CapTask: A Norton Desktop for Windows 2.0 batch program doing the following:
			1. Display date/time/system-resourse/free-memory on the caption 
			   bar of the active window/icon.
			2. Allow you to choose from the current tasks to toggle shown/
			   hidden status.
			3. Allow you to choose from the current tasks to kill/terminate.
			4. Allow you to choose from current tasks to change the window
			   title.
			5. Arrange the desktop as cascade/tile/row/column or to arrange
			   icons.
			5. Terminate/restart Windows session.
			6. Reboot computer.
		 WinBatch, on which the NDW2.0 Batch is based, should also do. But I 
		 haven't tested it. Dunno about networks.

No charge (unless you WANT to...), no liability on my part, no nothin'.
Change it, give it out, sell it, make a fortune if you can and I'd pay for
learning from your marketing skill. But, if you care to drop me a note
telling me that you're actually using it (see end for my e-mail address),
then I could show it to my wife and convince her that THAT night didn't
TOTALLY go up in smoke. 9-[ Marriagesaverware? I call it RipOffBusterware.

USAGE
If you're to use it on a regular basis, I don't see any reason why you don't
want to automatically load it when starting Windows. After that, the "Cap"
part is pretty self-explanatory. As default, the Cap is updated every ten
seconds.

The "Task" part is somewhat trickier. As default, you press the RIGHT mouse
button anywhere on the desktop background to bring up a dialogue box. Go on
experimenting from there.

I could go ahead write a User's Manual for Captask. But I feel like being
treated as an idiot everytime I read those Manuals. Anyone knowing how to
start Windows should have no difficulty figuring out CapTask.

BUT, here're some things to take note on when using CapTask:
1. Put captask.wbt AND captask.wbd in your NDW directory. Otherwise, you'd
   have to change a line in captask.wbt. Just browse through it and you'll
   find the place.
2. NEVER choose CANCEL on any dialogue box unless you want to terminate
   CapTask the clumsy way. It's the NDW Batch Runner, not me. Don't panic if
   you chose the wrong task to kill. You'll have a chance to back off soon.
   If you chose the wrong task to show/hide, it's no big deal to bring out
   the CapTask dialogue box and toggle it the second time. Of course, second
   chances are also provided for terminating CapTask, exiting/restarting
   Windows, and rebooting.
   Terminating CapTask by choosing CANCEL will leave the current window's
   title stuck with the old time/res information. Choosing the "Exit CapTask"
   option in the CapTask dialogue box, on the other hand, cleans up its own
   trace.
3. When bringing up the CapTask dialogue box, press the RIGHT button AND HOLD
   IT DOWN UNTIL THE BOX POPS UP. The length should be half a second on
   average but could be as long as one full second if you're unlucky. The
   Delay() function refuses anything fractional. You could use Yield instead
   to get quicker responce here if you think it doesn't distract the CPU too
   much. I just think holding down a mouse button is not such a big deal,
   even for one whopping full second.
The rest is optional if you're in a hurry.
4. Sometimes, for reasons that I haven't been able to elucidate, the Batch
   Runner will goof up and lose value of some variables. Then the original
   title goes *poof*. That's when the "Change Title" option in the CapTask
   dialogue box comes handy. Other times, changing a window's title
   temporarily, like switching to another directory in FileManager, can fix
   the screwed-up title.
5. Batch Runner cannot kill some tasks, usually those derived from NDW. In 
   particular, the Batch Runner itself. It doesn't seem to give any feedback
   on whether the kill has been successful. The WinClose() function seems to
   return @TRUE as long as the argument window exists. Again, it's the Batch
   Runner, not me.
6. I'd recommend putting CapTask in the Launch List of NDW and assign a hotkey
   to it. Just in case something goes south. A must if you were to change it
   and test it. Since the "test" in DeskEditor saves the file under a
   temporary name, the "Exit CapTask" option in the CapTask dialogue box
   won't work correctly here.
7. If for some reason you don't like the name and want to change it, change
   BOTH captask.wbt and captask.wbd so that they have the same name after
   the change. This way you only have to change one line in captask.wbt.
   Otherwise, two lines. Yup.


IF YOU STILL HAVE SOME TIME TO WASTE...
I've hardly ever programmed outside the good ol' FORTRAN. But some of those 
shareware just get on my nerves. A wimpy little thing displaying date/time/mem
takes a good portion off the precious screen real-estate and asks for $15 and
keeps nagging about it. A SuperDuperTaskManagerExtender letting you see hidden
windows or kill some asks for another $20 (who would use TaskManager to switch
to some shown windows or to iconize/restore/maximize it?). Still another
HushRushExitWin asks for still another $10. "@$%$ it," I said, "$%^$ it all."
So I sit down, flipped through the NDW manual and came up with this.

Some essential and handy stuff are missing from the NDW Batch, such as more
flexible ways to handle dialogue boxes. Hope it gets better in the next
version. I could see ways to implement stuff like a file launcher remembering
the 10 lastest-run programs along with a permanent launch list. But I'm not
motivated enough as for now. You could do it yourself. It's very easy, and
could be fun. Lemme know if you get something interesting with NDW Batch.
It's not a power tool, but quite handy at times.

Enjoy...

Bo Peng
bo@saviik.cem.msu.edu