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Archive-name: pcgeos-faq/part5
Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: January 1, 2003 URL: http://www.geocities.com/originalravinray/geos/faq/pcgeosfaq5.html See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge The most recent version of this file can be found at any news.answers archive site. One such site is rtfm.mit.edu, in the /pub/usenet/comp.os.geos.misc subdirectory. The most recent version of the FAQ is also available from my home page at http://www.geocities.com/originalravinray/geos/faq/ in both HTML and ASCII format. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER I make no claims about the accuracy of this information. Use it at your own risk. This file is compiled from various sources, including but not limited to USENET, the Web, commercial networks, and electronic mail. The FAQ is mostly targeted towards desktop Geos users, both Ensemble and NewDeal Office. However, there are still many sections devoted to other topics and Geos platforms. This information may be freely distributed, in whole or in part, in any form, provided that any distributor: * Tells me, so that I can inform you of updates to the FAQ and tell the USENET community (I will keep the information confidential, if you desire) * Makes every reasonable effort to keep this information current * Releases myself and the rest of USENET from any liability. If this file leaves the confines of USENET for any BBS's, web pages, user groups, commercial networks, or other networks (FidoNet, GeoHolics Net, etc.) or vendors, please let me know so that I can pass along the information to others. Please send submissions, comments, suggestions, or corrections to rayancog@pacific.net.ph. CREDITS I'd like to give the following folks my thanks: * Steve Main (ndmain@aol.com) former Director of Technical Services, NewDeal. * John Howard (johnh@breadbox.com) of Breadbox Computers, for giving me up-to-date info. * Stephen Haffly (hafflys@earthlink.net) for reposting this FAQ to FidoNet. * Lynn Montelauro (GSMLynn@aol.com) for making this FAQ a part of GSMN. * Rose Walton PC Coaches (rwcoaching@aol.com, http://users.aol.com/rwcoaching/) for distributing copies of this FAQ to its customers. * Werni Grieder (BaselBasel@aol.com, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/WerniGrieder) for being a Geos deity. * Doug Taylor (doug-taylor+@osu.edu) for a lot of the PDA information. * All the people who have written great Geos software. * All the people who mail me information and follow comp.os.geos.misc. * And of course, James Bearden, the original author of this FAQ. UPDATES Since the previous update (February 10, 2002), the following sections have been updated: * Credits (John Howard's e-mail addresses) * Section 5.1.2 Which character set does Geos use? Most European languages need the special characters above CHR (127)... * Section 5.2.1 What is the GEOS.INI file, and why would I want to mess with it? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INDEX * 5 Customizing Geos o 5.1 The Standard User Interface + 5.1.1 I don't like the interface. Can I customize it? + 5.1.2 Which character set does Geos use? Most European languages need the special characters above CHR (127)... + 5.1.3 When I install other fonts, they are displayed in the fonts menu in the order they were installed. Is there a way to have them in alphabetical order? + 5.1.4 I want to make a graphics file into a Geos background. How do I do that? + 5.1.5 How can I keep the splash screen from showing up? o 5.2 The GEOS.INI File + 5.2.1 What is the GEOS.INI file, and why would I want to mess with it? + 5.2.2 Is there an easy way to tweak the GEOS.INI? + 5.2.3 How do I associate DOS files with programs? + 5.2.4 How do I get rid of drives in GeoManager? + 5.2.5 How do I get rid of the link button? + 5.2.6 How do I enable the floating keyboard? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5 Customizing Geos 5.1 The Standard User Interface 5.1.1 I don't like the interface. Can I customize it? The desktop version offers four levels of interface complexity, and fine tuning options within each level, so you can customize each application to present you with as few or as many functions as you desire. Look for this feature in the Options Menu of applications that support it. Geos also supports a Generic/Specific UI concept. This means that applications are written for a very powerful dynamically bound object oriented generic user interface. At runtime the system 'binds' the Generic UI to a Specific UI, and all output is presented through that Specific UI. A CUA-based Specific UI surfaced briefly for the desktop version 1.x (it was part of America Online's now-defunct Promenade service), but due to legal questions, it was voluntarily removed from most FTP sites. Eduquest, a division of IBM, released a program called SchoolView that uses Geos 2.01 with a Presentation Manager (PM) interface and a different file manager (WorkPlace Shell), that made it resemble OS/2. It's intended primarily for network use and is not available for stand-alone systems. It has since been discontinued by IBM. The SDK does have the PM interface for testing purposes. Copy PM.GEO to your system directory and add the line "specific =3D pm.geo" to the [UI] section of your GEOS.INI. Note that, due to UI extensions developed by Breadbox and incorporated by NewDeal into the 3.0 kernel, the PM UI can no longer be used with NDO Release 3.x. With NewDeal Release 3, NewDeal has created an alternative Specific UI. The Industry Standard UI (ISUI) is intended to provide a more familiar user interface, so users of other software would feel more immediately at home. It looks similar to Windows 95/98/ME, with a taskbar that allows easy switching between running applications, and the Express menu (bearing the NewDeal logo) has been moved to the left of the taskbar and given Documents, Help, Run, and Shut Down items. It works in conjunction with the new NewDesk file manager. During installation, the user is given a choice of user interfaces and file managers. The user can change the UI and file manager anytime by selecting "Change UI" from Preferences. 5.1.2 Which character set does Geos use? Most European languages need the special characters above CHR(127)... Geos has quite a large available character set. For instance, all the vowels can be given acute, dieresis, grave, and circumflex accents in both upper- and lower-case. You can also use the Spanish =F1 (as in se=F1or),= Danish =E6, the German =DF (double s), and many other special language characters.= You also have a choice of various typographical, punctuation, currency, and mathematical symbols. These are all documented in the manual, or you can bring up a floating keyboard if you are willing to modify your GEOS.INI file. With New Deal Office 98 and higher, you can use the Character Map to view the entire character set in different fonts. Geoworks produced a double-byte character set (DBCS) version based on Unicode in late 1994, along with front-end text processors to support Japanese and Korean languages. This is known as Geos-J, but unfortunately no products that I know of have been developed to use it. As of this writing, the euro symbol (it looks like a lower-case c with an = =3D sign through it), the new monetary standard of 11 states of the European Union, is being included as a standard character in Breadbox Ensemble. 5.1.3 When I install other fonts, they are displayed in the fonts menu in the order they were installed. Is there a way to have them in alphabetical order? The Preferences application in the desktop versions 2.0 and greater allows you to select which fonts you wish to have appear in your font menu, and their order. Alternatively you can use a disk defragger which sorts files. 5.1.4 I want to make a graphics file into a Geos background. How do I do that? Enter Geos and start up GeoDraw or the Scrapbook. Use the Import option (on the File menu) to import your file into GeoDraw. Make sure that the imported image is selected and then use the Edit menu to either Cut or Copy it to the clipboard. Next, start up Preferences and select the Background option. Once there, click on the "Get background from clipboard" button, give it a name, and your image magically appears as a background. 5.1.5 How can I keep the splash screen from showing up? Steve Main (ndmain@aol.com) writes: "You can keep it from showing by:" * Use the /LOG parameter when starting NewDeal Office 97, or * Use the individual file tool to install LOADERHG.EXE, then rename LOADERHG.EXE to LOADER.EXE. This only works if you have a VGA monitor. 5.2 The GEOS.INI File 5.2.1 What is the GEOS.INI file, and why would I want to mess with it? The GEOS.INI file is a plain text file residing in your home Geos directory, and it specifies to a large degree how your system behaves. Geoworks and NewDeal do not recommend modifying the GEOS.INI file. It's generally a bad idea to change your GEOS.INI file unless you know what you're doing. However, if you do try to edit it, do it in DOS before you load Geos and make a backup copy in case something goes wrong. 5.2.2 Is there an easy way to tweak the GEOS.INI? Yes. There is a utility called GeoCon v2.0 that automatically adjusts your GEOS.INI file for you. GeoCon enables you to easily change the color scheme and behavior of the Express Menu. Preference 4 Pack also allows you to change certain system characteristics. It was added to the desktop in NDO98, and was redone as a Preferences module for the most part for Release 3. 5.2.3 How do I associate DOS files with programs? Kenda Gee (kendagee@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca) writes about his ZIP example: "The pkunzip is not a problem at all--just use a dosAssociation line in your GEOS.INI file and a double-click on your zip files...it is a breeze... :-) For pkzipping, there is a way to make sure you don't zip up your @DIRNAME.000 and PKZIP.EXE files. Create a folder, say "Zipper" in your \DOCUMENT directory... toss two files into it--your PKZIP.EXE and another file, called PKLIST. In PKLIST, type the files you don't want zipped up each time: PKZIP.EXE and DIRNAME.000. Then create a launcher for the PKZIP.EXE in your DOSROOM, or WORLD directory, and add the following command: -X@PKLIST C:\GEOS20\DOCUMENT\ZIPPER\1.ZIP "The only shortcoming of this recipe is that you will have to rename your output zipped file from 1.ZIP to whatever you want (I chose 1.ZIP, so that it will, generally appear on the top left hand corner of the \ZIPPER screen, but you could easily call it 0.ZIP, or whatever you want...). Just make sure you don't accidentally delete the PKLIST, or PKZIP.EXE file from your \ZIPPER folder. "To use the PKZIP, throw your files in the \ZIPPER folder, and use the Launcher to zip up your files in that folder." 5.2.4 How do I get rid of drives in GeoManager? This tip works only for Geos 2.x or higher. Add or edit the system section of your GEOS.INI file like so: [system] drive x =3D 0 where x is the drive you want to make disappear. 5.2.5 How do I get rid of the link button in GeoManager? Lee Bailey (offsite@crl.com) writes: "To get rid of the link button in GeoManager, comment out the features line in the FileManager section of your GEOS.INI, like this:" [fileManager] ;features =3D 32768 5.2.6 How do I enable the floating keyboard? GWRepMark (gwrepmark@aol.com) writes: "In order to use the Floating Keyboard you must insert two lines into your INI file: " [input] noKeyboard =3D true [expressMenuControl] floatingKeyboard =3D true End of the PC/GEOS FAQ Part 5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright =A9 199?-1999 James Bearden. All rights reserved. Copyright =A9 1999-2003 Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog. All rights reserved.= =20 User Contributions: |
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