Help file for Start
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Program:  !Start
Version:  v0.74 (05/08/97)
 Author:  Tim Wiser


About this program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This application tries to provide an implementation of the Start button as seen
in Windows 95 and the Apple Macintosh (claims exist that MS nicked the idea off
the Mac, but who am I to argue?).


Features
~~~~~~~~
    Launch applications one by one.
    Launch multiple applications via script files.
    Recall recently-used directories.
    Run configuration programs.
    Find files.
    Run interactive help.
    Shut down the computer.
    Desktop command line interface.

Start is also very configurable.  Refer to the appropriate section for info on
how to set it up for your personal taste and own machine. It has bee designed
to be as secure as possible. Via clever locking of files and setting up of the
configuration, you can ensure that students or people that shouldn't be messing
around cannot alter the contents of your menus.


How it works
~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can add applications in two ways. The second is recommended for adding apps
once you have a menu structure established via the first system.

If you have a menu structure, which could look like this:

          #Graphics
          #DTP
          #Sound
          #Video

You can add applications by running !Start and then, to add apps to the graphics
group, you open the main menu by clicking on the 'Start' icon, then open the
'Programs' menu and then click on the 'Graphics' entry. Nothing will appear
to happen. However, if you drag your graphics utils to the icon you will be
told that there is an updating process going on. Once this message vanishes,
open the Graphics submenu and see what's happened!

Alternatively.... (and this is the way I recommend) .....

Start requires you to edit a file called 'Menu' which lives inside its own
directory. Load this file into a text editor and you should be able to see how
to create a menu structure. Bear in mind that menus cannot be nested inside
eachother.

Example:

           #Graphics
           IDEFS::4.$.Apps.!ArtWorks
           IDEFS::4.$.Apps.!ChangeFSI
           IDEFS::4.$.Apps.!ImageFS
           Resources:$.Apps.!Paint

           #DTP
           IDEFS::4.$.Apps.!Style
           IDEFS::4.$.Apps.!WordWorks

These lines would create two menus in the structure; Graphics and DTP.  As you
can see, a new menu is defined by putting a hash sign followed by the name of
the menu. Currently menu items and titles can only be 12 characters long. You
have to define the menu title, whereas Start works out the name of the file or
application that you include IN your menu.  Thus the following menu would
appear:

        Programs->  Graphics->  Graphics
                                !Artworks
                                !ChangeFSI
                                !ImageFS
                                !Paint

                    DTP     ->  DTP
                                !Style
                                !WordWorks



No plings
---------
If you don't want the plings ('!') to appear in the menu you can tell Start to
leave them out by putting @ on a single line at the top of the menu file.

Adding dotted lines
-------------------
Putting a '-' in the Menu file will insert a horizontal dotted line into the menu. Dotted lines cannot be put into a program group menu (a submenu of the 'Programs' menu.

Commenting your Menu file
-------------------------
You can place comments in the Menu file by making the first character in the
line a '|', the same way as you would if editing an obey file. Any comments are
ignored by Start.  If you put a % on it's own line, Start will check that the
entry exists before adding it to the menu structure. This doesn't always work
though, so don't rely on it.

Executing commands automatically
--------------------------------
You can insert commands to be executed when the Menu file is read or updated
by putting a + before the command in Menu. Thus:

            +Filer_OpenDir idefs::4.$.Apps.MyProgs

will open the directory $.Apps.MyProgs when the Menu is read (usually when
Start is run).

Aliases
-------
If you want a more descriptive name to appear in the menu structure you can
specify an alias for an entry by using curly braces:

   IDEFS::Squelch.$.Apps.This.Is.Cool.!Style {Impression}

This would make Start put 'Impression' in the menu instead of 'Style'. Aliases
can only be up to 12 characters long, so watch out.


Script files
~~~~~~~~~~~~
These are files of type &101 and can be stored anywhere on your hard disc. If
you reference them in the Menu file, Start will treat these files in a special
way. Scripts can be used to launch many applications in a single click. If you
had one for graphics work, you could have it containing:

    Filer_Run idefs::4.$.!ArtWorks
    Filer_Run idefs::4.$.!ChangeFSI
    Filer_Run idefs::4.$.!WebGIF
    Filer_OpenDir idefs::4.$.Work.WebWork
    Copy thisfile thatfile ~c~vfr

All these commands would be carried out when you run the script file from the
menu structure. If you double-click on a script file in a directory viewer, Start will execute it. If Start is not loaded then Start is loaded and then the script file executed.

Script files are coloured red in the menu structure if you have colours enabled
in the configuration file for Start.


Directory recalling
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Start remembers recently-opened directories. It can remember up to 20 such
directories. It's up to you how many you actually WANT remembering. I recommend
5 directories. The directories are stored inside '!Start.Resources.Filestore'
and this is the file to edit if you want to change the number of dirs stored.
If you want more directories stored, simply put any character on a new line -
one new line per additional directory. So, if you had a list of five dirs at
the moment and you wanted it to store eight, you'd add three new lines:

     $.Dir1
     $.Dir2
     $.Dir3
     $.Dir4
     $.Dir5
     *
     *
     *

Now QUIT THE START PROGRAM and save the Filestore file. You MUST quit the
Start program before saving the file. Now re-run !Start and open a few new
directories. Those additional lines that originally held just a * will soon
fill up with directory pathnames. The list of directories is stored when
Start quits or you shut down the computer.


Launching applications
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To launch an application from the menu, simply click on its entry. If the disc
that contains the application is different to the one in the drive, or you have
renamed your hard disc recently, then you will be asked to insert the right
disc. If you have a floppy with the right application on it then you simply
bung it in the drive. If you have the application on the hard disc in your
machine and have simply renamed the hard disc recently, simply click on the
'Cancel' button and Start will drop the name of the drive and use a number
instead. It uses 4 as default, but you can change this in the Menu file by
putting IGNORE,<discnumber> on its own line. For example, if you wanted the
program to fall back to drive number 5 if a disc is needed to be inserted then
you'd put IGNORE,5 on its own line. Without an IGNORE line, this feature is
disabled.


Settings
~~~~~~~~
My Computer:  On a RISCPC this runs !Boot, on others !Configure
Desktop:      On a RISCPC this runs !Boot, on others !Configure

Not very exciting. However, if you have better applications for defining how
the computer acts (My Computer) or looks (Desktop) then you can change the
applications that are loaded by editing the !Run file.


Configuring
~~~~~~~~~~~
Load the !Start.Resources.Configure file into a text editor. Hold down SHIFT
and double-click on !Start to find this file. If, by any chance, you manage
to mess up the configuration, there is a 'safe' copy of the file inside the
directory called !Start.Resources.KeepMeSafe.  Copy this file in place of the
Configure file and all should be well. Note that ALL lines must contain
a valid entry. No lines may be missed out. Additional lines are ignored.

STOP PRESS: This version has a tiny program inside !Start.Resources called
            'Config!!' which, when run, will guide you through the configuration
            of this program. It's nothing special, but it works.



Lines 1 to 7 refer to the seven entries in the Start menu, working from the
top down. If you have, say, line one set to a 1, the Programs entry will be
enabled and people can run applications. Set this to a 0 and the entry will be
greyed out and unuseable. Only values 0 and 1 are valid.

Line 8 defines whether the splash banner appears when you load the program. Set
this to a 0 or 1 accordingly (0=no, 1=yes).

Line 9 defines whether colours are used. Applications appear blue, script files
in red. Set it to 0 or 1.

Line 10 should hold either QUIT or NOQUIT depending on whether you want a 'Quit'
option in the Start menu or not. I'd recommend NOQUIT, as it's safer for schools
and you can quit the program from the Task Manager if you really want to
anyway.

Line 11 contains the time in milliseconds that the splash banner remains on the
screen for. A recommended value is 600. A setting of 0 will make the banner not
appear (though it's better to use line 8 to define this).

Line 12 should be either 0 or 1 depending on whether you want some helpful
warnings. Leave it on 1 to be safe.

Line 13 should be either 0 or 1 depending on whether you want a little window
to appear when executing script files. Leave it on 1.

Line 14 decides how applications that find their way into the directory list
(by dragging their icon onto the Start icon) are dealt with in the directory
list. If this is set to 0 then they are run. If set to 1 their directory is
opened.

Line 15 is 0 or 1 depending on whether you want the version number of the
program to be printed in the bottom right corner of the splash banner. If you
have to contact the author about anything, try to use this to let him know
what version you are using.

Line 16 decides whether applications should be booted before running. This
stops naughty applications from appearing without an icon on the iconbar. Set
to 1 and leave it at that value.

Line 17 decides whether you want 'Start' to be printed underneath the Start
icon.

Line 18 controls whether the 'Quit the Start button' option should be
available in the shutdown window. Set it to 1 if you want it available or set
it to 0 if you want it to be greyed out.

Finally, line 19 should be set to either 0 or 1 depending on whether or not
you want the 'Settings->Start button' option to be available. Refer to the
"Securing" section for more information relevant to this.


Securing
~~~~~~~~
You may want to use this application in a school or other education
environment. In this case you may want to make the program more secure. After
all, you don't want kiddies or students altering what's on the menus do you?

Ways to secure the system are:-

  1.  If you LOCK the '!Start.Menu' file you'll find that the 'Start button'
      entry in the 'Settings' menu will be greyed out and unselectable.
  2.  You can disable entries in the menu through using the 'Configure'
      file.
  3.  You can stop a 'Quit' option appearing in the menu by changing
      QUIT into NOQUIT in the Configure file.
  4.  You can stop the 'Quit start button' option being available
      in the 'Shut down' dialog window by using the 'Configure' file.



Thanks to
~~~~~~~~~
John Lomas, Phil Norman, Michelle Tipping, Justin Fletcher, Carol Carpenter,
Homer at Acorn, Guttorm Vik, Simon Barclay, Andrew Berry, Simon Kiff and Steve
King.

Also thankyou to everyone who downloaded this application off my home page
and responded to messages placed in UseNet.


Translators?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This version of Start uses Messages. This means that if you want to get Start
running in a language other than English you can simply edit the Messages file
(inside !Start.Resources) accordingly. Although I'm not keen on you changing
the English messages file that comes with distribution copies, if you would
like to do me a big favour and translate the file into your native tongue then
please do so. I'm especially after Dutch and German translations.

Note: The Messages file only contains stuff that the program throws at you in menus and alert boxes. Stuff like the 'Shut down' window should be edited in a template editor.


Future versions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have a list of things that I would like to add or improve in the next version
of this program but without access to the Programmers' Reference Manuals it's
rather tricky.

 - Checking to see if !Help is already running and pop its window to the front
   instead of getting the "Help is already running" message when you click on
   'Help' in the menu.
 - Easier way to configure the program.
 - Easier way to add/remove programs from the menus.
 


Problems
~~~~~~~~
If you experience any problems then please contact me.  The most likely way
to track them down would be to put a reference in the Menu file to a disc that
does not exist, and then try and run the file/application. If the splash banner
doesn't look high res, and you are using a machine that's running a =>256 colour
high res mode then just rename the Sprites12 file that's inside the
!Start.Resources directory and then copy Sprites22 as Sprites12. That should
do the trick. If you pass this application on to someone else, remember to put
things back to normal.


Contact details
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love getting letters, but you're SO much more likely to get a reply if you
email me. You can write to me until the end of June 1997 at:

          Tim Wiser
          18 James Street
          Off Cowley Road
          Oxford OX4 1ET
          United Kingdom

Or permanently at:

          Tim Wiser
          Cowgate Cottage
          Lea Road
          Lea Bridge
          Derbyshire DE4 5JL
          United Kingdom

     Electronic mail:   mit@thepentagon.com
      World wide web:   http://www.cowgate.demon.co.uk/mit/


Legal
~~~~~
You may copy this application and distribute it as you wish, as long as the
main program code, !Run and !Sprites/!Sprites22 files remain intact and
unchanged. This !Help text may be altered if you feel that it would be
helpful to the receipient. I accept no responsibility for any loss of data due
to the direct and/or indirect use of this software.

