About Program Manager Group Sorter ---------------------------------- Welcome to PM Group Sorter, Shareware Version 1.10! PM Groups (for short) is a Program Manager customization utility for Microsoft Windows, Version 3.1 or later. (Sorry, this application will not work with Windows 3.0 or earlier.) Start PM Groups, and click on your Progman Manager groups in the order you want them to appear in the "Windows" menu. Then transfer the group name (one-at-a-time only) to the new order with the "Transfer Pick" button. Once you have re-ordered the groups, click on "Save", and restart Windows to see your Program Manager Groups in your selected order. If you make a mistake, click on "Restart" to restore the existing order, or "Cancel" to quit PM Groups operations without changes. Installation ------------ The archive file you just opened, PMGRPS.ZIP, contains this file and the file PMGV110S.ZIP. Copy PMGV110S.ZIP to a temporary directory, and "unzip" it. It will create the following file: Name Size Date Time ------------ -------- -------- -------- PMGRPSRT.EXE 14447 07-05-94 1:32p Copy PMGRPSRT.EXE to your Microsoft Windows default directory, normally named \WINDOWS. We recommend the use of the Windows File Manager for this task. One additional support file is required to use PM Groups Version 1.10: VBRUN300.DLL, the runtime module for Visual Basic 3.0. If you use any other Visual Basic 3.0 programs, you have this file, probably in your \WINDOWS or \WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory. Otherwise, VBRUN300.DLL is available from the same BBS, on-line system or software distributor where you obtained PMGRPS.EXE. To execute PM Groups, add its icon to a Program Manager Program Group, or click on the executable file name PMGRPSRT.EXE in File Manager. NOTES ABOUT THIS VERSION ------------------------ 1. We install a lot of Windows software on our computers, and it seems that each package wants to set up its own Program Manager Group. We have a set of Groups that appear open on our Startup Desktops, but we access several more hidden groups during a normal Windows session. This requires that one click on the "Windows" menu item in Progman, then scroll through the list looking for favorites. The order changes as one installs new packages and upgrades and uses Windows. We needed a way to reorder the Groups so that our current interests were listed in the first eight Groups shown in the menu drop-down. (The ninth is reserved for the active Group Window, if it is not otherwise one of the nine.) Thus was born PM Group Sorter. Basically, we have one list of nine groups showing under "Window" and different groups open on the desktop. We find this technique extends the power of the Program Manager to its utmost, and PM Groups helps considerably. 2. To accomplish the desired Startup Desktop look: once you developed a preferred open group layout in the Program Manager, you can save the arrangement WITHOUT exiting Windows by holding down the shift key and clicking on "Exit Windows" under the Progman "File" menu. Works like a charm! Then unselect "Save Settings On Exit" under the "Options" menu selection of Progman, and you will see that Desktop every time you start Windows. (PM Groups disables "Save Settings On Exit" as part of its "Save" procedure.) Note that the last group in your Progman group order (the last group name transferred) is the group with the focus when you restart Windows, and is shown in the ninth position in the "Windows" file menu item. Also note that the position and size of a group is kept in the group file (GRP extension) and not in PROGMAN.INI. So to change the group's look you must use the "Save Settings On Exit" method above. You will likely have to rerun PM Groups again if you have re-ordered a group before saving settings. 3. In PM Groups, it is not necessary to "transfer" all Progman Groups from the "Current" to "New" order listboxes - PM Groups transfers all unselected Groups, in their residual order, when you click "Save". 4. PM Groups will restart Windows for you if you like, giving you the option to save open work in any application, or to cancel the restart. If cancelled, you will see the new Progman order the next time you start Windows. 5. On-line "Help..." will appear on the same dialog as "About..." after about five seconds. We appreciate your patience! 6. Pressing the escape key is the same as pressing "Cancel"; pressing the enter key is the same as "Transfer Pick". 7. If you receive an error message when you try to "Save" your new order, your PROGMAN.INI file may be locked or otherwise inaccessible. Check to see if the file is marked Read-Only in File Manager. Close any application that is editing PROGMAN.INI. If you are on a network, check to see if the drive with your Windows directory is still connected. If PM Groups gives you unexpected results, it may be that your PROGMAN.INI file was corrupted previously. To correct, fix the file by arranging your desktop the way you like, and "Save Settings On Exit" as explained in note 2.) above, then run PM Groups again. PM Groups Version 1.10S will find your Windows directory wherever it is; earlier versions simply assumed it was C:\WINDOWS, and gave no message on a file writing error. NOTICE ------ PM Group Sorter is NOT Public Domain or Freeware. Please REGISTER PM Groups if you use it beyond a fifteen day trial period. Send your (modest) $5 registration fee to: VB Expressions 64 Burning Brush Drive Rochester, NY 14606-4642. Kindly include the Version number and the source where you got PM Group Sorter. Registrants of Version 1.00S or 1.05S need not re-register; your support is greatly appreciated. You can also look for other VB Expressions utilities: Desktop Assistants Draggin' Viewer, a drag-and-drop file viewer/program launcher, Printer's Daemon, a drag-and-drop file printing utility, and Trash Free-K!, a drag-and-drop file deletion utility. Also look for Smartclp, a Windows Clipboard enhancer and PM Fonts, which allows you to change your Program Manager fonts from the Microsoft default to any installed screen font. Finally, the DOS/Unix Text Translator lets you translate between these two popular computing environments. Good stuff (if we may say so ourselves!) We'd be interested in your comments or suggestions on PM Group Sorter. You can reach us by Email on CompuServe, ID 73457,3603 or AmericaOnline, ScreenName PMChefalo. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PM Groups Sorter - Copyright © 1994 by P.M. Chefalo Revision History ---------------- Version 1.00S - First Shareware Version Version 1.05S - Turned off "Save Settings On Exit" in Program Manager as part of PM Groups "Save" procedure. Version 1.10S - Checked for Windows directory for PROGMAN.INI; coded error message if write to INI file fails. MAde sure file write occurs in a busy Windows environment.