 
 AppWait Readme                  Copyright 1996, Darren V. Croft 
 
 Version 1.0                                          (10/30/96) 
 ================================================================ 
 
 
 Description 
 ----------- 
 AppWait allows applications stored on a network drive to be 
 placed in the OS/2 startup folder. Until the executable and 
 working directory drive letters are available, AppWait presents 
 a dialog that displays, "Waiting for X:". 
 
 Program icons set up with AppWait behave just like normal 
 program icons. For instance, if the application is minimized, 
 double clicking on the icon brings the application to the 
 foreground. 
 
 
 Shareware version 
 ----------------- 
 There are only visual differences between the shareware version 
 and the version you will receive upon registration. 
 
 On the shareware version the waiting dialog displays the 
 following additional words: 
 
 "Unregistered shareware" 
 "dvc@ibm.net" 
 
 You may use the shareware version only for evaluation purposes. 
 At the conclusion of your evaluation please register as detailed 
 in Register.txt ($10 personal license, $100 site license). 
 
 
 Limitations 
 ----------- 
 OS/2 executables work very well with AppWait. OS/2 command files 
 and DOS and Windows executables currently have some limitations. 
 
 There is no way to specify DOS or Windows Settings -- the 
 defaults are always used. 
 
 Windows applications, DOS .bat files, and OS/2 .cmd files wait 
 only for the working directory drive. This is fine if the 
 executable is on a local drive or on the same drive as the 
 working directory you specify. 
 
 
 How does it work? 
 ----------------- 
 AppWait is a small PM program. It takes as parameters the 
 information needed to run your application. 
 
 Simply create a program object for AppWait with the application 
 info, put it in the startup folder, and you're done. 
 
 
 AppWait Useage 
 -------------- 
 OS/2 or DOS executable: 
    AppWait  APP_NAME  APP_WORKING_DIRECTORY  PARAMETERS_FOR_APP 
 
 OS/2 .cmd file: 
    AppWait cmd.exe WORK_DIRECTORY /cCMD_NAME PARAMS_FOR_CMD 
 
 DOS .bat file: 
    AppWait command.com WORK_DIRECTORY /cBAT_NAME PARAMS_FOR_BAT 
 
 Windows programs: 
    AppWait winos2.com WORK_DIRECTORY APP_NAME PARAMS_FOR_APP 
 
    (if this doesn't work on Warp red spine, try win.com 
     instead of winos2.com) 
 
 
 The following are step by step instructions to set up a program 
 object with AppWait: 
 
 1. Create a new program object 
 
    You can drag a program object off the Program template 
    in the templates folder 
 
    You can click on a program object and type create another. 
 
    Or, you can modify a program object you already have for your 
    app. 
 
 2. On the program page of the object, fill in the path and file 
    name field with AppWait.exe 
 
    If you haven't installed AppWait to a directory on your path, 
    you must enter the full path name. (For instance, if you have 
    Appwait in c:\utilities, enter c:\utilities\appwait.exe) 
 
 3. In the parameters field, supply information about your 
    app. 
 
    For OS/2 or DOS executables, this information should be 
    entered in the following order: 
    a. Full path to the executable 
    b. Full path of the working directory 
    c. Parameters for your app 
 
    For OS/2 .cmd files, enter the following in the parameters 
    field: 
    a. cmd.exe 
    b. Full path of the working directory 
    c. /cFILENAME.CMD  where FILENAME.CMD is the name of your 
       command file. (You can include the path if needed.) 
    d. Parameters for your command file. 
 
    For DOS.bat files, enter the following in the parameters 
    field: 
    a. command.com 
    b. Full path of the working directory 
    c. /cFILENAME.BAT  where FILENAME.BAT is the name of your 
       batch file. (You can include the path if needed.) 
    d. Parameters for your batch file 
 
    For Windows programs, enter the following in the parameters 
    field: 
    a. winos2.com  (try win.com if this doesn't work) 
    b. Full path of the working directory 
    c. The executable name. (You can include the path if needed.) 
    d. Parameters for your app 
 
 
 4. The working directory field of the AppWait object can be left 
    blank. It is overidden by the working directory passed to 
    appwait. 
 
 5. Set the icon for the program object. 
 
    This can be done in several ways. Here is one method: 
    a. Open the settings of an object that has the correct icon. 
    b. Change to the general page. 
    c. Press the edit button and the icon editor should open. 
    d. Choose File Save, and enter a temporary name. 
    e. Use the drives object to open the folder where you 
       temporarily saved the icon. 
    f. Change to the general page of the AppWait object you are 
       creating, and drag and drop the icon from the folder onto 
       the icon area of the general page. 
 
 
 Useage Examples 
 --------------- 
 The following examples assume you have AppWait.exe in the 
 c:\util directory, and the c:\util directory is not in your 
 path. 
 
 ** Example: OS/2 executable ** 
 A program object with the following settings will start Describe 
 from the h: drive with a default directory of c:\describe. The 
 file name c:\describe\data\todo will be passed as a parameter. 
 
 Path and file name field: 
  c:\util\appwait.exe 
 
 Parameters field: 
  h:\describe\describe.exe c:\describe c:\describe\data\todo 
 
 Working directory field: 
 
 
 
 ** Example: DOS executable ** 
 A program object with the following settings will start 
 Wordperfect from the h: drive with a default directory of 
 h:\wpData, and the file name h:\WpData\todo will be passed as a 
 parameter. 
 
 Path and file name field: 
  c:\util\appwait.exe 
 
 Parameters field: 
  h:\wp51\wp.exe h:\wpData h:\WpData\todo 
 
 Working directory field: 
 
 
 
 ** Example: OS/2 command file ** 
 A program object with the following settings will run the 
 command file copyNew.cmd with a working directory of 
 f:\newfiles, and pass c:\latest as a parameter. 
 
 Path and file name field: 
  c:\util\appwait.exe 
 
 Parameters field: 
  cmd.exe f:\newfiles /ccopyNew.cmd c:\latest 
 
 Working directory field: 
 
 
 
 ** Example: DOS batch file ** 
 A program object with the following settings will run the batch  
 file copyNew.bat with a working directory of f:\newfiles, and 
 pass c:\latest as a parameter. 
 
 Path and file name field: 
  c:\util\appwait.exe 
 
 Parameters field: 
  command.com f:\newfiles /ccopyNew.bat c:\latest 
 
 Working directory field: 
 
 
 
 ** Example: Windows Program ** 
 A program object with the following settings will run America 
 Online with a working directory of m:\aol30. 
 
 Path and file name field: 
  c:\util\appwait.exe 
 
 Parameters field: 
  winos2.com m:\aol30\aol.exe m:\aol30 
 
 Working directory field: 
 
 
 
 Possible Enhancements 
 --------------------- 
 The following enhancements will be considered if there is enough 
 demand. 
 
 1. Specify DOS and Windows program settings.
 2. Wait on the the drive where the command file, batch file, or
    Windows program resides (when different from working drive).
 3. Execute a specific command file or other program when a
    drive isn't available (With this capability, you could have
    an object that would NET USE the drives if needed.)
 4. Wait on other drives in addition to the executable and
    working directory drive.
 5. Have an application wait for another specific application in
    addition to waiting for the network drives (In this way you
    could enforce startup order for network apps.)
 6. A new WPS class that would create a "Network Program"
    Object providing ExeWait functionality and a settings page
    to control it.
 
 
 Please let me know your needs by sending email to dvc@ibm.net 
 