THE HOUSE HELP FILE IS UNDER REVISION! THIS VERSION is for HOUSE 1.05 which is very simialr to HOUSE 2.0. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HOW TO USE HOUSE: The buttons ICON,S,M,L,^^^,<,> Can be used anytime to make HOUSE small, medium, large, thin, narrower, wider,etc. NOTICE that after you press a button, the MENUBOX in the CENTER of your HOUSE has a new menu that ALSO contains controls that could size, move, etc. EACH TIME YOU CLICK A BUTTON you select a MODE, which in turn selects a different MENU in the MENUBOX (CENTER SCREEN). To use a MENUBOX FUNCTION, click the abbreviated LABEL portion of the display in the menu box, such as LMB - for Left Menu Bar. Just MOVING your Mouse OVER the boxes changes the messages you see... indicating what the MENUBOX FUNCTION will do if you CLICK it. Some MENUBOX Functions are nested more than one LAYER deep, which only means that sometimes, SELECTING A MENUBOX FUNCTION might only CALL-UP a 'deeper' MENUBOX, containing 'sub functions.' After using some functions You MAY NEED to RE-CLICK the BUTTONS to reselect the MODE you want to use, such as MENU or FILES mode. Just 'seeing a file list' doesn't mean you are always in FILE mode. WHAT ABOUT HELP! Help is available within the MENUBOX FUNCTIONS for some modes, meaning you have ON-LINE help. Also, NOTICE the TOP WINDOW for MESSAGES. Many functions will display HELP along the way at the top of the HOUSE. It's easy to find 'good help these days'... THE HOUSE-HELP' like to party on the roof! Once you press HELP, help mode is activated, which means a few additional messages will POP UP as you mouse around. They appear just once, and you can disable them by clicking the CPU window, then typing d . YES, but how does this thing work? HOUSE keeps one menu on-board, with up to 200 programs. You can easily load others by DOUBLE-CLICKING their name, (HOUSE.hse, YOUR.HSE, etc) in a FILE LISTING. By DOUBLE CLICKING any LIST, you will activate the function of the list! So, menus launch menu programs, file lists launch files, etc..all with a DOUBLE CLICK! REMEMBER THAT! You can DOUBLE CLICK the TOP WINDOW to DIRECTLY LAUNCH MENU programs. So....that's what you do...DOUBLE CLICK! Select a BUTTON/MODE, such as FILES, then LAUNCH DIRECTLY from the FILE LIST, or use MENUBOX FUNCTIONS to do things like delete, copy, get info, etc! THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY FUNCTIONS TO DOCUMENT HERE! YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!...but NEVER FEAR, HOUSE is VERY SMART and has "ARE YOU SURE??" messages WHEN YOU NEED THEM! DOUBLE CLICK with confidence because it is SAFE to do so....EXPLORE HOUSE...it's fun to use, and easy. It EVEN HAS PASSWORD protection that allows you to LOCK your HOUSE..except for the current menu! That way YOU decide WHICH programs your Kiddo's are using... Menus are easy to use, and ADDING ITEMS TO YOUR MENU is easy too. Using the FILE LIST, select any file or program and CLICK - ADD in the MENUBOX. It's THAT easy! Your file is NOW a MENU ITEM! ----------------------- How to "Get Around" It can be a little tricky at first...here's what to do. The FASTEST way to move your HOUSE around is by CLICKING the MOVING SQUARES--to the right of the main buttons. The moving squares represent NINE screen positions... the four corners, and center positions of your screen. A single click on any square places your HOUSE in a similar position to the square in the box. You can also press the button "P". (PLACEMENT) This is a more traditional way of moving Windows ...using A MENU bar to drag HOUSE to some point on your screen. You will soon notice that HOUSE does NOT let you move to a position off--screen. HOUSE normally corrects for 'overshoots' of the edges. In other words, HOUSE will always pick an address that's on your screen!" CLICKING the HOUSE.FORM to SIZE it...... It takes some getting used to, but clicking around the form, especially BETWEEN the JUMP buttons at the BOTTOM of your screen will change the size of your House...you'll see how things work with a little practice. All modes, except CITY mode, will size HOUSE when a FORM.CLICK occurs. Try clicking the edges of the HOUSE too. If you just want a FEW MORE LINES OF YOUR LISTS, click the VERY BOTTOM of the HOUSE, usually BETWEEN the DIR.JUMP and FILE.JUMP buttons. The amount of EXTRA HEIGHT you get is related to the CURRENT FONTSIZE. LOOK FOR +2 and +5 LINES in the MENUBOX...for a quick additional 2 or 5 lines of display!! MEMORIZED POSITIONS: Once your HOUSE is the way you want it... CLICK the SET button and then click DEC & MEM to STORE your layout. (MENUBOX) HOUSE can store/recall up your layouts. Your screen position, HOUSE size, Window colors and Font sizes are stored for later recall. To recall..the sequence is SET-DEC-DO-. ******************************************************************************* **UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN BUTTONS******** [ICON, S,M,L,P ^^^ < > ] These buttons can help you size & place your HOUSE. Icon = Make House as small as possible. S = Make HOUSE very small, but not an ICON. M = Make House Medium sized. L = Make House LARGE. P = PLACE/MOVE House manually. NOTE: Clicking the CPU Window (Blinking Squares) will place/move HOUSE very rapidly..try it! ^^^ Toggles between THIN and NORMAL HOUSE Height. Think of this as the door to the ROOF if you like! < Makes HOUSE Narrower > Makes HOUSE WIDER RUN: In SMALL-Menu-Mode this button runs the current HOUSE MENU item. In ALL other modes (bigger sizes) this button allows you to set the WINDOW STATE for the next launch of programs. You can also RUN the menu program or currently selected file by clicking !M or !F in the MENU BOX. (Center) SET: Decorate: DO - Recalls one of FOUR Sets of Colors, Fonts, & Screen Positions from Memory. (Redecorates your HOUSE from memory!) MEM - Memorizes your current HOUSE colors, Font Size, and Screen Location. Color: (TOP RM INF MNU DIR EXT HSE ?) Allows you to change the colors of the various display lists, info Windows & more, within HOUSE itself. ? = Help (Explains how to change colors) Font: SML SM MED ML L VL XL BLD Chg HOUSE lets you set new Font Sizes or CHANGE Font Types. (Does not affect system fonts. You would use the Control Panel to do that.) PSW: Allows you CHANGE the CURRENT PASSWORD for THIS SESSION! TIM: Toggles the CLOCK in the upper right, on or off. (The clock can be DRAGGED to new locations.) CPU: Toggles the 'thinking lights' on or off! Those dizzy little blinking squares! (Quick Placement Window still works, regardless.) GRB: GRAB...Makes HOUSE 'come out on top' if MOUSE passes over it. On/Off toggle. When GRAB is ON, (Default) HOUSE will grab the FOCUS anytime your mouse passes over the form. **!!!** END: END HOUSE Session..quit the program....board up the HOUSE! REMEMBER TO QUIT....the command is SET-END ?: Need HELP or have questions? Use the question mark button to GET HELP, FIND YOUR HOUSE, CHANGE A PASSWORD, & More. CITY: Draw colorful cities automatically! Just move your MOUSE AROUND! MOD: Sets the PEN color-logic for drawing. AND NOT OR XOR INVERT & More OBJECTS: Choose from TRE Trees BLD Buildings LWR Low Rise Buildings RF Roof or hills CLd Clouds Sqr Little Squares CLR: Clears (ERASES) your picture! Lnd: Creates a landscape background effect..erases current drawing! (Best with SVGA and 32K-colors mode. Choose a BRIGHT Background First.) N: Normal..temporary drawing mode. No cut & paste. P: Permanent drawing - paste mode. Allows cut & paste. Clp: Copies House drawing to the clipboard. DRAWING ACTION is activated (ON/OFF) by your MOUSE CLICKS.!!! OH: OPEN HOUSE!!! RUN up to 20 programs/files at once! LOAD ANY SMALL HOUSE and you can use OH to launch the ENTIRE MENU as an OPEN HOUSE. AGAIN: SAV: Save a list to--disk of the programs & files you have been using...up to 100. Logs the time you used them too. DEL: Removes a single item from your on-board launch-log. DM: Remove ALL launch-log items BEFORE the currently selected item...(Erases your tracks...) MENU: GET: Load a new HOUSE menu from disk. SAV: Save the current menu to disk. DEL: Remove an ITEM (Room) from your HOUSE menu (Doesn't delete the file). SRT: A fast way to sort the menu alphabetically. ADD: Add ON additional Rooms by merging-in another House menu. NEW: Start a new HOUSE menu from the ground up...... DUP: Duplicate a menu item...'clone' a room. CLR: Clears the menu-item Command Line (Furniture!) info passed to the program at run-time. Of COURSE..you CAN edit your HOUSE menu directly by clicking your mouse inside any of the MENU TEXT boxes! FND: Where is this room? Hansel, Gretel, and HOUSE all know! But only HOUSE will take you there. DIR: MAK: Make a directory on disk. Otherwise known as a hallway! REM: Remove a directory from disk. CDI: Copy the FILENAMES, DATES & SIZES to a record-file on disk. Only INFO is recorded, not the files themselves. Think of it as a PHOTOCOPY of the current directory listing but with more info. DFT: Shows the file list in order of file EXTENSIONS. CHG: Rename Directory FILES: ADD: Adds the currently selected FILE or program to your HOUSE MENU!. HOUSE chooses HOSTS when needed, but you can change them if you like...just click on the menu info-window text & 'edit away'. PUT: Puts the currently selected file in the COMMANDLINE of the CURRENT menu item. Like furniture in a room, this info compliments' the room. You could PUT a file called pic.bmp into a room with PAINTBRUSH...then it would run with PIC.BMP already loaded. SIZ: Shows file date & size for the currently selected file. CPY: Allows you to copy files. TAKE your time here! HOUSE is rather 'unusual' in the way it copies! Once you 'get the hang of it' you may find it VERY useful! 'I' Like it! The file names are 'cached' so you can easily copy a big list of programs to several places, without re-loading the file names. Just remember to CLEAR them when you should. DEL: Delete 1 file at a time, or ALL in the current listing! Both have 'ARE YOU SURE?'..of course! CHG: Rename, Change attributes or duplicate. Has sub menu. REF: REFRESH the current file listing. This is done by HOUSE most of the time..but when you need to...it's a quick way to get an updated files listing. ********************************************************************* DOUBLE CLICK ANY FILE LIST TO LAUNCH a program, file, picture, macro or any other program/sourcefile. HOST programs are determined by HOUSE. Double click the HOST-LIST for more info on editing HOST files. DOUBLE CLICKING an EXTENSION LIST will allow you to ENTER A CUSTOM file pattern. Such as *.* or more elaborately... House.*; H*.hse;Names*.?? In other words..compound filters can be entered...separated by SEMI-COLONS. ********************************************************************** THAT'S ALL FOLKS! HOPE YOU ENJOY HOUSE! Be sure and check out CITY mode for some drawing FUN! Remember, EXPLORING HOUSE BOLDLY is the ONLY WAY TO GO! HAVE FUN! P.S. Enjoy HOUSE for 30 days free.... Copy it for your friends too....it's shareware!