!.EXE
At the command prompt, display your menu by pressing the keyboard shortcut which by default is set to:
CTRL + ALT + \
Important
The keyboard shortcut will do nothing while in a program, you must be at the command prompt for the menu to display.
This is not a multi-tasking application switcher!
If you don't have !KEY.COM loaded, the keyboard shortcut will not be available.
To start Launch! without the keyboard shortcut, at the command prompt, simply enter:
!
Launch! does not execute the selected program itself. Rather, it returns to the existing command interpreter, types the configured command and, if selected, supplies Enter. This means shell commands, redirection, pipelines, batch files, executable files and deliberately unfinished command lines can all be used. No secondary command processor is started or additional shells. Launch! does not interfere with program execution or return. This approach provides maximum flexibility, and compatibility. If it can be run from the command prompt, it will work with Launch!.
LAUNCH.CFG stores configuration settings and LAUNCH.MNU contains the menu data. Whenever a change is made to the menu, a LAUNCH.BAK file will also be created containing a backup of the menu.
Launch! locates and saves LAUNCH.MNU beside !.EXE, regardless of the current working directory. This works both with a full executable path and when !.EXE is found via PATH.
The Launch! executable !.EXE has some useful parameters:
| Parameter | Function |
|---|---|
file.mnu |
use an alternative menu file from the default launch.mnu. It will be assumed to be beside !.EXE unless a full path is provided. This allows you to make use of different menu configurations, e.g. ! TEST.MNU
|
/? |
show Launch! help |
/CONFIG |
show the configuration dialog |
/EXPLORE |
show the Explore & Run dialog directly without the menu |
/OPEN |
show the Open File dialog directly without the menu |
/BYE |
show the Shutdown... dialog directly without the menu |
/NOW |
start the configured screensaver immediately |
/OPENTO=folder |
open the Launch! menu to the specified folder, e.g. /OPENTO="System Tools" would show the menu with the System Tools sub-menu already open. |
