Copyright: Copyright ® 1993 by Rodney Savard


About Launch!

Launch! is a fully configurable, tool-box style Windows application.

On the Launch! screen, there are several buttons.  After assigning a program to one of the buttons, Launch! will extract that program's icon and use it as a picture on the button.

The program can then be activated by clicking on the corresponding button on Launch!

Launch! remembers its configuration and automatically restores it when you run Launch! the next time.


Configuring the Buttons

There are two ways to configure an unconfigured button.  The first method is to just click on the button you wish to configure.  (Or you may right-click on the button and select "Edit..." from the popup menu.)

A screen will then come up where you define the program that will run when you press the button on Launch!  You can either type the name of the program into the "Program" field, or press "Browse..." and pick the program from the dialog box.  The file name you specify in the "Program" field MUST have the extension EXE, COM, PIF, or BAT.

The "Parameters", "Working Directory", and "Description" fields are optional.  Their functions are identical to the Parameters and Working Directory fields located in the Properties of an icon in Program Manager.  (In Launch!, the Working Directory will default to the location of the program in the Program field.)  If you supply a description, it will be placed in the status bar instead of what's in the "Program" field.  (The status bar is only visible if "Status Bar" is checked on the General Options screen.)

Launch!, by default, extracts the first icon found in the program to use as the picture on the button.  (If you specified a DOS program, it uses the MS-DOS icon found in PROGMAN.EXE)  If you want to use one of the other icons in the program, or an icon from a different icon source all together, click on the button "Select Icon...".  You can then specify the name of the icon source either by typing it directly into the "Icon Source File" field, or by pressing "Browse..." and selecting it from the dialog box.  After you specify a new icon source, click on the horizontal scroll bar located inside the "Selected Icon" frame.  If there is more than one icon in the icon source file, you can scroll through them all and pick the one you want.  Press "OK" when you're satisfied, or press "Cancel" to forget about the changes you made to the selected icon.

When you're done configuring the button, press "OK" to go back to Launch!, or press "Cancel" to abort the configuration of the button.

Another way to configure the button on Launch!, is to drag the program from File Manager and drop it on the button you wish to configure.  This method is much faster and easier.  Launch! will use the first icon in the program if it's a Windows program, and will use the MS-DOS icon found in PROGMAN.EXE if it's a DOS program.  You can also drop the program on a button that has already been configured.  If you do so, you will be prompted wether or not you want to reconfigure the button for the new program.  After you have dropped the program on to a button, you can "fine tune" the configuration by right-clicking on the button that was just configured.  This will bring up the popup menu.  You can then select "Edit..." to adjust the configuration.


Configuring the General Options

You can configure Launch!'s general options by clicking on the grey area of the Launch! window.  You can also configure them by right-clicking on one of Launch!'s buttons, then selecting "Launch! Config..." from the popup menu.  (See also The Popup Menu)

The general options that can be configured include:

•	Save Position On Close - When Launch! is closed, it saves its current screen position.  Next time you run Launch!, it will be located at that position.

•	Status Bar - A small text bar appears at the bottom of Launch!  When you move the mouse over any of the buttons on Launch!, the status bar will display the program name that each button is configured with.

•	Always On Top - Launch! will stay on top of other windows even if it does not have the focus.

•	Rows & Columns - The number of rows and columns of buttons that Launch! will show.  Launch! is limited to showing 100 buttons.

•	Pixel Height & Width - Defines the size of the picture in each button.  The smaller the picture, the smaller the button will be.  (The default size is 32 pixels.)

There are three buttons that appear at the bottom of this screen as well:

•	Force Immediate Save - Normally the configuration of Launch! is saved when you end the Launch! program.  Pressing this button will immediately save it.

•	About... - Displays some information about Launch!, including its version number.

•	Online Help... - Brings up the online help.


Contacting the Author

If you have any questions or suggestions, you can contact the author by writing to:

Rodney M. Savard

4507 South Kent Street

Kennewick, WA 99337-4510

E-Mail:

America Online:	RodSavard

GEnie:	R.SAVARD

ImagiNation:	Box # 58313

Internet:	rm_savard@pnl.gov


Contents
Launch! version 1.3

Contents

Introduction

About Launch!

Installation

Using Launch!

Configuring the General Options

Configuring the Buttons

The Popup Menu

Launching an Application

Other Information

Registering Launch!

Contacting the Author

Launch! version 1.3 was written using Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0 Pro.  It was compiled on December 18, 1993.

Launch! Help (this file) was written using WhizNotes version 1.2 and Microsoft Word version 2.0 for Windows.  It was compiled on December 23, 1993, using the Microsoft Help Compiler version 3.10.504 (extended).

Copyright © 1993

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


Installation

The installation of Launch! is simple.  Place the files in the following locations:

LAUNCH!.EXE	-Any directory

LAUNCH!.HLP	- Same directory as LAUNCH!.EXE

THREED.VBX*	- WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

CMDIALOG.VBX*	- WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.

*If these VBX files are already in your WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory, check the dates of the files and use the newest ones.  (The older ones should be deleted.)

Launch! was written using Microsoft Visual Basic version 3.0.  Just like all other Visual Basic applications, Launch! requires the file  VBRUN300.DLL to be in the WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.


Launching an Application

Once one of the buttons on Launch! has been configured, the program you configured the button with can be launched by just clicking on the button.

If, for some reason, the program cannot be launched, you will be given an error code and message explaining the reason.


Registering Launch!

Print this form, fill it out, and mail to:

Rodney M. Savard

4507 South Kent Street

Kennewick, WA 99337-4510

Name:  _________________________________

Address: ________________________________

City: ____________________________________

State: __________            Zip:________________

Phone: _________________________________

E-mail: _________________________________

Enclosed is $______ to cover the registration for ____ copies of Launch!  ($15.00 each)

(If you provide your e-mail address, you will receive your registration number sooner.)

Thank you for supporting the shareware software concept and encouraging the future development of Launch! and other programs written by Rodney Savard.

NOTE: You may purchase the source code to Launch!, and have royalty-free rights to use, modify, reproduce, and distribute Launch!  The price of the source code is $65.00.  (You are not required to pay the $15 registration fee--the source code you receive will have the shareware portions of it removed.)  Launch! uses functions only available in Visual Basic 3.0, therefore the code will be sent in Visual Basic 3.0 format.  It will also be given in ASCII format so that it can be brought up in Visual Basic 2.0.  (Launch! will require slight modifications to work in Visual Basic 2.0--details will be included.)

Enclosed is $______ to cover the cost of purchasing the source code to Launch! plus royalty-free rights to use, modify, reproduce, and distribute Launch!  ($65.00)

If you are purchasing the source code, specify the disk size you prefer:

[       ] 3.5"

[       ] 5.25"


The Popup Menu

This menu comes up when you right-click on one of Launch!'s buttons.  The button that is under the mouse pointer when you right-click on it is the button that will be affected by the following commands.  The items on the menu include:

•	Edit... - This allows you to change the configuration of the button, including the program, parameters, working directory, and icon it uses.

•	Clear - This clears the configuration of the button.  You will be prompted to confirm your action if you select this menu option.

•	Swap - This allows you to swap two buttons around.  If you choose this option, you must then pick the target button (the button to swap with).  The source button will appear flat when you're prompted to select the target button.  If you change your mind about swapping buttons, click on the source (flat) button to cancel the swap.

•	Launch! Config... - Brings up the General Configuration screen.

•	Help... - Brings up this online help screen.

•	Cancel - Closes the popup menu.


VBRUN300.DLL

This is a dynamic-link library (DLL) required by all programs written in Visual Basic.  If you do not already have a copy of this file, you can get it off of most BBS's and online services.  Most likely you can find it at the same place you found Launch!