
 Introduction

        Windows Hajime Button v1.25

 ( Hajime is Japanese for "Begin" or "Start" )

 For those "never-say-windows95" sorts who are out there are often
missing out on many things that Windows 95 offers.  For myself, I am a programmer
who uses Windows 3.XX, 95, NT, Unix, Macintosh, OS-  well you get the idea.
But right now, I do the most of my work on Windows 3.X, and for some strange
reason, I'm just not satisfied by clicking on the Program Manager and hunting
down the program I want to run.  And that Microsoft Button Bar is no help either.
If you know it or not, that button bar just EATS up you GUI memory, and when you
are programming like me, it really messes you up.  It's in this "I-want-everything-
within-two-or-three-mouse-clicks" attitute that I make this "Windows Hajime Button."
 This uses no graphics, but it still is fully customisable.  I wanted to be
careful NOT to eat up memory like the other one (since, if it did, what would the
point be?) and so I made it do what I wanted and not much else.  The only really
troublesome part of this is that it doesn't have any real editor for the configuration
file that it requires.  This comes in the form of an INI file in the Windows
directory called "hajime.ini."  (I've included a sample INI file that you can
directly copy into your windows directory, and rename as hajime.ini.  If you run
the program without such a file where it should be, it will run the Help Screen
that will also produce a copy of that same sample INI file.  You still can specify
another INI file at the command line, but you still need to have the hajime.ini in
the windows directory in order for the program to work.)  As for the editor for
this INI file, I have finally made it work on a some what reasonable level, so
I am distributing it in this version release.
 I'm beginning to experiment with using this program with Windows95/98/NT.  It's
a curious idea if it is of any use.  The usual programs utilize "link" files that
jump to the original program and require directorys and file space.  I really want to
have some feedback on this.  I've also included two native 32-bit versions of the
program for those who want to try.  It does everything that the original does,
except for the system meter (Windows32 does memory differently).

 Files In Package

        Windows 3.1 Files:      HAJIME.EXE
                                ADV.EXE
                                HAJIME.HLP

        Windows 95/98/NT Files: Hajime32.exe
                                Adv32.exe

        Sample Files:           Hajime.ini

        Info Files:             Readme.txt
                                File_id.diz

        I used to have a setup program, but for some reason that setup program did
nothing but add a bunch of unnessary files (That's why this distribution is so
small!).  Just put the INI file where you want it or just supply the INI file in
the command line.  And add it to the Start Menu or Program Manager as you would 
any other program.

 Mission
 The whole idea for this program is to create a quick method of launching various
programs in an organized fasion.  If I would do such a thing, it would have to perform
better than the available "button bar" included in Microsoft Office -- which takes a great
deal of memory to run.  So far, even the "System Meter" works better than the Program
Manager's "About ... " option that takes up 1% itself.  I've used this thing for a number
of months now, and I think it's a success.  Now all it has to do is to make me famous....

 Future changes
 I don't know why it is, but programs never seem to be finished.  I guess it's the
artist within me.  And I have had a number of messages over email about this and about
possible changes -- some of which I've now made --  but there are some things I would like
to do.
 As I had said, one inspiration into making this program was the Windows 95 "Start"
menu.  (Before anyone gets excited over that, that's as far as it goes.  The mechanics
and implementation is very different.  I choose a menu system because it took less memory
than an Icon base menu).  However, what it doesn't do is keep track of the current programs
being run.  There's a good reason for that.  Those kind of programs are REALLY difficult to
do, and up until now, I've whipped this thing out on my spair time.  Something more would
take some real time to implement.  But once I get a handle on this, I will send out a new
program that would keep track of all the programs being run, and allow you to pause,
minimize, maximize, kill, etc programs that you are running.  The only real limitation
is that Windows 3.11 is not a real multi-tasking environment.  It gets close, but there
is a lot of limits to it.  And there is the biggest question that I must ask is if it would
be worth it.
 As for anything else, only my imagination - and anyone who email's me -- is the limit.

Source Code
 I'm not really sure that I want to release the code, since I can only release
the part that I've written myself.  Unfortunatly, I've used a large number of other
components that you can't get for free!  If you want it, you will probably have to ask
me directly, but without any non-public code! But right now, I'm not sure...or did I
say that?

  Version Info

 Version  Notes
 v1.00  Initial Release
 v1.10  I added a "setup" program to manage the INI files, and allows
    for more than one INI file for the  button itself.  I've changed the
 default INI file from "PANEL.INI" to "HAJIME.INI" and added
    a "RUN" option to the basic menu.  Not the least of which is to
    add this help file.  Also, the "Handle Bars" works a lot prettier
    than before.
 v1.22  Between the last release, I've made a number of changes in
    the layout of the default menus and a few tricks that I found
    usefull in my using of Windows.  Also, at the urging of a good
    friend, I've thrown out the old editor, and made a new editor that
    is half-way decient.
 v1.23  I realize that I've missed a whole BUNCH of undocumented
    changes, but them's the brakes.  I did change something that
    really annoyed me in the "RUN" option.  Before if you tried to
    add a command line parameter, it wouldn't let you.  So I've
    changed it to allow parameters AND it will keep a 10 count
    history of what you've run last.
     I used to think that this is useless for windows 95, but
    now I'm not so sure.  Windows 95/98/NT uses a file called a
    "LINK" that takes up space and refers to another location.
    The Hajime button does store all of the program options in a
    single INI file, and is a little easier to manage that the little files.
    The only problem is that the windows "LINK" files will actually
    try to find the new location if the program moved, but my
    editor will do the same thing.  To top it off, this does take less
    memory.  I would LOVE to hear from people how to make this
    usefull for Windows 95 as well as Windows 3.XX.
     This should be the finale version.  Well, maybe.  I'm not
    sure if it will be or not, but I take WAY TOO much pride in my
    work, and when I get something in my mind, it just flows out!
    But I've got too many other things to work on, and this one
    just isn't important enough.  But I still want to be famous!
    And... I want it to be usefull... So share it with lots of people,
    keep me up to date on what you think, and KEEP UP THE
    SUGGESTIONS!!!  I have loved all of the suggestions that
 I've gotten.
v1.24 I'm not sure what I changed here...  I THINK what I did
 was try to fix some little things that didn't work...
v1.25 Big time changes!  I've added a new dialog that will allow
 you to search for files on the hard drive.  You can double click
 the file to run that file that it's associated with, and even (my
 favorite here) right click on it, and open a program with that file!
 You can even save the search results to a file.
  Another change is a result of some requests that I
 have had by some of my many "fans."  There are some default
 functions, like "Restart Windows" or "Close Hajime" or the like.
 I have added a new catagory to the INI file called a "Meta"
 entry. This will allow you to placed these options ANYWHERE
 you want.  That's why I'm adding two version of the executable
 to this distribution.  One will have the defaults;  another will not.
  I added a really cute analog clock.  I don't know why, but
 I just LOVE analog clocks!
  If I can get away with it, I'll also create a 32-Bit version!
 It wont have any additional functionality, but it will be native Win32!
  A few other minor changes....
