Clicker Version 1.2A Release Notes April 29, 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------- About Clicker ---------------------------------------------------------------- This is version 1.2A of Clicker, a mouse-button utility for Microsoft Windows NT version 3.5x. Clicker lets you assign a number of different functions to the middle and right buttons of your mouse or trackball; buttons modified by the control, alt and shift keys on the keyboard; and "chords" created by pressing two mouse buttons simultaneously. You can assign different settings for different applications Clicker is freeware. You may distribute Clicker freely, as long as you include these release notes in unmodified form. Clicker is copyright (c) 1994, 1995 Nemesis Consulting Group. --------------------------------------------------------------- Compatibility Notes ---------------------------------------------------------------- Clicker 1.2A is tested and supported under NT 3.5 and 3.51 for Alpha, Intel and MIPS platform machines. Clicker works under Windows 95 with the following limitations: - Application-specific settings are not supported for 16-bit applications. - Application-specific settings for the Windows 95 shell program, EXPLORER.EXE, will also apply to all 16-bit applications. Previous versions of Clicker have been reported to work under Windows 3.x with the Win32s extension installed. This release has not been tested in that environment and is not (officially) supported. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Installation ---------------------------------------------------------------- Clicker is released with separate directories for Alpha, Intel (I386), and MIPS platform binary files. To install Clicker, simply copy the files clicker.exe and mouhook.dll from the directory for your platform into a suitable directory and run clicker.exe. If you are upgrading from a previous version, please make sure you delete or overlay both of the old files. Clicker will detect and use the Microsoft common 3-D controls library CTL3D32.DLL if it exists on your system. If you prefer to not have the 3-D controls used, you can specify the command-line option /NO3D for clicker.exe and they will not be used. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Running Clicker ---------------------------------------------------------------- When you run Clicker for the first time, it will pop up the basic configuration dialog. Double-clicking on the Clicker icon will also bring up the dialog. From the basic dialog, you can assign global settings for the middle and right mouse buttons. "Global settings" are used for every program unless overridden by an application-specific setting. Clicking on the "Advanced ..." button in the basic dialog brings up the advanced configuration dialog, which lets you assign functions to the following events: - Unmodified middle and right button (same as the basic dialog) - Shift key plus middle and right buttons - Alt key plus middle and right buttons - Control key plus middle and right buttons - Left and middle button "chord" - Middle and right button "chord" - Left and right button "chord" You can assign the following functions to any of the above events: - Double-click - Close application - Maximize - Minimize - Restore - Show task list - Cut - Copy - Paste - Enter - Backspace - Delete - Escape - Undo - Page Up - Page Down - F1 through F12 You can assign functions to events for all Windows programs that run by using the "(Global Settings)" entry in the Applications list. You can override these settings for specific programs by adding these programs to the list. The "Add ..." button will bring up a standard Windows file selection dialog. Select the application you wish to add and click the "OK" button to add it to the list. You can then set the functions that will be performed when that program receives events. By default, new programs added to the list start with a copy of the current global settings. You can add up to 200 application entries to the list. Once you have selected the button assignments you want and hit enter, the selections are stored in the Windows registry. The registry values are under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Nemesis Consulting Group\Clicker. There is a set of 11 registry values for the global settings. For each application-specific setting, there is a registry subkey and set of 11 values as well. Since the values are stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER, each user will have their own Clicker settings. If you have Clicker configured like you want and no longer want to have the Clicker icon displayed on your desktop, you can specify the command-line option "/NOSHOW" to run the program hidden. When Clicker is run in this manner, the only way to disable it is to log off or kill it using Process Viewer or some other utility. It will not show up in the Task List. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1D to 1.2A (April 29, 1995) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Many changes have occurred from 1.1D to 1.2A. Here are the highlights: - Addition of application-specific settings. - Addition of meta-key+button events (shift, alt, control.) - Addition of chord events (left+middle, middle+right, left+right.) - Addition of MIPS platform binaries, again thanks to Dean Troyer who has provided the Alpha binaries as well. - Addition of 3-D look and feel. - Clicks on system menus of maximized MDI child windows now work. - Addition of a /NOSHOW command-line switch to let Clicker run hidden (evidently, there are some people who _really_ hate my icon.) - Addition of a /NO3D command-line switch to let Clicker run without using a 3-D look and feel. - Miscellaneous MDI fixes. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1C to 1.1D (January 23, 1995) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Alpha binaries are now included, thanks to Dean Troyer! (troyer@saifr00.ateng.az.honeywell.com) The distribution now has a tree structure, with separate ALPHA and I386 directories. A few more bug fixes: - Problems with activation of MDI child windows in File Manager were fixed. - Cut, Copy, Paste and Undo now work properly almost everywhere. Unfortunately, one of the places it doesn't work is Microsoft Word. - Clicker now checks for and silently ignores attempts to start more than one instance of itself. A cosmetic touchup: - Icon was modified slightly to look better on a white background. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1B to 1.1C (December 28, 1994) ---------------------------------------------------------------- A number of bugs have been fixed in 1.1C: - Double-clicking in Program Manager now works properly on inactive program group windows. - Crashes that were reported when restoring Netscape and other applications from an iconized state were due to a general problem with applications that call PeekMessage. This has been fixed in 1.1C. - The close application function is now much more reliable. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.1A to 1.1B (December 21, 1994) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.1A was distributed with a corrupt clicker.exe executable. Version 1.1B is a functionally identical bug-fix. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Changes from Version 1.0A to 1.1A (December 19, 1994) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0 was extremely primitive -- it only generated a double-click from the middle button. Version 1.1A adds a configuration dialog, multi-user registry support, many new mouse button functions, and the ability to program both the right and middle buttons. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Current Bugs and Limitations ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Button clicks on the desktop do not work, nor do button clicks on command windows (DOS prompts) under NT 3.5. See the "Why Doesn't Clicker Always Work?" section that follows. Under NT 3.51, both desktop and command window clicks now work. - Double-click doesn't work on the system menu of maximized child windows of applications that simulate MDI (MS Office applications, for example.) It does work for true MDI applications. - Cut, Copy, Paste and Undo work better, but don't work everywhere. - No PowerPC binaries are included. If you have a PowerPC machine and have a compiler, and want Clicker, please contact me and we'll try to work something out. - Requires that the mouse driver generate middle-button events to use the middle button functions. The Logitech driver for NT does, I don't know about others. --------------------------------------------------------------- Why Doesn't Clicker Always Work? --------------------------------------------------------------- Clicker works by installing a system "hook" procedure that monitors the mouse messages going to applications on your system. Because of NT's multitasking model and multiple message queues, Clicker is "attached" to applications and executes within an application's memory space. If the application process does not attach itself to Clicker's hook, Clicker can't function. There are at least two kinds of NT 3.5 processes that refuse to allow themselves to be hooked in this way. One is the Desktop and the other is command-line or DOS prompt windows. This means that when you try to use Clicker on the Desktop or on command windows under NT 3.5, nothing happens. As noted previously, this behavior has been changed in NT 3.51. --------------------------------------------------------------- Mailing List --------------------------------------------------------------- Send me your email address and I'll notify you by mail when new versions of Clicker are released. Please include the address in the text of the message or your sig, since one of the mail systems I use strips message headers. --------------------------------------------------------------- Where To Get New Versions Of Clicker --------------------------------------------------------------- Announcements of new versions are posted to the newsgroup comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc and will be mailed to those who ask to be on the mailing list. (New NT newsgroups have been proposed and are going through the Usenet debate/vote process. If and when a comp.os.ms-windows.nt.announce is created, I will post there instead.) New versions of Clicker are posted to ftp.cica.indiana.edu and to the newsgroup alt.binaries.misc. Since CICA can take some time to make postings available, Clicker is also available via anonymous FTP at ftp.onramp.net in the pub/IBM/General directory. If all else fails, and sometimes it does, I can mail it to you. --------------------------------------------------------------- Reports and Comments --------------------------------------------------------------- You can send bug reports or comments to me at the following email addresses: msusrtsp.rick@eds.com rick@onramp.net Rick Brown