Text Buttons Copyright (C) Moose O'Malley, ------------ September 2007. +===========================================================+ | T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S | +===========================================================+ | * Introduction | * Installing and Using this Program | * Using Text Buttons | * Uninstalling this Program | * The Future | * Reviews / Awards / CDs | * Freeware Information | * Warranty | * Amendment History | * Contacting the Program's Author +===========================================================+ Introduction : -------------- Text Buttons for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, or later. This program is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. See "Freeware Information" below. Text Buttons enables you to place often used chunks / sections of text behind buttons so that it is very easily and quickly obtainable when required. This program enables you to store text for anything up to 750 buttons in 50 in columns / groups of 15. How many times have you had to load up a document just to cut the same piece of text out over and over again ? How many times have you cursed Microsoft Exchange or other email programs because they doesn't handle EMail SIGs properly or put your SIGs where you want them ? Text Buttons is a great way to solve these and other headaches ! Text Buttons can also be used as a notebook to keep frequently used information - such as Task Lists and To Do Lists - even if this information is not often required for copying and pasting. I use this program all day every day - for holding email sigs, to standard emails, to various WEB site addresses, standard registration letters (for my shareware), lists of registered users by program, newsgroups, mailing lists, email addresses, and various details and notes I need all the time at work and at home. Why this program hasn't sold millions or even dozens of copies around the world, I just can't understand. You may ask "Why the hell would anyone need dozens, hundreds, or the 750 buttons that this program supports ?". Well, start using this program, and pretty soon, you'll hopefully discover how darn useful it is, and you'll start using more and more buttons, and wonder how you ever got along without Text Buttons. I love this program, and hope you do to !! :) I personally use well over 100 buttons - and use the program all day at work. (This was why I originally wrote the program). Developed using 32-bit Delphi. Text Buttons for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, or later. This program will **NOT** run under Windows 3.x (even with Win32 installed) !! Installing and Using this Program : ----------------------------------- To use this program, unzip the contents of the ZIP file to a directory - such as c:\text_buttons\ - and run the executable file : Textbut.EXE. If you want the program to run automatically when Windows starts up, then select this option under the "File" menu in the program. If you would like to be able to run this program by clicking on an icon in the Windows Start Menu, or on the Desktop, etc then you can use the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the program's File menu. I hope you find the program easy to use and useful. Using Text Buttons : -------------------- To use Text Buttons, simply click on one of the ten buttons, and one of 2 things will happen : - If the button is already setup, then the text it contains will be automatically copied to the Windows Clipboard - ready for use. You can then paste it into whatever application you are using. e.g. Email, Word processor, etc - Or, if the button is not already defined, you will be taken to a setup screen where you will be able to define the button's label and contents. - To Add, Change or Erase the definition of a button, simply click with the right mouse button on a particular Text Button to enter the Settings Screen for that button. - If you select "Button Drag / Move Mode" {under the File menu} then you will be able to Drag and Drop Text Buttons on to each other to change the order / positions / group of the buttons. You will need to select this option again under the File menu to turn "Button Drag / Move Mode" OFF before Text Buttons are active / usable again. - On the Text Button setup screen there are buttons for copying text from the clipboard and loading text from a file when defining a Text Button. You can view 1, 2, 3, or 4 columns of buttons at ant time, and you can move backwards and forwards through other groups / columns of buttons as desired. Each group / column of 15 buttons can be assigned a name, which makes it great for ordering and classifying your buttons. To navigate quickly to other button groups, you can double click on any group name, or use the "Jump to Button Group" menu option on the File menu. You can also select the Font / Size for the text on the buttons. For this, you can use any Windows fonts ! (See "Change Button Font" under the File menu). You can also select the Colour of the text on the buttons. For this, you can can use any Windows colours !! (See "Change Button Font Colour" under the File menu). This program enables you to store text for anything up to 750 buttons in 50 columns / groups of 15. If the "Auto-Minimise after Button Press" (under the File menu) is checked, then Text Buttons will auto-minimise itself once a button is pressed - to get it out of the way so you can continue working straight away. To erase buttons quickly, you can use the "Erase Button Mode" menu option (under the File menu), which allows you to erase buttons simply by clicking on them with the mouse. This program is fully scalable - so if you change the size or shape of the main Text Buttons window, and all buttons, etc will resize and scale automatically to fit the new window size. Some useful text processing options are included with the program - see "Text Menu Options" below. Text Menu Options : ------------------- The program's Text menu includes the following options : - Sort Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, sorts it into ascending order, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. - WordWrap Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, word wraps it to column 70, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. - WordWrap and '>' Prefix Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, word wraps it to column 70, places a ">" prefix in front of every line, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. - UPPERCASE Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, converts it to uppercase, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. - Lowercase Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, converts it to lowercase, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. - Titlecase Clipboard Text Takes text from Windows' clipboard, converts it to titlecase, and then places it back on Windows Cluipboard. These options are very useful when dealing when text. Uninstalling this Program : --------------------------- At the present time, there is No Uninstall function. If you ever want to delete this program from your computer, then : 1. Exit the program, and delete it from wherever you installed it on your harddrive. Before doing this however : - If you have selected / enabled the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option (under the File menu), then you should ensure that this option is not checked / enabled (which you can easily do by re-selecting the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option from under the File menu). - If you have used any of the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the File menu, then you should use the "Delete All Shortcuts" option under the File menu to remove these from your system. Simple as that ! The Future : ------------ In the future, many improvements could be made to this program, such as : - Enable user to select Font and size of text (of the data behind the button, not just the button's name), so that the text will appear correctly if it is pasted into Word or email or some other font aware application. - Enable the program to link to a file instead of having to enter the text into the edit window for each button. This means that files that change will always have their latest definitions available in Text Buttons. - Enable the program to work with other types of data, such as pictures, sounds, video, etc. - Make Text Buttons reside on the Windows 95 / NT tray bar. - Add in the ability to reorder Button Groups. (i.e. move and reorder entire columns of 15 buttons). - More buttons - is 750 enough ?? ;) - Optimise the loading and saving of button details to make moving groups faster - only needed for very slow PCs. e.g. PC's from the early-mid 1980's. ;) If you would like any of these improvements, or would like to suggest more, please email me and let me know. How much more work I do on this program depends entirely on what support I get, how many people use the program, etc. Reviews / Awards / CDs : ------------------------- None so far. Freeware Information : ----------------------- This is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. However, if you find the program useful, then please consider making a PayPal donation to support my efforts. (To make a donation, please run the program and select the "About" option under the Help menu, and then click the PayPal link on the "About" screen). Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know. Amendment History : -------------------- Vers Date Description 1.0 30-Mar-1998 First Public Release. (3,220 lines of code / comments.) 2.1 19-Aug-1999 Ability to Drag and Drop Text Buttons on to each other to change the order / positions of the buttons - via the "Button Drag / Move Mode". Also, if the user presses the Right or Middle Mouse Buttons over a Text Button, then go into the setup mode for that button. Add in buttons for copying text from the clipboard and loading text from a file when defining a Text Button. (Note that the copy to from / to clipboard was always available via the standard Windows Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V key presses - now the functionality is more visible). (4,663 lines of code / comments.) 3.1 08-Mar-2000 Remove the Show / Hide Button Setup Icons options - they are no longer needed - simply right mouse click on a particular Text Button to enter setup mode for that button. Make Text Button Labels have a strikeout (i.e. line through them) while Button Drag Mode is enabled, to reinforce that the buttons are not available until Button Drag Mode is disabled again. Add in Form and Component Scaling when the program's main window is resized - really Cool !! Fix NT Warning on Shutdown on some PCs. Store the INI settings file in Text Button's directory, rather that in the Windows' directory - there's enough crap there already ! ;) (6,678 lines of code / comments.) 3.2 12-Apr-2000 Added in 5 extra buttons - now there are 15 text buttons. 10 buttons simply wasn't enough for this very useful program. Also, simplified some of the code, and saved settings when exiting button setup mode. (6,501 lines of code / comments.) 3.5 24-Oct-2000 Greatly simplify the code to make it very easy to add extra buttons in the future - the program code will now support 1,000's of buttons if required. Only save Buttons when they change - not after every exit. Reduce Memory footprint - even though this was small and never an issue. Support for up to 4 columns of 15 buttons - so you can have 15, 30, 45, or 60 buttons. (I use this program all the time, and I just kept needing more buttons - 60 should be enough for now !). Enable the user to change the button font. 4.0 10-Apr-2001 *** Private BETA Release for Bruce C. *** Added in support for button groups (each group is a column of 15 buttons), which you can give your own name. Now, this program supports up to 750 buttons in 50 groups (of 15) - hopefully enough for most people !! ;)) (Provided specially for Bruce C - hope you like it Bruce !) Add in the "Always On Top" menu / functionality. (10,304 lines of code / comments.) 4.1 11-Apr-2001 *** Private BETA Release for Bruce C. *** Another busy night of coding ... ;) Enhance the Button Drag Mode dialog, and add a "Don't Show Windows 95, 98 This Again" option. NT, 2000 only. Add in an "Erase Buttons" menu option to enable you to quickly erase buttons simply by clicking on them with the mouse. Add in an "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" menu option to help the user make this program run automatically at Windows Startup. This saves you creating a shortcut to the program in the Windows StartUp folder !! In addition, if you move the program to a new directory or drive, it will automatically sense that its existing auto-run command needs updating to the program's new location. Very cool !! Add in a "Jump to Button Group" menu option (under the file menu), to enable quick navigation to any button group. You can also achieve this by double clicking on any button group name in the main window. Very handy !! Convert Text Buttons to being 32 bit - so you get long file names in the "Load From File" option when a button is being setup. This means that Text Buttons is now for 32 bit Windows (such as 95, 98, NT, 2000), and will no longer run on Windows 3.x. Improve the font handling / support. (Special thanks to Bruce C for the great encouragement and support !) (11,996 lines of code / comments.) 4.2 6-Feb-2002 Back onto Public Releases !! A great deal (v4.0, v4.1) has happened since the last real release. Add the ability to select the Font / Size for the text on the buttons. You can use any Windows fonts !! (See "Change Button Font" under the File menu). Add the ability to select the Colour of the text on the buttons. You can use any Windows colours !! (See "Change Button Font Colour" under the File menu). When setting up a button or erasing a button, or moving a button, make it have focus. i.e. it is selected. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. Brand New About Screen and associated functionality. Add in support for the Maximise icon in the top right corner of the program's main window. Introduce yet more Anti-Hacker / Anti-Cracker measures. (16,216 lines of code / comments.) 4.3 29-Oct-2002 Enable the use of any fonts installed on your PC. i.e. the list of fonts that you cna use are no longer dependant on which printer(s) you have installed or which printer is your default printer. (Thanks to Bruce C for alerting me to this problem). Add some pictures to the buttons on the setup form. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (37,232 lines of code / comments.) 4.3b 20-Nov-2002 Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. Registered Users - please contact me via email. (42,699 lines of code / comments.) 4.3c 25-Aug-2003 Fix an error in the Button Drag / Move mode - which was saving buttons with a "BitBtn" prefix instead of "Button" prefix. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (71,588 lines of code / comments.) 5.0 14-Jun-2005 Allow the user to Minimise Application On Start-Up by providing an option under the File menu. Add in a Text menu with the following options : - Sort Clipboard Text - WordWrap Clipboard Text - WordWrap and '>' Prefix Clipboard Text - UPPERCASE Clipboard Text - Lowercase Clipboard Text - Titlecase Clipboard Text These options are very useful when dealing when text. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (74,708 lines of code / comments.) If this program was not downloaded from my Home Page, then it is most likely an old version. The latest version of this program is available from my Home page and its mirrors. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://move.to/moose ____________________________________________________