seen.

Type -- sorted by extension

Name -- sorted by full filename

Size -- smallest files shown first

Date -- most recently updated files shown last

Tip: press any letter key to jump to the next file beginning with that letter.  This works with any sort order.


Filter

Lets you specify a DOS wildcard to decide which files to show (exactly like the DIR command). To show just folders, a filter of a single asterisk * works quite well since most folders don't have extensions and most files do.


Show hidden/system files

Determines if hidden or system files are shown as icons.  Hidden files are still deleted when you delete a folder, even though you cannot see them.


File Hints

Turning on File Hints will show a file's date, time, or attributes when you leave the cursor over an icon for a couple of seconds.  You can choose which items to show.


File Hint Delay

Specifies how long you must keep the cursor still before file hints are displayed.


Confirm dialog page

Click on a control for more information.


General file operations

Select these check boxes if you want Calypso to ask for confirmation before carrying out a file operation.  It is recommended that you enable confirmation for deleting folders


Action affects protected file

Select this box if you want Calypso to prompt before deleting or moving a hidden, system or read-only file.  These files have obviously been given special attributes for a reason, so you should think twice about turning this option off -- in particular, system files should not be deleted or moved.


Response to dropped files

Select the response you want when you drag and drop files from other programs into icon windows or folder/drive shortcuts.  When you choose to be prompted, you will also have the option of cancelling the file drop.


Misc dialog page

Click on a control for more information.


Browse folder in same window

Select this to makes Calypso change the contents of the active window when you open a folder, rather than creating a new window.  To reach the parent folder or any folder higher up, right-click on the icon window's close box (top left corner).


Automatically size new windows

Select this to try and fit the window to display all icons.  If you have more than 30 icons in a folder, the window does not get any bigger, but a scroll bar is added instead.


Activate window under cursor

Select this to bring an icon window to the front when you move the cursor over a grey area of an icon window, such as the borders or the status bar.


Show progress bar

Select this to show the progress of file operations using a percentage bar.  Turning this off will slightly increase the speed when you copy, move or delete many folders (since Calypso won't have to do a deep scan to determine how many files there are in total).


Show glyphs in search box

Select this box to display a file or folder icon beside each file in the Search Dialog.  It makes it easier to distinguish files and folders but there seems to be a lot of flickering on slower machines.


Search for version information

Select this check box to display version information about a file in the File Properties dialog.  This is generally useful since it can sometimes tell you the product that files belong to, but it takes a a short while to extract the data.


Background file searching

If you select this, you can continue working while file searching takes place, and stop the search by pressing the Stop button.  The disadvantage is that it is slightly slower.


Undelete program

Enter the full path name of the program you would like to run when Undelete is selected in a popup menu.  Double click to browse through available programs.


Show wastepaper bin

Select this check box to show the bin icon.


Dispose of rubbish

Select this to make Calypso delete the earliest files in the bin (the ones which were binned first) when quitting, whenever the disk space is less than the number in the Megabytes to keep free edit box.


Megabytes to keep free

Use in conjunction with Dispose of rubbish check box.  Enter the amount of free disk space to be left on Calypso's home drive before Calypso starts deleting files from the bin.


Start dialog page

Click on a control for more information.

This page displays a menu tree for you to construct your Start menu.

Creating a new menu item

1.  Click on the part of the tree where you want to insert the item.

2.  Click on the Add button.  The menu item editor appears.

3.  Enter its details in the edit boxes.

4.  The new item is placed in front of the selected item.

Creating a new submenu

Submenus start off as normal menu items with just a caption, until you insert items.

1.  Create the menu item to become a submenu, and select it.

2.  Click on the Insert button.

3.  Enter details in the edit boxes.

4.  The new item is placed inside, changing the old one into a submenu.

Alternatively, hold down ALT and drag an existing item over another item.  The target item will become a submenu.

Modifying an item

1.  Select a submenu or menu item.

2.  Click on the Edit button.

3.  Change the settings.  Only the Caption field applies to submenus, the rest is ignored.

Moving an item around

Drag it using the left mouse button and release it over the new position.  To move a menu item into a submenu, either expand the menu and move the item as usual, or hold down ALT before dragging and releasing it over the folder icon.

Converting Program Manager groups

The old PMGroups utility has been replaced with a built-in converter that's much more reliable.  Right click on the tree view and select Convert from the popup menu to bring up the group converter. It works just like PMGroups from version 1.1, but new items are added to the tree view and not written to disk until you press OK.

Dropping files and folders into the menu

The System icon acts as a receptacle for files and folder dropped from Calypso, File Manager or other programs.  To prevent accidentally flooding the menu, only one item is added per drop.

When you drop a folder, Calypso adds "$FOLDER" to the beginning of the command line, followed by the folder's name.  This causes an icon window to open when you select that menu item.  You can manually add folders in this way.

Tip: Double clicking on the Command or Working Folder edit controls allows you to browse and select a file and folder respectively.


Open submenu

Double click to collapse the menu.  Drag items onto it (holding down ALT) to place them inside.


Closed submenu

Double click to expand the menu.  Drag items onto it (holding down ALT) to place them inside.


Menu item

Drag items into it (holding down ALT) to turn it into a submenu.


Add button

Creates a new menu item on the same level as the currently selected item.


Insert button

Creates a new menu item and places it inside the currently selected item.  If the selected item is a submenu, the new item is added to the list.  If the selected item as a normal menu item, it is turned into a submenu.


Edit button

Allows you to change the details of an existing submenu or menu item.


Delete button

Deletes the currently selected item, whether it is a menu item or submenu.


Expand button

Opens all submenus.


Collapse button

Closes all submenus, leaving the top-level menus and program items.


Caption

Type the text of the menu item as you would like it to appear.  An ampersand (&) placed before a letter will cause the item to be activated when you press that letter while using the menu.


Command line

Enter the command to be run when the menu item is selected. This includes the file extension, path and any parameters, if necessary.  You can type in a folder name instead of a filename, in which case, that folder is opened when the menu item is selected.


Working folder

Enter the default directory to start the program in.  If this menu item represents a PIF file, you need to change the "Working directory" field using the PIF Editor  rather than Calypso.


Run minimized

Select this if you want the program to be run as an icon.


Search Dialog

From here, you can search the whole or part of a drive for a matching filename, and carry out operations on any files found.

Searching for files

Enter the file mask and starting path, and choose the extent of the search.  The starting path has no effect if you choose to search the whole drive.

Press the Search button.  If you have enabled background searching, files will appear in the list box as soon as they are found.  Otherwise, you must wait until the search is complete.

Selecting, viewing and deleting files

Click on a filename to select it.  Use SHIFT to select a range of files and hold down CTRL to toggle the selection of a single file.

There are a limited number of operations that you can use from here.  Right-click over the list for a popup menu which lets you open files or folders, open their parent folders or delete selected files.

Dragging found files

You can drag your selection to an icon window, shortcut or another program.  The result depends on the settings in the Confirm page of the Options dialog. You can only carry out drag-drop operations on files using this dialog -- dropping folders have no effect at present.


Search for

Enter the files to find.  You can use any DOS wildcards, but only specify one set of files, e.g. *.EXE.  To find multiple sets of files, repeat the operation with each set -- the previous set will stay in the listbox.


Start from

Enter the folder to begin the search.  If you leave this empty, the search begins from the current drive and directory.  This setting is ignored if you choose to search the whole drive.


Search specified folder

Select this to limit the search to the folder shown in the Start From edit box.


Search sub-folders

Select this to limit the search to the starting folder and any sub-folders.


Search whole drive

Select this to search from the root directory of the specified drive, regardless of what folder name you entered.


Start button

Begins the search.  If you have Background file searching turned on in the Misc page of the Options dialog, you can scroll and inspect the list box while the search is in progress or stop the search.


Clear button

Clears the list box of any filenames.


Close button

Hides the dialog box.  Any filenames shown will still be in the listbox the next time you open it.


Header

Position the cursor over the divisions and drag to change the width of the fields.


File listbox

Use SHIFT and CTRL to select multiple files.  The files can be dragged to icon windows, shortcuts or the bin.


Shortcut Properties dialog

Use this to tailor a shortcut to your liking.  The section labelled File Shortcut Properties is only available when you are editing a file shortcut.  Click on a control for more details.


Target

Tells you the type of the shortcut and the object it represents.  Folder and Drive shortcuts are essentially the same apart from their default icons.  You won't need to change the text here unless a file or folder has been moved.


Caption

Enter the text you would like to appear beneath the shortcut's icon.


Icon from

Lets you specify an icon file (with extension ICO) to use to display the shortcut.  Double click on the edit box to browse through available icon files.  If you leave this blank, a default icon is used.


Parameters

Enter the command line parameters to be used to open the file shortcut.  To pass dropped files as parameters, include "%s" in the parameter string at the point where you want to insert the file names, e.g.

/A %s /B /C

will make the parameters

/A filename1 filename2 filename3 /B /C

when three files are dropped.


Working folder

Enter the folder to use when the program starts up.  If you leave this blank, the current directory is used.


Run minimized

Select this to run the program or document's program as an icon.


Use document folder

Select this to override the working folder with the folder of the first document dropped onto the shortcut.  For example, if the working folder is c:\windows and c:\autoexec.bat is dropped, the working folder temporarily becomes c:\.

Also, when this is selected, you can drop more files at once because dropped files are passed by filenames only, whereas normally the full pathname would be included.  There is a limit on the length of the command line and some files may not fit on when you pass the full pathname -- if you attempt to drop too many files into program shortcuts, the last few filenames may be garbage.