Copyright: Michael Cowan 1993


IcoFloat
IcoFloat  1.0

Click on a graphic for more help

Overview

Setting up IcoFloat

Control panel

Options

Button configuration

Alternative icons

Menu buttons

Button text

Keystrokes

Delete/undelete buttons

 Bank switching

Bank numbers

 Button numbers

Single/double columns

Pop back

Start up

Editing ICOFLOAT.INI

Reminders

 Quit button

Closing IcoFloat

Exit Windows

Shell

Copyright and registration


Overview

IcoFloat can have one or two columns of up to 12 buttons each (15 in 800 x 600 or better)

Each button can:

» launch an application

» switch to a specified drive and directory

» send a command line and a sequence of keystrokes to a Windows application as soon as it is launched

» display a program icon,  or a user chosen icon including from another file such as PROGMAN.EXE, or user specified text

» display information text in the top bar as the cursor passes over the button

» determine whether IcoFloat stays open, is minimised as a floating bar or as an icon, is hidden, or closes down to free resources when a program is launched

» display a subsidiary bank of programmable buttons

Drag and drop and Windows file association are fully supported.  IcoFloat can be moved by dragging and floats above all other windows.  By default IcoFloat has two banks of program buttons which can be switched by clicking the bank change button [image]  The number of banks can be increased indefinitely.  Buttons can be individually set by dragging files from File Manager or manually in a configuration screen.  Program Manager group files (*.grp) can be dragged onto an IcoFloat button and the contents will be cascaded on to the remaining buttons.  The contents of a button can be moved to another button on the same bank by dragging.   The contents of a button can be deleted and undeleted.   The number of rows of buttons can be set for each bank separately and varied by clicking the button marked with up/down pointers.    IcoFloat can popback automatically when an application finishes.  It can always be reopened by left clicking the cursor on the desktop near the top left corner of the screen, or by right clicking any visible icon or an application's control menu button.  When minimised as a bar it can be set to hop on to the title bar of the active top level window.  IcoFloat can display the current date or time according to the system clock, or available system resources and global memory    The [image] button minimises IcoFloat when left clicked, closes it down when right clicked, and exits windows when right clicked with the control key pressed.  Left clicking with the control key held down hides it.   Holding down the control key and right clicking any icon on the desktop also exits Windows. Users can specify a program to be launched by right clicking the desktop, and another by right clicking any application's minimise  or maximise buttons.  IcoFloat can launch any number of programs when Windows starts-up in place of the Load and Run options in WIN.INI  Each application can be launched hidden, minimised or normal with or without a command line, and a keystroke sequence can be sent to programs loaded open .  Five programs can be defined through a start-up screen for each of the hidden, minimised or normal groups, but any number of others can be added by editing icofloat.ini.   IcoFloat can be set so that after running the start up sequence it stays open, minimises, hides or terminates.  IcoFloat's custom DLL stays in memory to maintain key functions.

When minimised as an icon on the desktop IcoFloat displays the current system time in 24 hour format.  IcoFloat can run as the shell in place of Program Manager.  There is a hidden control panel.  IcoFloat incorporates a reminder facility which displays a user message on a designated date on initial start up.


Set up

ICOFLOAT.EXE and ICOFLOAT.INI must be in the same directory preferably with ICOFLOAT.HLP.  Put IFLOAT.DLL and THREED.VBX in the same directory or in your Windows system directory along with VBRUN200.DLL which if not with this package is widely available on bulletin boards and from shareware disk suppliers.

The provided ICOFLOAT.INI file positions IcoFloat in the top left corner of the screen.  Six buttons are displayed pre-set for Control panel, IcoFloat Help, Sysedit, File Manager, Notepad and Paintbrush plus six empty buttons. Bank 2 is empty.

File Manager is also set to run when the hidden hotspot (shown here in red) on the left of the top bar is left clicked:  the cursor changes to a pointing hand when over the hotspot.  IcoFloat can be started without ICOFLOAT.INI in which case it will be created in the directory containing ICOFLOAT.EXE as soon as you make any changes.

To move IcoFloat place the tip of the cursor on the top bar, shown in the graphic on the left displaying the time, press and hold down the left mouse button and drag it to a new position.  Return IcoFloat to its initial position by right clicking the top bar.  To fix a new initial position, move IcoFloat to where you want it, open the control panel, and press Start up as now.

Open File Manager, point to a file (not necessarily a program file), press and hold down the left button and drag it to one of IcoFloat's large buttons, and let go.  The program will be assigned to the button and the file's icon, if it has one, will appear on the button.  If there is no icon, the root name of the file will appear on the button.  Repeat until you have assigned as many programs as you want to the available buttons.  Increase the number of buttons displayed up to the maximum by right clicking the [image] button.  Left clicking reduces the number of buttons.  Add Program Manager groups to a bank by dragging from your Windows directory any *.GRP file on to a button:  the contents will be added to the remaining buttons on the bank.

Click a button to run the assigned program.

Modify the configuration of a button by right clicking it:  a configuration screen opens in which you can add a command line after the program name; type up to 15 characters of information text to be displayed in the top bar as the cursor passes over the button;  designate an icon to be shown in place of the program icon;  set the drive and directory to be used when the program is launched;  specify a keystroke sequence;  decide how file associations are to be handled; and set what happens to IcoFloat when the program is run.

Select options in the Options screen.

Select start up options in the Start up screen.


Options

Open the control panel and press Options.

Click on the graphic below for more help.


Start up

IcoFloat will run any number of applications hidden, minimised or normal as soon as it starts up.  Five of each can be designated in the Start up screen which is accessed by pressing Startup in the control panel, and others by editing the ini file.  Optionally, a keystroke sequence can be sent to a program listed to be run open.

Click on the graphic below for more help.


Button configuration

Right click the button to be configured

Click on the graphic below for more help.


Keystrokes

This is a list of the keystroke codes you can use to send keystrokes to an application. Type them in the configuration boxes provided for Options, Startup or button cobfiguration.  Keystroke codes are case sensitive.

Backspace	{BACKSPACE} or {BS} or {BKSP}

Break	{BREAK}

CapsLock	{CAPSLOCK}

Clear	{CLEAR}

Delete	{DELETE} or {DEL}

Down	{DOWN}

End	{END}

Enter	{ENTER} or ~

Escape	{ESCAPE} or {ESC}

Help	{HELP}

Home	{HOME}

Insert	{INSERT}

Left	{LEFT}

NumLock	{NUMLOCK}

Page Down	{PGDN}

Page Up	{PGUP}

PrtScrn	{PRTSC}

Right	{RIGHT}

Scroll Lock	{SCROLLOCK}

Tab	{TAB}

Up	{UP}

F1 to F16	{F1} to {F16}

If you have set up a button to run Notepad, %FO in the keystrokes box will open the file open box for you.  %FO~*.ini will in addition put *.ini into the filename box and display all your .ini files in the file list, and 	%FO~*.ini *.doc *.txt will include .doc and .txt files as well.

To specify keys combined with any combination of Shift, Control and Alt keys, precede the regular key code with one or more of these codes:

Shift     +	Control   ^	Alt       %

To specify that Shift, Control, and/or Alt should be held down while several keys are pressed, enclose the keys in parentheses.  For example, to hold down the Shift key while pressing E then C, use +(EC)

To hold down Shift while pressing E, followed by C without the Shift key, use +EC

To specify repeating keys, use the form {key number} where there is always a space between key and number.  For example,

{LEFT 42} means press the Left Arrow key 42 times;

{x 10} means press the character x 10 times.

Note that for many applications the keystrokes are case sensitive so F and f may be treated differently

SendKeys cannot send keystrokes to a non-Windows application.


IcoFloat.ini

You normally need to edit ICOFLOAT.INI by hand only to add start up files beyond the five provided for in each group in the Start up screen.   The order of the elements within each group is not material.  Programs to be run hidden are listed as Hide 1=, Hide 2= etc as in the example below, programs to be run as icons are listed as Load 1= etc, and programs to be run normally are listed as Run 1= etc.  It is essential that within each group (Hide, Load, Run) there are no gaps in the numbering: IcoFloat stops in a group when there is a break in the sequence.  In the example, Hide 1 to 5 would be run but not Hide 7 as 6 is missing.  How programs actually appear when run may depend on the program code.

For files to be Run normally  a Keystroke sequence can be defined: RKeys 4 will be sent as soon as Run 4 is executed.

[StartUp]

Hide 1=c:\path\prog.exe

Hide 2=c:\path\prog.exe

Hide 3=c:\path\prog.exe

Hide 4=c:\path\prog.exe

Load 1=c:\path\prog.exe

Run 1=c:\path\prog.exe

Load 2=c:\path\prog.exe

RKeys 1=%{F4}{ENTER} etc

Hide 5=c:\path\prog.exe

Hide 7=c:\path\prog.exe (won't run because not consecutively numbered)

ICOFLOAT.INI does not store blank strings or zero values (except Cols=0), nor under [Directory] references to the main Windows directory (often c:\windows).  All these are treated as defaults.  When the contents of a button are deleted, so are all references to them.

Bank 1 button 1 is referenced as 101 and bank 2 button 7 as 207 ie bank number * 100 + button number, starting with 1 (not zero).  The two top bar hotspot programs are 11 (left) and 12 (right).

The initial ICOFLOAT.INI provided is:

[Options]

Info=1

PopHook=1

DataShow=3

PopUp=1

BarJump=1

Left=100

Top=100

Cols=-1

StartBank=1

[Program]

Note: the path is omitted since it is assumed that each of these programs is in the Windows directory the name of which may not be the default c:\windows.  For the same reason there is no [Directory] section

11=Winfile.exe

101=control.exe

102=icofloat.hlp

103=sysedit.exe

104=winfile.exe

105=notepad.exe

106=pbrush.exe

[Info]

101=Control

102=Winhelp

103=Sysedit

104=Winfile

105=Notepad

106=Pbrush

[Show]

1=6

[IcoFlag]

105=2

106=2

103=2

101=2

102=2


Resources

Windows allocates a maximum of 64k of memory for resources such as cursors, icons, bitmaps and fonts.  The system crashes when the memory available for resources runs out.  The top bar can be set in Options to show the percentage of  resources leftand how much other global memory is unallocated.  Closing IcoFloat release about 8% resources.


Copyright and registration

IcoFloat is the copyright of Michael Cowan, 1994 and may be used only under licence obtainable from

Michael Cowan

Sparrow Information Systems

95 Allington Avenue

NOTTINGHAM NG7 1JY

United Kingdom

internet michael.cowan@almac.co.uk

CIS: 100343,3675

IcoFloat may be used at home for private domestic purposes for a trial period of one month after which it must be registered with the copyright owner with a one time payment of UK£10, or the equivalent of US$20 in any other currency.  Payment covers the use of one copy of IcoFloat in use on only one computer at any time on the 'use it like a book' principle.  CIS members can register online: GO SWREG

IcoFloat may NOT be used by any business, public service or other organisation, otherwise than at home for private domestic purposes, without prior registration with the copyright owner when a one-off free trial period of one month will normally be granted.  Fees for continued use are by negotiation.

IcoFloat is supplied without warranties or guarantees of any sort and excludes any liability on the part of the copyright owner or any shareware distributor or BBS.


Drag drop
Dragging files

To drag a file from File Manager on to IcoFloat's buttons, put the mouse pointer on the file name, press and hold down the left mouse button and drag it over the destination button and then release the mouse button.  The program will be assigned to the button and  the file's icon, if it has one, will appear on the button.


Moving IcoFloat

To move IcoFloat place the tip of the mouse pointer over the top bar, press and hold down the left mouse button, and drag IcoFloat to a new position.  The new position is temporary unless you fix it by opening the control panel and press 'Start up as now'.  This also makes the current bank the start up bank


Closing IcoFloat

The quit button  [image] closes IcoFloat when right clicked but leaves the custom IFLOAT.DLL in memory until Windows terminates.


 Exit Windows

Once the custom dll is loaded, the first time in a session you run IcoFloat, you can exit Windows by holding down the control key and right clicking any program icon on the desktop or IcoFloat's [image] button


Switching banks

Switch banks by clicking [image]  Click the left arrow to switch to the next lower bank or the right arrow to switch to the next higher bank.  Both arrows loop round to the start/end.


Hotspot

 There is a hidden hotspot on the left end of the top bar (shown in the graphic as a red dot) which can be left or right clicked.  It can be set in the Options screen to run two user specified programs.


Menu buttons
Menu (Jump) buttons

 Any button can be configured to jump to a specified bank by typing the bank number in the box marked Jump to in the button configuration screen.  A jump button can display an icon by assigning it a program file or an icon file, but when pressed the program will not be run:  all that happens is that the specified bank is displayed.  From there any button can be configured to run programs in the normal way.  You return from a jump menu by clicking the bank change button.  No button on a jump menu can be used to jump to a second bank.


Reminders

Open the control panel and press Reminder

Click on the graphic for specific help


Control panel

 To access IcoFloat's control panel put the mouse pointer over  [image], press and hold down the left mouse button, and drag downwards a short distance.  Close it by clicking the same button.  Click on the graphic on the left for more help.


Shell

The shell is the first program run when Windows starts up.  It is specified in SYSTEM.INI on the line SHELL=.  By default this is SHELL=PROGMAN.EXE.  To make IcoFloat the shell edit SYSTEM.INI to read SHELL=(path)\ICOFLOAT.EXE and in WIN.INI delete the lines LOAD= and RUN=.   Use IcoFloat to load start up programs.  To edit SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI use SYSEDIT or NOTEPAD


Bank numbers

IcoFloat has a minimum of two banks each of which can be accessed by clicking  [image].  To vary the number of banks, open the control panel and click the left/right arrows to show a new number in the panel now visible.  Reducing the number does not delete the contents of higher numbered banks, but they will no longer be accessible by clicking the bank change button until the number available is again increased.  They could be accessed through a Jump button.


Pop back

When a program is run from IcoFloat it can be hidden, minimised as a bar or an icon, or closed down.  IcoFloat can be set to return automatically to fully open when the program finishes either by checking Global pop back in the Option screen or by checking Pop back in the individual button configuration screen.

Pop back occurs when the number of active programs falls below the number in progress when the last was run from IcoFloat.  Hence, if a further program is started from, say, File or Program Manager, and the original program run by IcoFloat is closed, IcoFloat will not pop back until the later program is closed.

If Activate is checked and Global is unchecked, IcoFloat will pop back when any program terminates only if there would then be no visible window or icon left on the desktop except that IcoFloat itself can be closed manually (by right clicking the control button [image]) leaving a completely blank screen unless it is being run as the Shell (since Windows will close down if there is no active window) in which case it will be minimised as an icon.

If Windows resources are not critical it is better to hide IcoFloat rather than close it since it pops back instantly.

IcoFloat will return if any visible icon on the desktop is right clicked.


Single/double columns

IcoFloat can display either one or two columns of buttons.  To switch between these modes hold down the control key on the keyboard and click [image].  In single column mode IcoFloat will temporarily switch to double columns when the control panel is opened.   It will switch back when it is closed.  Make single or double column mode the start up default by pressing Start up as now in the control panel


Delete/undelete buttons

The contents of a button can be removed  by dragging the icon or button text on to the top bar or any of the three control buttons at the top.  The contents of the last button deleted in this way can be restored to the same or a different button on the same or a different bank by holding down the control key on the keyboard while right clicking the new destination button


Windows file association

A file extension can be associated with a program, such as .DOC with Word for Windows or .TXT with Notepad using the File | Associate command in File Manager.  When a file with an associated extension is double clicked in File Manager the specified program is run with the selected file open.  IcoFloat has a similar feature for its icon buttons:  dragging an associated file on to an icon runs the program.  If Try any file is checked in the button's configuration screen the program specified on the button, or the one associated with the file specified in the Program box, will be run with the dragged file as its command line: the results may not always be satisfactory.  This technique can be valuable with word processors or text editors, like Notepad, which can then be made to accept any file irrespective of extension


Button numbers

IcoFloat will display 1 to 12 rows of buttons in 640 x 480 screen resolution and 1 to 15 rows in 800 x 600 screen resolution.  A row is one button in single column mode and two buttons in double column mode.  Within these limits the number of rows displayed can be increased by right clicking [image] and decreased by left clicking it.  The number of rows initially displayed by a bank can be fixed:  switch to the chosen bank and display the required number of rows.  Open the control panel by dragging down on [image].  Press the button marked Set to n rows, where n is the number of rows for which the bank is currently set, and it will read Reset to n rows where n is the number of rows currently displayed.  Close the control panel by clicking [image].


Button text

 Text can be displayed on a button instead of an icon by typing in the icon field of the button configuration screen inverted commas followed by the text to be displayed, for example:  "some text   If there are convenient spaces between words the text will be displayed centred on more than one line.  Too much text may not display well.  When a file is dragged on to a button from File Manager for which their is no icon, the name of the file is displayed by default.


Top bar data

 When not displaying information about program buttons, the top bar can be set to display the current date, time (as in the graphic), or resources availability, or to be left blank.  These choices are set in the Options screen.  This control panel button cycles through these options which remain in effect until IcoFloat is terminated.  When it restarts the Options setting is used.  There is a hidden hotspot (shown as a red dot in the graphic) which can run two programs.


Quit button

Right click	Terminate IcoFloat (leaves ifloat.dll in place)

Right click with control key	Exit Windows

Left click	Minimise IcoFloat as an icon

Left click with control key	Hide IcoFloat (invisible but still active in memory)

The left click and left click with control key operations can be reversed in Options by checking Hide(icon if off)


Top bar

 The top bar is the topmost part of IcoFloat, immediately above the three control buttons, on which text is displayed.  There is a hotspot on the left hand end (shown as a red dot in the graphic) which can be left or right clicked to run programs specified in Options.  Left clicking the top bar toggles IcoFloat open and closed;  right clicking it returns IcoFloat to its start up position and open.  IcoFloat is moved by dragging it with the top bar to a new position.


Information text

If Info text is selected in the Options screen the top bar will display the text entered in the Info text box of an individual button configuration whenever the mouse pointer is over the button.


Alternative icons

Many files, including Windows .EXE files, contain more than one accessible icon.  The first (or only) icon is the one displayed when a program's main window is minimised on the desktop.  If there is more than one icon in an .EXE file the number accessible is shown to the left of the Program box in the Button Configuration screen.  If the path and name of the .EXE file is entered in the Icon box (this happens automatically when the Icon box is empty as soon as you click on it if there are additional icons) an additional icon can be selected for display on IcoFloat's program button by clicking the up/down arrows to the right of the Icon box, and the index number of the icon is added after the file name.  Index numbers start from zero.

Program Manager contains 46 icons any of which can be displayed on IcoFloat's program buttons by entering path\PROGMAN.EXE in the icon box and using the up/down arrows to make a selection.  File Manager (WINFILE.EXE) contains four.  Quicken for Windows 2 (QUICKENW.EXE) contains 128.

Many non-.EXE file also contain accessible icons.  MORICONS.DLL, which is shipped with Windows and can be found in your Windows or Windows System directory, contains 106.  Just as with .EXE files you can enter thepath\name of any such file in the Icon box and then select one of its icons for display on the program button.  Some industry standard .EXE files contain only one icon, for example, WordPerfect's WPWIN.EXE, but more icons can sometimes be found in other .EXE or .DLL files that come with them: WPWINFIL.EXE contains 12 and there are one or two others in \WPC (the shared programs directory)  Excel and Quattro Pro also have additional icons that can be accessed.

An .ICO file can also be used in the Icon box for display.


Windows file association
 Windows file association  A file extension can be associated with a program, such as .DOC with Word for Windows or .TXT with Notepad using the File Associate command in File Manager.  When a file with an associated extension is double clicked in File Manager the specified program is run with the selected file open.  IcoFloat has a similar feature for its icon buttons:  dragging an associated file on to an icon runs the program.


Desktop
Desktop  The area behind all windows on which wallpaper is displayed


Minimise/maximise button
Minimise  or maximise buttons  The buttons on the right hand end of a window's title bar - not always present


WIN.INI
WIN.INI  and SYSTEM.INI are files in the Windows directory which control the operation of Windows.  They can be edited using any ASCII text editor such as Notepad


Hidden,minimised,normal
Hidden, minimised or normal  A normal window is one that is open (even if wholly or partly behind another) and which occupies the whole or part of the screen.  A minimised window appears as an icon on the desktop.  A hidden window is one that is invisible even if there is no other window open.  Many programs perform their functions whilst hidden.  How a window actually appears depends on its program code


Command line
Command line  A command line is an instruction typed after a program's name and passed to it when it is run.  Under Windows this is usually done by using File Manager's File Run command.  An IcoFloat button can also pass a command line specified in its configuration screen


Click
Click  Press and release one of the mouse buttons over an object: the left button unless the right is specified.


Program extension
Program extension  A file's name comprises up to eight characters (the root name) plus a point and up to three letters (the extension) eg for WINFILE.EXE winfile is the root and .exe is the extension


Help button
Help button   brings up IcoFloat Help (ICOFLOAT.HLP)


Start up as now
Start up as now   fixes both IcoFloat's start up position and the initial bank to be displayed, in both cases as they are now.


Information text
Information text  if Info text is selected in the Options screen the top bar will display the text entered in the Info text box of an individual button configuration whenever the mouse pointer is over the button.  This control panel button shows whether info text is checked, and toggles the setting.  The change is temporary until IcoFloat is terminated.


 Date panel  shows the date on which the message is to be displayed.  Click the date panel to return to today's date


 Message enter box  Type messages into this box up to 72 characters.  Messages not yet saved, or which have been amended and not saved, are shown in red.  Any message for today already displayed is shown in gray.  When text is in red the date can be changed using the scroll bar so the same message can be saved to more than one date by first making a technical change such as pressing an arrow key to change the text to red.


 Message list  List of messages saved and yet to be displayed plus any missed because IcoFloat was not run for up to the number of days specified in Options.  Select a message by clicking it.  It can then be amended, except for time expired messages, or deleted.


 Scroll left   click to move the date back by one day (but not earlier than the current date)


 Scroll right  click to move the date forward by one day


 Scroll back a week  click on the scroll bar to the left of the thumb to move the date back a week (but not earlier than the current date)


Scroll forward a week  click on the scroll bar to the right of the thumb to move the date forward a week


Quarter back  click to move the date back three months (but not earlier than the current date)


Quarter forward click to move the date forward three months


Thumb  can be moved by dragging with the mouse pointer to a selected date within the current quarter.


First date  the first date of the quarter controlled by the scroll bar:  the scroll bar wraps round at each end to the previous or next quarter and the limiting dates change to show the new range.


Last date  the last date of the quarter controlled by the scroll bar:  the scroll bar wraps round at each end to the previous or next quarter and the limiting dates change to show the new dates.


Delete button  press to delete the message currently displayed in the enter box.  If necessary, first select a message from the list by clicking it.


Save button  press to save the message currently displayed in the enter box.  Caption is in green if a message needs to be saved.


Quit button  press to quit the reminder screen.  Does not operate if the Save button caption is green indicating that a message needs to be saved or deleted.


 Top bar hotspot  If you are using the provided initial ICOFLOAT.INI file, File Manager will run when you left click the top bar hotspot


 Run files hidden  Enter the path and filename, including extension, plus. optionally, a space and a command line, of a program you want loaded hidden (assuming its code will allow).  Do not leave an empty box within this section between two programs, but you may enter fewer than five consecutively and leave the remaining boxes empty.  If you need to load more than five programs you will have to put them in ICOFLOAT.INI using a text editor.


Run files as icons  Enter the path and filename, including extension, plus. optionally, a space and a command line, of a program you want loaded as an icon on the desktop (assuming its code will allow).  Do not leave an empty box within this section between two programs, but you may enter fewer than five consecutively and leave the remaining boxes empty.  If you need to load more than five programs you will have to put them in ICOFLOAT.INI using a text editor


Run files open  Enter the path and filename, including extension, plus. optionally, a space and a command line, of a program you want loaded open.  Do not leave an empty numbered box within this section between two programs, but you may enter fewer than five consecutively and leave the remaining boxes empty.  You may leave any Keystrokes box empty.  If you need to run more than five programs you will have to put them in ICOFLOAT.INI using a text editor


Keystrokes  Enter any keystrokes you want sent to the program as soon as it is launched.  using the keystroke codes defined in the section on Keystrokes.


IcoFloat  Select one option to tell IcoFloat what to do immediately after it has run the start up sequence.


Save  Caption changes to green when changes are made.  Press to save them.  You  cannot Quit until you do.


Quit  Press to quit the screen.  You cannot if there are unsaved changes.


Top bar programs:  specify the path, filename and extension of programs to be run by left or right clicking the top bar hotspot.


Directory: specify an initial drive/directory to switch to when the hotspot program is run.


Keystrokes:  enter keystrokes to be sent when the hotspot program is run.  Use only the keystroke codes shown in the section on Keystrokes.


IcoFloat: choose what happens to IcoFloat when the hotspot program is run, and whether IcoFloat is to pop back afterwards.


Desktop right click program:  enter the path, name and extension of a program to be run when the Windows desktop is right clicked.


Min/max buttons right click program:  enter the path, name and extension of a program to be run when an application's minimise or maximise buttons are right clicked.


Info text
Info text: any text in the Info text box of a button configuration screen is displayed in the top bar as the mouse pointer passes over the button.


Bar jumps to active top window
Bar jumps to active top window:  if IcoFloat is minimised as a bar (rather than as an icon) the bar jumps on to the title bar of the active top window.  This allows the date/time/memory display to be seen and IcoFloat to be immediately accessible.  Top windows are usually an application's main window, but some programmers use top windows for other purposes


Hide (icon if off)
Hide (icon if off):  left clicking [image] minimises IcoFloat as an icon on the desktop and left clicking it with the control key pressed hides.  Checking Hide (icon if off) in Options reverses the control.


Activate pop back
Activate pop back:  When a program is run from IcoFloat it can be hidden, minimised as a bar or an icon, or closed down.  IcoFloat can be set to return automatically to fully open when a program finishes.  Check in Options to activate the pop back feature.


Global pop back
Global pop back:  When a program is run from IcoFloat it can be hidden, minimised as a bar or an icon, or closed down.  IcoFloat can be set to return automatically to fully open when a program finishes.  Check in Options so that all buttons assume pop back unless individually marked Don't pop back in their button configuration screen.


Top data:  select whether the top bar is to display the current date, or time, or system resources and memory, or remain blank apart from information text.


Mood
Mood:  check or uncheck either or both in Options to affect what IcoFloat looks like


Keep reminders
Reminders:  if IcoFloat is not run on a day for which there is a reminder it will be deleted without being displayed the next time IcoFloat is run.  You can specify in Options a number of days for which undisplayed reminders are kept before they are deleted.  During the set period undisplayed reminders are shown in the current list.  This ensures that you do not lose reminders if you are away for that time.


Save:  Caption is green when changes have been made that need to be saved.  You cannot Quit until you have saved your changes.


Quit:  Press to Quit the Options screen.  You cannot Quit if there are any unsaved changes.


Drag
drag: -  put the mouse pointer over an object or filename, press and hold down the left button and move the mouse


checked: - clicking on a check box toggles it between checked (when the box shows a large X) and unchecked (the box is empty)


Program:   type the path and name (including the extension) of a program optionally followed by a space and a command line, or the name and extension of a non-program file.  Path and filename is automatically entered when a file is dragged from File Manager on to the corresponding button.


Info text:  enter up to 15 characters of text to be displayed on the top bar when the cursor is over the button.  The filename without the extension is automatically entered when a file is dragged from File Manager.


Icon:  enter the path and name of file containing an icon to be displayed in place of the program icon, or  alternatively enter " followed by some short text to be displayed on the button in place of an icon.  See also Alternative Icons


Drive:  use the mouse and left mouse button to specify the drive to use when the program is run.  The drive must be accessible when set.  If it is not accessible when run a warning is displayed and IcoFloat will switch to the drive and main Windows directory.


Directory:  use the mouse and left mouse button to specify the directory to use when the program is run.  If the directory is not accessible when run a warning is displayed and IcoFloat will switch to the main Windows directory.


Jump to:  specify a bank number that IcoFloat will jump to when the button is pressed.  You will find it helpful to specify in the icon box an icon or text to be displayed to indicate the purpose of such a button.  You can enter a program file name in the program box whose icon will be displayed, but the program will not be run if Jump to is greater than 0.  This function allows quick access to banks for tools or, say, Excel worksheets without having to cycle through other banks in the ordinary way.  Pressing the bank change button returns IcoFloat to the bank displayed before the jump.  The bank number used can be within the current range, in which case the bank can also be accessed using the bank change button, or outside it, in which case it can be accessed only through the selected button.


IcoFloat:  set what IcoFloat does when it activates the button

Open	remains open in its current position

Bar	minimises itself so that only the top bar remains visible

Icon	minimises itself as a desktop icon

Hide	disappears from the screen but remains active

Close	terminates, apart from its DLL, and releases resources/memory


Pop back/don't pop back:  if Global pop back is set in the Options screen Icofloat will pop back unless Don't pop back is checked.  If Global is unchecked, IcoFloat will not pop back unless Pop back is checked.


Try any file
Try any file:  [Button configuration]  The file specified in the Program box can be a program or non-program file.  If a non-program file is dragged on to an occupied button and it is Windows associated with the file specified in the program box, the program will be run with the dragged file as start up.  If it is not associated then if Try any file is not checked nothing will happen.  If it is checked the program specified in the program box, or the program associated with the file specified in the program box, will be run with the dragged file as start up.  What happens then will be up to the program.


Drag/drop source:  Checking Minimise or Close minimises or closes the source program, usually File Manager, if a non-program file is dragged on to a button and a related program is run.  If neither is checked, the source remains open.


Clear:  Clears all the boxes but does not delete the original contents until Save is pressed.


Undo:  Restores the configuration to the last saved version.


Save:  The caption is green when changes have been made.  Press to save the configuration.


Quit:  Press to close the configuration screen.  You cannot quit until any changes have been saved.


Bank:  Displays the number of the current bank.


Button:  Displays the number of the current button.


Drag drop
Drag drop:  Many  Windows objects such as icons, selected text in editors, and file names in File Manager, and others, can be moved within and between windows by dragging them with the mouse to where you want them and then letting go.


Minimised as a bar:  left clicking the top bar toggles IcoFloat between fully open and only the top bar showing.


Program icons: when visible, this is the number of icons contained in the .EXE file shown in the Program box.  See also Alternative Icons.


Available icons:  when visible, this is the number of icons available in the file shown in the Icon box which can be selected by clicking the arrows.  If the Icon box is empty, the path and name of the file in the Program box, if it contains more than one icon, will be copied into the Icon box when it is first clicked.  See also Alternative Icons.


Select icons:   if there are several available icons in the file entered in the Icon box, clicking the up.down arrows cycles through them.  The currently selected icon is shown on the current button and its index number in the file is shown after the file name in the Icon box.  See also Alternative Icons.


Group files;Program Manager group files
group files - Program Manager writes files with the extension .GRP (for example, MAIN.GRP) in the Windows directory.  These files contain details of the files referenced in the group with the same name.  They can be dragged on to an IcoFloat button when the contents will cascade over the remaining buttons on the bank overwriting any that have other contents.