PaneKiller documentation, secret features
Matt Ginzton, MaDdoG Software, magi@cs.stanford.edu

For more PaneKiller information, go to http://www.maddogsw.com/

=======================================================================

PaneKiller has a number of features that you can enable or customize
only by editing the registry, either because they're intended only
for advanced users or because they would be difficult or clumsy to
manipulate through the Properties interface.

To change these values, run regedit and go to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MaDdoG\PaneKiller\Secret features

Remember, when editing the registry, always proceed carefully and keep
backups, and don't change things if you're not sure you know what
you're doing.

Also, if you edit these or any other PaneKiller registry settings, you
need to make sure that PaneKiller notices the changes.  If it's not
running at the time, all is fine.  If PaneKiller is running, then after
editing the registry, hold down Shift while choosing the PaneKiller
Properties command; it will re-read the registry settings and ring the
bell to let you know it has done so.  This is the easiest method to
try a variety of new settings, since you don't have to reload PaneKiller
each time.  But if you have any problems with that method, just quit
PaneKiller before editing its area of the registry.

Individual values, their meanings, and default values are listed
below.  This information is current as of PaneKiller 1.43.

=======================================================================

Alternate verb for folder double-click
Default value: "explore"
Possible values: depends on your system

Normally, when you double-click a folder, PaneKiller performs the "open"
action, opening the folder in a new window.  If you prefer the "explorer"
view (with the additional directory tree pane), you can click the
"Double-click on folder invokes Explore instead of Open" checkbox on the
Advanced properties page, and PaneKiller will perform the "explore"
action instead.  But if you have an Explorer replacement program such as
PowerDesk on your computer, you can force PaneKiller to invoke it instead,
by checking the "Explore instead of Open" checkbox, and then changing the
value here to the command you would normally see on context menus -- for
PowerDesk, for example, use (logically!) "powerdesk".


Caption style for paged menu (0,1,2)
Default value: 1 (semi-verbose)
Possible values: 0, 1, 2

Controls the amount (and length) of information displayed in the
caption of a menu that is a sub-page of a longer menu.
0: Just the name of the folder whose items are displayed
1: The name of the folder, including the range of items that fit onto
   this page, displayed as 1 letter each (i.e, A-Z)
2: The name of the folder, including the range of items that fit onto
   this page, displayed as 3 letters each (Aar-Zeb): this is the same
   as the menu item for the page in the parent menu.


Caption text alignment (0,1,2)
Default value: 1 (center)
Possible values: 0, 1, 2
Determines where the text in menu captions aligns:
0: Left
1: Center
2: Right


Contents/Checkbox hack
Obsolete, no longer used.


Dismiss menu if it loses focus
Obsolete, no longer used.  (Use checkbox in Access tab of Properties
instead.)


Don't autoscroll (require click)
Default value: 0 (no)
Possible values: 0, 1
If scrolling is enabled, PaneKiller will scroll automatically when you
move the mouse over the scroll arrows.  Some people like this; some
don't.  If you don't, turn it off here.


Don't dismiss menu after context-menu command
Obsolete, no longer used.  (Use checkbox in Access tab of Properties
instead.)


Don't trust Explorer to know what's a folder
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0..4
Windows has a bad habit of occasionally claiming certain items are
folders, when in fact they are not.  Notably, this happens with the
Internet Explorer icon on the desktop, if you have recent versions of
IE installed.  Then PaneKiller thinks it deserves a submenu, so if you
click on it, instead of launching IE you get the submenu... which is
completely empty and useless.  PaneKiller has a way of checking up on
whether an item that's claimed to be a folder really is or not; the sad
fact is that it cripples performance severely and causes other problems,
so it's off by default and highly not recommended.  Setting this value
0, 1 or 2 will disable it (to make up for previous releases when the
default was 1); 3 will enable the check, and 4 will enable this check
and another more intensive one.


Extra vertical space between items (pixels)
Default value: 0
Possible values: >=0, although only low numbers are useful
Controls the vertical spacing of menu items, so you can make menus more
spacious or more compact.  Measured in pixels.  To get spacing
equivalent to the Windows Start menu, set this to 1.


Implement Run... command inside PaneKiller
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0, 1
Normally the Run... command just invokes the Windows Run dialog, the
same one that you got from the old Start menu, and the Run submenu gets
its history list from the Run dialog's history list.  Normally this
works fine, but it has a few possible drawbacks: a) if Explorer isn't
running (i.e., you use a different shell) this Run dialog will not be
available, and b) PaneKiller's integration with the history list isn't
quite perfect.  So PaneKiller provides the option to implement the Run
dialog and its history list internally.


Large icon size (pixels), 0 = system default
Default value: 0
Possible values: >= 0
Normally large icons are whatever size the system is using for its large
icons, which by default is 32x32 but can be changed to 48x48 or possibly
other values.  Most people that enable "Large icons" in Display
Properties find that these icons are TOO big for use in menus.  With this
option you can choose the exact size for your icons in PaneKiller menus.


Maximum arrow height
Default value: 20
Possible values: >= 0
The arrows used to indicate submenus are normally sized automatically
by the size of the menu items (which depend on font and icon sizes); but
if the submenu arrows get too big, they look clumsy.  Here you can
specify a maximum size, in pixels.


Milliseconds to reset type-to-select
Default value: 500 (1/2 second)
Possible values: >= 0
PaneKiller lets you type the names of menu items to select them, not
just the first letter like Windows menus.  If you type several letters
quickly, they're taken to be a single word: if you type, quickly, Pan,
you'll jump to the first item starting with Pan.  But if you wait too
long between keystrokes, PaneKiller will assume you're done typing that
word and starting a new one, and start back at the beginning... so if
you type P,a, then wait, then type n, you'll select the first item
starting with Pa, then the first item starting with N.  This should
feel natural, but the delay depends on how fast you type -- here you
can set the allowable delay (in thousandths of a second) before the
typed-name memory resets.


Prefer bottom of screen for bottom-up menus
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0, 1
PaneKiller menus by default appear with their tops next to the menu item
that spawned them.  If, however, they can't fit onscreen this way, they
jump so that the bottom is next to the parent menu item.  Another option,
if you enable this value, is to have them align to the bottom of the
screen (putting the top of the menu as close as possible to the parent
menu item).


Resolve shell links
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0, 1
Shell links (shortcuts) may need Windows to "resolve" them, if the item
to which they point is moved.  Up until version 1.32, PaneKiller told
Windows to resolve all shortcuts, but this slows down shortcut processing
and is usually not necessary.  Turn this on if you frequently move files
that you have shortcuts to, and these shortcuts act broken.


Scale factor for menu item font (%)
Scale factor for menu caption font (%)
Default value: 100
Possible values: >= 0
PaneKiller attempts to use the same font as Windows menus, and a
slightly larger font for menu captions.  Here you can specify the font
size for PaneKiller to use, as a percentage of the default size.


Scroll custom backgrounds when menu scrolls
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0, 1
If you have a custom (bitmap) background set for a menu that scrolls,
scrolling the menu normally will scroll the menu items but leave the
background in place.  PaneKiller can optionally scroll the background
along with the menu, which may redraw faster on older computers -- or
you can choose this setting just because you think it looks better.
Tends to look really stupid with transparent menus though.


Show all options on caption context menu
Default value: 0
Possible values: 0, 1
The context menu for the caption logically should include options
relating to the whole menu, as well as options relating to the folder
for which the menu was built.  This would produce a large, unwieldy
menu, though, so by default it has only the context menu for the source
folder, and the options for the menu can be found by right-clicking the
menu border.  Or you can enable this option and get the ubermenu for
the caption.


Start Menu visual offset (x,y)
Default value: 0,0
Possible values: any coordinate pair
If you don't like where PaneKiller's Start menu pops up, you can tweak
it: this value is a comma-separated coordinate pair (without parentheses)
denoting the offset in x and y relative to the default location (directly
above or below the Start button).  Example, setting this value to 0,5
will make the Start menu appear 5 pixels higher than usual.


Update transparent backgrounds if menu moves
Default value: 1
Possible values: 0, 1
There's no such thing as true "transparency"; transparent menus simply
use whatever was behind them as their backgrounds.  If they move, they
need to re-grab their background at the new location; this takes a bit
of time and requires hiding and showing the menu again.  In short, it
looks better but is slightly less efficient, so if you want you can
turn it off.


Contents (c) 2001 Matt Ginzton, MaDdoG Software.
