PupControl-1.3

Recommended OS
Puppy Linux 4.3.1 and above

Purpose and Base Features
PupControl Panel is a graphical control panel which permits menu-like access to more than sixty Puppy control functions, and is similar to the companion program, PupApps Launcher, which permits quick access to most Puppy programs (applications). The control panel is a standalone program but will integrate seamlessly with PupApps here (all versions), and PupShutdown here (version 1.4 or greater). The tab interface of PupControl sorts all programs and utilities into seven broad categories, and common functions that one may use routinely are available in the lower panel tray. The optimal display for the panel GUI is automatically configured based on the active window manager and current global screen dpi.

Caveats
1 - When first installed, the PupControl GUI displays applications that are standard in most Puppy versions. Alternate programs may be selected in Settings->PupControl Preferences. If a desired application is not listed, you can enter the name of the executable, including the path and switches if needed, then select Save to set your new option.

2 - The category icons in the main GUI, and program options in the Preferences drop-down lists, change dynamically as applications are installed and uninstalled. After uninstalling an application, the name of that program remains in the Preferences drop-down list until you select and save a different application in that category. If only one application remains in a drop-down list and you wish to remove it, simply highlight that name with the mouse cursor and click the delete key on your keyboard, then select Save in Preferences.

3 - Quick program access is by Puppy Menu->Utility->PupControl, or by the default Ctrl+Shift+C keyboard shortcut, which is configured for IceWm, JWM, Openbox, Fluxbox, LXDE and LXPanel. If the Xfce window manager is currently active, the hotkey can be set manually in the PupControl Settings tab as follows: Window Manager Settings->Xfce Settings->Keyboard->Application Shortcuts.


4 - PupControl auto-configures many panel options based on the name of the current window manager logged in /etc/windowmanager. Puppy will update this file automatically when starting a new window manager from the command prompt, but some programs that change the window manager in real time may fail to update properly. Consequently, when you change to a different window manager, if PupControl does not display properly, or command functions are inoperative, please exit to the command prompt and type in the appropriate start command such as xwin icewm, or xwin jwm, or xwin lxsession, or xwin startxfce4.

5 - The panel is compliant with the Stardust desktop environment (DuDe), but Stardust uses a proprietary jwmrc-personal file which may overwrite the PupControl hotkey entry. This is easily restored in the PupControl Preferences manager.

6 - The GUI of PupControl-1.3 supports screen fonts as large as 108 dpi in standard Puppy derivatives, and up to 144 dpi in both Fluppy and Lighthouse Pup, in 6-dpi increments only. The GUI no longer supports the font metrics of early developmental releases of Fluppy (1-9), but does support the new font metrics of Fluppy 10, 11...

Programs
Desktop options and configuration settings may vary depending on the current window manager. PupControl is configured to call the programs appropriate for the active window manager. In addition to more than sixty standard Puppy functions, the control panel features an expanded version of the IPinfo utility, which provides useful information about your internet connection. A new program, PupClockset, facilitates changing the time format in the tray clock, based on locale-specific strftime specifications. In JWM, PupClockset works well with standard tray files, but not with the proprietary tray files of Stardust, in which case the call defaults to Ptray. Most other panel functions are standard fare.


Roger D. Grider, Copyright 2011 GPL3