What is WILLUTIL? ================= WILLUTIL grew out of extensions to NumLock for OS/2, a shareware program I released a little while back. NumLock was a pair of programs (one for DOS and one for OS/2 2.x) to overcome the annoying habit that OS/2 has of turning the NUMLOCK key off. WILLUTIL contains all of the functionality of NumLock, but so much more that I had to change the name. WILLUTIL is now the current version, available as a free upgrade to registered users of NumLock, and should replace any previous version of NumLock. Development of NumLock as a separate program will be discontinued. WILLUTIL will let you customize many characteristics of OS/2, including window scrolling, system beeps (great for those without soundcards), menu operation, etc. There are two executable programs in the shareware release of WILLUTIL, namely WILLUTIL.EXE and NUMLOCK.EXE. Usage ================= NUMLOCK.EXE remains from the previous release of NumLock. It is a DOS executable to alter the state of the NUMLOCK key in a DOS session. It has the syntax: NUMLOCK on|off The usage should be apparent. It may be placed in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file as "NUMLOCK ON" and will effectively relieve the NUMLOCK problem as it pertains to DOS sessions. WILLUTIL.EXE is the main executable for OS/2. It is a command-line utility that you control through command-line arguments. As with NUMLOCK.EXE, once execution terminates, the code is cleared from memory. With the exception of the argument "help" all the functions of WILLUTIL take two arguments, in the form of a keyword and a value. WILLUTIL is not case- sensitive. The keyword specifies the function to be altered, the value specifies the amount. All values are non-negative. For example, the keyword "ScrollDelay" sets the delay between clicking on a scrollbar and when autoscrolling begins. Its argument is in milliseconds. So, to set the ScrollDelay to 500ms (1/2 second), you would execute: WILLUTIL ScrollDelay 500 This would set a 500ms delay before scrolling begins. This would allow you to easily advance one row at a time. Conversely, executing: WILLUTIL ScrollDelay 0 would allow scrolling to begin as soon as the scroll button is depressed. The "Numlock" option also takes an argument, 0 for off or 1 for on, such that: WILLUTIL Numlock 1 turns the NUMLOCK key on. A complete list of options follows: KEYWORD VALUE DESCRIPTION =============================================================================== Numlock 0 or 1 0 turns NUMLOCK off, 1 turns it on MenuShowDelay milliseconds The delay (for ALL cascading-menus) between moving a depressed pointer onto the menu name and the menu expanding. A value of 0 restores the default PM menu activity. MenuHideDelay milliseconds Delay between moving a depressed pointer off a cascaded menu and the menu rolling up. BlinkRate milliseconds The delay between PM cursor blinks. ScrollDelay milliseconds Delay between pressing a scroll button and when autoscrolling begins. A value of 0 means scrolling begins immediately. ScrollSpeed milliseconds The delay between PM-requested scroll updates. Larger values give slower scrolling. A value of 0 means PM requests the application to scroll as fast as it can. Note: different applications may have different maximum scrolling speeds. WarningFreq Hertz The frequency for the PM warning beep. WarningDuration milliseconds Duration for the PM warning beep. NoteFreq Hertz Frequency for PM note beep. NoteDuration milliseconds Duration for PM note beep. ErrorFreq Hertz Frequency for PM error beep. Error Duration milliseconds Duration for PM error beep. Help Display help screen. You should experiment a little to decide how you prefer the various values set. Don't be concerned about "messing up" OS/2 by changing these parameters. WILLUTIL can be placed in your STARTUP.CMD file so that when you boot your system, PM is configured to your preferences (Especially that NUMLOCK key!) If you use 4OS2, you can place "WILLUTIL Numlock 1" in your 4START.BTM file so that the NUMLOCK key is on in all your full-screen OS/2 sessions, as well. REGISTRATION ======================== WILLUTIL is being distributed as shareware. This means you are licensed to use it for a 14 day trial period without charge. If you find it useful and would like to continue using it beyond the trial period, you must register the software. Registering the software has a number of advantages. When you register, you will be sent the registered, enhanced version of WILLUTIL. In addition to being faster and quieter, the registered version of WILLUTIL has the following enhancements: o The registered version can use an INI file to retrieve your custom all in one fell swoop. No more running the program 3 or 4 times, typing in the arguments each time. Also much faster than a batch file. o Due to the way OS/2 handles multiple sessions, current methods (including Numlock for OS/2 and WILLUTIL) for controlling the NUMLOCK key may occasionally exhibit a problem: the state of the key and the LED may become desynchronized (i.e. NUMLOCK is on, but the LED is off). Well, no longer! The registered version of WILLUTIL comes with a companion program, numlockd.exe. Yes, a NUMLOCK DAEMON! NUMLOCKD will keep your NUMLOCK key on and synchronized, no matter what. If OS/2 turns it off, NUMLOCKD turns it back on. It uses only 6KB of RAM, runs transparently in the background, and won't interfere with screensavers or seamless-WINOS2 operation. This represents the STATE OF THE ART in NUMLOCK TECHNOLOGY !! Don't be fooled by imitations. Available only to registered users! Because the demand for an advanced NUMLOCK solution is so high, the price for registration can be very low. Registration is available in two different options: For US$5.00, you can get the registered WILLUTIL for OS/2 package, including NUMLOCK for DOS and the NUMLOCK DAEMON, delivered to you electronically. This option is of course only available if you can receive electronic mail from the internet. (You can on CompuServe.) This also requires you to use UUDECODE to extract the software from you mail. For US$7.00, you can get a disk containing the complete WILLUTIL package, including the NUMLOCK DAEMON, and the DOS executable, as well as some additional utilities and some nice OS/2 background bitmaps, if there's space. With either registration, you are entitled to free (excluding postage, if necessary) future updates and bug fixes to the complete WILLUTIL package, in perpetuity. One call does it all. To register, send the appropriate fee, along with the necessary shipping information to: Will E. Rose Software Registration 1218 Leith Ave. Waukegan, IL 60085 USA If you have questions of comments about any part of this package, please feel free to contact me. I can be reached by email as wer5@midway.uchicago.edu