Copyright: Copyright® 1994 Keith Burton Consulting


CONTENTS
KBDock Help Contents

The Contents lists Help topics available for KBDock.  Use the scroll bar to see entries not currently visible in the Help window.

To learn how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu

Introduction

Installation

Commands

Procedures

Shortcut Keys

Technical Details

Registering

Support


Introduction

KBDock is a replacement for Program Manager. It uses a style of program launcher called an "Icon Dock", or sometimes an "Application Bar". In icon docks, programs are presented as a row of buttons running down one side of the screen. Each button displays the program's icon and you launch a program by double-clicking on its button.

Why replace Program Manager?

KBDock extends the icon dock concept in two ways. First, there are Group Buttons as well as Program Buttons. Group buttons work much like the groups in Program Manager. When you double-click on a group button, KBDock "opens" that group and displays its buttons. Double-clicking on the top button (which will be displaying an up-arrow) "closes" the current group and returns to the previous one, displaying its buttons. Unlike Program Manager, groups may be nested within groups.

Second, KBDock displays a floating Text Description Window. Each group and program button may be given a label which will be displayed in this window as you move the mouse over the button. This makes KBDock much easier to use, as you don't have to remember what each button does from the icon alone.

Features List


WHY REPLACE PROGRAM MANAGER
Why Replace Program Manager?

Mostly because it takes too much screen space. Launching programs is a simple function that needs to always be available, but out of your way.

If you make Program Manager a large window, it dominates your screen and other programs keep getting "lost" behind it. If you make Program Manager a small window, you have to constantly scroll around hunting for icons, wasting time. KBDock provides far more function and flexibility than Program Manager, and does it in around 5% of your screen!


Features

First and most important, KBDock was designed to consume as few resources as possible. Is that still important in these days of 8-megabyte computers? Sometimes it's very important. KBDock is designed to replace Program Manager as the Windows Shell and be running at all times. Your shell program is always there, so whatever resources it consumes effectively "disappear" forever. Keep that in mind whenever you look at shell programs.

The tightest resource in Windows is a part of memory called "system resources". In Windows 3.11 it's limited to 128K and every program uses some. When it's all in use, you get a "Not Enough Memory" error no matter how much RAM you have free.

KBDock has been highly tuned to minimize system resource consumption. I tested KBDock against every other "icon dock" shareware program I could find (over 10). KBDock used less than any of the others that supported either nested groups or text descriptions.

KBDock's other major features include:

•	Each group can have a different icon.

•	Groups can be nested within each other.

•	Icons can be cached in memory for fast operation.

•	Highly configurable.

•	3-D buttons and dialogs.

•	Can work with either double-clicks or single-clicks.

•	May be placed on either side of the screen, and can grow from the top-down or the bottom-up.

•	Can be the Windows Shell.

•	Extensive drag-drop support.


Installation

Run SETUP.EXE program to copy files into chosen directory.
Run KBCVT.EXE to copy Program Manager group files into KBDOCK.DAT.

Start KBDock.

Configure KBDock's appearance to suit, then Right-Click on Top Button to display Main Menu, then select Preferences and Save Configuration.

See Also:

Copying Program Manager group files

Uninstalling


Copying Program Manager Groups to KBDock

The included KBCVT.EXE program is used to copy the contents of your Program Manager group files into KBDock's KBDOCK.DAT file. It can be used two ways:

1	During initial installation of KBDock, KBCVT will create the KBDOCK.DAT file for you, copying the information from all (or selected) Program Manager groups.

2	Anytime after initial installation, KBCVT is useful to update KBDOCK.DAT with new or changed Program Manager groups.

When KBCVT is started, it will check for KBDOCK.DAT in your Windows directory. If the file does not exist, you will be prompted with, "Click on a group to copy, or press 'Copy All' for full installation." To copy all your Program Manager groups to KBDock, click on "Copy All".

If a KBDOCK.DAT file already exists, the "Copy All" option will not be available.

To select a single group to add (or update) to KBDOCK.DAT, select the group with the mouse (sorry, only one group at a time right now). When a group is highlighted, the "Copy This One" button will be available. Click on it to add/update the selected group. When done, you may choose another group to copy, or click on "Exit".

New groups will be added to KBDock's top-level group.

If KBDock already has a group with the name of the Program Manager group you selected, that existing group will be updated, rather than added as a new one. Any new items in the Program Manager group will be added, and existing items will be overwritten with the properties in the Program Manager item. This is useful after you have installed a new release of an application.


Uninstalling

First of all, if you have set KBDock to be your Windows Shell program, change it back to Program Manager:

•	Using Notepad or another text editor, edit SYSTEM.INI in your WINDOWS directory.

•	Find the line reading "shell=kbdock.exe".

•	Change it to "shell=progman.exe".

•	Save the file.

KBDock added the following files to your WINDOWS\SYSTEM Directory:

MHGLBL.VBX, MHGTXT.VBX, CMDIALOG.VBX, KBCPUSH.VBX.

Depending on how you received KBDock, it may also have added these files to WINDOWS\SYSTEM:

DDEML.DLL, VBRUN300.DLL.

Of all these files, only KBCPUSH.VBX is exclusively used by KBDock. The other .VBX files may be in-use by other Visual Basic programs on your system, but may be deleted if you are sure they aren't. DDEML.DLL is now a standard Windows library and should not be removed. VBRUN300.DLL will be needed if you ever want to run ANY program written in Visual Basic Version 3.

In your WINDOWS Directory,

KBDOCK.DAT	is only used by KBDock and can therefore be deleted.

KBC.INI	is used by other programs written by Keith Burton Consulting. If you have no other KBC programs, it can be deleted.

In your KBDOCK Directory (wherever you told SETUP to put them), all files can be deleted.

That's it. If you have time, I'd really appreciate an e-mail message telling me why you chose not to use KBDock. Thanks for giving it a try!


Commands

To save screen space, KBDock does not have a permanent menu bar. To display a menu at any time, put the mouse cursor on the object you wish to work with (Top button, Group button, Program button or Text Description Window) and right click.

Main Menu (right-click on Top button)

Move KBDock

Minimize

KidSafe Mode

Run

Edit

Help

Exit KBDock

Exit Windows

About/Register...

Preferences...

Save Configuration

Reload Configuration

General Options...

Top Button Options...

On a Group or Program Button, right-click will display:

Properties...

Options...

Help

Edit

Right-Clicking on the Text Description Window will display:

Font...

Font Color

Background Color

Help


Move KBDock

To move KBDock to another location on the screen:

1	Right-Click on the top button to display the main menu.

2	Select "Move KBDock".

3	Position the mouse pointer over the top button.

4	Press and hold the left mouse button, and drage KBDock to its new location.

5	Release the left mouse button.

If you move KBDock to a location where the top button isn't entirely on-screen, it will adjust its location. If the top button were moved entirely off-screen, there would be no way to get to the main menu. KBDock protects itself (and you) from that situation.


Minimize

When this menu item is selected, KBDock will 'minimize' down to an icon at the bottom of your screen. Left-double-click on the icon to 'restore' KBDock to its previous appearance.


KidSafe Mode

Toddlers and preschoolers learn KBDock much faster than Program Manager. In fact, KBDock's in use in a number of preschools across the country.

While a preschool can strip KBDock down to just the programs that are safe for kids to run, that's certainly not the best way for most of us to run it. So, I have added a security feature to make it safer for the kids.

When KidSafe Mode is active, the current group becomes a temporary "top group" that you cannot get above. You can still move to sub-groups and come back, but you can't get to any higher groups.

None of the right-click functions will work, so no properties or options can be changed. Shift-dragging buttons to move them also is disabled.

The icon on the top button changes to a kid as a reminder you're in KidSafe Mode.

Entering KidSafe Mode:

Right-Click on the Top Button to display the Main Menu. Choose "KidSafe Mode" from that menu.

Leaving KidSafe Mode:

Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys, and right-click on the Top Button.


Run Dialog

This is a Windows 3.1 Common Dialog. You may choose a filename to run from the list or type one into the "File Name" text box. The filename may optionally be followed by one or more parameters.

See Also:

Main Menu

Command Line Parameters


Command Line Parameters

If the first command line parameter begins with a question mark (?), KBDock will display a dialog box letting you edit the parameters before it executes the program. Example: NOTEPAD.EXE ?WIN.INI when run will display "WIN.INI" in a dialog for you to edit before running NOTEPAD.EXE.

See Also:

Run Dialog

Properties Dialog


Properties Dialog

This dialog is used to set the action taken when a Program/Group Button is double-clicked. For Group Buttons it describes the new Group to move to. For Program Buttons it describes the program to be run.

The Properties Dialog is reached by right clicking the button to be modified, and selecting "Properties..." from the pop-up menu.

•	Type: Is this a Program Button or a Group Button? Note that Group Buttons do not have "Command Line", "Working Directory" or "Mode" values, so they will be ghosted.

•	Description: Text placed here will appear in the Text Description Window for this button. You cannot put double-quotes in a Description. If you try, they will be changed to single quotes.

•	Command Line: The program to be run. If the program isn't on your DOS Path, enter a full path name. The program name may be followed by a space and one or more parameters.

•	Working Directory: If entered, KBDock will make this the current directory before running the program.

•	Mode: Control the way the program's window initially appears. Choices are: Hidden, Normal, Minimized, Maximized, Maximized, with KBDock and Icons Visible.

These settings will not work with all programs. Some programs ignore the messages Windows sends to control the window, and others may misinterpret them and not do what you intended.

•	PifEdit Button: If the Command Line specifies a .PIF file, this button will appear, allowing you to easily update the PIF without fumbling around to find the PifEdit program.

See Also:

Choosing the Icon to Display

Command Line Parameters


Choosing the Icon to Display

Getting the proper icon displayed for a button consists of two steps. First, set "Icon File Name" to the disk file containing the icon you want. Second, choose the icon in that file to be displayed.

Icon File Name:

For a new button, it will initially be the same as the program name from the Command Line. Filetypes of .ICO, .DLL .NIL and .EXE are accepted. It can be set by:

•	Typing a filename (and path, if needed).

•	Clicking the "Browse" button and choosing a file from there.

•	Dragging a filename from File Manager and dropping it onto any of the "icon boxes" under "Available Icons".

Choose the Icon:

The first six icons in the file will be displayed under "Available Icons". If there are more than six, you can use the scroll bar to display more. The separate box off to the left displays the currently selected icon. To select the icon you want, use the scroll bar to get it visible, then left-click on it.

See Also:

Properties Dialog

Default Icon Directory


Default Icon Directory

When you enter an "Icon File Name" on the Properties Dialog for a button, KBDock will look in this directory for the icon, in addition to searching the path.

Also, when you press the "Browse" button on the Properties Dialog, this will be the initial directory displayed.

See Also:

Properties Dialog

General Options Dialog


General Options Dialog

This dialog is used to control KBDock's overall behavior and set a number of "global" options. To reach the General Options Dialog, Pop-up the Main Menu, then select "Preferences" and "General Options...".

Activate All Buttons with a Single-Click

Display Text Descriptions

Keep KBDock on-Top

Pop to Top When Mouse Passes

Autosave Configuration after changes

Return to top group after use

Lock Bottom position

Group to execute at Windows startup

Verify on Exit KBDock

Verify on Exit Windows

Button Size

Default Icon Directory

Caching


Activate all Buttons with a Single Click

This is just a shortcut used to set all three button-types to use double-clicks or single-clicks. It is exactly the same as setting the "Activate on Single-Click" checkbox on all three button options dialogs.

If "Activate on Single-Click" is set for all three button-types, this box will be checked. If "Activate on Single-Click" is turned off for all three types, it will be cleared. If different button-types are set differently, it will be grayed.

Clicking on this box will either set or clear the "Activate on Single-Click" option for all three button-types. If it was initially gray and you click on it, it will not return to gray but will cycle between off and on.  If it was gray and you clicked on it by accident, you should "Cancel" the General Options Dialog to avoid changing your settings.

See Also:

General Options Dialog

Button Options Dialog


Button Options Dialog

This dialog lets you change the way KBDock's buttons will appear and behave. All the settings here are common to a particular button type. The appearance of the buttons will change dynamically as you make changes in the dialog, giving you a preview of the results.

•	Bevel Style: This determines the 3-D appearance of the button. "None" leaves the button flush with the desktop. "Inset" makes the button appear to be recessed, and "raised" makes the button stand out above the desktop.

•	Bevel Width: When Bevel Style is set to "inset" or "raised", this determines the button's "depth" or "height". It sets the width of the 3-D shading effect in pixels. Note that to properly display large settings you may need to make your buttons larger (General Options Dialog).

•	Activate on Single-Click:  By default, buttons only "activate" when double-clicked. Checking this box will set the current button-type to be activated by a single left mouse click. This setting is also affected by the "Activate All Buttons with Single-Click" checkbox on the General Options Dialog.

•	Color

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Display Text Descriptions

Determines whether the Text Description Window will be visible.

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Keep KBDock On Top

If checked, KBDock will "float" above all other windows, even when it's not the active window.

This is part of the General Options Dialog.

See Also:

General Options Dialog

Pop to Top When Mouse Passes By


Pop to Top

Normal behavior for KBDock is to automatically become the active application whenever you pass the mouse pointer over any part of the dock.

You can disable this by clearing the "Pop to Top When Mouse Passes" box in the General Options Dialog.

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Autosave Configuration

When checked, all configuration changes you make to KBDock will be automatically saved immediately. This includes:

•	General Options Dialog settings whenever you press "OK".

•	Button Options Dialog settings whenever you press "OK".

•	Program and Group Button changes whenever you Cut or Paste a button, Add a New Button, or add a button by dropping it from File Manager.

•	Program and Group Button changes made by dragging buttons around.

•	Moving KBDock to a new location.

When this box is cleared, changes will only be saved when choosing "Save Configuration" from the Main Menu.

This is part of the General Options Dialog.


Return to Top Group After Use

When this box is checked, KBDock will go back to its top (initially displayed) group every time you run a program.

This is part of the General Options Dialog.


Lock Bottom Position

As you change groups, the location of the Top Button will normally stay wherever you put it. The rest of the buttons will form a 'tail' below it, growing and shrinking with the size of the group.

"Lock Bottom Position" changes this behavior. Instead of the Top Button being 'locked' in-place, the bottom button will be locked. Now the Top Button will move up and down as you move between groups.

Some applications use the whole width of the screen, but can be set to leave room at the bottom to display active task icons. Setting "Lock Bottom Position" and moving KBDock to the bottom of your screen keeps KBDock sticking out below such applications. This makes switching to KBDock easier.  Moving the mouse pointer over the visible bottom button will make KBDock "pop" to the top.

Setting the "Lock Bottom Position" feature:

To use this feature, first activate the "lock bottom position" option on the Preferences/General Options dialog. Next, select "Move KBDock" on the main menu and drag the dock so the currently-displayed bottom button is where you want it to be. Last, select Preferences/Save Configuration to save your changes permanently.

See Also:

General Options Dialog

Move KBDock

Save Configuration


Save Configuration

Save Configuration saves KBDock's current state to disk. Among the information saved:

•	All options changed through dialog boxes.

•	All Buttons and their properties.

•	KBDock's current location on the screen.

If "AutoSave Configuration" is selected in the General Options Dialog, you will not normally need to Save Configuration manually.

See Also:

Main Menu

Autosave Configuration

General Options Dialog


Startup Group

When KBDock is the Windows Shell program, all the programs in the group you specify here will be run at Windows startup. The name entered here must exactly match the "Description" for one of your Group Buttons, or may be left blank.

The group entered here may be anywhere within KBDock. It does not have to be in the top-level (initially displayed) group. If there is more than one group with the same name, KBDock will stop looking after the first match it encounters.

Programs are run in the order they appear on the Dock, top-to-bottom. KBDock will ignore any Group Buttons in the Startup Group (It does not follow a path into those groups and run programs inside them).

This entry has no effect if KBDock is not the Windows Shell program.

See Also:

General Options Dialog

Skipping the Startup Group


Skipping the Startup Group

When KBDock is your Windows Shell, it will automatically run all the programs in your "startup group" when you start Windows.

Sometimes, you may not want these programs to run. Holding down either SHIFT key on your keyboard while Windows starts will keep the startup group from being processed.


Verify on Exit

You can have a verification message box displayed before the "Exit KBDock" or "Exit Windows" items on the Main Menu are executed. Settings are:

Never:

Do not display the verification message.

If Not Saved:

Only display the verification message if KBDock's configuration has been changed but not saved.

Always:

Always display the verification message.

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Button Size

These settings let you change the size of ALL KBDock buttons. Values entered are in pixels, and button height and width may be different.

These values represent the total size of the buttons, and should be large enough to fully display 32x32 pixel icons, plus the maximum value you have set for Bevel Width for any button-type.

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Caching Icons

It takes time to load an icon from disk, but practically no time to load it from RAM. On the other hand, you have a strictly limited amount of RAM and may have better uses for it than storing a bunch of icons.

To improve performance, KBDock stores icons in RAM, which is called "caching". To accomodate the widest variety of needs, KBDock has three different caching levels:

For reference, each icon cached requires slightly over 1K of RAM.

Normal:

The first time KBDock needs to display an icon, it loads it from disk into RAM and then keeps it there.

Advantages: Doesn't tie up memory by caching icons for groups you seldom enter, but does cache every group you use in a Windows session. Probably the best tradeoff of speed vs. efficiency for most users.

Disadvantages: The first time you enter a group (in a KBDock session), the icons haven't been loaded yet. So, you get a short delay (a second or two) while KBDock gets them.

Minimum Memory Use:

Only the icons for the top-level (initially displayed) group are cached. All others are loaded from disk each time they're needed.

Advantages: Takes very little memory while still allowing fast access to the top-level group. If you spend most of your time in a few applications this can be a good fit for you. Move your common applications to the top-level, set "Return to Top Group after Use", and give this a try.

Disadvantages: It's slow whenever you leave the top-level group.

Maximum Speed:

Starts a background thread that quietly loads the icons for all KBDock's buttons into RAM. Does not make you wait while they load!

Advantages: Speed. You'll never wait on an icon to load from disk (Okay, almost never).

Disadvantages: You can tie up quite a bit of memory if you have a few hundred buttons defined like I do.

See Also:

General Options Dialog


Edit

Add New Button

Displays a blank Properties dialog, allowing you to add a new Group or Program button. The new button will be added BELOW the current button (to add a new button at the top of your Group, pop-up the main menu from the top button, and select "Edit/Add New Button" from there. You can also add a new button by drag-drop from File Manager.

Cut - Append

The current button will be deleted, and added to the current contents of the clipboard. Also see "Deleting an Entire Group".

Copy - Append

The current button will be copied to the end of the current contents of the clipboard.

Paste then Empty

The current contents of the clipboard will be added to the current Group, BELOW the current button. The clipboard is then cleared.

Empty the Clipboard

The clipboard is cleared.

Note on clipboard handling: Most Windows programs replace the contents of the clipboard every time something new is Copied or Cut. KBDock appends to the clipboard, instead of replacing. This change makes it much easier to move several buttons from one group to another.


Reload Configuration

Reload Configuration restores KBDock to its state as of the last time you did a "Save Configuration". If "AutoSave Configuration" is selected in the General Options Dialog, Reload Configuration is unlikely to have any effect.

See Also:

Main Menu

Restoring Your Previous Configuration

Autosave Configuration


Restoring Your Previous Configuration

Every time KBDock saves its configuration, the structure of all your groups is written to KBDOCK.DAT, in your Windows directory. Before KBDock overwrites KBDOCK.DAT, it will always rename it to KBDOCK.BAK.

If you need to undo the last change you saved, use File Manager to:

1	Rename KBDOCK.DAT to KBDOCK.BAD.

2	Rename KBDOCK.BAK to KBDOCK.DAT.

Now, on the KBDock Main Menu, select Preferences, then Reload Configuration. Your configuration should now be restored to the previous one. If that solved your problem, you can delete KBDOCK.BAD. If you liked the other configuration better, reverse the two renames above and Reload Configuration again.

Note this only applies to changes made to your groups and programs. General configuration changes are saved in KBC.INI and no backup copies are made.


Procedures

Starting KBDock

Running a Program

Saving Configuration Changes

Undoing Configuration Changes

Exiting KBDock

Exiting Windows

Registering KBDock

Running programs automatically when Windows starts

Changing a Button's Appearance

Options

Properties/Icons

Changing KBDock's Appearance

Minimizing KBDock

Moving KBDock to another place on the screen

Changing the Text Description Box's appearance.

Changing KBDock's Behavior

Making KBDock Safe for your Kids to use.

Speeding KBDock up.

Use Less Memory

Keep KBDock Visible at all times

Adding and Deleting Programs and Groups

Creating a new Group Button

Moving a Button to another place in its group

Moving Buttons to another group

Deleting a Button

Deleting an Entire Group


Starting KBDock

Before you start KBDock the first time, you must convert your Program Manager groups to KBDock format. See Installation.

Using the "File/Run..." menu command in either Program Manager or File Manager, run KBDOCK.EXE.

To make KBDock your Windows Shell, click here.

See Also:

Installation


Exiting KBDock or Windows

To close KBDock or exit Windows entirely, right click on the top button to display the main menu. Then select either "Exit KBDock" or "Exit Windows" from the menu.

Note that "Exit KBDock" will not be available when KBDock is your Windows Shell. This is because closing the shell program always exits Windows too.

See Also:

Main Menu

Verify on Exit


Registering

A KBDock registeration costs US$24.95 (plus $3.00 for shipping and handling outside the United States). There are three ways to register:

Register on-line through CompuServe

Register by credit card

Register by mail


Registering Online via CompuServe

If you have a CompuServe account, you can register KBDock online. To get to the Shareware Registration area, "/GO SWREG". Once there, KBDock may be found either under the title "KBDOCK" or by ID# 712.

The most recent version of KBDock may always be found on CompuServe in the WINSHARE forum. Search for "KBDOCK.ZIP".


Registering by Credit Card

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library by calling 800-2424-PsL or 713-524-6394 or by FAX to 713-524-6398 or by CIS Email to 71355,470. You can also mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O.Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.

THE ABOVE NUMBERS ARE FOR ORDERS ONLY.

Any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, etc, must be directed to Keith Burton Consulting.

To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will ship the product directly to you.


Order Form

(to print, select File/Print Topic from the menu)

Keith Burton Consulting
1800 Grier's Creek Road
Versailles, KY  40383
USA

Product	            Qty 	Price Each	Total

KBDock V2.4	  _______	  $24.95   __________

Shipping and Handling:                     __________
(FREE within United States; $3.00 outside)

 Total Enclosed (must be in U.S. dollars): __________

Ship To:

__________________________________________
Address:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________
City, St, Zip:

__________________________________________
Country:

__________________________________________
Name of Registered User:

__________________________________________


Deleting an Entire Group

Cutting a group button and then emptying the clipboard does not actually delete all the buttons in the group. The group button doesn't "contain" the group's buttons, it merely "points" to them. When the pointer goes away, the group's buttons will no longer appear anywhere, but they will still be taking up space in the KBDOCK.DAT file.

If you accidentally cut a Group Button and want it back, just paste it wherever you want. If you've already saved your changes, or "Autosave Configuration" is turned on, see Restoring Your Previous Configuration.

This version of KBDock does not have any automatic way to delete a group, so you'll have to do it manually. Move into the group you want to delete, and cut every Program Button.

If the group has any Group Buttons (let's call them sub-groups here to keep them straight), move into each of the sub-groups and cut all its Program Buttons. Eventually, you'll reach a point where a sub-group has no buttons left. Now, that sub-group's Group Button can be cut. Repeat this for every sub-group until the group to be deleted has no buttons. You may now cut this group's button with no garbage left in the .DAT file.

Be sure to empty the clipboard now or else you might accidentally paste the whole group back in again.


Shortcut Keys

F1 for Help
F10 to pop-up the main menu
Alt-F4 to Exit KBDock


Technical Details

Troubleshooting:
Adobe Type Manager (tm) version 2.0 will not allow Visual Basic programs to work properly as the Windows Shell. I do not know if the problem has been fixed in newer versions. This problem appears with any Visual Basic program, not just KBDock. Deactivating ATM from the ATM Control Panel does not bypass the problem. If you're using ATM 2.0, you can still use KBDock, but it cannot be the Shell.

Requirements:
Requires Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or above.

Requires VBRUN300.DLL (Microsoft's run-time library for Visual Basic V3.0). It is not included with the KBDock distribution since it's quite large. It is available on both CompuServe and ftp.cica.indiana.edu. If you received KBDock on diskette from me rather than downloading it, VBRUN300.DLL was included.

Limitations:
KBDock only supports 32x32 Icons. Windows will supposedly support 64x64 icons, but I've never seen them used.

Maximum of 32 icons/group. Since that is more than can be displayed on even a 1280x1024 screen, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Maximum of 32767 total buttons. I certainly hope that will be enough!


Support

CompuServe:

Send e-mail to 74230,1636.

Internet:

Send e-mail to 74230.1636@compuserve.com.

Mail:

Keith Burton Consulting
1800 Grier's Creek Road
Versailles, KY  40383  USA

Phone:

606/873-6920. Phone support available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time.

Finding the newest version of KBDock:

The newest version will always be uploaded to CompuServe in the WINSHARE forum, and uploaded to "ftp.cica.indiana.edu" on Internet. Filename on CompuServe will be KBDOCK.ZIP. Other places, it will be KBDOCKnn.zip, where "nn" is the version number.


Using File Manager with KBDock

File Manager's drag-drop feature is used several places within KBDock:

To add a new button, drag a file (or files) from File Manager and drop them on the Top Button. The files will be added to the end of the current Group.

To run a Program Button, with another filename passed as a parameter, drag a filename from File Manager and drop it on the Program Button to be run.

To set the icon to display for a button, drag a filename from File Manager and drop it onto any of the "icon boxes" on the Properties Dialog under "Available Icons". Then click on the icon you want to use.

To quickly browse the icons in a file, right-click on any Program or Group Button, and pick "Properties...". Drag the file to be viewed from File Manager and drop it onto any of the "icon boxes" under "Available Icons". Use the scroll bar to move around if there are more than six icons in the file. When you're done, just click on "Cancel" to avoid making any changes to the button.

See Also:

Properties Dialog


About/Register...

Displays the current version number, support information, and who this KBDock is registered to. Allows you to enter registration userid and password.


almost never

If you try to display a group the "background thread" hasn't gotten to yet, you will get a delay (a second or two) while it fetches that group's icons. This won't mess up the background thread, which will notice those icons are already loaded and skip them.


Background Color

This displays the Windows Common Dialog for color selection.


background thread

Windows NT supports multi-threading, which means individual programs can have multiple tasks running at the same time. Windows 3.11 doesn't directly allow this, but I have simulated multiple threads to load icons. KBDock will come up and immediately give you control. While you're using it, it will quietly proceed to load all your icons without interferring with your work.


end of the current Group

You can quickly rearrange the buttons in a group by holding down the Shift Key and dragging the buttons to new locations.


Exit KBDock

Exits KBDock, displaying a verification message if so configured in the General Options Dialog.


Exit Windows

Exits Windows, displaying a verification message if so configured in the General Options Dialog.


Font Color

This displays the Windows Common Dialog for color selection.


Font...

This displays the Windows Common Dialog panel for font selection.


Group Buttons

A "Group" consists of the icons KBDock displays at a given time. KBDock groups will always be displayed in a single vertical row.


Help

Displays this help file.


Icons Visible

After the program starts, its window will be resized to the maximum size that will fit on the screen, still leaving room for KBDock and minimized program's icons to be visible.


Program/Group Button

There are three classes of buttons in KBDock: The Top button is always first. Group Buttons take you to a different KBDock Group. Program Buttons run a program. The 'content' of a Group or Program button is controlled by its "Properties" menu item. The appearance of each class of button is controllable thru selecting its "Options" menu item.


right click

To modify a KBDock object, position the mouse cursor on the object (Top Button, Program Button, Group Button or Text Description Box) and click with the Right mouse button.


Text Description Window

Each Group and Program Button in KBDock can have its own description. If "Display Text Descriptions" is checked in the General Options Dialog, this descriptive text will appear as you move the mouse over each button


top button

Always the first button on the dock. If you have moved into a sub-Group of buttons, it will display as an up-arrow. When at the top-level Group, it displays my company's logo. Right-click on the top button to display the main menu. Left-double-click on the 'up arrow' to move up to the previous Group (you'll only have to single-click if you've selected "Activate on Single-Click" in the Top Button Options dialog).Shift-left-double-click the 'up arrow' to move immediately back to the top-level Group (or shift-single-click if "Activate on Single-Click" is set).


Windows Shell

The Windows Shell is the first program Windows runs when it starts up. To set KBDock as the Windows Shell, use Notepad to edit SYSTEM.INI. In the section beginning "[Boot]", look for a line beginning with "Shell=". Change this line to read "Shell=kbdock.exe". Save the file, then Exit Windows and restart Windows. To change the Windows Shell back to Program Manager, use Notepad to edit SYSTEM.INI, as above. Change the "Shell=kbdock.exe" to "Shell=progman.exe". Save the file, Exit Windows and restart Windows.KBDock does not automatically make itself the Shell. Many programs do, and I think this is a dangerous practice. No doubt I'm old fashioned, but I feel any Windows user who decides to change the Shell should know how to undo it themselves. My apologies for costing you the extra minute if you disagree.