MinMaxExtender 1.2.0.0
Part of Revengers Shell Extensions.
-----------------------------------
This is the readme-file for MinMaxExtender.
Check out License.txt for (c) and such.

1. Description
2. Installation
3. Uninstallation
4. Configuration
5. Using MinMaxExtender in your everyday life
6. Fine-tuning
7. Q&A
8. Contact

1. Description
--------------
MinMaxExtender is a program and a dll-file that provides functions for
advanced windowhandling. It draws some icons next to the Min-Max-Close-
buttons of your windows. Clicking these icons lets you:
-stretch the selected window across the screen.
-make the window "stay on top" of other windows.
-minimize it to the tray in different ways.
-"shade" a window, sort of like on Mac or AfterStep.
The user can select which icons to use, and exclude some windowtypes
from receiving the extended functions. 

2. Installation
---------------
Create a folder somewhere on your computer, and unzip the files into
that folder. Start MinMaxExtender by doubleclicking the exe-file. If
you are using an NT/2000-system, it's recommended that you make sure
to have the file "psapi.dll" somewhere on your computer.

3. Uninstallation
-----------------
Make sure that the program is not running, and delete the files in the
folder. Some registryentries might be left behind, but they cause no 
harm.

4. Configuration
----------------
When MinMaxExtender starts you should see an icon shaped like a double-
arrowish, crosslike thing in your tray by the clock. If you double-
click it with the left mousebutton a window appears. (This window 
should appear automatically the first time you run MinMaxExtender.)
In the window you can see the following:
"Buttons:"
 Here you select which buttons that you want to appear on your windows.
"Don't extend..."
 Here you can select some common windowstyles that you normally don't
 want to extend. You can also select to exclude Classes and Files. If
 you click an "Edit"-button, Notepad will start and you get to edit
 files called classes.txt/files.txt. In classes.txt you write window-
 classes, for instance "Notepad" and in files you write filenames, such
 as "notepad.exe". If a window matches any of these criterias, it will
 not be extended. After having edited the files, you should save the
 changes and restart MinMaxExtender.
"Menu options:"
 Here you can select the initial state of the 'menu' that appear when
 right-clicking the trayicon. You can also select how the windows you
 send to the traymenu should be sorted.
"Run at startup"
 Quite obviously, this option lets you automatically start MMExt when
 Windows starts.
"Draw on..."
 You can choose if you want the buttons to appear on all visible
 windows or just the one that is focused. If you have a slow machine
 you should probably select '...foregroundwindow only.'
"Priority:"
 High priority means higher load on the computer, but faster drawing of
 the buttons. Low priority means lower systemload, but slower drawing.
"Save changes"
 Hmmm, tricky one... Some options might require restarting MMExt.
"Exit MMExt"
 Exits the program completely. You probably want to use "Hide MMExt".
"Hide MMExt"
 Hides the configwindow. To pop the configwindow again, doubleclick the
 trayicon.

5. Using MinMaxExtender in your everyday life
---------------------------------------------
When you run MinMaxExtender one or all visible windows will have
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 small icons next to the minimizebutton in the 
titlebar. Leftclicking the icons has one of these effects on the
window:
 Maximize vertical: The window is resized to cover the full height of
  the screen, without changing its width. The stretching is not 
  reversible and doesn't work well if you use several monitors.
 Maximize horizontal: The window is resized to cover the full width of
  the screen, without changing its height. The stretching is not
  reversible and doesn't work well if you use several monitors.
 Minimize to menu: The window disappears, but don't panic, it's not
  gone. It's just hidden away. If you RIGHT-click the trayicon, a tool-
  window appears. The tool-window lists all the windows that you have
  minimized-to-menu. Double click the window you want to get back on 
  screen. The windows are listed according to the 
  "Sort menu by"-option, see above. When you have doubleclicked a 
  windowname, the toolwindow disappears, unless you have checked the
  "Menu stays"-option. You can also toggle the stay-state by 
  doubleclicking the toolwindows titlebar. Close the window at any time
  by clicking the x-button or pressing the Escape-key.
 Minimize to icon: The window goes away, and instead an icon is added
  in the tray. Click the icon to show the window again.
 Shade: The window is resized to show only its caption. When clicking 
  the button again, the window will be restored. (Like on Mac and
  some X-Window windowmanagers.)
 Stay on top: Toggles the windowstate commonly known as "Stay on top".
  Really sets the windowstyle to WS_EX_TOPMOST. 

Just play around with the program and the icons and you'll figure it
out.

6. Fine tuning
--------------
If you know how to use an registryeditor for Windows, such as Regedit,
you will find some stuff under HKCU/Software/Revenger inc./
MinMaxExtender/ to fiddle with. Here you can add more windowstyles for
exclusion than are available in the configwindow. There are some 50
windowstyles that you can add. You find the names and descriptions on
http://msdn.microsoft.com if you search for 'CreateWindow' or some-
thing like that.
You can also change the size and positioning of the buttons if you're
not using the standard size of titlebars.
If you make changes that mess things up, you can just delete the whole
MinMaxExtender-key, and defaults will be restored next time you start
the application.

7. Q&A
------
Q: The buttons doesn't animate when pressing them...
A: No, they don't and they never ever will.
Q: Will MinMaxExtender slow down my system?
A: Yes. To reduce the load on your system you should use lower priority
   and only draw on the foregroundwindow. But if you have a half-decent
   computer it should not bother you to use MMExt.
Q: Why does the icons disappear on a maximized window?
A: This happens due to limitations in the communication between Windows
   and MinMaxExtender. There isn't much we can do about it. If you 
   first maximize vertical and then horizontal, you work around the 
   problem. But why would one wish to make a maximized window stay on
   top? Takes away the hole point of using a windowed environment. ;)
Q: Some of my other programs doesn't work, there are icons in places
   they are not supposed to be, etc...
A: All programmers tries to figure out new ways of making cooler 
   looking windows, and add functionality to their programs. Some mess
   up their windows so bad, that MinMaxExtender can't figure out where
   to put the icons. Check all "Don't extend..."-options, write the
   name of the executable in 'files.txt' or the class in 'classes.txt'.
Q: Why aren't the MinMaxExtender-windows extended?
A: Because we didn't want them to. Developers privilege...
Q: I want to make changes in the registry, but don't know how to use a
   registryeditor...
A: Ask a friend who does to help you. :)

8. Contact
----------
We can be reached at revenger_inc@hotmail.com. Any feedback, 
suggestions and bugreports is much appreciated.

revenger_inc@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/revenger_inc/mmext.html
