DXLab Launcher: Controlling Applications

As shown in the annotated screen shot above, the DXLab Launcher's Main window provides three primary groups of controls:

A set of seven Application Status Indicators the indicate the state of each member of the DXLab Suite
A set of seven Individual Application Control Buttons that enable you to change the state of each DXLab application
A set of four Group Control Buttons that enable you to control multiple applications -- DXLab and non-DXLab -- simultaneously

The Main window also provides buttons that display the Launcher's Configuration window and provide access to its online documentation.

The Configuration window provides Start buttons that enable you to start individual non-DXLab applications.

The Configuration window's Reset button directs all running DXLab applications to arrange their windows on the primary monitor. This operation is useful if you have switched from a dual-monitor configuration to a single-monitor configuration and need to regain access to windows previously resident on the second monitor.

If there are no application updates or database updates known to be available, the Launcher's Main window displays the name of the last Workspace activated in the space between the Config and Help buttons.

Application Status Indicators

Each application status indicator's color reveals the state of the DXLab application associated with the button below it:

	Indicator Color	Current State
	black	not installed
	red	not running
	cyan	starting
	green	running, not minimized
	yellow	running, minimized
	white	terminating

Individual Application Control Buttons

Each of these buttons controls one of the seven DXLab applications:

	Caption	DXLab Application
	cmd	Commander
	dxk	DXKeeper
	dxv	DXView
	pf	Pathfinder
	pv	PropView
	sc	SpotCollector
	ww	WinWarbler

When you click one of these buttons, the Launcher's action is determined by two factors:

the application's current state
whether or not you depressed the Ctrl key while clicking the button

Current Indicator Color	Current State	Action	New State	New Indicator Color
black	not installed	user clicks Individual Control Button	not running	red
red	not running	user clicks Individual Control Button	starting	cyan
cyan	starting	application loads and runs	running, not minimized	green
green	running, not minimized	user clicks Individual Control Button	running, minimized	yellow
green	running, not minimized	user Ctrl-clicks Individual Control Button	terminating	white
yellow	running, minimized	user clicks Individual Control Button	running, not minimized	green
yellow	running, minimized	user Ctrl-clicks Individual Control Button	terminating	white
white	terminating	application terminates	not running	red

Clicking an Individual Control Button offers to install a DXLab application that isn't yet installed, and starts an installed DXLab application that isn't running. If an application is running, clicking its Individual Control Button alternates between hiding all of its windows and restoring its Main window. Depressing the Ctrl key while clicking a running application's Individual Control Button terminates that application.

If the Launcher's Main window is activated, allowing the mouse cursor to hover over an Individual Control Button will produce a popup message describing the action that would be taken if the button were to be clicked or Ctrl-clicked.

When a DXLab application starts, its windows are restored to their state (minimized or not) when the application was last terminated.

If DXKeeper is running and you minimize its windows by clicking its Individual Control Button, it remembers whether or not its Capture window was already minimized. If not, the DXKeeper will restore both its Main and Capture windows when you again click its Individual Control Button.

If DXView is running and you minimize its windows by clicking its Individual Control Button, it remembers whether or not its World Map window was already minimized. If not, the DXView will restore both its Main and World Map windows when you again click its Individual Control Button.

Clicking an application's Status Indicator is equivalent to clicking its Individual Control Button.

You can optionally specify the pathname of a log file to be opened by DXKeeper on startup.

Group Control Buttons

	Button	Function
	Start	start all applications whose Enabled box is checked, and presents the Abort button
	Abort	aborts the process of starting applications, and presents the Start button
	Minimize	hide all windows of all running DXLab applications
	Restore	restore the Main windows of all running DXLab applications
	Terminate	if the CTRL key is not depressed while clicking this button, terminate all applications whose Enabled box is checked if the CTRL key is depressed while clicking this button, terminate all applications whether or not their Enabled boxes are checked note: non-DXLab applications are only terminated if their Main Window Caption is specified (whether or not CTRL is depressed while clicking this button)

If DXKeeper is running and you click the Minimize Button, it remembers whether or not its Capture window was already minimized. If not, the DXKeeper will restore both its Main and Capture windows when you click the Restore Button.

If DXView is running and you click the Minimize Button, it remembers whether or not its World Map window was already minimized. If not, the DXView will restore both its Main and World Map windows when you click the Restore Button.

You can optionally specify the pathname of a log file to be opened by DXKeeper on startup.

Starting non-DXLab applications

The Configuration window's Apps Started Before DXLab Apps and Apps Started After DXLab Apps tabs provide Start buttons that enable you to start individual non-DXLab applications.

Terminating non-DXLab applications

If you want a non-DXLab application to terminate when you click the Terminate button on the Launcher's Main window, you must specify the "caption" displayed in the title bar of its Main window. To do so, click the Show Captions button on the Configuration window's Apps Started Before DXLab Apps or Apps Started After DXLab Apps tab, and enter the caption in the application's Main Window Caption textbox. Note that the specified caption must exactly match the caption shown in the title bar of the application's Main window, including upper/lower case characters, spaces, and punctuation. Non-DXLab applications whose Main Window title bar content changes over time cannot be terminated via the Terminate button.

Displaying the Launcher's Configuration window

To display the Configuration window, click the Main window's Config button.