mk79 wrote:Derek_Stewart wrote:mk79 wrote:What does "does not work" mean here?
Recent versions of MENU_REXT, work, but gives WIndow Manager too old error message.
So I had to use QPAC2 v1.39 and MENU_REXT v7.66, QD98 before anythin would run in the Extended Environment on a non-High Colour QL.
Then why not just use a WMAN that is new enough?
My website has more recent versions of the pointer environment on the page at
http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/pe/index.html
If something says it needs Window Manager 2, in general you will need pointer environment version 2 - try the ones which say v2.01 or later from my website.
I haven't tried the recent menu_rext files against individual versions of the pointer environment to be sure of which combinations will work on a QL, you may need to try more than one version, starting with the highest version.
In case you are new to the pointer environment (you said you are an old user, so maybe this explanation is unnecessary)...
Pointer Environment (sometimes, just "PE" or Extended Environment) is the term used to refer to the system installed by PTR_GEN which provides an on-screen pointer arrow and saves and restores windows as you switch between programs. There are a few programs such as the older The Painter which will work with only PTR_GEN installed, without really needing WMAN and HOT_REXT.
The "Extended Enviornment" is the combination of the base files called ptr_gen (pointer interface - provides the on-screen pointer, saves and restores windows, etc) and wman (Window Manager, the look and feel of the windows on the screen, provides a system to allow software which understand it to have a similar and related appearance, e.g. the QPAC2 menus), and sometimes hot_rext (the hotkey system).
Window Manager 2 took the WMAN Window Manager to a new level with colour themes for high colour systems etc. Using it, I have a "colour theme" installed which gives my programs which understand Wman2 a consistent "grey" colour across all programs and menus. It is only fairly recent pointer driven programs which understand this, not older programs such as the Psion packages.
Admiteddly, some users do use the terms Pointer Environment and Extended Environment interchangeably. The QPAC2 manual tries to explain the differences.
Window Manager 2 first came about as part of the SMSQ/E system. It didn't originally work on a BBQL (Black Box QL) as that didn't support high colours even if it was a system you could run SMSQ/E on. So, some clever person (naming no names) created a version for BBQL systems, which gave a good degree of compatibility with newer programs which needed WMAN 2, but with only the base QL colours.
There are documents out there such as Norman Dunbar's "PE Idiot's Guide" (he says in it he was the idiot when he wrote it, not the reader!) and various documents on individual aspect of the PE which are actually very helpful on all things "PE" (pun not intended, for those who understand "Things"!). It can be quite a chore to master individual elements and the terminology concerned, but making the effort with the terminology is worth it for when you have to try to get help on something - correct terminology makes it easier for the "experts" to understand the nature of the problem to try to give correct advice. We were all beginners once, and despite having used QLs since 1984, I still learn something new about them most weeks!
Have a look at some of the documents here
http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/ptr/index.html and here
http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/docs/smsqegd2/index.html. Some of them are heavy going, but ultimately worth the effort.