@database ScreenTab.guide @width 77 @Node Main "ScreenTab Anleitung" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S C R E E N T A B Version 1.13 © 1994 Michael Link ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INHALT ------ @{"0. QUICKSTART " Link FastStart} 1. General informations @{" 1.1. Motivation " Link Motivation} @{" 1.2. System requirements " Link Requirements} 2. Installation @{" 2.1. Via Workbench " Link StartVonWorkbench} @{" 2.2. Via CLI " Link StartVomCLI} 3. Configuration @{" 3.1. Calling preferences " Link CallPreferences} @{" 3.2. Preferences window " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.1. New " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.2. Change " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.3. Delete " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.4. Save " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.5. Hide " Link Preferences} @{" 3.2.6. Quit " Link Preferences} @{" 3.3. Application preferences " Link ApplPreferences} @{" 3.3.1. Name of application" Link ApplPreferences} @{" 3.3.2. Pattern " Link ApplPreferences} @{" 3.3.3. Use ... " Link ApplPreferences} @{" 3.3.3.1. Patterns " Link PatternDefinition} @{" 3.4. Tool-Types " Link Tooltypes} 4. @{"Credits" Link Credits} and @{"using conditions" Link Disclaimer} 5. @{"History" Link History} @EndNode @Node FastStart "QUICKSTART" 0. QUICKSTART ------------- For all, who like to test ScreenTab at once, here are the necessary steps. If you're ready, please read the whole documentation ! 1. Double-Click on "ScreenTab" -> ignore the error requester concerning the preferences file 2. Start another program which opens a screen (e.g. DirOpus ...) 3. Press the 'Left-Amiga'- and the 'Tabulator'-Key and hold them. -> in the middle of the foremost screen appears the ScreenTab- Window with the title of the next screen 4. Still holding the 'Left-Amiga'-Key, you can choose the screen by pressing the 'Tab'-Key several times. 5. Release the 'Left-Amiga'-Key. -> Screen comes to front 6. :-) @EndNode @Node Motivation "Motivation" 1.1. Motivation --------------- Although I am a fan of the Amiga computers, I have to work with DOS and Windoze :^( at school. You all know that they have their very 'special features' like crypted INI-Files, 8-character file names, cooperative multi-tasking ... ;-]. But when you work with Windoze, one (real) feature is very useful: You can switch between the applications by pressing 'Alt'+'Tab'. I missed this feature on the Amiga, so if you have several screens open, you have to use the 'LAmiga' plus 'N' or 'M' to switch by keyboard or to press the gadget in the upper right corner of every screen. That's the reason why I ported the Windoze-Feature to the Amiga. ScreenTab gives you the ability to - chose your special key combination - chose application names for ugly screen titles ... @EndNode @Node Requirements "System requirements" 1.2. System requirements ------------------------ You can run ScreenTab on every Amiga which is equipped with Kickstart / Workbench 2.04 or higher. Localisation is supported on OS-Versions equal or higher than 2.1. @EndNode @Node StartVonWorkbench "Installation via Workbench" 2.1. Installation via Workbench ------------------------------- If you want to start ScreenTab one time, just double-click on the ScreenTab icon. If you find it useful, start the English installation script. You will be lead through the installation process by Commodore's installer. @EndNode @Node StartVomCLI "Start via CLI" 2.2. Start via CLI ------------------ If you're in the right directory, only type in "ScreenTab" and it will be started. You don't have to "run" it, ScreenTab creates its own process. Up to now, you can't use parameters to configure ScreenTab. I think it's easier by using the tool-types. @EndNode @Node CallPreferences "Calling the preferences" 3.1. Calling the preferences -------------------------------- You can open the @{"preferences window" Link Preferences} either by pressing the HOTKEY-Combination (default: 'Ctrl + Alt + S') or by selecting the ScreenTab-Commodity in the Exchange program. @EndNode @Node Preferences "Preferences window" 3.2. Preferences window --------------------------- Within the preferences, you can install special application names which will be shown in the ScreenTab-Window instead of the screen titles. But why this feature ? First, many screen title are very long, e.g. "SuperDuperED © 1994 by H. Taylor (unregistered Shareware-Version, 23-09-94) ...". So they don't look very nice in the ScreenTab-Window. A second reason is, that several programs don't use titles for their screens, e.g. PPaint, DPaint. So the ScreenTab-Window will be empty if you select these screens. To avoid this problem, you can use the name of the task, which opened the screen, instead of the screen title itself. The control elements of the window consist of the following components: o Known applications: In this list you can see all defined application names. They are used, when a known application is started. If you use the next two buttons, a second window will appear, the so called @{"application preferences window" Link ApplPreferences}. o New: You can enter a totally new application definition. o Change: You can change an existing application definition. o Delete: You can certainly delete existing application definitions. o Save: If you want to save the changes you have made in the application list, press this button. The prefs-file will then be updated. o Hide: If you want to leave the preferences without saving the changes to the prefs-file, press this button. This button is quite good for testing different application names or patterns. o Quit: If you press this button, ScreenTab tries to quit. In some cases, this mightn't be successful, because other programs have patched the intuition functions used by ScreenTab. If this happens, you can only deactivate ScreenTab, but it will stay in memory. You can use all the described buttons by pressing keys on the key- board, too. Just use the keys which are underlined. @EndNode @Node ApplPreferences "Application definition" 3.3. Application definition --------------------------- In this window, you can define new or change existing application definitions. The following gadgets can be used: - Application name: This text appears instead of the screen title and in the list window of the @{"preferences window" Link Preferences}. - @{"Patterns:" Link PatternDefinition} If a screen is opened, ScreenTab compares the screen title with all existing patterns using the AmigaDOS-Conventions. If a pattern matches, its application name will be used. - Use ... You can use the screen title with the most programs. Only few programs don't define screen titles. But if it happens, it doesn't look good. Therefore you can use the option "Use taskname". Certainly, you must enter a specific pattern for the task name. If you want to know, what the taskname of the last opened screen is, just open the 'About'-Requester. In the last line it will be displayed. Please pay attention to the fact, that a task name of one program can differ, if it was started either from Workbench or from CLI. If you're satisfied with your adjustments, you can click on OK and the new or changed definition will be used in future. If you cancel the action, all will be the same as before the window opened. @EndNode @Node PatternDefinition "Pattern" 3.3.3.1. Pattern ---------------- For the most programs it is enough to enter the screen-title in the pattern gadget. But several programs change their titles during execution. The best example is the Workbench itself, which changes its title at least three times (my experience). With the AmigaDOS-Patterns you have the ability to catch all the variations of the titles. You must pay attention to the following rules: ? - matches any single character % - matches the empty string in choices, e.g. "foo(%|.info)" matches "foo" and "foo.info" #m - matches zero or more occurences of 'm' [a-z] - this character class matches any single character that has been specified within the pair of square brackets ' - the single quotation mark serves as an escape character, so you can use characters which are normally reserved for the use within patterns, e.g. '#' or '?' () - with the brackets you can unite several subsequences of the pattern Examples: "A#BC" -> "AC", "AbC", "ABbBBC" etc. "A??C" -> "AxxC", "A12C" etc. "A#?C" -> "Axyz123C", "AabcdefC" etc. "A(B|C)D -> "ABD" und "ACD" "A[B-D]E -> "ABE", "AcE", ... "#(AB|CD)E -> "ABE", "CDE", "ABABE", "ABCDE", etc. Due to a better understanding of this topic, I have added some examples out of my preferences: 1. For the Workbench-Screen If I have counted well, it can get the following titles - "Workbench Screen" - "Amiga Workbench x.xxx.xxx Chip-RAM ..." - "Copyright ..." With the following pattern you can catch all cases: (Copyright#?|(#?|%)Workbench#?) 2. For Directory-Opus For each DirOpus, which is opened, a title will be generated like "DOPUS.X", where the X stands for a number starting with 1. Therefore the following pattern: DOPUS.#? Don't be aware of testing different patterns. When ScreenTab doesn't find a matching pattern, it uses the normal screen-title. ATTENTION !!! Because I can't know all programs, I would like to build a kind of "Pattern-Database", which will be delivered with ScreenTab in future versions. So if you have written your own patterns for your special applications, please send them to me. Please contact me with the adresses I gave in the @{"Credits" Link Credits}. @EndNode @Node Tooltypes "Tool-Types" 3.4. Tool-Types --------------- You can configure ScreenTab with the so called "Tool-Types". They are saved together with the icon of the program. If you want to change them, just click once on the icon, then choose the menu item "Icons / Information ..." of the Workbench menu. Now the adjustment window opens. The following tool-types will be recognized: CX_POPKEY: With this key combination you can open the @{"ScreenTab-Preferences" Link Preferences}. STARTPRI: ScreenTab should be started AFTER ALL OTHER WbStartup-Components, because the WB-Title changes very often during this phase. So ScreenTab could get confused and the application name for the workbench (if you have one) wouldn't appear. Use a low start priority (about -120) and there will be no problems. SWITCHKEY: With this key combination you can switch between the screens (Default: "LAmiga Tab"). TOOLPRI: With TOOLPRI (don't mix it up with STARTPRI) you can adjust the task priority of ScreenTab. Some programs use a higher priority (>0) to get all the power and so ScreenTab can't react at one, if it has the standard priority of 0. So use the default priority of 5. It doesn't burden the other tasks. @EndNode @Node Credits "Credits" C R E D I T S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bug-Reports ... --------------- I think the most important thing for a programmer is the feedback for his released programs. So when you want to send me - your pattern definitions (IMPORTANT: add the Screen- or Task-Option) - Bug-Reports (please describe the bug exactly) - criticism and suggestions to improve ScreenTab - catalogs for other languages (with ct-files) - post cards, greetings, money :-) ... - ... please feel free to contact me with the following addresses: o EMail : < u193113@uebung2.rz.fh-reutlingen.de > o Home address: Michael Link Krummenackerstrasse 171 73733 Esslingen Germany EMAIL preferred !!! Some special thanks ------------------- I wanna thank the following persons and institutions: o Manfred Oberbach o Roland Barthel for beta-testing o Andy Futschik o Martin Korndörfer for MagicMenu, Diavolo Backup and the hint o Ralph Babel for his ingenious 'Amiga Guru Book' o SAS-Institute for its C-Compiler (please continue your work !!!) @EndNode @Node Disclaimer "Disclaimer" NO GUARANTEE ------------ The author doesn't take over any responsibility for damages or loss of data, that were directly or indirectly caused by the usage of ScreenTab. The user of ScreenTab uses it on his/her own responsibility. COPYRIGHT --------- ScreenTab © 1994 Michael Link ScreenTab is FREEWARE, that means, you can copy ScreenTab and distribute it under the following conditions: - ScreenTab and the accompanying files don't be changed in any way without the agreement of the author - the commercial usage of ScreenTab is strictly forbidden The Copyright on ScreenTab stays at the author in every case FILES ----- ScreenTab ScreenTab.info ScreenTab.prefs catalogs/deutsch/ScreenTab.catalog catalogs/ScreenTab.cd catalogs/ScreenTab_deutsch.ct catalogs/ScreenTab_empty.ct ScreenTab_D.guide ScreenTab_D.guide.info ScreenTab_E.guide ScreenTab_E.guide.info Install_Deutsch Install_Deutsch.info Install_English Install_English.info @endnode @Node History "History" ScreenTab History ================= Version 1.00, Date : 20.09.1994 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - first full featured version - BUG KILLED IN: Reading the catalog strings Version 1.01, Date : 21-Sep-94, Time: 13:14:55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - for more safety I have created a semaphore, which stops the patched functions until the ScreenTab-Window disappears - now every key combination can be used for activation of the ScreenTab-Window (can be changed in the Tool-Types) Version 1.02, Date : 22-Sep-94, Time: 14:32:06 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - built in the keyboard shortcuts Version 1.04, Date : 03-Okt-94, Time: 19:13:43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Update to SAS/C 6.51 - cleaned up the code a little Version 1.05, Date : 08-Okt-94, Time: 17:56:04 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - GUI now font sensitive Version 1.06, Date : 09-Okt-94, Time: 15:23:33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - the list gadget can be controlled by the cursor keys - replaced ChangeApplication by Del+Add-Application - BUG KILLED IN: Deleting an application - the patched functions will now be checked when the user quits ScreenTab Version 1.07, Date : 18-Okt-94, Time: 21:00:53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - preferences will be read from the ENV:-Directory Version 1.08, Date : 25-Okt-94, Time: 14:54:29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ScreenTab now uses the timer-device to wait for pressing the necessary key. Other tasks won't be burdened anymore. - improved the taskname handling essentially - the name of the task which opened the last screen will be displayed in the 'About'-Requester Version 1.09, Date : 27-Okt-94, Time: 21:55:01 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BUGS KILLED: - LockLayerInfo() replaced by LockLayers() - ScreenTab now creates an own port for the timer.device - when you changed a pattern and the pattern wasn't OK, the whole definition was deleted - when a program is started by CLI, ScreenTab uses only the program name (without path) for pattern matching Version 1.10, Date : 28-Okt-94, Time: 16:58:23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ActivateWindow() is now patched, too (errors with other programs). Version 1.11, Date : 30-Okt-94, Time: 16:40:43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - removed cursor usage in the list gadget (it doesn't make sense, because you need special OS3.0-Features to make it useful, GetGadgetAttrs() !!!) - now it's possible to shut down the preferences with the Exchange program Version 1.12, Date : 13-Nov-94, Time: 14:14:59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - finally, OpenWindowTags(), OpenWindow() and CloseWindow() are also patched, because ScreenTab mustn't be activated during opening or closing a window ! - BUG KILLED: - reentered ChangeApplication() from pre-V1.06 - optimized the code Version 1.13, Date : 14-Nov-94, Time: 16:43:56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - BUGS KILLED: - using the screen title only with a pointer instead of a pointer to a pointer 8^) - preferences window didn't free the whole allocated memory (FreeVisualInfo()) @EndNode