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