Keyboard Macros Screen Saver Window Placement Application Access Hot-Keys Task Scheduling There are many utilities available for OS/2 today. Each utility serves a specific purpose and has its own particular interface and features. It is often difficult to define a cost effective set of utilities which provide the functionality you need now and will need in the future. Software utilities are like the tools in your garage - nothing is more frustrating than needing one and not having it. Wouldn't it be great if there were a single, affordable program which contains the most useful set of utilities? And what if the utilities were integrated so they worked the same way and worked together when needed? What if a single program in your startup group provided all the power and convenience that four or five separate utilities do today? Now there is such a program. PM Assistant includes six utilities bundled together into a single cohesive program. Not only does this bundling provide convenience, but because we integrated these utilities so they work together you can accomplish feats never before attempted on OS/2! Some common uses for PM Assistant are: >> Use hot-keys to bring applications to the foreground. The application executes automatically if it is not already running. >> Use a hot-key to minimize all your programs. >> Use a hot-key to move the programs on your screen to positions most convenient for your current task. For example, if you are working with a text editor and a command prompt, you would place them one on top of the other filling your screen. >> Use a button to start your text editor and execute the File Open menu command. Then you simply select the file to edit and begin work. >> Use a hot-key to copy the current selection into the OS/2 "Search and Seek files" utility and start searching for all occurrences of that text. >> Use a button to print your two most important files. Your text editor is executed automatically if not already running. Now printing your work takes one step rather than three or four steps. >> Schedule a command to copy your important files to a backup directory every night at 7:00 pm. >> Use a hot-key to type your standard closing phrase, your name, and your title. Now finishing a letter takes one keystroke rather than forty three keystrokes. >> Use a hot-key to save the current document, forward it onto the next person in your workgroup, and open your next document. >> Schedule a reminder to prepare for your staff meeting every week. As your can see from these examples, you can accomplish lengthy tasks with just one key-press or click of a button using PM Assistant. And you can schedule tasks to be performed when you're not even there. This ability to control other applications is also useful to systems integrators and value added resellers. "PM Assistant unifies our suite of applications into a single package. It is the sole tool providing incredible usability and convenience for our users." -Eugene Kiel, Vice President CText Inc., a newspaper publishing systems provider. How can one program do all this? We now describe exactly how PM Assistant works. === HOW PM ASSISTANT WORKS === PM Assistant displays a list of macros. You execute a macro by typing its hot-key or by clicking its button. You edit the list of macros, rearrange them, and create new macros. To create and modify macros you enter information into dialog boxes. There is no programming involved. There are six types of macros. Each type performs a specific kind of task. The six types of macros are: 1. Start Program - starts any OS/2, DOS, or Windows program. 2. Position Window - moves, minimizes, or restores any window. 3. Keyboard Input - plays keystrokes to any OS/2 window. 4. Message - displays a message or prompt. 5. Compound - combines several macros into one, and executes the macros sequentially. 6. Group - groups several macros together to organize them. The Compound and Group macros contain a list of other macros. You can expand and collapse the display of contained macros by clicking on the plus and minus signs in the display. To perform a lengthy task, you put several macros in a compound macro. All six types of macros are created in the same fundamental way. To create a macro you first enter its name, comment and hot- key into the Macro Information dialog box. You type the hot- key into the edit field exactly as you would when executing the macro. PM Assistant detects which keys are pressed and displays those keys. Hot-keys can be several keystrokes long. After entering this standard macro information, you click the settings button to enter information specific to the type of macro you are creating. For example, the Position Window macro has the following dialog box which allows you to specify how you want the window moved. To schedule any macro to execute at a later time you click on the clock icon. You can specify whether the macro is to execute on a specific date, every day, on certain days of the week, on a specific day of the month, every HH:MM hours, or every time the macro file is loaded. PM Assistant is fast and easy to use due to the many user interface elements such as the clock icon. With PM Assistant you can: * Easily build a Compound macro to save and restore the position of all windows on your desktop in one step with the Build Arrangement command. * Drag and drop macros within the macro list display. * Easily resize column widths by dragging the separator on the columns header display. * Temporarily disable any specific hot-key or all hot-keys. * Execute macros indefinitely or in random order. This is useful for testing other applications. * Execute macros from the command line or via Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE). * Automate every tedious task. PM Assistant also comes with a powerful screen saver with text bouncing effects, and a password protection security feature. To gain a higher level of control, call today! Call 1-800-745-7757 $129.00 Including shipping. Visa or Mastercard accepted. 90 day satisfaction guarantee. A demonstration version of PM Assistant is available on CompuServe in the OS2 VENDORs forum (Go OS2AVE), in the "Other Vendors" library, file pma20.zip. This demonstration version has the File Save menu command disabled so you may not permanently save your macros. Utilis P.O. Box 367 Redmond, WA 98073 (206) 467-4025