Joystick-To-Mouse Operation & Release Notes

These notes document some of the known limitations with Joystick-To-Mouse as of this release, and other anecdotal information. Most information is no longer relevant.

The following sections are included under this heading:

• WINDOWS 3.0 USERS

• WINDOWS NT USERS

• DOS USERS

• SYSTEM MODAL DIALOG BOXES

• TECHNICAL NOTES

• WIZARD'S HELPERS

• IMG JOYSTICK-TO-MOUSE SERVICE

• MACRO BUILDING NOTES

WINDOWS 3.0 USERS

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We strongly recommend you upgrade to Windows 3.1 or Windows 95!! Contact your local software dealer or Microsoft regarding upgrade information.

Joystick-To-Mouse may operate under Windows 3.0, but it is not recommended or supported. Note that some features will not operate properly.

WINDOWS NT USERS

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There are issues with the joystick support files & interface into this version of Windows (it was never really intended as a game / multimedia platform). Because of this, joystick support may be an issue. See Help and Joystick-To-Mouse Operation, Known issues. This is a supported, but not recommended version.

DOS USERS

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Joystick-To-Mouse will not run in DOS, and will not run if the DOS application is full screen while in Windows. In limited testing, Joystick-To-Mouse does appear to operate DOS applications in a window. Joystick-To-Mouse is intended primarily for Windows applications, and may not be acceptable for DOS programs.

SYSTEM MODAL DIALOG BOXES

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Windows 3.x - Joystick-To-Mouse does not Operate when there is a System Modal Message or Dialog Box. This is because no standard application accepts input when there is a System Modal Input Active. See Technical Notes below.

TECHNICAL NOTES

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Joystick-To-Mouse is a standard Windows Application but does require special drivers for the joystick. In Windows 3.x, the driver IBMJOY.DRV and its calibration portion (JOYSTICK.CPL) are provided with the distribution software. Please note that these are provided free of charge (refer to JLICENSE.TXT). As a standard Windows Application, certain software may be incompatible with Joystick-To-Mouse. Any application that does not allow other windows to run (multi-tasking) will cause the joystick to lose its ability to operate the mouse, although the mouse will still operate.

IBMJOY.DRV, JOYSTICK.CPL Note:

In Windows 95 and later, these do not apply, and are not installed in the Windows System directory, but default to the Joystick-To-Mouse installation directory. These are for Windows 3.x ONLY, and you may delete them if desired. You must use the drivers shipped with Windows, or that came with your joystick.

Joystick-To-Mouse is not a "driver" in the Windows sense. This is an important distinction because it imposes some limitations, but also provides important benefits. Because it is not a driver, operation during System Modal dialog boxes does not occur, and there are various other operation limitations. However, being above the driver level and acting as a standard application, Joystick-To-Mouse software is compatible with ALL joysticks, mouse, keyboard, etc. driver software that conforms to Microsoft standards and essentially enhances existing system software with its capabilities. For specific details and special implementations, please contact Innovation Management Group, Inc. directly (see below).

Joystick-To-Mouse does REQUIRE that a mouse driver be installed, and Windows will require that a mouse be connected to properly install the driver each time Windows is run. Joystick-To-Mouse should work with all keyboard and mouse drivers that are compatible with the ones that ship with Microsoft Windows.

Options in the mouse driver (whether those that came with Windows, or from a third-party) will operate properly with Joystick-To-Mouse. Swapping mouse buttons, double-click speed, and any mouse button assignments will work properly while using Joystick-To-Mouse. Other options that affect the mouse tracking, acceleration, etc. however, will not. This is because of the relationship between the hardware drivers (of the mouse) and the Windows environment. If using Joystick Button Settings other than Left & Right buttons, it is strongly suggested that any mouse button settings in the mouse driver be set to off.

Some joysticks enable "Auto-fire." In all cases, while using Joystick-To-Mouse, this should be set to off.

WIZARD'S HELPERS

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The Joystick-To-Mouse Wizard's Helpers were originally done for Windows 95. We never imagined there would be so much inconsistency with the joystick applets as Windows versions continue to be released. With the 2.60 release we chose to continue these guides, but there are limitations, and this feature should not be considered part of the core Joystick-To-Mouse software. They may be disabled by clearing the checkbox when asked "Display Wizard's Helpers" or by creating and running the following registry entry:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Innovation Management Group\Joystick-To-Mouse\Settings] "WizardsHelper"="0"

Registry Update Instructions: Highlight the REGEDIT4 and any entries, then select Edit | Copy. Open notepad, select Edit | Paste. Save the file as UPDATE.REG (default My Documents). Use Windows Explorer to open My Documents, then double-click on UPDATE.REG. If asked, select Yes to update the registry.

These guides use Window captions, titles, and words to try & monitor the flow within the control panel applet, so these will probably only operate with any utility in English versions of Windows.

IMG JOYSTICK-TO-MOUSE SERVICE

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The IMG Joystick-To-Mouse service is provided to allow basic Joystick-To-Mouse operation when not logged in (i.e. the Windows logon screens, Welcome screen in Windows XP) In NT and 2000, this service operates without any issues. In Windows XP, Fast User switching can create a problem at the Welcome screen. See Help and Joystick-To-Mouse Operation, Known issues.

The MANAGE.EXE utility provides a mechanism to install, start, stop, or remove this service. This utility is used during install / un-install to "manage" the service. The service is installed by default. This utility will ONLY work with the IMGJTM.EXE service, it is not a general purpose utility.

During installation, you should be an administrator of the system to ensure proper installation of this service.

Typing MANAGE.EXE with no command line, will display help for this utility.

These are the following supported uses:

MANAGE INSTALL C:\WINNT\JOY2MSE\IMGJTM.EXE

This will install the service with the Service Manager. The 1st parameter is INSTALL, and the 2nd parameter is the well formed path & file name of the service.

MANAGE START

This will start the service. This can also be performed from the Services icon in Control panel.

MANAGE STOP

This will stop the service. This can also be performed from the Services icon in Control panel.

MANAGE REMOVE

This will remove the service from the Services Manager.

While the service is running, it will monitor the joystick for motion. If Joystick-To-Mouse is not already running (i.e. a user is logged on running Joystick-To-Mouse), the motion will be controlled by the service, and it will be very basic. None of the settings in Joystick-To-Mouse will affect the cursor motion. Upon ANY button press, a left-click down/up event will occur as if ALL the buttons were set to Left Button. If Joystick-To-Mouse is already running, the service will let Joystick-To-Mouse control the position of the mouse cursor.

MACRO BUILDING NOTES

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The following double-characters are reserved in Build-A-Macro:

@@ - Signifies an Alt keystroke to follow

e.g. @@f = [Alt-Down]f[Alt-Up]

~~ - Signifies a Ctrl keystroke to follow

^^ - Signifies a Shift keystroke to follow

$$ - used internally for internal macro uses

You may not use these character combinations in your macros, unless you use them as outlined. For example, you may quickly create a macro for File, New ([Alt]-F, N) by entering "@@fn" and clicking OK. However, using the Reserved words in brackets is the preferred method.