ButtonBar v1.0 (13 Jan 94)


Purpose
=======

ButtonBar is a small utility to generate a window of user-defined buttons that
will talk to the Arexx port of a suitable application.


Usage
=====

RX ButtonBar [template_file]

If "template_file" isn't supplied then a file requester will open so that a
template file can be chosen. The directory that this opens in can be set by
changing the line

template_dir = "s:"

to point to whatever directory you want to store the templates in.


Installation
============

Simply copy ButtonBar.rexx to your Rexx: directory.

ButtonBar has been tested with and requires the following libraries:

  RexxSupport.library     v34.9
  RexxArpLib.library      v3.0

These libraries can be found on most major anonymous ftp sites and BBSs.


How to Use
==========

First thing is to make a template file or use one of the enclosed templates. The
format of the .template file is as follows:

Screen Name
Rows,Columns
Font,Size
X,Y
button_text,arexx_command
      :          :
      :          :
      :          :
button_text,arexx_command


Screen Name   - Name of the public screen you open the bar on
Rows,Columns  - Number of rows and columns of buttons
Font,Size     - The font and font size to use for the buttons
X,Y           - Location of the top left corner of the button bar
button_text   - Text to display in the button, 12 characters max
arexx_command - Arexx command to send to the application

There are a few demo template files that you can use as an example of what can
be done.


Notes
=====

You can have a bigger window than necessary if the rows or columns value is too
big. It'll just be an empty window.


Additional Thoughts
===================

It'd be nice to have a way for ButtonBar to watch for the public screen that
it's "sitting" on. That way if the screen is going away ButtonBar would be smart
enough to stop itself instead of having to close ButtonBar before whatever
application closes. This would also make ButtonBar seem more natural to use.

It would also be nice if there was a way to send a command to an Arexx port with
a time-out value so that if the calling program doesn't accept the command it
doesn't hang ButtonBar til the end of time.

Since it seems that many applications on many platforms are going to having
pictures in the buttons. Personally, it seems more obvious what the button does
if a word is used, but who am I to say what's better? :) Anyway, if there's a
way to have a brush or IFF on a button done via Arexx (or mostly Arexx) I'd
appreciate it if somebody would drop me a line.


Problems
========

The font that you select to be used in the buttons doesn't seem to want to
work, at least for me. I didn't want to take out that option because it
should be something that would work. It doesn't hurt anything (as far as
I've found) to leave the "SetFont" in there. It just doesn't do anything :).

I've included Mike Groshart's little utility to return the font information
for a particular screen. This is for handling the font support should I find
a clue on the font problem.

Thanks
======

Mike Groshart gave me many tips, hints, and outright blocks of code in my quest
to get this working.

Payment
=======

EMail-ware. Send me email to either of the addresses below that you're using it.

Also, if you make a .template file for a particular application please send it
my way. I'll be happy to include it in any future releases of ButtonBar.

Please also send me a note if you've come across a problem and I'll see what it
takes to fix it. Or if you fix it yourself please send me your fix so that I can
keep it current.

I don't see rewriting this in C or something else mainly because ButtonBar was
done to see what it would take to do it. Although maybe that'll be something
else interesting to do. Hmmm... :)


Author
======

Greg Gerke

I can be reached at the following addresses:

FidoNet -- 1:285/24  Great White North - 14.4K - (402) 895-7716
                                                 (402) 895-7998
        -- 1:285/11  Omaha AmigaNet BBS - 14.4K - (402) 333-5110
                                                  (402) 691-0104
Internet - Greg_Gerke@IMD.Sterling.COM