18==>??@RunIt! A fast, application launching utility by David Sampson 1991 P.O. Box 060573 Palm Bay, FL 32906 Introduction: RunIt! is a Windows 3.0 program utility that lets you start a program on the fly. It operates much faster than the Windows 3.0 Program Manager System Menu Run Command or the File Manager. And is simple to use. RunIt! operates as an icon on the Windows desktop. To activate an application, double click on the RunIt! icon. A dialog box will be invoked that accepts a file name and optional command line, or it can be used to navigate across file directories or disk drives to rapidly start any application. If you have set up Windows so that it is aware of data file associations, just double click on the data file name in the list box and the proper application will start up and load the file you selected. Registration: RunIt! is being distrubited as ShareWare. That means that you can try it out to see whether you like it and want to continue using it. If you do, then register your copy by sending $10 to: David Sampson P.O. Box 060573 Palm Bay, FL 32906 I went into my local Software Chain Retailer today (I won't mention the City where they sell Software) and saw a commercial program sitting on the shelf called "Straight Line". It does essentially what RunIt! does only the retailer wanted $64.95 for the program. Either they are overpriced or RunIt! is underpriced. Regardless, at $10, RunIt! is priced more affordably for the consumer. Operating Instructions: Direct File Name Entry - RunIt! is simple to use. Just double click on the icon to bring up a dialog box. The cursor will be in the 'File to Run' edit field. If you know the name of the file that you want to execute, just type it in the edit box (complete with file extension, i.e. Excel.EXE). If the file isn't in the current subdirectory or in your path, you will get an error message. If you want to feed a command line to the program, hit the Tab key to move to the 'Command Line Parameters' edit field (or just click the mouse in the edit box). You can enter the appropriate command line for your application. This could be a file name like "Gantt.XLS" in the Excel example. Warning!!! RunIt! won't go beyond the capabilities of Windows. This means that you have to follow the Windows instructions in the manual when you want to run a DOS command line based file. RunIt! will launch any true Windows application or a DOS application through its PIF file. If you can't get a PIF file to launch properly, then examine it with the PIF editor and consult the Microsoft Windows manual. File Name Search on a Wild Card - You can enter a wild card expression in the 'File to Run' edit box to display a list of matching files. For example, if you want to see a list of just the files with a BMP file extension, enter "*.BMP" in the 'File to Run' edit box and either hit Enter or click on the OK button. The 'Files' list box will display a list of all files in the current subdirectory that have a BMP file extension. File Name Associations - One of the really nice features of Windows 3.0 is the file name association. If you add the appropriate lines to your Win.INI file, RunIt! will use this information to start an application when you double click on a data file name. Let's say that you want to make Windows aware of the Microsoft Word for Windows document and template data file extensions so that you can bring up a particular spreadsheet through RunIt! by double clicking on the spreadsheet's file name. (Assuming this wasn't done automatically for you during your Word for Windows installation process). To do this, you will need to edit your Win.INI file (located in the directory where Windows is installed). You can use NotePad to edit the file. Just follow these steps: 1) Start Notepad and select 'File' and 'Open' for Notepad's menus. In the dialog box, type "Win.INI" (no quote marks) and hit Enter or click on the OK button. 2) Once the Win.INI file is loaded into NotePad, scroll or hit the page down key until you file a line that says "[EXTENSIONS]" (once again, no quotes). 3) Position the cursor in column 1 after this line and type the following: doc=winword.exe ^.doc dot=winword.exe ^.dot 4) Save the file and exit NotePad. You will need to exit windows and start up again for the change to take effect. When Windows is re-loaded, those lines in the Win.INI file tell Windows to associate any file with a .DOC or .DOT file extension with Word for Windows. Now when you double click on a file with a .DOC extension in the RunIt! dialog box, Word for Windows will be loaded automatically for you with the file you selected. You can follow the same format for any assocation you want to make. For example, if you have created a PIF file for Borland C++ called BC.PIF, you can double click on any file with a .C, .CPP, or .PRJ file extension to automatically load BC and the selected file. Just put the following lines in your Win.INI file under the [Extensions] block: C = BC.PIF ^.C CPP = BC.PIF ^.CPP PRJ = BC.PIF ^.PRJ Changing Drives or Directories - RunIt! displays the current subdirectory in its dialog box. To change to a different drive or directory, just double click on the appropriate entry in the 'Directories' list box. The 'Files' list box will automatically update itself with all files matching the pattern shown in the 'File to Run' edit control. But what if I don't have a mouse??? No problem. RunIt! works with keyboard control. To move from any edit control, list box or button hit the Tab key. Shift-Tab (hold down the Shift key and hit the Tab key) will move in the other direction. To go to a specific field, hold down the Alt key and hit the key corresponding to the underlined letter in the control title that you want to go to. The letter key can be upper or lower case. Cancel - If you change your mind about starting an application, just click on the Cancel button (or move to with the Tab key and hit Enter). This will return you to Windows. Note that if you changed subdirectories and then select Cancel, RunIt! will not undo the directory change. OK - OK accepts the current entries. ndows application or a DOS application through its PIF file. If you can't get a PIF file to launvrolid a^[CXIUR8>R>MV$ vs/p3mEjMgda^[oXSPR> ? xH uM rS o l i f c ` ]4 Z: WQTR> QVxuroli9fHcN`]ZWTR> xuroli9fHcN`]ZWTR>xxxxxxxuuuurrrxxxxoxxxxxx? xA x x x x x x x x x x xxmFmm.mG`b___v_x_ x 8 8xxxxxxxxx9x;x xxxxxxxxxxxx!xxxxxx9x;x xxxxxxxxxxf=/2!;( In the dialog box, type s) and hit Enter or click on the OK button. 2) Once the Win.INI file is loaded into NotePad, scroll o Helvetica Tms Rmnl you file a line that says "[EXTENSIONS]" (once again, no quotes). 3) Position the cursor in colu