Gold Medal Software 3/Gold Medal Software - Volume 3 (Gold Medal) (1994).iso/windows/win31/hotbsw.arj/MANUAL.DOC

Text File | 1994-05-03 | 24KB | 459 lines

                            HOT Button for Windows

                     Copyright (c)1994 Ultimate Software


     ============
     INTRODUCTION
     ============
     Welcome to HOT Button for Windows.  The idea behind HOT Button was
     to create a collection of frequently needed utilities and programs
     and organize them in a way that would make it easy for you to get
     to them quickly.  Once you begin using HOT Button, you will want to
     open it up and move it to a corner of your Windows screen each time
     you go into Windows.  When opened, HOT Button takes up very little
     screen space (just a little bigger than an icon).  Leaving HOT
     Button opened in this way also takes up a minimum of your Windows
     resources.  When you realize how useful HOT Button is, you will
     always want to have it handy.

     ========
     FEATURES
     ========
     The small HOT Button opening window has four tiny buttons.  The
     first button is a file viewer.  Click on it to view graphic files
     (icons, bitmaps, .GIF, .PCX, .WMF, .TIF), spreadsheet files (Lotus
     1-2-3, Excel, Quattro), Database files (dBASE, FoxPro, Access,
     Paradox, Works), word processor documents (Word, Word Perfect, AMI
     Pro, WinWord, Works, QA Write), text files, binary files, and even
     a listing of the files contained in a compressed file (.ZIP, .LZH).
     You can view files individually or as part of a self-running
     slideshow.  You can view a whole directory of icons at one time.
     You can view "thumbnails" of a whole directory of bitmap images and
     then enlarge a bitmap to full size with a single mouse click.  The
     file viewer alone would make HOT Button a very useful utility for
     any Windows user, but there's a whole lot more!

     Click the second button to bring up the HOT Button Disk Utilities.
     This is a collection of frequently needed file and disk utilities.
     Use the HOT Button Disk Utilities to copy, rename, delete, edit,
     search for, and view information about files on your hard and
     floppy drives.  There is also a pop-up diskette format utility
     which will format either high or low-density diskettes in your
     floppy drives.

     Click on the third button to bring up the HOT Button WAV and MIDI
     Sound File Player.  If you have a sound card, you will find the WAV
     player very useful.  You can load and play a single sound file or
     automatically play all the .WAV or .MID files in an entire
     directory.  The WAV player also has a repeat function, so you can
     automatically play a sound (or a whole directory of sound files)
     over and over.



     Click on the fourth button to bring up the HOT Button Audio CD
     Player.  This is a programmable CD system.  The CD player can
     automatically detect an inserted CD that you have previously
     programmed.  You can save the names of tracks and a play list of up
     to 50 songs.  Your play list may include any or all of the tracks
     on the CD in any sequence you choose.

     One other useful feature of HOT Button is the built-in digital
     clock.  When you open HOT Button, the tiny opening window includes
     a digital clock which updates itself every minute.  If you move the
     mouse pointer over the HOT Button window, the display toggles
     between the time and date.  Even if you minimize the HOT Button
     window (which you probably don't need to do since it is so small)
     it continues to update and display the current time.

     =========
     SHAREWARE
     =========
     HOT Button for Windows is a copyrighted program currently marketed
     as shareware.  This means that you can evaluate it for up to 30
     days with no obligation.  However, if you use HOT Button after 30
     days of your first use, then you are legally obligated to register
     the program directly with Ultimate Software.

     Registration of HOT Button brings many benefits including a much
     enhanced version of the program, technical support, and the removal
     of all the advertising messages which pop-up as you use the
     shareware version.

     The registered version includes a much improved search routine
     which finds files as much as eight times faster than the shareware
     version.  The improved search routine also allows you to stop or
     continue searching after finding the first matching file.  Another
     handy option in the registered version is the ability to delete any
     of the files found during the search.  After the search is
     complete, you can point and click on duplicate file names to delete
     them.

     The registered version also supports additional file formats for
     the viewer and includes a diskette formatter (see Special Notes for
     more information).  Read the "Registration" topic for more
     registration information.


     =====================
     IMPORTANT INFORMATION
     =====================

     NOTES CONCERNING THE SHAREWARE VERSION
     The shareware version is a very functional, but scaled-down version
     of HOT Button.  You will notice that there are a number of
     advertising messages that pop-up at various points in the program.
     These are to inform you of the features available in the registered
     version of HOT Button and to remind you to register.  If you plan
     to use HOT Button after an up to 30-day trial period, then you must
     register.  If you decide not to register, then do not continue to
     use HOT Button.  To do so is a serious copyright violation (and
     more importantly, it's just plain dishonest).

     Besides all the (annoying) advertising messages being removed, the
     registered version is much more complete and powerful than the
     shareware version.  The registered version includes a diskette
     formatter, a MIDI sound file player, a faster file search routine
     (up to 800% faster), an improved bitmap file viewer which allows
     you to view thumbnails of several bitmaps at a time, as well as
     file viewing support for several additional file formats (including
     AMI Pro, LZH contents, Paradox, QA Write for DOS and Windows,
     Quattro and Quattro Pro, Works, and Lotus 1-2-3).

     Since the shareware version doesn't support the file formats listed
     above, if you try to display them, you will see the binary code
     rather than a viewable graphic image or report.

     DITHERING ERRORS
     If you do not have a monitor capable of displaying over 16 colors,
     or if your windows video driver is set at the default VGA setting
     rather than for your specific VGA, SuperVGA or higher monitor, you
     may get an error message when viewing graphic files with more than
     16 colors.

     Even yours truly, the author of this program, got such an error
     before finding out that the default VGA setting that Windows setup
     chose for my video driver only displays 16 colors.  You see, I
     bought Windows after purchasing my system.  When I ran the Windows
     setup, the setup program recommended a VGA setting for graphics.
     I wrongly assumed that would at least support a 640 X 480 display
     with 256 colors.  So after Windows was installed, I'm sitting there
     with a 486-66 DX2 system with an XGA graphics card displaying a
     measly 16 colors!  When I found out about this, it wasn't too
     difficult to reconfigure the graphics driver portion of my Windows
     setup with a driver for my specific graphics card.

     Your system is probably set up correctly, however, if you get a
     "Dithering" error when viewing a graphic file with the HOT Button
     Viewer, you may want to obtain a driver specific to your graphics
     card.  Please do not call our technical support department with
     this type of problem because we cannot help you obtain a driver for
     your graphics card.  You should check with the place that sold you
     your computer system, or you may wish to see if you can find one on
     a larger BBS or on-line information service (like CompuServe or
     America On-Line).


     ======
     VIEWER
     ======
     The HOT Button Viewer is powerful and versatile.  To view a single
     graphic image, database file, spreadsheet, word processor document,
     text file, or other type of file, simply select "Load" from the
     File menu.  This will bring up an "Open File" dialog window.  You
     can select any drive, directory, and file available on your
     computer.  Select the file to view by double-clicking on its name
     (or single click on the file name and then click the OK button).
     The viewer will display the file.  You can adjust the size of the
     window if the image is larger than the current window size.  You
     can also use the scroll bar to move about the image.  The HOT
     Button Viewer supports just about all common file formats, however,
     if the format of the file you wish to display is not supported,
     then the file is displayed as binary code instead of a graphic
     image.

     VIEWING A WHOLE DIRECTORY OF ICONS
     To view a single icon, follow the instructions above.  If you would
     like to view several icons at one time, simply set the file type
     selector to "Icons (*.ICO)" when opening a file.  When you open an
     icon file in this way, the window will fill with as many icons as
     will fit in the current window, beginning with the file chosen down
     through the remaining icons in the directory.  The larger the
     window's size, the more icons that can be displayed at a time.  To
     view the file name of a displayed icon, simply click on the icon.
     This is great if you have a lot of icons to view.  If you get a CD
     with 3,000 icons on it, you can view them quickly and almost
     effortlessly.  Compare this to having to load each icon separately.

     VIEWING A WHOLE DIRECTORY OF BITMAP FILES
     You can view a whole directory of bitmap files on your screen at
     one time.  To do this, choose "Load" from the File menu.  Make sure
     that the "file type" pattern is set to "Bitmaps (*.BMP)."  Choose
     the first image to view by double-clicking on it.  This will bring
     up thumbnails of all the bitmaps in the current directory from the
     file selected down.  The thumbnails are representations of the
     bitmap images set to a size of 36 X 36 pixels.  If the image is
     smaller than that, it will actually increase in size.  If the image
     is larger, then it will be reduced to 36 X 36 pixels.  To view the
     image at full-size, simply click on the thumbnail of the bitmap you
     wish to view.

     RUNNING A SLIDESHOW
     You can run a slideshow of any files that can be displayed using
     the HOT Button Viewer, however, usually you will want to select
     "Picture Files" or "GIF Files" for a slideshow.  Choose "SlideShow"
     from the File menu.  Then from the "Open File" dialog window, set
     the "file type" pattern.  Then choose the first file to view.  This
     will start the slideshow.  The slideshow will consist of all the
     files in the directory that match the file type pattern from the
     selected file down to the last file.  The initial time delay
     setting is five seconds.  To change the time delay (how long each
     image is displayed before the next image is loaded), click anywhere
     on the image.  To pause or stop the slideshow, just enter zero into
     the input box that appears.


     ==============
     DISK UTILITIES
     ==============
     The HOT Button Disk Utilities include many commonly needed file and
     disk commands.  You can use them to copy, rename, delete, view
     information about, and search for files.  You can also format
     floppy disks.
     Go to the appropriate topic below for more information.

     COPY A FILE
     To copy a file, choose "Copy File" from the File menu on the HOT
     Button Disk Utilities window.  This will bring up a file dialog
     window.  Use the controls to scan through your drives and
     directories until you find the file you wish to copy.  Select it by
     double-clicking on the file name (or highlight the file name by
     clicking on it and then click on the OK button).  Now the file name
     you have selected will be displayed on the left part of the window,
     and you will be asked to type in the path and name of the
     destination file (where you want the file copied to and how you
     want it named).  If you wish to cancel the file copy operation,
     click on the "Cancel" button.  Otherwise, click on the "Copy"
     button to copy the file.

     RENAME A FILE
     To rename a file, choose "Rename File" from the File menu on the
     HOT Button Disk Utilities window.  This will bring up a file dialog
     window.  Use the controls to scan through your drives and
     directories until you find the file you wish to rename.  Select it
     by double-clicking on the file name (or highlight the file name by
     clicking on it and then click on the OK button).  Now the name of
     the file you wish to rename will be displayed on the left part of
     the window, and you will be asked to type in the path and new name
     for the file (you can simply rename the file, or you can actually
     move the file to a different directory by specifying a new path).
     If you wish to cancel the file rename operation, click on the
     "Cancel" button.  Otherwise, click on the "Rename" button to rename
     (or move) the file.

     DELETE A FILE
     To delete a file, click on "Delete File" from the File menu on the
     HOT Button Disk Utilities window.  This will bring up a file dialog
     window.  Use the controls to scan through your drives and
     directories until you find the file you wish to delete.  Select it
     by double-clicking on the file name (or highlight the file name by
     clicking on it and then click on the OK button).  You will be asked
     if you are sure you want to delete the file.  If you wish to cancel
     the delete operation, click on the "Cancel" button.  Otherwise,
     click on the "Yes" button to delete the file.


     TEXT EDITOR
     To edit a text file (like your autoexec.bat or config.sys files),
     select "Text Editor" from the File menu on the HOT Button Disk
     Utilities window.  This will bring up a file dialog window which
     you can use to select the file you wish to edit.  This is a rather
     simple text editor which will load any file under 30,000 bytes.  It
     is not intended to replace your word processor, but it is quite
     useful for quick and easy editing of a small text file.

     When you are done editing the file, select "Save" to save your
     changes or "Cancel" to quit without making any changes to the
     original file.
     Caution:  You shouldn't load binary files (like .EXE files or
     graphic files) into the text editor.  While the editor itself will
     not harm binary files, any changes you make and save could corrupt
     the file.  To view binary files (or practically any kind of file,
     including large text files) use the HOT Button Viewer.  The viewer
     is the most attractive way to view files and will not alter a file
     in any way.

     VIEW FILE INFO
     To view information about a file, select "View File Info" from the
     File menu on the HOT Button Disk Utilities window.  Use the file
     dialog window to select the file that you would like to view
     information about.  This will bring up a display of the file's
     name, size in bytes, date, time and attribute.  The attribute can
     be Archive (a file that has been updated or added since the last
     backup), Normal (a file which has been backed up with a backup
     program), Read-Only (a file which cannot be changed or deleted),
     System, and Hidden (a file which does not appear when you view a
     directory listing).

     FILE SEARCH
     To search for a specific file or for all files matching a certain
     pattern, select "File Search" from the File menu on the HOT Button
     Disk Utilities window.  This will bring up a drive list combo box
     (used to select the drive you wish to search) and a text box for
     you to type a file pattern into.  You should first choose the drive
     you wish to search (for example your C: drive).  Then enter the
     file pattern you wish to search on.  For example: to search for a
     specific file, enter that file's full name and extension (like
     MYFILE.EXE).  Our you can search for all files containing a certain
     pattern.  For example: *. BMP would be used to find all the bitmap
     files on your selected drive or WIN*.* would be used to find all
     the files that begin with the letters "WIN."  You also have the
     option of finding only the first matching file or all matching
     files (just click on your preference).  Then hit enter or click on
     the "OK" button to initiate the search.


     After the search is complete, you have the option of deleting any
     files found during the search.  Simply click on the file name to
     highlight it and click on the "Delete" button to delete the file.
     This is a very useful way to "clean up" your system of duplicate or
     otherwise unwanted files.

     Caution:  Do not use a file pattern of *.* which will match with
     every single file on your searched drive.  You will not be happy
     with the results of any search that is so broad that the pattern
     matches with a high percentage of all the files on the searched
     drive.  Try to narrow the search down as much as possible.

     FORMAT A DISK
     To format a diskette, choose "Format a Disk" from the File menu of
     the HOT Button Disk Utilities window.  Simply choose the disk drive
     and the disk format capacity.  You can choose a quick or regular
     format and whether you want verify on or off.
     When you have quick format set on, current track and percentage
     done are not reported during format operation.  When quick format
     is set off, then the status is updated and displayed on screen.

     When you have verify set on, each track written to the diskette is
     tested after it is written.  This gives you a better guarantee of
     the integrity of the diskette and format.

     During the format operation, you can abort at any time, however, if
     you abort the format operation, you should not use the diskette
     until after you have completely formatted it.

     ==========
     WAV PLAYER
     ==========
     If you have a sound card, you will find the HOT Button WAV and MIDI
     Sound File Player to be very useful.  You can load and play a
     single sound file or automatically play all the .WAV or .MID files
     in an entire directory.  The WAV player also has a repeat function,
     so you can automatically play a sound (or a whole directory of
     sound files) over and over.

     To load the WAV player, click on the third button on the small HOT
     Button opening window.  It's the button with the red musical note
     on it.  To load a WAV or MIDI file, go to the File menu on the HOT
     Button WAV Player window.  Choose either "Load .WAV File" or load
     "Load .MID File."  From the file dialog window, choose the file
     sound file you would like to hear.  It will play automatically.


     From the "Controls" menu you can carry out any of the normal
     controls like play, prev, next, stop or pause which works the same
     as clicking on the corresponding button.  You can also select
     "Repeat" or "Auto Seek."  Auto seek will play every .WAV or .MID
     file in the current directory from the currently selected file to
     the last file in the directory.  This is a great way to listen to
     all the sound files on a directory or on a CD without any having to
     load each sound individually.  You can also toggle repeat on or off
     by selecting it from the "Controls" menu.  If auto seek is on,
     repeat will play all the sounds in the directory and then repeat
     them again and again from first to last.  If auto seek is set off,
     then repeat will play the currently selected sound file over and
     over.

     You can press the pause or stop buttons at any time to pause or
     stop the currently playing sound file.  Pressing stop, prev
     (previous) or next will automatically set auto seek and repeat to
     off.

     =========
     CD PLAYER
     =========
     The HOT Button CD Player allows you to play your audio CDs on your
     computer (if you have a CD-ROM drive).  You can listen to your CDs
     while running other Windows programs.  Load a CD into your CD drive
     and click on the CD icon.  If you have previously saved song and
     play list information, it will be loaded automatically.  To move
     between tracks, click on the prev and next buttons.  When you have
     qued up the track you want to listen to, press play.  You may pause
     or stop playing a song at any time by pressing those buttons.
     While a song is playing, you can scan forward and backward within
     the track by sliding the control right or left.

     The CD player window displays the information about the current
     track and the CD at all times.  On the left part of the window is
     information about the current track.  It shows the time into the
     current track over the length of the track.  Over to the right, the
     time into the CD is displayed over the total length of the CD.

     SAVING CD INFORMATION
     From the CD player window, choose "Program Tracks" from the File
     menu.  This brings up the CD Programming window.  Here you can edit
     the play list by deleting songs from the current play list or
     adding songs to the play list by clicking on the appropriate song
     tracks.  You can also enter and save the name of the CD and the
     names of the individual song tracks.

     If you wish to save your changes permanently, click on the "Save"
     button.  To save your changes just for the current session, click
     on the "Done" button.  If you wish to exit the CD Programming
     window without saving your changes, click on the "Cancel" button.






     ===============================
     ORDERING THE REGISTERED VERSION
     ===============================
     Registration It costs only $25 to register HOT Button for Windows.
     With registration you get an enhanced version of the program with
     many additional features including several new file formats for the
     viewer, a MIDI sound file player, the ability to save song and play
     list information for an unlimited number of CDs, a diskette
     formatter, plus technical support and the removal of all the
     advertising messages which pop-up as you use the shareware version.

     The registered version includes a much improved search routine
     which finds files as much as eight times faster than the shareware
     version.  The improved search routine also allows you to stop or
     continue searching after finding the first matching file.  Another
     handy option in the registered version is the ability to delete any
     of the files found during the search.  After the search is
     complete, you can point and click on duplicate file names to delete
     them.

     We also include sample shareware and public domain .GIF, .PCX,
     .WAV, MIDI and bitmap files.  You also get over 1,000 icon files.

     To register, mail a check for $25 (US funds) to:

                              Ultimate Software
                              PO Box 5015
                              Central Point, OR 97502

     You can also order with a VISA or MasterCard:
                              800-925-3147 (U.S. and Canada)
                              317-741-5331 (International)
                              317-286-3182 (FAX)