Starting Other Programs

Double clicking an Executable File

A double click of the left mouse button (or keyboard Enter) on an executable file (file extensions of EXE, COM, BAT, BTM or CMD) will run the selected executable file with the environment inherited from FS/2. This includes Microsoft Windows files. However, if the Setup->Edit Batch Files is enabled, double clicking a batch file will open it in the default editor.

Command Line Dialog

A graphical Command Line dialog (which can save up to twenty commands) may also be activated from the Files window popup menu, toolbar or Alt+X key combination. If an executable file is selected, this dialog identifies the type of executable file, inserts the full path and file name on the command line and provides options to run the program full screen or windowed with the program auto-close set enabled or disabled. The dialog also has an option to auto-close the dialog on a Run command.

If the Command Line is activated with no executable file selected, the Execute dialog presents a blank command line to the user. The user may select executable or other type files after popping up the dialog.

If a file, directory or drive is selected with the Ctrl key down, that object is added to the command line, separated by a space. This allows very easy 'point and click' building of a command line.

A dialog Save pushbutton allows any command line to be saved and used later, up to the limit of 20 saved commands.

Toolbar Launch

The toolbar 'Launch' item may be set up to execute a program with or without parameters. The setup command line may include symbols to pass the highlighted drive, directory or file as a parameter.

The 'Launch' item can contain multiple executable program items and when clicked on, it drops down to show the items inserted and available for execution. Executable items may be dragged and dropped in any position in the toolbar. Hold down the ALT key while dragging to add the dropped item as a dropdown item.

Toolbar bitmaps for Launch items must be loaded from a disk file. Some applications bitmaps are provided in the FileStar BMP subdirectory.

To create a toolbar Launch item, perform the following steps;

1. LMB click on the Launch item (Space shuttle on its pad).
2. RMB click on last drop down item. The default setup has one dummy item which may be deleted.
3. From the Toolbar popup menu, select 'Create Item' to get the setup notebook.
4. On Position page set style 'Regular item' and position 'End'.
5. On the Action page, select 'ExecuteProgram' in the Function list box.
6. On the Action page, enter the command line in the Parameters field. A command line to start the Web Explorer with 8 threads and in the quiet mode would be 'LINKUP.EXE EXPLORE.EXE -t 8 -q'. Another example is 'tedit.exe %F /a'. Clicking the item would start the TEDIT text editor with the cursored file in its buffer and in an autoclose mode. Press F1 with the cursor in the Parameters field for possible command line parameters.
7. On the General page, either a title or bitmap is required. You may use both. The Create Bitmap panel describes the basics in creating a bitmap for use in the toolbar.
8. Click on Ok to save it.

Some programs may require you to add a CONFIG.SYS path since there is no way to designate a 'Working directory' but a leading '.;' in libpath and path is sufficient in most cases.

Command Windows

The Toolbar OS/2 or DOS buttons or the Windows->OS/2 or DOS menu items open a command window with the path of the active file window and the environment of FS/2. If either of the Settings Notebook Page 2_1 options Open OS/2 session full screen or Open DOS session full screen are checked, the session is opened full screen. Otherwise, it is opened in a windowed session. The windowed sessions, opened with FS/2, are titled with a numeric reference so that they may be identified in the Window Task List.

Using a combination of a LMB click and the following modifier keys, the following is possible if the open session full screen notebook option is not checked:

• Ctrl+Alt+LMB click - Open a command window with the shell environment.
• Ctrl+Shift+LMB click - Open a full screen session with the FS/2 environment.

There should be os2start.cmd and dosstart.bat files in the FS/2 directory. If one is found, it is run after the window is opened to set any environment it commands. It may be modified as desired.

Accelerator Keys - Alt Shift O or Alt Shift D

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