Copyright: ByteSoft Help File, © 1998 R Brown.
Citation: ByteSoft Help File © 1998 R Brown.


Introduction

Introduction.

Firstly, and most importantly, thank you for trying this software package from ByteSize Software.   ByteSize software is designed with ease of use while still enabling maximum functionality in mind. Most of the software packages are "grown up" versions of small applications written for a specific (and often otherwise  time-consuming) purpose.

In most cases, the software was written for uses where no other software was available, or because the available software has a ridiculously high price-tag, or didn't satisfy the requirements.

Although most of the software is freeware, some of our products are shareware, which are very reasonably priced and are usually fully functional with just a nag-screen added.

Whether it is a ByteSoft product, or any other shareware authors product, please support the shareware principle and register your copy of the software, by doing so you help to keep the shareware principle alive which benefits you by encouraging software authors to keep creating new software for your use.

ByteSize Software is written by R Brown purely as a hobby interest and is not connected in any way with any of the large software corporations around the world.  This means that our technical support is somewhat limited although I will always try to resolve any problem you may experience while using the software.

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Contacting the author

Contacting the author.

I may be contacted through E-mail, snail mail, my web site, or by telephone.

E-mail:	rodj@compuserve.com

WWW:	http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rodj

Snail Mail:	R Brown

ByteSize Software

29 Parker Way

Halstead

Essex

CO9 1NS  UK

Telephone:	+44 (0)178 747 6487  (9am - 5pm UK time, Monday - Friday only)

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Disclaimer and liabilities

Software product license.

This software product is protected by copyright laws and various international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties.  The  software product is licensed, not sold.  All copyrights remain with R Brown for ByteSize Software (hereafter known as ByteSoft).

END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT FOR BYTESIZE SOFTWARE

By installing, copying, or otherwise using the software product, you agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  If you do not agree to the terms of this agreement, do not install or use the software product.

1.    GRANT OF LICENSE. This agreement grants you the following rights:

a - Software Product.

ByteSoft grants to you as an individual, a personal, nonexclusive license to make and use copies of the software for the sole purposes of use as described in the online documentation.

You may install an unlimited number of copies of the software on any number of computers, provided that you are the ONLY individual using the software at any one time.

b - Electronic Documents.

Solely with respect to electronic documents included with the software, you may make an unlimited number of copies either in hardcopy or electronic form, provided that all such copies shall be used only for internal purposes, and are not republished by any third party.

c - Rental.

You may not rent, lease or sell the software.

You may, however, give it away in an unmodified form, provided that any individual registration codes or keys are NOT redistributed, nor any software capable of creating registration codes or keys are distributed.

Bulletin Board Systems and software vendors may make a reasonable charge for supplying this software product provided that the charge is only for the distribution media and reasonable shipping cost or subscription agreements between the vendor and the end-user, and that NO charge is made for the software.

d - Registration codes or keys.

You may not distribute any registration codes or keys provided to you by ByteSoft or it's agents.

You may not disassemble, decompile or otherwise reverse engineer the software product for the purpose of disabling any registration code/key system.

You may not create or use any unauthorised registration codes or keys.

e - Termination.

Without prejudice to any other rights ByteSoft may terminate the agreement if you fail to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this agreement.

In such an event, you must destroy all copies of the software product and all of its component parts.

2.    COPYRIGHT.

All title and copyright within the software (including but not limited to any images, photographs, text animations, video, audio, music, and "applets" incorporated into the software), any printed materials, and any copies of the software product are owned by ByteSoft or its suppliers.

The software is protected by copyright laws & international treaty provisions.  Therefore, you must treat the software like any other copyrighted material.

3.    LIMITED WARRANTY.

The software product is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, ByteSoft and/or it's suppliers entire liability shall be limited to the replacement of the software product only at the discretion of ByteSoft.

Neither ByteSoft nor its suppliers shall be responsible for any loss of data, earnings or any other monies through the use of (or inability to use) this software product.

Limitation of liability.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL BYTESOFT OR IT'S SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, AND/OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION AND/OR ANY OTHER LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT OR THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES EVEN IF BYTESOFT HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

IN ANY CASE, BYTESOFTS ENTIRE LIABILITY UNDER ANY PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO BYTESOFT FOR THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT OR THE SUM OF ONE POUND (UK STERLING)

This software is provided as is,  and the author is under no obligation to release bug-fixes or future versions.

This software comes without any warranty of any kind. All the software is guaranteed to do is occupy a few kbytes of space somewhere on your computer system.  The author and any person  involved in the distribution of the software will not be responsible for (but not limited to) any loss or damage to data or the equipment upon which it was stored,  loss of earnings or liable for any other costs incurred due to the use or inabilty to use the product.  The software has been tested under Windows 95 and works perfectly on the machines used for testing,  however this doesn't guarantee that you won't be using some other software or hardware which may conflict with it, and if you do come across such a problem please let me know!

Therefore you install and use this software entirely at your own risk!

Support.

As I have limited financial funds at my disposal the support  for this product is limited , please do not telephone me long distance and ask me to return your call or send a long fax to you if you're not in the UK.  That doesn't mean that I will ignore you,  I will try to answer any questions or problems you may have in my own time.  Remember to include an email (preferable), snail mail address or phone number so I can get back to you.....

If you have a problem,  comment or a suggestion, you are welcome to contact the author,  please don't  send more than one copy of your communication, it wastes both my time and money as well as yours.

Don't forget to check out the ByteSoft web site to see the bug you're experiencing has already been fixed.

Known Issues.

No more problems have been brought to my attention to date, but if you find one please let me know, remember:  If I'm not told about it, I can't fix it!

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Help Contents
Introduction

Overview

Document Friend screen shots

Main Window Display

Adding files to the Recent Documents sub menu

Auto clear function

Clear documents now

Hiding/showing main window

Menu Functions

Pop-up menu functions

Folder settings

Setting the delay

Disclaimer and liabilities

Contacting the author

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Main Window Display

The main window of Document Friend consists of just four buttons, a single line of text showing the status of the auto-clear function and three menu items, an icon, identical to the one on the title bar of Document Friend's  main window, is also placed into the system tray while the application is running and is used to access the pop-up menu while the main window is hidden.

Auto Clearing Function:

The auto-clear function of Document Friend allows the application to regularly clear the items from the Windows 95 Recent Documents sub menu without any interaction from the user.  The delay may be specified by the user and ranges from Never to 60 minutes.

When the delay is set to never, Document Friend will not clear the Recent Documents sub menu until the user clicks the Clear Documents Now button.

Adding files to the Recent Documents list:

Another feature of Document Friend allows you to add any item to the Recent Documents sub menu by simply dragging and dropping files anywhere onto it's main window.  For users who are uncertain about how to drag and drop files onto Document Friend , a brief outline follows:

To initate a drag and drop operation start Document Friend, then start your Windows Explorer and resize it's window so that any part Document Friend's main window can also be seen on your screen, it doesn't matter if the Windows Explorer window covers part of Document Friend.  Next, using Windows Explorer, find a file you wish to put into your Recent Documents sub menu, this can be a text file, help file, executable file or almost any other file you have on your system.  Finally, click the mouse on the file you have chosen and, without releasing the mouse button, move the mouse until it's over the top of Document Friend, at this point release the mouse button.   Hey-presto, you have just dragged and dropped a file.

Clear Documents Now:

When this button is clicked, the Recent Documents sub menu is cleared immediatly regardless of whether the auto-clearing function is in operation or not.  It must be stressed that ANY files placed into the folder which the Recent Documents sub menu uses will also be deleted.  Files are not sent to the recycle bin when clearing the folders contents and so are erased irretrievably.

Hide Me:

Use this to hide the application from view.  When Document Friend is hidden is can be made visible again by either double-clicking it's icon in the system tray, or by right-clicking it's icon and selecting "Show Me" from the pop-up menu.

About Clear Documents:

Brings up a window that displays program version information and copyright information.  If installed, the Microsoft system information utility can also be started by clicking the "System Info..." button.

You can also view contact information for the author by clicking on the button with the ByteSoft logo.  When the contact information is displayed, an extra button appears which will allow a correctly configured browser to connect to the ByteSoft web site where you can find other software products, bug-fixes and updates, links to software vendors and an online bug report form, so why not hit that button and visit the site today?

Exit:

Closes the program...

Window Menu Functions:

Three items appear on the menu bar of the main window they are,  File,  Tools and Help.

FILE MENU:

Exit	:  Closes the program.

TOOLS MENU:

Folder Settings	:  This allows you to view the current location of the

  	   Recent Documents file folder.

Set Delay	:  Sets the delay used by the auto-clear function.

Hide Me	:  Hides the main window from view.

Start Hidden	:  Keeps the main window hidden when the program is first started.

Clear Now	:  Clears the contents of the Recent Documents file folder.

HELP MENU:

Help Topics	:  Displays the contents of the help file.

Search for help on...	:  Opens the help file index.

About	:  Displays the program information window.

Pop-up Menu Functions:

This is divided into four sections containing the following commands:

Folder Settings	:  This allows you to view the current location of the

  	   Recent Documents file folder.

Set Delay	:  Sets the delay used by the auto-clear function.

Show Me	:  Restores the main window into view.

Start Hidden	:  Keeps the main window hidden when the program is first started.

Clear Now	:  Clears the contents of the Recent Documents file folder.

Help	:  Displays the contents of the help file.

About	:  Displays the program information window.

Exit	:  Closes the program.

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Set Delay Windows

Delay Setting:

Access to the delay setting window is achieved in one of two ways depending on the current state of the main window.

If the window is visible, select the "Set Delay" item from the "Tools" menu, if the window is hidden, select the "Set Delay" item from the pop-up menu which is activated by right-clicking on the Document Friend icon in the system tray.

The delay setting allows you to specify an interval of up to 60 minutes which the Auto clear function waits between each operation.  To prevent the auto clear function from removing any items you may wish to keep, simply set the delay to zero, the caption will change to "Never", indicating that the auto clear function is disabled.

Click the "OK" button to save the setting and close the window, or click "Cancel" to abandon any change you have made, this will also close the window.

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Screen Shots
Below are some screen shots of Document Friend, by moving your mouse over the various controls in the screen shotsyou will find that your mouse pointer changes to a pointing finger.  When this happens you can obtain context sensitive help for the control concerned by simply clicking your mouse.

Main Window Screen Shot.

Setting The Delay Window Screen Shot.

The "Folder Settings" Window Screen Shot.

Specifying A New Location For The "Recent Documents" Screen Shot.

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Folder Settings

Folder Settings:

This function allows you to view the current location of the "Recent Documents" file folder, by default this is normally C:\Windows\Recent  although if Windows is installed on a different drive or folder the default will change to reflect the individuals personal settings, in any event unless the location has been customised by another application such as "TweakUI" (found in Microsoft Powertoys) the location will be a sub folder of the main Windows folder called Recent.

If you wish to change the location of this folder for whatever reason, click the "Select New" button which will then open the Select New window.

When changing the location of this folder two important points must be borne in mind:

1)  Never use a folder that contains any other files as they will be irretrievably deleted when the folder is cleared whether by Document Friend or by another utility such as "TweakUI"   This also incudes the "Temp" or "Temporary Internet Files" folders as deleting temporary files made by this and any other applications may cause loss of data or system instability.

2)  The folder must already exist on the system as Document Friend doesn't have the ability to create folders.

When you have selected a new location for "Recent Documents" folder, click the "OK" button, the "Select New" window will be closed, and the current location shown on the "folder Settings" window will show your new chosen location.

If you have made changes to the location of the folder, the "Apply" button becomes available and clicking it saves the new settings to the system registry.  It should be noted that any new settings will not take effect until the computer is restarted and a message box advising you of this is displayed.

To close either of the windows without saving any changes, click the "Cancel" button. If you have the "Select New" window open when you click "Cancel", this will also close the "Folder Settings" window.

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Clear documents now
Use this button to instantly clear all the items

from your "Recent Document" sub menu.


Hide me
Clicking this button hides the main window from view.

To restore either double-click the icon in the system

tray or right-click the icon and select "Show Me" from

the menu options.


Statusi
Shows the delay in minutes of the auto-clear functions operation.

To disable auto-clearing set the delay to Never.


About
Displays progam version and author contact information,

allows connection to the ByteSoft web site (requires a

correctly configured browser) and can start the Micro-

soft system information utility if installed.


Exit
Close the program.


Location
Displays the current location of the folder used

for storing the "Recent Documents" files.


Select New
Clicking this button opens a new window which

allows you to select a new location for the

"Recent Documents" file folder.

CAUTION: Do Not use the C:\Windows\Temp

or the Temporary Internet Files Folders as this

may lead to loss of data!


Apply
Saves your new settings to the system registry.

You will need to restart your computer before

any changes will take effect.  This button is

disabled unless any changes are made.


Cancel
Discard any changes and close this window.


Delay
Sets the delay in minutes of the auto-clear functions operation.

To disable auto-clearing set the delay to Never.


OK
Saves the settings and closes this window


Drive
Specify the DRIVE for the location of

the "Recent Documents" file folder.


Folder
Specify the FOLDER for the location of

the "Recent Documents" file folder.


Overview

Overview:

The following extract is taken from HISTORY.TXT file shipped with Document Friend.

Before Document Friend

This utility started off life as a small DOS batch file to clear the recent documents from Windows 95 start button menu as I was getting annoyed at having to find my way through three or four sub-menus just to click one button.

After a short while, the original DOS batch file was made into an executable file, and finally developed into a visual basic version called Document Easy Delete (DED).

Although this wasn't the cutting edge of software, it served the purpose for which it was originally written.

Along came the Powertoys from the Windows team which included a nifty little applet called TweakUI which does a very similar job (trust someone else to do it!) with the exception that it only does it when you first log onto your computer, maybe there's still a bit of room for DED.  Hooray...

Next came an improved TweakUI applet which now allows you to specify where on your system you want your "Recent Documents" sub menu to put it's files.  This caused havoc with DED as it expected the "Recent Documents" sub menu to be in the default location and was hard coded into the program, and trying to use DED when the "Recent Documents" folder had been moved caused DED to crash - Hmmph!

Enter from stage left - Document Friend!

Document Friend has been written to compliment the latest (at the time of writing) version of TweakUI allowing the user to clear the Recent Documents sub menu quickly and easily in much the same way as DED with the exception that it no longer matters (within reason) where the folder is located.

Document Friend can also change the location of the folder in the same way as TweakUI.

Document Friend has the ability to add documents to the sub menu by dragging and dropping the file anywhere onto it's main window.

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Caution
CAUTION: Do Not use the C:\Windows\Temp

or the Temporary Internet Files Folders as this

may lead to loss of data!

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