Version 0.24.5
Documentation

LiteStep is a shell replacement for Windows 9x/NT that is fast, functional, stable, and very configurable.  The interface resembles the famous NeXTStep operating system and also Window Maker, a X Window Manager.  LiteStep consists of an executable (litestep.exe) and several modules, grouped into two basic types: core modules, which handle all the functions of LiteStep; and app modules, which are usually miniature applications that run as part of the wharf.  Some examples of core modules would be wharf.dll, popup.dll, and desktop.dll, each responsible for handling their respective functions.  Some application modules are lstime.dll, lsvwm.dll, lscpu.dll etc.

   Windows 95/98
   Windows NT

Important Note

Just in case something goes wrong, you should have a reliable boot disk on hand. This is a very easy way to fix any LiteStep related problems you might have with LiteStep loading as your shell (if you are using Windows 95/98). Simply use the boot disk to boot to DOS, cd C:\windows and edit your system.ini there. If you don't know how to do any of this, then you might wish to reconsider using LiteStep. It is up to you, the user, to anticipate and intercept any problems you might have.

Windows 95/98

Method 1:

• Open C:\Windows\System.ini with NotePad or any other text editor
• You should see the following lines of text at the beginning of the file: file:
      [boot]
      (a bunch of stuff you shouldn't care about)
      shell=C:\LiteStep\LiteStep.exe
• Change the line shell=C:\LiteStep\LiteStep.exe to shell=Explorer.exe

Method 2:

• Use one of many shell switching utilities, several of which are available directly from LiteStep.com .

If you installed LiteStep that affected:

   Current User Only
   All Users

Current User Only

• Load the Registry Editor (RegEdit)
• Go to the following key:
  HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
• Remove the following value: Name:
  Shell
• Log out, and Log back in

All Users Note: You will need Administrator access privileges.

• Load the Registry Editor (RegEdit)
• Go to the following key:
  HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon
• Change the following value: Name:
  Shell,
  Original Value:
  C:\LiteStep\LiteStep.exe
  New Value:
  Explorer.exe
• Reboot the system for changes to take effect

---

Basic usage

¤ LSVWM ¤ Task Manager ¤ LSTime ¤ Standard Windows Conventions
¤ Using The Popup ¤ Wharf ¤ Transparency ¤ Loading Themes

LSVWM - Virtual Desktop Manager

The LSVWM (LiteStep Virtual Window Manager) manages your desktop and windows, allowing you to move and organize your open windows.  The LSVWM is represented by an icon in the Wharf, consisting of four evenly divided squares.  The highlighted/colored area represents the active virtual desktop you are in.  Little rectangles or squares are shown within the whole VWM icon itself;  these boxes represent the windows that exist in the desk tops.

As you can see in this sample graphic, the little white boxes are the windows that exist on each of your virtual desk tops.

Usage of LSVWM is as follows:

Left Click & Drag (on the window representations)	=	Drags windows between or within desk tops
Right Click	=	Switches to the desktop you clicked on

The LSVWM is also accessible through key combinations to switch desk tops.  Those key combinations are already pre configured for you in the Step.rc file for your convenience.

This is how you use the LSVWM via key combinations, using the default configuration:

Win + Right Arrow Win + Left Arrow Win + Up Arrow Win + Down Arrow Win is the Windows key

Changing desk tops is also possible with the mouse, which is also configurable by its resistance, that is the delay between positioning your cursor at the edge of the screen and switching desk tops. More about configuring resistance and the LSVWM key combinations are in the "Editing your Step.rc" section.

Task Manager

The Task Manager allows you to manage your active tasks. It allows you to switch and kill tasks.  You really have no use for it unless you have the Task Bar disabled.  The Task Manager looks like any other Wharf Folder icon in your Wharf, except clicking on it will give you a list of active tasks.  The tasks in the Task Manager are labeled for easy identification.

Usage of the Task Manager is as follows:

Left Click	=	Switches to the selected task
Right Click	=	Opens the System Menu
Shift-Right Click	=	Sets the selected icon to a Window Class (useful to set a 64x64 icon)

LSTime

LSTime is a clock that sits in your Wharf. It will also display the current date.

To adjust your time and date:

Left Double-Click

=

Opens the standard Windows Time & Date Properties

You may also customize LSTime if you wish.

Standard Windows Conventions

These are some Windows functions you might find useful:

Alt-Tab	=	Switches between tasks, hold down Alt for a menu of active tasks
Alt-Shift-Tab	=	Same as Alt-Tab, except it goes in reverse.
Alt-Space	=	Brings up the System Menu
Alt-  - (that's minus)	=	Brings up the Group Menu (that is, if you have a window within a window, you bring up the menu of the sub window)
Alt-Esc	=	Cycles through all open windows
Alt-F4	=	Closes the active task
Ctrl-F4	=	Closes the active Group window
F10	=	Same function as Alt, brings up the menu (Usually File)
Ctrl-Shift-Esc	=	Loads NT's built-in Task Manager (WinNT only.)

Popup Menu

The Popup Menu is a user-defined list, allowing easy access to programs, files, or commands you might not use often enough to place in the wharf.

Usage is as follows:

Right-Click	=	Brings up the Popup Menu (click on the Wharf or Desktop). You can also bring up the Popup Menu by pressing the WIN Key once (if there is no available space on the desk top on which to right-click).
Up/Down Arrow	=	Navigates through the menus and highlights a listing
Left Arrow	=	Navigates to the menu one level up from the current sub menu
Right Arrow	=	Opens the highlighted Sub menu
Enter	=	Runs the highlighted task, or if it is a Sub menu it opens it.
Page Up/Page Down	=	Navigates through the menus quickly

Wharf

The Wharf is a string of tiles and modules on your screen which allows you quick access to your frequently used software.

To move the Wharf, drag the Wharf to its desired location by its title bar.  This will not work if NoWharfTilebar is enabled.

The Wharf Title bar is split into two parts, left and right.  The size of each side can be adjusted with the command WharfShadeButton n where N can be 1-63, moving the division of the title bar from 1(far left) to 63(far right).
When you perform a single click on the right hand side, it collapses/expands the wharf, but does not move it anywhere.
When you double click on the right hand side, and the wharf is expanded and not in its docked position, it stays expanded and is docked to the right hand side of the screen (unless WharfDblClickDockOnLeft is set).  If the Wharf is docked, and expanded, and you double click on the right hand side, it just registers two normal clicks, collapses, then expands again.

Then the left hand side...  If you click and hold down the mouse on the left hand side, you can drag the Wharf around, whether it is expanded or collapsed.
If you double click on the left hand side when the wharf is NOT docked to the side of the screen, and the Wharf is either expanded or collapsed, it will dock to the right hand side of the screen (unless WharfDblClickDockOnLeft is set), and expand if it was previously collapsed.
If you double click on the left hand side while the Wharf is docked and expanded, it will move it to its un-docked position (WharfDblClickXPosition n (n = number of pixels from the left hand side of the screen)) and collapses it.  If the Wharf was docked to the side of the screen and collapsed, it simply expands the wharf, and stays docked to the side of the screen (unless it was on the opposite side from where its default docking is, then it moves it to the side of the screen it docks to).

To put the Wharf into window shade mode (minimized), double click on its title bar, or activate it by running the !ToggleWharf command from the Wharf, Shortcut, Hotkey, or Popup.

Transparency

LiteStep supports Transparency in the Wharf, Shortcut, Taskbar, and Popup graphic (.bmp) files.

The Transparency color is FF00FF, or 255 Blue, 0 Green, 255 Red.

---

Editing your step.rc

The step.rc file is the LiteStep configuration file. Everything changed in that file affects how LiteStep looks and acts. Therefore, you may need to edit the file the first time you install LiteStep or when upgrading to a new version. You can edit it with any text editor, such as Notepad, Edit, TextPad, etc. We have discovered that most people decide skip reading this section and then expect their LiteStep is expected to work. We have also discovered that people tend to skip the mumbo jumbo part. And since you've just gotten to the mumbo jumbo part, we'll suggest you do the following to make your life easier (and yes, you have to at least skim over this section):

Open the step.rc file now, and keep both that file and this manual open. We're not asking you to read this section word for word, rather we want you to consider this section reference material. Go ahead and go through your step.rc file now, and where you get to something you don't know, switch back to this window and find out what it is! Does that sound more enjoyable? We hope so.

Afraid to touch the step.rc?  For you configure-phobic people, there are at least a couple of graphical user interface configuration utilities available that you may be interested in.  However, at the time of this writting none of these configuration utilties are completely functional with this new version of LiteStep.  Still, you can download any of these utilities from a variety of LiteStep related sites, or directly from LiteStep.com .

Commands Index

--Commands Index-- --Wharf Commands--    *Wharf    WharfTileSize    PixMapPath    DefaultBackPath    FolderPix    WharfTitleFontSize    WharfTitleFont    WharfTitleFore    WharfTitleBack    WharfAllTitles    NTStyleTaskmanager    WharfBevelWidth    WharfPressOffset    WharfNoHints    WharfNoAnim    Icon    AutoHideWharf    AutoHideWharfDelay    WharfNoTitlebar    WharfTitlebarPix    WharfCapHeight    WharfAutoUnpress    WharfCloseOnSwtich    WharfPressOffset    WharfAnimStep    WharfAnimDelay    WharfOpenSound    WharfCloseSound    WharfMinSound    SystrayDockToWharf    WharfDblClickDockOnLeft    WharfDblClickXPosition     WharfShadeButton    SnapToSensitivity --Popup Commands--    *Popup    PopupTitlePix    PopupEntryPix    PopupSelEntryPix    PopupTitleColor    PopupEntryColor    PoupSelEntryColor    PopupTitleBack    PopupNormalBack    PopupSelBack    HotListName    MinPopupWidth    PopupFixedWidth    NoPopupBevel    PopupFontFace    PopupFontHeight    ShrinkPopupBar    NoPopupTransparent    PopupTextOffset    NoPopupFolderIcon    ShowPopupIcons    PopupDefaultIcon    PopupIconSize    PopupTaskDefaultIcon    PopupEmptyDefaultIcon    PopupUseDesktopIni --Shortcut Commands--    *Shortcut    ShortcutMouseOverSound    ShortcutClickSound --Hotkey Command--    Hotkey --Taskbar Commands--    AutoHideTaskbar    HideApplication    TrayIconSize    MSTaskBar    NoTaskBar    StripTaskBar    LSTaskBarFore    LSTaskBarFore2    LSTaskBarBack    LSTaskBarText    TaskbarStartButton    StartButtonSkin    StartButtonLeft    StartButtonRight    StartButtonSize    StartButtonText    TaskbarSkin    LSTaskButtonSkin    LSTaskButtonLeft    LSTaskButtonRight    LSTaskButtonSkinActive    LSTaskButtonLeftActive    LSTaskButtonRightActive    TaskbarNoSkinShift    TaskbarNoTextSkinShift --Desktop Commands--    SetDesktopArea    SDALeft    SDARight    SDATop    SDABottom --VWM Commands--    VWMVelocity    VWMNoAuto    VWMNoGathering    VWMSecurityDistance    VWMBackColor    VWMSelBackColor    VWMForeColor    VWMBorderColor    VWMNoBackBmp    VWMDesksX    VWMDesksY    VWMNoSwitchOnFocus    VWMFocusCenter --Misc Commands--    Load Module    US Clock    LSTimeThemeFIle    SystrayOrientation    SystrayWrapCount    ColorRGB    SetAsShell --!Bang (Actions)--    !Recycle    !About    !None    !Shutdown    !Logoff    !Run    !Gather    !ToggleWharf    !WharfTasks    !CascadeWindows    !TileWindowsH    !TileWindowsV    !MinimizeWindows    !RestoreWindows    !Quit    !Popup    !PopupFolder    !PopupDynamicFolder    !PopupTasks    !VWMDesk    !VWMLeft    !VWMRight    !VWMUp    !VWMDown    !ShowShortcutGroup    !HideShortcutGroup    !ToggleShortcutGroup    !SwitchToShortcutGroup    Program Path    Module Path --Theme.rc--    ThemeFile

Commands

Wharf

*Wharf titlename tile [%systemname] action [parameters]

Sets a tile in the Wharf, either a folder or application tile.

titlename	the title name of the tile as it would appear in the Tile Hints
tile	the tile (icon) to use for the Wharf tile. The tile can be in one of 3 formats: Bitmap (.bmp) - tile.bmp Icon within a DLL library (.dll) - ".extract=file.dll,n" Icon within a Executable file (.exe) - ".extract=file.exe,n"    ,n is the icon number, starting from 0. If no ,n is used, it assumes it to be icon 0. If a * is placed as the first letter before tile, then anything specified in DefaultBackPix or FolderPix will not be used for this tile and will be substituted with transparency.
%systemname	this is optional. This defines the tile with a Wharf SystemName. Some modules such as LSAmp use it for example.
action	this tells the tile what to perform. Can be one of: Program Path (ie: C:\Windows\notepad.exe) Folder, which tells the tile to act as a folder and begin a folder subsection (anything after this will be inside the folder until ended by a ~Folder). ~Folder will end the folder subsection; anything after it will not be in the above folder. A static !action command built into LiteStep.

PixmapPath path

This tells LiteStep where to look for images. path is the directory in which to look for images. Default: images

DefaultBackPix file.bmp

This specifies what background bitmap you want for your Wharf tiles. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and be 64x64 pixels. Default: default.bmp

FolderPix file.bmp

This tells LiteStep what image to use when displaying Wharf folders. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and be 64x64 pixels. It is generally recommended that you leave this at its default state.

WharfTileSize n

Optional setting to specify the wharf tile size.  Please note that this setting only sets the height of the Wharf tile; the width is fixed at 64 pixels.  Default: 64x64

WharfTitleFontSize n

Sets the font size of the Wharf tiles titles. This is only used by the Task Manager unless you have WharfAllTitles enabled. n is the font size (in points). Default: disabled

WharfTitleFont file

Tells LiteStep what font to use in the Wharf tiles titles. This is only used by the Task Manager unless you have WharfAllTitles enabled. file is the font's filename (.fon, .ttf). Default: disabled

WharfTitleFore BBGGRR

Sets the Wharf tiles title foreground color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

WharfTitleBack BBGGRR

Sets the Wharf tiles title background color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 802020

WharfAllTitles

Forces LiteStep to put titles on all the Wharf tiles. Default: disabled

NTStyleTaskMgr

Forces the Task Manager to behave like NT's Explorer shell; when a window is the active window, clicking on its icon will minimize it. When this is not enabled, Task Manager will simply switch back to the active window when the icon is clicked on (as if nothing happened). This is generally not recommended since it may be quite confusing (to novices). Default: disabled

WharfBevelWidth n

Sets the width of the Wharf bevel (edge thickness of the tiles.) n is the width in pixels. Use 0 if you don't want any bevel. Default: 1

WharfPressOffset n

Sets the offset number to shift from the original image location for a button press effect. n is the offset number in pixels. Default: 1

WharfNoHints

Forces LiteStep not to display any hints (ToolTips) with the Wharf tile names when the mouse cursor is over a tile. Default: disabled

WharfNoAnim

Forces LiteStep not to animate the opening of Wharf folders. Default: disabled

Icon file.bmp [.] regexp

Defines an icon for a specified window. The . is optional, and sets the icon's regexp as a class name instead of a window name. regexp is the regular expression to define a window name or a class name. Wildcards are allowed, ie: *Netscape will match any window with a title ending in "Netscape" in the title.

AutoHideWharf

Makes the Wharf auto hide when not in use. Default: disabled

AutoHideDelay

Sets the time delay between inactivity and auto hiding of Wharf and/or TaskBar. Useless if you do not have AutoHideWharf or AutoHideTaskbar enabled. Default: disabled, value 500

WharfNoTitlebar

Forces the Wharf not to display a title bar; the old style of displaying the Wharf. Default: disabled

Note: with this enabled, you will be unable to move the Wharf to another location. You will also be unable to toggle the window shade mode with the mouse, instead you must use the !ToggleWharf command.

WharfTitlebarPix file.bmp

Sets the image into the Wharf's title bar area. Useless if you have WharfNoTitlebar enabled. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and be 64x16 pixels.

WharfCapHeight size

Sets the size of the Wharf title bar. Default: 16

WharfAutoUnpress

Causes an opened Wharf Folder to automatically retract back into its closed state when you move the mouse off it. Default: disabled.

WharfCloseOnSwitch

Closes an opening Wharf Folder when the window focus changes. Wharf Folders closes immediately if WharfNoAnim is enabled. Default: disabled.

WharfPressOffset pixels

Defines the number of pixels for a depressed Wharf Tile to move to the right and down. Default: 2

WharfAnimStep pixels

Sets the number of pixels per draw during Wharf Folder opening. Useless if you have WharfNoAnim enabled. Default: 16

WharfAnimDelay time

Sets the delay between draws during Wharf Folder opening. Useless if you have WharfNoAnim enabled. Default: 10

WharfOpenSound file.wav

Sets a sound into all Wharf Folders; when it is opening, the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

WharfCloseSound file.wav

Sets a sound into all Wharf Folders; when it is closing, the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

WharfMinSound file.wav

Sets a sound into the Wharf title bar; when it is going into window shade mode (minimized), the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

WharfMaxSound file.wav

Sets a sound into the Wharf title bar; when it is going out of window shade mode, the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

SystrayDockToWharf

Makes all System Tray icons to go into a Wharf Tile.
Note: you must load Wharf.dll before Desktop.dll is loaded!

To define a Wharf Tile for all the System Tray icons, add the following line:

*Wharf "Systray" tile.bmp %LSSystray !none

More information maybe found by reading about the *Wharf command.

WharfDblClickDockOnLeft

Makes the Wharf dock to the left side of the screen when Double Clicked on the Wharf title bar. Default: disabled; docks to the right side of the screen.

WharfDblClickXPosition

When this is enabled, Double clicking on the left side of the Wharf title bar will put it into Window Shade mode and will also move the Window Shaded Wharf to the specified X (horizontal) position. Default: disabled.

WharfShadeButton n

Used to adjust the division of the WharfTitleBar in relation to its dual functions.  “n” can be 1-63, moving the division of the title bar from 1(far left) to 63(far right).

SnapToSensitivity n

Sets the distance (in pixels) before the Wharf snaps to the edge of the screen. n is the distance number of pixels. Default: 16

Popup

*Popup action [parameters]

Sets an entry or folder into the Popup menu.

entryname

the title name of the entry as it would appear in the Popup menu

action

this tells the Popup entry what to perform. Can be one of: Program Path (ie: C:\Windows\notepad.exe) Folder, which tells the entry to act as a folder and begin a folder subsection (anything after this will be inside the folder until ended by a ~Folder). ~Folder will end the folder subsection; anything after it will not be in the above folder. A static !action command built into LiteStep such as !PopupFolder and !PopupDynamicFolder.

PopupTitlePix file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Popup Menu's title bars. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and at an approximate width of 400.

PopupBottomPix file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Popup Menu's bottom. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and at an approximate width of 400.

PopupEntryPix file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Popup Menu's normal, unselected entries. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and at an approximate width of 400.

PopupSelEntryPix file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Popup Menu's highlighted, selected entries. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format and at an approximate width of 400.

PopupTitleColor BBGGRR

Sets the font color for the Popup Menu's title entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

PopupEntryColor BBGGRR

Sets the font color for the Popup Menu's unselected entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 000000

PopupSelEntryColor BBGGRR

Sets the font color for the Popup Menu's selected entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 000000

PopupTitleBack BBGGRR

Sets the background color for the Popup Menu's title entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

PopupNormalBack BBGGRR

Sets the background color for the Popup Menu's unselected entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

PopupSelBack BBGGRR

Sets the background color for the Popup Menu's selected entries. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

HotListName "name"

Sets the name of the Popup Menu title. ie: HotListName "The List" Default: HotList

MinPopupWidth n

Sets the minimum Popup width. n is the width in pixels. Default: 100

PopupFixedWidth n

Sets a fixed width for the Popup menu. Default: disabled

NoPopupBevel

Disables the bevel in the Popup Menu entries. Default: disabled

PopupFontFace fontname

Specifies the font to use in the Popup Menu. ie: PopupFontFace "Times New Roman (Western)" Default: Comic Sans MS

PopupFontHeight n

Specifies the font size to be used in the Popup Menu. n is the pixel size number. ie: PopupFontHeight 10. Default: 14
Warning: negative side effects may occur when using a font size that does not fit in the Popup Menu (>17 pixels).

ShrinkPopupBar

Shrinks the bitmap (.bmp) used in the Popup to fit the Popup Menu size. Default: disabled
Note: All Bitmaps should be the same size when using this setting, otherwise the Popup Menu may not display correctly as the bitmap(s) may become distorted.

NoPopupTransparent

Disables Popup Menu transparency; may increase performance. Default: disabled.

PopupTextOffset n

Sets the number of pixels from the left of the Popup menu before displaying text and also cutting off any overflowing text from the number of pixels from the right. n is the number of pixels.

NoPopupFolderIcon

Disables the display of the Popup folder arrow. Default: disabled

ShowPopupIcons

Enables the display of standard Windows icons in the Popup Menu. Default: disabled

PopupDefaultIcon file.ico

Sets the default icon to be displayed in the Popup Menu when no icons are found in particular Popup entries. file.ico must be an Icon file (.ico). Useless if ShowPopupIcons is disabled.

PopupIconSize n

Sets the size of the Popup Menu icons. n is the size of the icons in pixels. Default: 20

PopupTaskDefaultIcon file.ico

Sets the default icon for the Popup Task Manager. file.ico must be an Icon file (.ico). Useless if ShowPopupIcons is disabled and if !PopupTasks is not used.

PopupEmptyDefaultIcon file.ico

Sets the default icon for all "empty" Popup entries. file.ico must be an Icon file (.ico). Useless if ShowPopupIcons is disabled.

PopupUseDesktopIni

Makes the Popup Menu use the Desktop.ini file in your Windows directory so that the Popup Menu will use the Font and Display settings you have set in the Display Properties. Default: disabled

Shortcut

*Shortcut "titlename" x y image1.bmp image2.bmp image3.bmp [group] [MouseOverSound.wav] [ClickSound.wav] action [parameters]

Sets a Application Shortcut on the Desktop.

titlename	the title name of the Shortcut as it would appear in the Shortcut Hints
x	The horizontal position to be used for the Shortcut. x starts from the left side of the screen. All Shortcuts' extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y. Specifying a negative number is the same as screenwidth - number.
y	The vertical position to be used for the Shortcut. y starts from the top of the screen. All Shortcuts' extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x. Specifying a negative number is the same as screenwidth - number.
image1.bmp	the icon to use for the shortcut when it is inactive. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format.
image2.bmp	the icon to use for the shortcut when the mouse is over it. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format.Use .none for no animation; old style Shortcuts.
image3.bmp	the icon to use for the shortcut when the mouse clicks on it. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format.Use .none for no animation; old style Shortcuts.
group	specifies what group the shortcut belongs to. (Optional)
MouseOverSound.wav	See ShortcutMouseOverSound.
ClickSound.wav	See ShortcutClickSound.
actionthis tells the shortcut what to perform. Can be one of: Program Path (ie: C:\Windows\notepad.exe) A static !action command that is built into LiteStep.

ShortcutMouseOverSound file.wav

Sets a sound into the Shortcuts when the mouse cursor over a Shortcut, the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

ShortcutClickSound file.wav

Sets a sound into the Shortcuts when the mouse is clicked on a Shortcut, the defined sound will be played. File must be in Wave (.wav) format.

Hotkey

*Hotkey modkey hotkey action

Binds a combination of keys so that when pressed it will execute a command or action.

modkey	Keystroke modifier, can be one of: Ctrl, Alt, or Win
hotkey	This sets the key you want to use. It can be either: A-Z, 0-9, F1-F12, Left (Arrow), Right (Arrow), Up (Arrow), Down (Arrow), Home, End, PageUp, PageDown, Insert, Delete, Escape, Spacebar, Backspace, Apps (Application key, the one next to Right Win Key).
action	this tells the Popup entry what to perform when the hotkey is pressed. Can be one of: Program Path (ie: C:\Windows\notepad.exe) A static !action command built into LiteStep.

Taskbar

AutoHideTaskbar

Makes the Taskbar move off screen when it is not in use. You may also set the AutoHideDelay. Default: disabled

HideApplication

Forces LiteStep not to display its icon in the Alt-Tab window. Default: enabled

TrayIconSize n

Sets the size of the icons in the Tray area. n is the size of the icons in pixels. Default: 16

MSTaskBar

Forces your taskbar to be displayed in Microsoft's style. Default: disabled

NoTaskBar

Prevents the taskbar from being displayed.  System Tray icons will still be displayed on the desktop. Use the Task Manager to switch and manage your tasks. Default: disabled

StripTaskBar

Makes it so that the Wharf (when docked to the side of the screen) and Taskbar do not overlap each other. Default: disabled

LSTaskBarFore BBGGRR

Sets the foreground color for the Taskbar, usually used to create a bevel effect. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

LSTaskBarFore2 BBGGRR

Sets the second foreground color for the Taskbar, usually used to create a depth effect. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Use 202020 for a depth effect. Default: FFFFFF

LSTaskBarBack BBGGRR

Sets the background color for the Taskbar. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 808040

LSTaskBarText BBGGRR

Sets the color used for the text for the Taskbar. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

TaskbarStartButton

Enables the Start Button in the Taskbar. Default: disabled.

StartButtonSkin file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for Start Button (center image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is supported. Useless if TaskbarStartButton is disabled.

StartButtonLeft file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for Start Button (left image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is supported. Useless if TaskbarStartButton is disabled.

StartButtonRight file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for Start Button (right image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is supported. Useless if TaskbarStartButton is disabled.

StartButtonSize pixels

Sets the width of the Start Button. Useless if TaskbarStartButton is disabled.

StartButtonText "text string"

Sets the text to be used in the Start Button. Useless if TaskbarStartButton is disabled.

TaskbarSkin file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format.

LSTaskButtonSkin file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Inactive Task button (center image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

LSTaskButtonLeft file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Inactive Task button (left image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

LSTaskButtonRight file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Inactive Task button (right image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

LSTaskButtonSkinActive file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Active/Current Task button (center image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

LSTaskButtonLeftActive file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Active/Current Task button (left image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

LSTaskButtonRightActive file.bmp

Sets the image to be used for the Taskbar's Active/Current Task button (right image). File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format. Transparency is also supported.

TaskbarNoSkinShift

Forces the Taskbar skin not to move.

TaskbarNoTextShift

Forces the Taskbar text not to move.

Desktop

SetDesktopArea

Enables the manual configuration of the Desktop workspace area; allows you to define how you want your maximized windows to be positioned and occupy your desktop workspace area. Default: disabled

SDALeft n

Sets the number of pixels from the left side of the screen before beginning the Desktop workspace area. Setting this will affect how far left a window will maximize to. n is the number of pixels. Default: disabled

SDARight n

Sets the number of pixels to occupy from the right side of the screen; how far right the Desktop workspace area occupies. Setting this will affect how far right a window will maximize to. n is the number of pixels. You may also specify a negative number, which will be counting the number of pixels from the right side of the screen towards the left. Default: disabled

SDATop n

Sets the number of pixels from the top side of the screen before beginning the Desktop workspace area. Setting this will affect how far up a window will maximize to. n is the number of pixels. Default: disabled

SDABottom n

Sets the number of pixels to occupy from the bottom side of the screen; how far down the Desktop workspace area occupies. Setting this will affect how far down a window will maximize to. n is the number of pixels. You may also specify a negative number, which will be counting the number of pixels from the bottom side of the screen towards the top. Default: disabled

VWM

VWMVelocity n

Sets the virtual window switching resistance. n is the number of milliseconds that the mouse cursor has to be at the edge of the screen before switching virtual windows. Default: 300

VWMNoAuto

Forces the VWM to load with Auto-Switching of virtual windows disabled.

VWMNoGathering

Prevents LiteStep from gathering all windows to the first desktop during Recycling or startup. Default: enabled

VWMSecurityDistance n

Sets the distance from the edge of the screen the mouse cursor has to be before performing a virtual desktop switch. Default: 5

VWMBackColor BBGGRR

Sets the color of the background. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. Hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 808040

VWMSelBackColor BBGGRR

Sets the color for the current virtual desktop status indicator. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. Hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 404040

VWMForeColor BBGGRR

Sets the color of the foreground; the color for the indicators of the windows on the desktop. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. Hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: FFFFFF

VWMBorderColor BBGGRR

Sets the border color of the VWM. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. Hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray). Default: 404040

VWMNoBackBmp

Disables the use of Wharf Tiles and transparency in the VWM; will use the old, pre-0.24.x VWM "look". Default: disabled.

VWMDesksX x

Defines the number of virtual desk tops columns to have. Multiply this value with the VWMDesksY one to get the total number of virtual desk tops. x is the number of columns. Default: 2

VWMDesksY y

Defines the number of virtual desk tops rows to have. Multiply this value with the VWMDesksX one to get the total number of virtual desk tops. y is the number of rows. Default: 2

VWMNoSwitchOnFocus

Prevents unwanted virtual desktop switches when LiteStep is in focus (foreground/active task). Default: disabled

VWMFocusCenter

Makes it so that any window in the center of the screen will come into focus (become foreground/active task) after a virtual desktop switch. Default: disabled

Misc

LoadModule file.dll

Loads non-Wharf LiteStep component, such as popup.dll, wharf.dll, etc. file.dll is the file to load, you may also specify a path.

USClock

Forces the clock to display in 12 hour time (AM/PM). LSTime support this, and some other third-party clock replacements do too. Default: disabled (24 hour time)

LSTimeThemeFile file.thm

Loads a LSTime theme file that allows you to customize its looks. file.thm is the theme file to load, you may also specify a path.

ThemeFile file

Loads a LiteStep theme.rc file that allows you to load a pre-made theme. file is the theme file to load, you may also specify a path.

SystrayOrientation orientation

Changes the orientation of the System Tray. For orientation, you may use a combination of top or bottom, left or right, and vertical to define the orientation of the System Tray. Top and vertical are only used when NoTaskBar is enabled.

SystrayWrapCount n

This sets the number of System Tray icons to be displayed before wrapping over to the next row or column. Setting this to a large number will keep it from wrapping. n is the number of System Tray icons to be displayed before wrapping over. This is only used when NoTaskBar is enabled.

ColorRGB

Changes the LiteStep default paint sequence from green|blue|red to the more standard sequence of red|green|blue.  These color settings are used when specifying colors within the step.rc file for, as an example, your VWM background color, border color, etc..

SetAsShell

This setting is *NOT* recommended for general use.

The command SetAsShell makes LiteStep behave as the “official” shell and it notifies Windows of this fact.  This does seem to create some problems with Windows at times (especially with IE and quite often when running NT) and it has been found that if you do use StepAsShell in your Step.Rc, you might have to set the HKEY_LOCAL_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\DesktopProcess key's value in your registry to 1 to get IE (and Windows) to work properly.

The only advantage to using SetAsShell is that LiteStep is automatically started when it crashes, like Explorer normally does.  As setting LiteStep as the shell seems to create strange problems on different machines, it is suggested that you don't set this value in your Step.Rc.  If you do use SetAsShell and decide to take it out after a while, remember that you will have to reboot (not Recycle as is the normal case with a Step.Rc change) and that you may have to set the HKEY_LOCAL_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\DesktopProcess registry value back to 0 to get everything working properly.

!Bang Commands (Actions)

These are actions, built into lsapi.dll or the modules included with the official distribution, that can be used from anywhere in LiteStep - Wharf, Popup, Hotkey, or Shortcut. They are placed where a command would be placed: i.e. *Wharf "Recycle" recycle.bmp !Recycle would give you a wharf button that recycles LiteStep. You may also stack multiple actions to a command: i.e. *Wharf "Recycle" recycle.bmp !Gather !Recycle

!Recycle

Reload LiteStep and its configuration (step.rc & modules.ini) files.

!None

Used to avoid an error message when the Operating System would normally expect some sort of action to perform.

!About <Detailed>

Brings up the LiteStep About box which will show the version of LiteStep that is currently running and displays a list of loaded LoadModules and their version numbers.
The <Detailed> parameter will give significanty more information :)

!Shutdown

Brings up the Shutdown dialog box.

!Logoff

Closes all active programs and logs you off from your user account.

!Run

Brings up the run dialog box.

!Gather

Gathers (moves) all windows to the current desktop

!ToggleWharf

Toggles the Wharf WindowShade mode on or off.

!WharfTasks Opens the LiteStep Task Manager. This may only be used in the Wharf, and is a function of the wharf.dll module calling the task.dll module (not the LSAPI itself).

!CascadeWindows

Cascades all windows.

!TileWindowsH

Tiles all windows horizontally.

!TileWindowsV

Tiles all windows vertically.

!MinimizeWindows

Minimizes all windows.

!RestoreWindows

Restores all minimized windows to their opened, "Restore" window state.

!Quit

Exits LiteStep
Warning: once LiteStep has exited, you will be left with no shell. Do not use this unless you know what you are doing!

!Popup

Brings up the Popup menu.

"!PopupFolder:path"

Specifies a directory path to be displayed as a Popup folder/directory tree list. Any changes to any files or directories in the specified tree will not take effect in the Popup Menu until LiteStep has been Recycled.  This command is specific to Popups and cannot be accessed from any other component of LiteStep such as Wharf, Hotkeys or Shortcuts.

"!PopupDynamicFolder:path"

Specifies a directory path to be displayed as a Popup folder/directory tree list. The list is refreshed every time the Popup folder list is re displayed, thus it may take a while to refresh the directory.  This command is specific to Popups and cannot be accessed from any other component of LiteStep such as Wharf, Hotkeys or Shortcuts.

!PopupTasks

Allows task switching via a Popup folder-like list.  This command is specific to Popups and cannot be accessed from any other component of LiteStep such as Wharf, Hotkeys or Shortcuts.

!VWMDeskn

Jumps to a specified virtual desktop number. n can be from 0 to the number of virtual desk tops you have.

!VWMLeft

Switches to the virtual desktop to the left of the current one.

!VWMRight

Switches to the virtual desktop to the right of the current one.

!VWMTop

Switches to the virtual desktop to the top of the current one.

!VWMDown

Switches to the virtual desktop to the bottom of the current one.

!ShowShortcutGroup group

Displays all shortcuts belonging to the specified group. group can be any shortcut group name that exists.

!HideShortcutGroup group

Hides all shortcuts belonging to the specified group. group can be any shortcut group name that exists.

!ToggleShortcutGroup group

Displays/Hides all shortcuts belonging to the specified group. Executing this action will change the state of the shortcut group to the opposite state. group can be any shortcut group name that exists.

!SwitchToShortcutGroup group

Displays all shortcuts belonging ot the specified group, and hides all other shortcuts. group can be any shortcut group name that exists.

"<drive>\<path>\file" [parameters]

Runs a specific executable or associated file. Example: "C:\Program Files\Netscape\Communicator\Program\netscape.exe" -mail

@<drive>\<path>\file.app

Loads the specified App Module. Example: @C:\Litestep\LSTime.dll
Note: This command is used only during the loading process of the Step.rc, not when clicking on the Wharf.

Theme.rc  (Contributed by tin_omen)

Litestep 0.24.0 (AKA ls24) included a new, though lightly documented feature: internal theme support.  This new feature will finally enable average Litestep users to download a theme, and have it installed & functioning with a minimum of effort or modification to their existing system.

1. How does it work?
   * It uses a theme.rc file to do 2 things,
     - segregate theme-specific appearance settings into a separate file that can be swapped out to change themes
     - provides a step.rc item command-line matching system to allow a theme author to match a graphic with a users use of a specific app (i.e. ns.bmp can be mapped to be used with lines executing netscape.exe)
2. Ok what are the specifics?
      *It (recommends but doesn't require) a new directory structure to organize themes into separate directories:
   

c:\Litestep

\Themes

\ThemeX \ThemeY

\images \sounds \utils \Liteinfo ...etc... ...etc.

In the above each theme is segregated into it's own dir structure. Each dir contains the following items (at least the way that I am currently using them):

c:\Litestep	Contains the core LS DLL's, .exe's .apps modules etc. as well as the modules.ini & step.rc file (all graphics oriented around the default theme located in .\litestep\themes\default\images for fall-back support for graphics unsupported in specific themes).
c:\litestep\Themes	I've started keeping LiteInfov1.05's theme.ini files designed around specific themes here, renamed to theme specific names (ie. the LiteInfo .ini file for my brom2 theme is named 'Linfo_brom2.ini'
c:\litestep\Themes\ThemeX	Theme readme's, lstime thm files, and the theme.rc
c:\litestep\Themes\ThemeX\images	all theme related bmp's as well as any lstime .bmp font files, wallpaper files etc
c:\litestep\Themes\ThemeX\sounds	any theme-specific sound files
c:\litestep\Themes\ThemeX\utils	any non-Litestep related executables etc. I've started using a 'plus' dir below here for all MS Plus! related material I've used with the theme.
c:\litestep\Themes\ThemeX\LiteInfo	because a LiteInfo theme is made up of a collection of related component bmp's I've started segregating Liteinfo material related to a specific LS theme in a subdir below the theme, with the related LiteInfo skin .ini file in the c:\litestep\themes dir.
...etc...	Because this is not a 'formal' standard, you can really include any item you'd like in other subdirectories. The whole idea is to make it easy for folks to use.

1. What's a theme.rc?
   *The theme.rc is a simple text file that contains a subset of the step.rc commands. More specifically it can contain any step.rc item that doesn't use the following commands:
           -the 'LoadModule' command
           -a wharf module load line, like '*Wharf "Date & Time" b24_lstime.bmp @c:\litestep\lstime.dll'
           -the '*Popup' command
           -the "*Wharf" command
           -the "*Hotkey" command
           -the "*Shortcut" command
   *What's that leave? Basically all of the parameters, path specs, color specs, sound specs, and popup bar configuration commands:
   *You can also disable specific line items by preceding them with a semicolon (;)
   *Although you can put a wide variety of parameters in here, I've tended to stay away from usability items like AutoHideWharf, WharfCloseOnSwitch, or USClock, which are user-preference items that don't really affect visible appearance, but could rally tick someone off if they are changed from the settings they normally use.
      
2. How does it work? At the time that Litestep loads, the theme.rc's settings override the settings specified in the step.rc. Anything not specified in the theme.rc, defaults back to the step.rc settings. This lets me apply my theme to your desktop without requiring you to reedit your step.rc (aside from a theme designator line covered below).
3. The theme.rc has the following layout/sections:
   

   *The General Section I usually put desktop-wide configuration parameters here, things like :

               ; systray location (use only one)
               ;systrayorientation topleftvertical
               ;systrayorientation bottomright
               ;systrayorientation bottomleftvertical
               systrayorientation bottomleft
               ; systray wrap setting
               SystrayWrapCount 21
               ;WharfAllTitles
   

   *The Images section I put the theme-related path variable definitions here, ls24-compliant app theme file designators, and the default graphics used on the wharf etc. -You'll note that this section also starts to use the variables that it's defining. $ThemePath$ and $ThemeDir$ for example are both defined here and make it possible to only need to edit the variable definition to change the path used throughout the entire file. The $LitestepDir$ variable is setup in step.rc (see below under 'Ok so how do I use the system?').

               ; this sets up the $ThemePath$ variable pointing at the current
               ; themes images dir, for use in the rest of the theme.rc file.
               ; Note: it makes use of the $LitestepDir$ variable that needs to
               ; be setup at the top of step.rc file. (LitestepDir just points
               ; at the root LS dir (c:\litestep in most cases)
               ThemePath $LitestepDir$themes\Default\images\
              
               ; this sets up the $ThemeDir$ variable to the root of the theme.
               ThemeDir $LitestepDir$themes\Default\
              
               ; this specifies an lsTime theme file to be used with this file
               LSTimeThemeFile $ThemeDir$tinclock.thm
              
               ; these are the regular wharf bg, folder bg, and folder marker
               ; graphics lines lifted right out of a step.rc
               WharfTitlebarPix $ThemePath$b24_wcap.bmp
               DefaultBackPix .none
               FolderPix $ThemePath$b24_foldermark.bmp
               FolderBackPix $ThemePath$b24_folderpic.bmp
   

   *The Wharf section This section includes parameters related to the wharf appearance and behavior

               ; Border width on wharf items
               WharfBevelWidth 0
               ; these heavily effect wharf animation speed when using
               ; transparency (defaults were 16 & 10) change to suit
               ; your box. By placing them here, it allows you to
               ; use different settings depending on the amount of
               ; transparency lag seen with a particular theme
               WharfAnimStep 64
               WharfAnimDelay 50
   

   *The Virtual Window Manager section This section contains settings related to the appearance of the vwm.dll module.

   
               VWMForeColor BABCBA
               VWMBackColor 707770
               VWMSelBackColor A3A5A3
               VWMBorderColor 707770
   

   *The Popups section Appearance, color, size etc. of Popupmenu items.

               PopupTitleColor FFFFFF
               PopupEntryColor D3D3D3
               PopupSelEntryColor D3D3D3
              
               PopupSubMenuHeight 20
              
               PopupTitlePix $ThemePath$b24_bartitles.bmp
               PopupEntryPix $ThemePath$b24_barnorms.bmp
               PopupSelEntryPix $ThemePath$b24_barsels.bmp
              
               ; Specifies Font Face for the Popup bar to use.
               PopupFontFace "Verdana"
              
              
               ; Specifies Font face Height
               PopupFontHeight 14
              
               ;the minimum width of a popup bar
               minpopupwidth 208
              
               ; disable bevel on popups
               NoPopupBevel
   

   *The Taskbar section Blah blah blah, taskbar settings... (you get the idea<g>)

               LSTaskBarFore FFFFFF
               LSTaskBarFore2 808080
               LSTaskBarBack 800000
               LSTaskBarText FFFFFF
   

   *The Shortcuts section Shortcut graphic themeing isn't currently supported, so I put the associated sound associations here

               ; shortcut sounds
               ; mouse over sound
               ShortcutMouseOverSound c:\litestep\themes\Default\sounds\ding.wav
               ; click sound
               ShortcutClickSound c:\litestep\themes\Default\sounds\comp_up.wav
   
   

   *Theme Pictures mappings section
   This is the meat of the theme.rc file. This section allows you to set up comparison criteria to define graphics substitution assignments for *Wharf items in the step.rc file. At the current time, the items that are searched are the command line portion of *Wharf entries, and the Description portion of *Wharf Folder items.
   
   (note: on 11/5/98, I got a note from Bryan Kilian, that plans are in place to add support to allow matching against the descriptions of both folder and regular wharf items. And the devteam are definitely planning to add shortcut graphic substitution as well. Very good news!)

   *A *ThemePic entry in the theme.rc has the following syntax:
               *ThemePic <search string> $ThemePath$graphic.bmp
                   where <search sring> can use wildcards (* & ?) and extension brackets ([ ]) for optional items.
                                    For example in the line:
                           *ThemePic *App* $ThemePath$b24_apps.bmp
                       '*App*' is the criteria used for searching the step.rc, it says something like the following, "Search all wharf item command lines or wharf folder descriptions for the following string: anything with the letters A-p-p in the beginning middle or end of a string."

   A wharf item is normally has the following step.rc syntax:
               *Wharf "description string" graphic.bmp "command line string"
                   the "command line string" portion is what you can try to match for assigning a graphic

   +And wharf folders use:
               *Wharf "description string" graphic.bmp Folder
                   the "description string" portion is what's matchable here.

   Note, this is an exception to normal behavior! Wharf folder commands are the only items that can be matched against the description, the rest all have to match to the command line string!

    

   +Here's some examples demonstrating the concept:
               -If the step.rc contains the following items:
                  
                   *Wharf "System" b24_sys.bmp Folder
                   *Wharf "Edit Step.rc" b24_folder.bmp notepad c:\litestep\step.rc
                   *Wharf "Recycle" b24_recycle.bmp !Recycle
                   *Wharf ~Folder
         -You can do comparison matches against the following for each:
                  > in the system folder item, the string "System" is available because it's the description portion
                   >in the 'edit step.rc' item, the string "notepad c:\litestep\step.rc" is searchable because it's the command line
                   >in the 'recycle' item, the string "!Recycle" is searchable because it also is a command line.
         -So, using each of the above in a *ThemePic item to substitute a new graphic for each:
                   *ThemePic *System* $ThemePath$b24_sys.bmp

   *System* will match the system wharf folder item above, because the letters 's-y-s-t-e-m' appear in a row somewhere in a word in the Description portion of item. So the b24_sys.bmp file in the currently defined $ThemePath$ directory will be used for that wharf folder item.

   
                   *ThemePic *step.rc* $ThemePath$b24_folder.bmp                     

   *step.rc* will match the edit step.rc item because the command line "notepad c:\litestep\step.rc" string contains the letters "s-t-e-p-.-r-c" in a row. so the b24_folder.bmp graphic will be substituted for this item.

                   *ThemePic *Recycle $ThemePath$b24_recycle.bmp                     

   *Recycle >will match the command line of the Recycle item '!Recycle", because the letters "R-e-c-y-c-l-e-space" appear in a row in the command line. Note that *Recycle only specifies that a string has to end with the sting, instead of have it in the beginning. If 'Recycle' had been the criteria, it would require that the string " Recycle " had to appear with the spaces before & after it.

    

   +Finally here's a functional ThemePic section of a theme.rc:
               ; I generally rem out anything generic out that I don't want to explicitly spec a graphic
               ;    for, so that it defaults to the app icon images defined in the step.rc
              
               : Primary Wharf folders/items
               *ThemePic *System* $ThemePath$brm2_sys2.bmp
               *ThemePic *App[ls]* $ThemePath$brm2_apps2.bm
               *ThemePic Net $ThemePath$brm2_net2.bmp
               *ThemePic *WharfTasks $ThemePath$brm2_tasks2.bmp
              
               ;Applications
               *ThemePic notepad.exe $ThemePath$b24_notepad.bmp
               *ThemePic wordpad.exe $ThemePath$b24_wordpad.bmp
               *ThemePic *winword.exe $ThemePath$b24_word.bmp
               *ThemePic *excel* $ThemePath$b24_excel.bmp
               *ThemePic *Photoshp.exe $ThemePath$b24_photoshp.bmp
               *ThemePic *psp.exe* $ThemePath$b24_psp5.bmp
               *ThemePic *bryce3d* $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic *winamp.exe* $ThemePath$speaker2.bmp
              
              
               ;Internet Applications
               *ThemePic *iexplor* $ThemePath$brm2_ie4.bmp
               *ThemePic *net Expl* $ThemePath$brm2_ie4.bmp
               *ThemePic *netscape* $ThemePath$b24_web.bmp
               *ThemePic *irc* $ThemePath$b24_irc.bmp
               *ThemePic *dun* $ThemePath$b24_dun.bmp
               *ThemePic dialup $ThemePath$b24_dun.bmp
               *ThemePic winternet* $ThemePath$b24_dun.bmp
               *ThemePic *eudora* $ThemePath$b24_mail.bmp
               *ThemePic *outlook* $ThemePath$b24_mail.bmp
               *ThemePic *pegasus* $ThemePath$b24_mail.bmp
               *ThemePic *ftp* $ThemePath$b24_ftp.bmp
               *ThemePic news* $ThemePath$b24_news.bmp
               *ThemePic *agent* $ThemePath$b24_news.bmp
               *ThemePic *Altavista* $ThemePath$b24_websearch.bmp
               *ThemePic *\DejaNews $ThemePath$b24_newssearch.bmp
              
               ;Drives
               *ThemePic a:\\ $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic c:\\ $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic d:\\ $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic e:\\ $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic *drives* $ThemePath$
              
              
               ;Modules
               *ThemePic *lslm* .none
               *ThemePic *cpu.dll* .none
               *ThemePic *lsmix* .none
   

   Note 'dummy'/nonfunctional decorative wharf items (like my vwm framing graphics) which are officially supposed to use the LS standard !None command won't map properly in the theme.rc because '!none' is the only command line returned for all of them. You can set up a '*None' Themepic spec, but all !None items will match to it and use the same graphic. I've worked around this by pointing each of them in the step.rc at a uniquely named .txt file that gives me something distinctive to compare against.

               *ThemePic *vwmframe1* $ThemePath$brm2_vwmtop2.bmp
                  

   In my step.rc the line item being matched to uses the following syntax: *Wharf Vwmtop b24_vwmtop2.bmp vwmframe1.txt 'vwmframe1.txt' doesn't exist, and will throw a 'file not found' error if someone clicks on the graphic, but it does enable you to 'theme' the graphic properly. You could also actually make them functional maybe WharfToggle commands etc.

   
               *ThemePic *vwm.dll* $ThemePath$brm2_vwmbg.bmp
               *ThemePic *vwmframe2* $ThemePath$brm2_vwmbot.bmp
   

   Same story here, the step.rc line being matched to above is: *Wharf Vwmbot b24_vwmbot.bmp vwmframe2.txt

   
               *ThemePic *lstime.dll* $ThemePath$brm2_lstime.bmp
               *ThemePic *RemoteIT.app* .none
              
               ;System Tools
               *ThemePic *command* $ThemePath$b24_dos.bmp
               *ThemePic *XTerm.pif $ThemePath$b24_dos.bmp
               *ThemePic *4dos* $ThemePath$b24_dos.bmp
               *ThemePic MSDos $ThemePath$b24_dos.bmp
               *ThemePic *dos* $ThemePath$b24_dos.bmp
               *ThemePic *bash* $ThemePath$b24_bash.bmp
               *ThemePic *lce.exe* $ThemePath$
               *ThemePic *step.rc* $ThemePath$b24_folder.bmp
               *ThemePic *\explorer.exe $ThemePath$b24_explorer.bmp
               *ThemePic *Logoff $ThemePath$b24_logout3.bmp
               *ThemePic *Run $ThemePath$brm2_run.bmp
               *ThemePic *Shutdown $ThemePath$b24_shutdown.bmp
               *ThemePic *Recycle $ThemePath$b24_recycle.bmp
               *ThemePic *Display* $ThemePath$control2.bmp
                                      

   You'll note that these items are matching to the distinctive number sequences used in the explorer /root keys in the step.rc

               ;Control Panel
               *ThemePic */root,,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\\::{21EC2020-3AEA-1069-A2DD-08002B30309D}* $ThemePath$b24_cntrlpanel.bmp
              
               ;Network Neighborhood
               *ThemePic *208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D* $ThemePath$b24_netneigh2.bmp

   
   

   Ok so how do I use the system?

   *The user has to have the following new items at the top of his step.rc (instruct him to add them in your theme docs)          - LitestepDir c:\litestep\             this is used throughout Litestep now for graphics pathing. It creates a variable $LitestepDir$ that is in turn used in the theme.rc to define other path variables.         - ThemeFile c:\litestep\themes\Default\theme.rc             this specifies exactly which theme.rc file is to be used with Litestep. To change theme, you simply change this setting to point at the new themes theme.rc.

   * You need to make sure the following applies to your theme:         A. Use the above dir structure (recommended, but not essential) (I'll generally copy an entire existing theme's dir structure into place & rename things to suit)         B. Copy the example theme.rc into place in your new \litestep\themes\ThemeX dir         C. Edit the theme.rc to suit your theme:             -Edit the ThemeDir & ThemePath entries to match your theme's directory name             -Specify your theme-specific LSTimeThemeFile (if you made one)             -Copy the following settings from your step.rc into the theme.rc (if they vary from the norm). Use '.none' for any items that you want to blank when the step.rc settings may specify something else. Also, remember to use the $ThemePath$ variable for your graphic specifications (it cuts down typing time and makes it easier to rename the theme dir without having to search & replace the setting throughout the theme.rc. Not to mention if you don't include it, you'll end up with mysterious missing graphic items.<g>)                 WharfTitlebarPix                 DefaultBackPix                 FolderPix                 FolderBackPix                 PopupTitlePix                 PopupEntryPix                 PopupSelEntryPix                 WharfBevelWidth 0                 WharfAnimStep 64                 WharfAnimDelay 50                     include the above two if needed due to transparency lag on slower boxes                 VWMForeColor                 VWMBackColor                 VWMSelBackColor                 VWMBorderColor                 PopupTitleColor                 PopupEntryColor                 PopupSelEntryColor                 LSTaskBarFore                 LSTaskBarFore2                 LSTaskBarBack                 LSTaskBarText                 ShortcutMouseOverSound                 ShortcutClickSound                 PopupSubMenuHeight                 PopupFontFace                 PopupFontHeight                 minpopupwidth                 NoPopupBevel             D. Edit the existing *ThemePic entries to point at your theme's equivalent graphics.

   *And finally Test it!        -Make sure your using the above user's LitestepDir & ThemeFile items in your step.rc and then recycle, tweak, recycle, etc.

   Extra Considerations:     Litestep24 supports a number of new features that will heavily influence new themes produced to run on it.:        *Mobile wharf             -You can no longer depend on the wharf to stay where you intended it to be (due to the mobile wharf support). I try to avoid designing my wallpapers with only one position for the wharf. Instead, I've even gone as far as to design the wallpaper & wharf completely distanced from each other (I used to draw my wharf in a layer over the wallpaper, I now tend to hide the wallpaper while working on the wharf).             -Also, although you may prefer a right side wharf, others may want a left side wharf, or even one right down the middle. You may want to avoid designing a wharf that looks 'odd' when on the opposite side from where you designed it. (I got caught in this trap myself when designing the LS24 Default theme, it's obviously a right side wharf.<g>) I now test run my stuff for a while with the wharf in unusual locations, to see how they look.        * Transparency Support            - This one's a toughie. Transparency is VERY cool to look at, but it comes at a significant cost. Your P2/266 with 64mb of ram may run fine with that spider web transparent wharf you put together, but the first user to try it on a slower box, will complain loudly when the wharf folders crawl out.            -There are three things you can do to address this situation                1.   The obvious option is to avoid heavy use of transparency, heh but who am I kidding, folks designing themes are about looks over performance right?<g>                2.    You can tweak the WharfAnimStep & WharfAnimDelay settings. They effect the animation speed of the wharf folders, by adjusting the 'jump' between frames & the delay between rendering of the frames on screen. In general higher numbers improve performance, but will make the animation a bit choppier (fewer frames farther apart).                 3.   If you want to get technical (at least to the extent that this pixel-tweaker understands it), you can address the root causes of the problem: The way Windows draws partially transparent objects on screen. Basically when Litestep assembles the combination of a transparent application icon, on top of a transparent folder background picture, it sandwiches them together to produce a composite image. This composite image is then passed on to Windows to be displayed. The first thing windows does with the object is attempt to break up the non-transparent parts of the object into regular rectangular sections. If the object's visible outline is rectangular to start with, Windows cuts it into a few squares and draws it on screen. But if it's an irregular outline, then Windows has to carve it up into a bunch of smaller rectangles that fit the outline before it can draw it. The worst extension of this effect would be dithered transparency (i.e. alternating the color 255,0,255 with another color every pixel or so to make the wharf appear to be semi-transparent), as this would force Windows to carve each 64x64 tile into a huge number of tiny nontransparent regions before it can draw them. So how do you work around the problem of irregular transparent object outlines? Well the best/quickest way I've come up with is to 'mask' the irregular outline of the app icons, with a 48x48 or bigger rectangular FolderBackPix graphic. When the larger FolderBackPix item is sandwiched behind the smaller app icon, the resulting composite image has the FolderBackPix's large rectangular outline, which Windows can carve up & draw fairly easily. So my approach will be to do a regular highly transparent FolderBackPix , and a second 'low cpu' version that has most of the transparency masked out. Ship 'em both & recommend the masked one for folks with slow cpu's.<g>

   Some ported complete themes that you can look at for reference: -I've done a port of my Default ls24 theme to the new standard,here 468k (non background distro, the backgrounds by themselves are here 635k).  -MycroftHolmesIV & mian have ported fluid's Deception theme to the standard, it's available at MH4's site.

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Modules.ini

The Modules.ini file is the LiteStep Modules configuration file, although nearly all modules can also be configured directly in the step.rc. Everything changed in the modules.ini file affects how LiteStep's modules look and act. LiteStep includes some components that uses the Modules.ini file, which are explained below. Some third-party modules use the modules.ini file as their configuration file.

Modules.ini Index

--Modules.ini Index--    VWM Stickies    Wharf    AutoPlay

VWM Sticky Windows

Sticky windows is a feature that allows you to set any window on the desktop of your choice which will allow the window to be in your active virtual desktop all the time. This means the VWM will move the window, thus following you to another virtual desktop you switch to.

To use sticky windows:

1. Open the modules.ini file, create it if it does not exist.
2. Define the sticky window(s) by entering the following text: [LSVWM] stickies=n stickyW=windowname stypeW=n
stickies=n	this sets the number of sticky windows you wish to use. n is the number of sticky windows.
stickyW=windowname	This defines the sticky window number and its window name. W is the sticky window number. windowname is the window titlename, you must type in the exact case of the window you wish to stick. You may also set the windowname based on the window's Window Class, if you don't know what this means, don't worry about it. You may also use wildcards when defining the window name. To use wildcards, place a * before the first letter of the windowname.
stypeW=n	This is optional and allows you to force the use of window titles (text as it appears in the window title bar) instead of Window Classes. W is the window number. For n, using 1 means window class is forced, 0 means it will use the Window Title. If no stypeW=n is defined, it assumes the n value of 0.

Wharf

The Wharf allows you to set its position in the modules.ini, which is read during start up. You should see the following in the Modules.ini file: [Wharf]
Position=x,y

x	The horizontal position of the Wharf. x starts from the left side of the screen. The Wharf's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position of the Wharf. y starts from the top of the screen. The Wharf's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

Generally, you should not need to edit the positions since the Wharf will automatically write its own position upon shutting down your System or quitting LiteStep.

AutoPlay

LiteStep allows you to disable AutoPlay of Audio CDs, because some CD players do not work with AutoPlay correctly, or you are using a third-party module which allows you to play CDs from the Wharf.

To disable AutoPlay open your Modules.ini and add the following lines of text:

[Desktop]
AudioAutoplay=0

To reenable AutoPlay, simply change 0 to 1 or delete the text shown above all together.

BitmapFile file.bmp

The "skin" image file to be used for your clock. File must be in Bitmap (.bmp) format.

DigiClockFont x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the font. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the font. Must be used with width.

DateFont x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the day, month, and year. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the day, month, and year. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the font. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the font. Must be used with width

DigiClock x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the clock. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the clock. Must be used with width

DigiDay x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the day. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the day. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

DigiMonth x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the month. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the month. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

Digi2dYear x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the two digit year. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the two digit year. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

DigiYear x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the year. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the digital clock font that displays the year. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

AnaDayFont x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the day. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the day. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the font. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the font. Must be used with width

AnaMonthFont x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the month. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the month. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the font. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the font. Must be used with width

AnaClock x y width height

x	The horizontal position to be used for the analog clock. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the analog clock. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.
width	The width of the clock. Must be used with height.
height	The height of the clock. Must be used with width

AnaDay x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the day. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the day. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

AnaMonth x y

x	The horizontal position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the month. x starts from the left side of the tile. The first character's extreme left line up with the defined x position. Must be used with y.
y	The vertical position to be used for the analog clock font that displays the month. y starts from the top of the tile. The first character's extreme top line up with the defined y position. Must be used with x.

HourHandColor BBGGRR Sets the analog clock's Hour Hand color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray).

HourHandShade BBGGRR

Sets the analog clock's Hour Hand shadow color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray).

MinHandColor BBGGRR

Sets the analog clock's Minute Hand color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray).

SecHandColor BBGGRR

Sets the analog clock's Second Hand color. BBGGRR is the RGB color code to be used. hexadecimal numbers such as: FFFFFF (white), 000000 (black), 808080 (gray).

Explorer.exe /e,/root,::{CLSID of item}	Used when you junction point you are opening is an item that is under the Desktop.
Explorer.exe /e,/root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\::{CLSID of item}	Used when the junction point you are opening is an item that is under My Computer.
Explorer.exe /e,/root,path to junction point	Used when the junction point you are opening is a file system folder.

E-Variables:

E-Vars are concise pointers, to longer strings of text, that can be inserted and used anywhere in your step.rc. These pointers, inserts, are expanded by litestep into their full definition internally, to be executed as defined.

While system envirionmental variable substitution works fine with LS e-variables most of the time, we have had reports of some people having problems with this and so, if you have problems, try predifining them in your Step.Rc instead of counting on system env variable expansion.

The following is a sample setup of custom E-vars:

; Setup custom E-Vars

LiteStepDir c:\litestep\
ProgramDir “c:\windows\start menu\programs\”
StepRC “$LiteStepDir$step.rc”
TextEditor “$WinDir$notepad.exe”
EditStepRC “$TextEditor$ $StepRC$”
EmailClient “c:\program files\email\email.exe”
Browser “c:\program files\opera\opera.exe”

If you really want to read that legalese stuff from GNU, go right ahead and read the General Public License.

Support

It is difficult for us to maintain a technical support team, but we will try to answer as many questions as possible and to the best of our abilities. You may E-Mail technical support questions to us at qa@litestep.org. Alternatively, you may try the #LS_Help channel on the EFnet IRC Network; more people maybe able to help you there. Remember that technical support is at a voluntary basis. Therefore, it may take quite some time for a reply to your questions.

General Discussion

If you want to discuss about any LiteStep works you produced, have new ideas for new LiteStep features, or just want to talk about other LiteStep related things aside from technical support questions, there is the #LiteStep channel on the EFnet IRC Network for them.

Known Problems