README for Desktop source release 19990831
------------------------------------------

This file contains the source code used to build my current
Desktop binary.  

What's new in this build:
*  Worked around bug that caused extra line in DESKTOP.INF and
        'out of applications' error.  See below.
*  Fixed radio buttons in Install Disk Drives dialog.
*  Disk drive autodetection.
*  Win95-aware startup code tries to set the window title if
        running under the GUI.
*  Moved authors dialog about slightly.
*  Splash screen now displays while loading under John's AES -
        not sure if the bug was with the AES or Desktop, as it
        worked fine under DRI AESes, but only displayed after
        running through app_start() on new ones.
*  Load status is displayed in the splash screen - added just
        in case slow drives are present or something causes
        Desktop to pause briefly while detecting disks.
*  Moved every string used by DESKTOP.APP into DESKTOP.RSC
        (except some paths (:\*.*, \*.*, *.*), the window title
        and the copyright information in the binary itself).
        This is meant to help with any future attempts at i18n.
*  New source files (DESKCDS.C, .H) containing CD/DVD support
        code (just drive detection at this time).

What was new in the last build:
*  Integration of Ken's multiple window support and info line
	code.
*  Window menu.
*  Selection of icon wrap to screen or window.
*  3D dialogs - try it under John Elliott's AES!
*  Shortcuts - links to commonly used directories.
*  Trashcan and trashcan info.

This version of the Desktop contains a few bugfixes, along with a
number of minor enhancements.  The biggest bug fixed cropped up in
my last released, and affected the DESKTOP.INF file handling.  When
the file was saved, an entry was written for every application/drive
/shortcut/trashcan definition Desktop could use (64 total) instead
of just the ones that had data in them.  This lead to Desktop
running out of definitions when reloading the file at startup, which
prevented the user from configuring new applications.  This has been
fixed by removing the assumption that a set of standard definitions
always follows the last disk drive definition (to make sure Desktop
could display icons for files, folders and programs).  If you find
that after installing this version most of your icons have vanished,
add the following lines to DESKTOP.INF (after the last line starting
#M preferably):

#FFF28 @ *.*@
#DFF02 @ *.*@
#G08FF *.APP@ @
#P08FF *.EXE@ @
#P08FF *.COM@ @
#P08FF *.BAT@ @

However, these lines should be present already.

The second bug was a problem with the Install Disk Drive dialog
box - only the 'Floppy' and 'Hard' drive types would act as
radio buttons, the others appeared as normal buttons.  Thirdly,
the default colour scheme on a monochrome monitor was not much
use - while this could be altered, it's better to default to
something sensible.

The new features are mainly just minor changes.  The Info... box
has been rearranged slightly, and the splash screen now draws
properly under a new Pacific C AES (I hadn't noticed until this
build).  Also, the splash screen tells you what's going on during
the load process, which could be useful on slow computers or
those with disk problems.  This ties in with the disk drive auto-
detection, which should make setting Desktop up for the first time
much easier.  Desktop looks in DESKTOP.INF for a list of drives,
as it always has, and adds these to the drive list.  It then looks
at each drive on your system and adds any which were not found in
DESKTOP.INF (setting the icon and icon label appropriately).
These drives are not saved to DESKTOP.INF unless you change any of
the settings for the drive using 'Install Disk Drive...'.  However,
Desktop will remember the detected drives during a GEM session, so
the delay while detecting drives only occurs once per session.

If Desktop takes a long time to detect drives which do not always 
exist on your system (e.g. network drives that aren't connected to
a server), try uncommenting the #define LIMITDRV at the top of
DESKAPP.C.

The last two minor modifications consist of moving all the strings
Desktop uses (except wildcards and copyright notices) into the
DESKTOP.RSC file, which will help if Desktop is translated to any
other languages; and a piece of code to change the title of a Win9x
DOS box to 'MS-DOS Prompt - FreeGEM Desktop' when Desktop is running
under that particular GUI.

Ben A L Jemmett
(ben.jemmett@ukonline.co.uk)
28th August, 1999
-------------------

New features from older builds:
*  The Info... box returns the description string of a new
        AES (at the moment, just John Elliott's Pacific C
        version).
*  Colour support for modern AESes (again, restricted to John's
        version until someone write another one that returns
        the same X_BUF_V1 structure from appl_init() )
*  Redesigned Authors dialog and rebuilt resource tree (for some
        reason RCS.APP started including hundreds of useless
        tree and object #defines, so Desktop kept crashing when
        new trees were added...)
*  New source file (DESKCLRS.C) - contains colour code I added to
        DESKTOP.C, but then moved to clarify some parts of the code.
        The MAKEDESK.BAT and DESKTOP.INP have been modified to
        include this file (someone please hack LINK86 so it doesn't
        expect an EOF at the end of DESKTOP.INP... :) )
