Contents
Dialog Killer 1.2

by Nicholas Maher

Copyright 1995. All rights reserved.

Contents

Overview

The Hit List

Day to day use

Freeware


Overview

Many Windows applications tend to make extensive use of unnecessary dialog boxes and message boxes. For example, a program that continually prompts the user with confirmation messages may be helpful at first, but it will soon become tedious to use.

The purpose of Dialog Killer is to provide automatic responses to dialog boxes created by other applications. You merely specify the dialog boxes you would like it to intercept, and it does the rest.

Dialog Killer runs transparently in the background, and destroys unwanted dialogs before they even make it to the screen. It sends a return-code to the application, just as if the dialog was closed normally by the user. This return-code may be specified uniquely for each dialog.


The Hit List

The Dialog Killer hit list is where you specify which dialog boxes you never want to see again. It consists of a list box, and several buttons.

Each entry in the list box refers to an unwanted dialog box. The module name and title of each dialog is displayed. The three buttons below the list box are marked:

Add

Edit

Delete

These buttons allow you to maintain the entries in the hit list.


Adding to the hit list

To add a dialog box to the hit list, click on the Add button in the Dialog Killer main window. This will open the Add dialog box. In this dialog box, five fields are displayed. These are:

Title

Text

Class

Module

Return code

Rather than entering these fields manually, you can let Dialog Killer do all the work for you. If you press the Select button, the cursor will change to a cross-hair. Simply click on the dialog box you want to kill, and all the fields (except return code) will be filled in for you automatically.

Note that all fields are truncated to 31 characters, and are not case-sensitive.

Examples

Program Manager

Dialog Killer

See Also

Standard Return Codes


Standard return codes

When Dialog Killer destroys a dialog box, it normally uses a return code of 0.

The other options available are defined in winuser.h:

1 : IDOK

2 : IDCANCEL

3 : IDABORT

4 : IDRETRY

5 : IDIGNORE

6 : IDYES

7 : IDNO


Modifying the hit list

To edit an entry in the hit list, first click on it, and then press the Edit button in the Dialog Killer main window. The Edit dialog box will appear. It functions in exactly the same way as the Add dialog box.

As a shortcut to using the Edit button, you can also double-click on an entry in the list box, to invoke the edit dialog box.

To delete an entry in the hit list, first click on it, and then press the Delete button in the Dialog Killer main window. The entry will be removed.


Day to day use

Dialog Killer automatically saves the contents of the hit list, so the next time it is started, it will be ready to kill all the dialogs that have been previously specified.

To have Dialog Killer started automatically when Windows starts, just move it into the Startup group in Program Manager (obviously!)

The Hide icon feature is useful when Dialog Killer is running in the background. If this feature is turned on, Dialog Killer will be invisible when it minimised, so you won't even have to know that it's running. It will, however, still be visible in the task list, and when switching between applications with alt-<tab>.

Note that you cannot have more than one instance of Dialog Killer running simultaneously. If you attempt to start a second instance, the initial instance will be activated instead.


Freeware

Dialog Killer is freeware. That means you can use it as much as you like, give it to all your friends, and upload it to bulletin boards or ftp sites. I don't expect any form of registration fee, because I don't think that a program of this size is worthy of one. Also, I think shareware authors are greedy, but I won't get into that.

There is no warranty with this program. I take no responsibility for anything that Dialog Killer does, so use it at your own risk.

If you have any questions or comments, or you find any bugs, you can write to Chris Merrigan - (cwm@newt.phys.unsw.edu.au). I no longer have an email address, since I've just finished uni (woo-hoo!)

I hope you find Dialog Killer useful. If you really like it, you can send me a postcard. My address is:

    32 Dandarbong ave

    Bangor, NSW

    Australia

    2234

Nicholas Maher

February 1995


Title refers to the title of the dialog box you want to destroy. If the dialog box has no title, this field may be left blank.


Text refers to the text inside the dialog box.

(There may be text in various locations within the dialog box - Dialog Killer searches for the first static child window with text)

If this field is left blank, Dialog Killer will not check the text inside the dialog box.


Class refers to the window class of the dialog box you want to destroy. Most standard dialog boxes have a class name of #32770. Other custom dialog boxes and windows will have different classes. Note that killing a window that is not a dialog box may cause Windows to crash or hang. Dialog Killer will warn you if you attempt to use an unknown class name.


Module refers to the name of the module that created the dialog box. This will be the name of an executable file, or DLL. (Without the extension)


Return code is the 16 bit value that Dialog Killer returns to the application when destroying the dialog box. The standard return codes are available from a drop-down combo box. These correspond to the numbers 0 - 7. Alternatively, you may enter your own return code.


Example: To disable the Exit Windows message box, you would use the following values:

Title:     	Exit Windows

Text:            	This will end your Windows Session.

Class:   	#32770

Module:	PROGMAN

Return code:  	OK

(The Text field is optional - it may be left blank)


Example: To make Dialog Killer exit without displaying its message box, you would use the following values:

Title:              	Exit Dialog Killer

Text:            	<leave blank>

Class:          	#32770

Module:        	DKILL

Return code: 	OK

.

If you use a CANCEL return code, Dialog Killer will not close.


Hide Icon

To hide the Dialog Killer Icon, activate the Hide Icon checkbox in the main window.