Now that you know what program groups are, you need to learn how you can work with them. The following sections teach you how to add, modify, and delete program groups.
Adding a Program Group
To add a new program group, make the program list area the active area of the DOS Shell window and display the program group to which the new group is to be added. If you want to add a new program group to the Main program group, for example, press Esc until the title bar of the program list area displays the title Main. When you want to add a program group to a different program group, use the mouse or cursor-movement keys to select the intended “parent” group in the program list area.
Using the Program List 79
When the program group you want is displayed, complete the following steps:
1. Choose New from the File menu. The New Program Object dialog box appears (see Figure 4.19). This dialog box contains two option buttons: Program Group and Program Item.
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The New Program Object dialog box.
2. Click the Program Group option button, and then click the OK command button or press Enter. The Add Group dialog box appears (see Figure 4.20). This dialog box con-tains three text boxes: Title, Help Text, and Password. You must type an entry in the Title text box to supply the group name. Entries in the Help Text and Password text boxes are optional.
Figure 4.20 The Add Group dialog box.
3. Type a program group title in the Title text box. (You can use up to 23 characters, including spaces.) This title will be the name, or menu option, that appears in the pro-gram list area when the parent propro-gram group is displayed.
If you are creating a program group for your database applications, for example, you might type Database Applicationsin the Title text box. This title appears not only in the program list area, but also in that area’s title bar when a program group is activated.
4. Type a help message, if you choose, in the Help Text text box. (The message can be up to 255 characters long, even though the Shell can display only 20 characters at a time in the text box; the text in the text box scrolls to the left as you type past the 20th character.)
For a Database Applications group, for example, you might type the help message
Displays list of database applications. Afterward, whenever you press F1 while the Database Applications item is highlighted, the help message appears.
80 Chapter 4 Using the DOS Shell
The Shell displays help messages in the Shell Help dialog box and formats the help message to fit in the dialog box. If you want a line to break at a particular point, type the characters ^m(or ^M) at that point. Any following text starts on the next line when the help message is displayed in the Help dialog box.
5. Type a password, if you choose, in the Password text box. (The password can be up to 20 characters long, including spaces.)
Using a password to limit access to a DOS Shell program group provides only minimal security. Any user with access to your computer easily can bypass the Shell and start pro-grams from the DOS command line instead.
6. Click the OK command button or press Enter. The Shell adds the new program group to the selected program group. Now, if you select the new program group, the Shell opens an empty file list area so that you can add program items.
Modifying Program Group Properties
After you create a program group, you can change the parameters that define it—its properties—through the Shell File menu. To change a program group’s properties, highlight the group’s name in the file list area and choose Properties from the File menu. The Program Group Properties dialog box appears (see Figure 4.21).
Figure 4.21 The Program Group Properties dialog box.
This dialog box essentially is a copy of the Add Group dialog box, except that the title, help message, and password (if you supplied one) for the selected group already appear in the text boxes. Make any changes you want, and then click OK or press Enter. Clicking Cancel returns you to the Shell window without changing any of the program group’s properties.
Deleting a Program Group
Through the File menu, you also can remove a program group. Before you delete a pro-gram group, make sure that all items in the group are deleted (see the section “Deleting a Program Item” later in this chapter).
Using the Program List 81
To delete a program group, select the group name and choose Delete from the File menu or press the Del key. The Delete Item dialog box appears (see Figure 4.22). Select Delete This Item, and click OK or press Enter.
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The Delete Item dialog box.
If you attempt to delete a program group before it is empty, the Shell displays an error message box.
Changing the Order of a Group’s Listings
Placing the groups that you use most frequently near the top of the group listing is conve-nient, enabling you to find these groups quickly. You can place groups in any order you want. To move a group from one place to another in the menu list, follow these steps:
1. Move the selection bar to the group that you want to move.
2. Choose Reorder from the File menu. The Shell displays the following message in the status line:
Select location to move to, then press Enter. Esc to cancel.
3. Use the cursor-movement keys to move the selection bar to the desired new location for the selected group and then press Enter. The Shell moves the group to the new position.
You can repeat these steps as often as necessary to produce the order you want for your groups.