New PC/2 Beta Released |
New PC/2 Beta Released |
Programmer Roman
Stangl has been released a new beta of PC/2 (pc2209e.zip, 686Kb).PC/2
is a WPS enhancement/replacement that allows you to manage your applications
and Desktop more easily. From a configurable Popup Menu you can not only launch
programs,but also specify details like their size and position on a Virtual
Desktop, the Hotkey used to switch to or start them, their Priority, their Environent
(or DOS Settings for DOS applications) or when they should be invoked by a Scheduler.
I, @Macarlo,
am a PC/2 user since the first version and I replaced Object Desktop by PC/2
on my Warp 3.0. I downloaded the first version from NetLabs, encouraged by a
brazilian OS/2 user,Sergio Queiroz.
For running applications, PC/2 gives you more control by allowing manipulation of (moveable or sticky) windows on the Virtual Desktop with an optional Overview window, usage of the WIN95 keys, support of (timer based) X-Windows style Sliding Focus and Dynamic Menuselection, HW-Panning support for your ThinkPad users, a QuickSwitch and SessionBar window to quickly switch between applications (besides displaying or managing the APM and CPU (including SMP) status), enhanced window manipulation by using mouse buttons 2 and 3, Advanced Marking of command processors, E and EPM editors, Netscape, Lotus Notes and many IBM communication products like CM/2 and PersComm/3270, an enhanced OS/2 Shutdown including Reboot or APM Poweroff, Titlebar Smarticons adding functions like Rollup or Help, Security features to protect unwanted modifications to PC/2, Environment Spaces to get rid of the CONFIG.SYS mess, and a Online Automatic Update feature to allow PC/2 automatically inform you and download news/enhancements/fixes.
Screenshots
The install process on Warp 3.0>###
New beta running on Warp 3.00>###
Running showing "Win95" menu>###
Before getting to the details a few things I'ld like you to spend your attention for:
As always, be sure that to have a current backup of your PC/2 installation if you want to install this beta on top of a previous version!
Though I have added a Registration page, PC/2 is and will always be Freeware. This page is a first try from my side to actively add a Internet based update facility. No data except what you allow will be copied from your PC, you can use IPTRACE and IPFORMAT to verify this (by the way, you should know these 2 tools anyway in times like this where data security becomes an issue more and more).
You probably know that I depend on your beta testing. I simply don't have all the hardware and software to test every possible combination, but with your testing a great deal of that can be covered. So, if you find some incompatibilities/problems/... don't hestate to e-mail me!
This is a beta, which contains fixes, new features and some design changes (well, as PC/2 started more than 5 years ago, some earlier designs had to be replaced by more advanced ones). However, I tried to make this beta compatible with 2.00 but if you find some inconsistencies, please e-mail me!
In short words, graphics designer volunteers wanted! This is your chance to help me brush up the graphics (icons) used by PC/2. I tried my best, but unfortunately I have 2 left hands when it comes to graphics ;-)
The following problems of PC/2 V2.00 have been corrected with PC/2 beta 2.09e:
Fixed that the currently edited Environment Space gets not updated/ saved when pressing the save pushbutton.
Fixed that path information in Setup dialog could have exceeded available place.
Fixed Advanced Marking to that button 3 can be selected for pasting instead of button 2 for all supported applications.
Fixed a loop pasting text into NetScape 4.04's "Go to:" entryfield by simulating a button 1 click into entryfields before pasting. This sould not break other entryfields, but one never knows.
Fixed that maximizing a window that would not cover the whole screen then (e.g. a 80*25 command window) does not cause that windows to be sized smaller, but moved downwards.
Fixed that Advanced Marking in Personal Communications/3270 windows did "hide" the cursor (though still the position sometimes is one row too low).
Fixed that the SessionBar could get corrupted when selected to hide session icons.
Fixed that "Button 2 Titlebar click lowers Z-Order" did switch to seamingly unrelated windows (implemented by changing that the SessionBar now switches focus to the window below the mouse pointer instead the next one on top or Z-Order).
Fixed (or better make a workaround) that SmartSuite 97's Lotus 123 did trap in MAIN123W.DLL (at 0001:0003bcde) even when not having activated Titlebar SmartIcons (hopefully, as there seems to be more than one situation SmartSuite traps).
Fixed that PC/2 didn't initialize itself into the root drives of NFS-, LAN and TVFS attached drives before launching applications.
The following enhancements have been made with PC/2 beta 2.09e:
BUILDLEVEL.CMD now displays syntax for missing arguments.
Advanced Marking now also supports to copy text from NetScape, this includes not only to the browser window but also the Document Source window. This is valid for both, version 2.02 and 4.04.
Advanced Marking now also support Lotus Notes 4.52 (for seemingly all areas where one can enter text using the Rich Text Control.
When importing WPS Objects into the Popup Menu, customized icons are now imported (however it's up to the WPS to supply them, which it currently doesn't seem to do).
For OS/2 and DOS windows where no working directory is specified, %BOOTDRIVE%\ is implicitely assumed to avoid them to be started in the root of the last drive.
When importing with WPS 2 PC/2, PC/2 now removes commandline parameters that make only sense in the WPS, that is %, %*, %**P, %**D, %**N, %**F and %**E.
Special thanks to Andrew Zabolotny for greatly enhancing the Overview window (icons, gradient color,...) and providing me the modified source code (including some bug fixes, corrected type conversion and Single Click to switch on Overview Window).
You can now switch to the adjacent Virtual Desktop with the cursor keys (both keypads). Just press ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+CursorKey.
Changed to using the 32-bit version of the dynamic Libpath API. This seems to have cured the problem that the first application launched from PC/2 sometimes was delayed a few seconds.
Added support for detached sessions (including support for environment adjustments).
Added support to allow Drag & Drop of WPS Object onto the WPS 2 PC/2 window in addition to its icon on the WPS.
Added support for delayed Dynamic Menuselection and delayed Sliding Focus, that is you can select a delay of up to 2500 ms in 100 ms granularity.
Added support for Dynamic Sessionbar, that is the SessionBar slides onto the screen when moving to mouse pointer to the top or bottom of the screen and not removing it within a configurable time window.
Added a fix when copying into the clipboard from NetScape/2 2.02 (which is a bug/design flaw of not emptying the clipboard before copying into it, which can cause data from multiple processes/different formats in the clipboard, which is considered bad PM programming practice).
Added (entry level) support and documentation when running PC/2 as the protected mode (PROTSHELL) process (though I don't see many reasons why one wants to do that).
Added Exception List to persistently allow hiding of application windows in the SessionBar.
Added support for a timed automatic switch (that is "Click to Move" not selected) between Virtual Desktops, that is you can select a delay of up to 2500 ms in 100 ms granularity.
Added an optional CPU Performance utilization graphics for the SessionBar that shows the per processor Interrupt, Busy and Idle times for a selectable reporting intervall (available only if support by OS/2 is available, e.g. Warp 4+, Warp Server Advanced SMP+).
Added support for the %PC2% macro, which contains the path PC/2 was launched from (usefull when you install applications in subdirectories under PC/2 and e.g. your backup and reinstall OS/2).
Added support for the %PC% environment variable for an application's Environment.
Added a button to request backups of your configuration files. Additionally, changes are tracked and a backup is automatically suggested if a threshold gets exceeded.
Added a Sticky Windows entryfield where you can centrally define windows being sticky that may not appear in PC/2's Popup Menu (though the corresponding per menuentry setting still is available).
Added support to allow maximized (and only maximized PM) windows to cover the SessionBar if the SessionBar is not selected to be kept on top of Z-Order.
Added support for the Automatic Update feature, which allows you to register as a PC/2 user und PC/2 to automatically download news/updates/fixes/... regarding PC/2 from the Internet. In order to allow PC/2 use this feature (in PC2NET.DLL) TCP/IP must be installed any you need to have a permanent or dial-up connection to the Internet either directly or via a proxy.
Added an optional delay for Autostart applications (thanks to Sorin Srbu for that suggestion).
Once you downloaded the PC/2 beta, I recommend you to take a quick look into the announcement letter PC2.DOC and the additional online documentation before starting installation.
One thing I'ld like to mention is that from the feedback I think that the concept of Environment Spaces introduced with PC/2 2.00 is one of the most valuable features of PC/2, not available in any other application I know of! If you have some time, please look for it in the online documentation, I think you can't live without it afterwards!
It's pretty simple hopefully, just download the complete package into a temporary directory and unzip it with e.g. INFOZIP's UNZIP:
If you haven't installed PC/2 currently yet, just start the installation Install.cmd.
If you are a PC/2 user, before starting installation of this Beta, backup your existing PC/2 configuration. Then you might need to stop (to ensure that no files are locked) or even deinstall (in case you want to upgrade WPS 2 PC/2, as the WPS will lock WPS2PC2.DLL otherwise, making it impossible to replace it) PC/2 (but keep your PC2.INI, PC2.CFG and PC2.ENV as they can be upgraded by this Beta) and reboot. After the next boot, no PC/2 files should be locked and installation by Install.cmd will work then.
Of course, if you're an OS/2 expert you can install the Beta by just copying the modules (*.DLL, *.EXE, *.HLP) over your existing installation. In case of problems then I may not be able to help you as I can't see your installation.
The PC/2 features page has been updated for PC/2 2.10 also, and the PC/2 hints and tricks are still helpful (just use pc2v210 as the password to decrypt the source archive, but again for the Beta the source is not included).
Well, here is what you are waiting for ;-). You can download PC/2 Beta V2.09e from this site, hopefully you won't have too much troubles downloading it, as Geocities sometimes has bandwith problems (if you have problems, please let me know and I split the archive in multiple parts).
Just download the PC/2 V2.09 beta (686kB) archive, which does currently not include the source code (but I will make it available separately if required). The GA (General Availibility) version of PC/2 2.10 will of course include the complete source.
Note!This Beta has been compiled including debug code (though I have split the debug information to save you disk and memory requirements), thus PC/2 will not have the speed and reduced size of the optimized compilition and some features work slightly different in debug mode (e.g. you will be able to change the Url entryfield on the Registration page - but please don't do that). Using debug code allows me to find problems of the Beta code more easily, the final GA version will be compiled optimized of course!
Once you start the installation or run PC/2 for the first time you will notice the request to fill in the Registration notebook page. Though this page is called Registration it does not mean PC/2 no longer is Freeware (PC/2 still is Freeware). If the text would have fitted, I would have called that page Online Automatic Update feature.
So what's the reason for a Registration? Well, with a few words there are 2 main reasons:
First, I do want to estimate the PC/2 user base and want to know you as a PC/2 user.
Second, with the information there I'm able to let PC/2 inform you about news/problems/fixes/... regarding PC/2 and my other programs automatically.
When you launch PC/2 while not having filled out the Registration page, a dialog will a
CONTACT AUTHOR
Roman Stangl
e-mail:Roman_Stangl@vat.ibm.com
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/7885/
@Macarlo, Inc.
@Macarlo's Shareware & Web
OS/2
Java Lobby Member
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