This section covers tips and tricks which affect Presentation Manager.
Topics in this section:
You can make most Presentation Manager fonts as small as you like:
- Open the Font Palette.
- Double click on one of the fonts. A new dialog box will open.
- Under "Size," highlight the font size shown in the box.
- Type in a new font size that is non-zero (decimal values work); you
should notice a corresponding change in the size of the font in the Sample
box.
Note that this trick does not work for System Proportional, System
Monospaced, or System VIO fonts.
Related subject(s):
Screenshot: Font Palette dialog box with point size
highlighted.
from Tim Sipples' FAQ
In order to start Presentation Manager programs minimized
- Open the Settings notebook for the object.
- On the Program page, change the name of the program so that it is
misspelled.
- Go to the Session page and click on Start Minimized.
- Go back to the Program page, and correct the spelling of the program
name.
- Close the Settings notebook.
You can change the default system font with a REXX script,
SETFONT.CMD. However, the
font used in the Settings notebooks will not be affected.
Note: system fonts are designated by font size and font name, separated
only by a period. (e.g., 8pt Helv would be designated by "8.Helv")
Note: only the "default" fonts will work, e.g., Helv (not Helvetica),
Tms Rmn (not Times Roman), System Proportional, and System Monospaced.
Related subject(s):
You can move a window in the background without bringing it to the front
by holding the Ctrl key and dragging the window by its title bar with your
mouse.
You can close all or several of your open windows using the following method:
- Bring up the Window List with Ctrl-Esc or clicking both mouse buttons at
once.
- Highlight the windows you want to close with your mouse.
- Press the Delete key on your keyboard, or click your right mouse button
on one of the highlighted entries and choose Close from the popup menu.
Screenshot: Window List with highlighted items and popup
menu.
There are plenty of keyboard shortcuts in Presentation Manager. Here are
just a few of the lesser-known ones:
- Alt-Backspace = undo last action (note that this doesn't always work).
- Ctrl-Del = erase to end of field (useful when you have to retype text in
a field - press Home to get to the beginning of a field, then Ctrl-Del to
erase the text in the field - no more endless backspacing).
- Alt-F4 = close window.
- Alt-F5 = restore window.
- Alt-F6 = move between related windows, such as between an application
and its Help Window.
- Alt-F7 = move window with cursor keys.
- Alt-F8 = resize window with cursor keys.
- Alt-F9 = minimize/hide window.
- Alt-F10 = maximize window.
- F5 = refresh window.
Related subject(s):
To navigate around the notebooks (such as an object's Settings notebook)
without a mouse (note that sometimes these keys don't always act
consistently):
- Down/Up Arrows = moves between notebook tabs when a tab is highlighted
- Tab = moves dotted box highlight between selections
- Spacebar = moves to next page if its notebook tab is highlighted
- Alt-Down Arrow = move from notebook tab to page
- Alt-Up Arrow = move from page to notebook tab
- Alt-PageDown = move to next page
- Alt-PageUp = move to previous page
- Ctrl-Tab = move to next field on a page
- Shift-Tab = move to previous field on a page
Related subject(s):
- Open the Settings notebook for the folder you wish to change.
- Choose the Menu tab.
- Highlight ~Open in the box marked Available Menus.
- Click on the Settings button to the right of the box. A new dialog box
will open.
- Under Default Action, click on the down arrow next to the box. Several
choices will be revealed. Choose the one you wish.
- Click on OK, and close the Settings notebook.
Screenshot: Changing default view
contributed by David Haar
Folders open faster when set to Flowed view:
- Open the Settings notebook for the folder.
- On page 1 of the View section, click on Flowed.
You may also wish to have the folders sorted automatically:
- Open the Settings notebook for the folder.
- Choose the Sort tab.
- In the pull down box under Default Sort Attribute, choose which type of
sorting you like.
- Place a check next to Maintain Sort Order.
- Close the Settings notebook.
You can make the mouse cursor larger on systems with standard VGA with
LARGE.CMD.
The system must be rebooted for the change to take effect.
Screenshot: Large mouse pointer and standard mouse
pointer
Other REXX scripts:
You can affect objects that are listed in the Window List:
- Holding the Shift key and double-clicking on an object's name in the
Window List will minimize the application.
- Holding the Ctrl key and double-clicking on an object's name in the
Window List will maximize the application.
- Holding the Alt key and //single-clicking// on an object's name
in the Window List will allow you to change the name of the object.
An easy way to select an entry in a Presentation Manager listbox is to type
the first letter of the name of the entry. Subsequent presses of the same
letter will cycle through all listbox entries which start with that letter.
Related subject(s):
Sometimes you will swear that you've opened an application, but for some
reason, you don't see it onscreen (the Sticky Pad and Settings notebooks
are especially notorious). Try this, and see if it does the trick:
- Use Ctrl-Esc or click both mouse buttons simultaneously on the desktop
to open the Window List.
- Click the right mouse button on the name of the offending application.
This will pop up the object's menu.
- Choose either Tile or Cascade from the menu. The application should
appear.
Screenshot: Window List with Tile choice selected for
Settings notebook.
contributed by Brian Mathewson
You can open the parent of a folder from the folder's pulldown menu with
an object created from a REXX script and added to the folder's menu:
- Create the REXX script
OPENPAR.CMD.
- Create an object from OPENPAR.CMD:
- Open the Templates folder.
- Drag out a Program template with the right mouse button. A settings
notebook will open.
- Enter the location and name of OPENPAR.CMD in the Path and Name field
on the Program page.
- Choose the Session tab.
- Place a check next to Start Minimized.
- Choose the General tab.
- In the Title field, name the object whatever you wish.
- Close the settings notebook for the new object.
- Add the new object to the desired folder's pulldown menu:
- Open the settings notebook for the desired folder.
- Choose the Menu tab.
- If using OS/2 2.1, drag the open parent folder object onto the lower
box labeled "Actions on Menu." If using OS/2 2.0, you must use the lower
Create Another button to create the new menu entry.
- Close the settings notebook for the folder.
- To use the new menu choice, choose it from the folder's pulldown menu.
The parent folder should open.
Note: You can change the command 'OPEN=DEFAULT' to 'OPEN=DETAILS' or
'OPEN=ICON' or 'OPEN=TREE' in OPENPAR.CMD.
Other REXX scripts:
contributed by Lt. Rob Targosz
Use Alt-Tab to jump between windowed sessions.
Screenshot: Settings notebook for folder's directory
command line object.
contributed by Brian Mathewson
You can open a command line at a specific folder's directory from the folder's
pulldown menu:
- Open the Templates folder.
- Using mouse button 2, drag off a Program template. The Settings notebook
should open.
- On the Program page, place an asterisk (*) in the Path and File Name
box.
- In the Parameters box, place the following:
/k "cd %*"
- Click on the Session tab.
- Click on the box next to "OS/2 Window."
- Click on the General tab, name the object to anything you like, then close
the Settings notebook.
- Add the newly-created object to the menu of any folder.
- When you click on the new menu item on the folder's pulldown menu, an
OS/2 command prompt window will open in that folder's directory.
//
To open OS/2 and DOS windowed sessions in the background:
- Make sure the windowed command line object to be opened is not highlighted.
To do this, you can either click once on the desktop with mouse button 1, or
hold the Ctrl key and click on the object with mouse button 1. The object
will either have dotted lines around it, or nothing at all.
- Hold the Ctrl key while double clicking on the object with mouse button 1.
- The windowed command line should open in the background.
//
Related subjects:
//
Folders appear to open faster if folder animation is disabled.
- Open the System object. It should be located in the System Setup folder.
- Click on the Window tab.
- Under "Animation," Click on the choice "Disabled."
- Close the System object. All folders on your system should now open
without animation.
//
Related subjects:
Go to Command Line tips
Presentation Manager tips
