Famulus Help
Famulus is a simple file and application launcher. Press and hold the numpad * key for a fraction of a second to bring up a text prompt. Type predefined custom commands into the prompt and hit the Enter key to run an associated file, folder, application or website. Right clicking on the Famulus tray icon will bring up a menu with the following items.
Edit Commands:
To create a new command fill in the activation code, which can be almost any alpha-numeric string, and enter a file, folder, application or website to associate with that command.
There are three buttons used to select a file or folder. The “File” and “Dir.” buttons are self explanatory but the “*” button allows you to select a file and an application to open it with. The “Option” box lets you run an application maximized, minimized or hidden (note: not all programs can use all options). You can also set the working directory of an application. This may be necessary for some software but most modern apps do not require it. Both the “File Path” and “Working Directory” boxes also support drag and drop.
Famulus can also run system commands, file paths and web addresses that are directly typed into the prompt. Simply prepend the command with the @ symbol. This tells Famulus to run the command directly rather than comparing it to the commands list. Any commands recognized by the Windows Run utility should work with Famulus. The included “Run commands.pdf” file is a partial list of common commands. It should be noted that due to the way Famulus parses text strings the “|” and “©” symbols cannot be used in a command, and the “@” symbol cannot be used as the first character in a predefined command.
To edit an existing command simply click on it in the list, make any desired changes, and click the save button. The original command will be overwritten with the new version. If after selecting a command you decide you do not want to make any changes, you can either click the “Clear” button which will deselect the command, or you can click the “Done” button which will close the window without saving any pending changes. To delete an existing command select it from the list and click the “Delete” button.
The “Convert” button provides a limited ability to convert a path from absolute to relative. I say limited because it will only work on a standard absolute path on the same drive as the one from which Famulus is running at the time. Anything else will pop up an error message.
Settings:
In the “Key” box you can set which key will bring up the prompt. Simply click in the box then press the desired key(s). (Note that changing the activation key will cause the program to restart.) You can set both the time to hold down the activation key and the prompt timeout. Both values are in seconds. The color of the prompt can be set as either a six character hexadecimal color value or recognized color name ie red, blue, green, purple etc. You can also set the position of the prompt, the use of event sounds and whether Famulus starts with Windows.
About:
Program information and a brief outline of features, the same information contained in the readme file.
Exit:
Exits the application.
Edit Commands:
To create a new command fill in the activation code, which can be almost any alpha-numeric string, and enter a file, folder, application or website to associate with that command.
There are three buttons used to select a file or folder. The “File” and “Dir.” buttons are self explanatory but the “*” button allows you to select a file and an application to open it with. The “Option” box lets you run an application maximized, minimized or hidden (note: not all programs can use all options). You can also set the working directory of an application. This may be necessary for some software but most modern apps do not require it. Both the “File Path” and “Working Directory” boxes also support drag and drop.
Famulus can also run system commands, file paths and web addresses that are directly typed into the prompt. Simply prepend the command with the @ symbol. This tells Famulus to run the command directly rather than comparing it to the commands list. Any commands recognized by the Windows Run utility should work with Famulus. The included “Run commands.pdf” file is a partial list of common commands. It should be noted that due to the way Famulus parses text strings the “|” and “©” symbols cannot be used in a command, and the “@” symbol cannot be used as the first character in a predefined command.
To edit an existing command simply click on it in the list, make any desired changes, and click the save button. The original command will be overwritten with the new version. If after selecting a command you decide you do not want to make any changes, you can either click the “Clear” button which will deselect the command, or you can click the “Done” button which will close the window without saving any pending changes. To delete an existing command select it from the list and click the “Delete” button.
The “Convert” button provides a limited ability to convert a path from absolute to relative. I say limited because it will only work on a standard absolute path on the same drive as the one from which Famulus is running at the time. Anything else will pop up an error message.
Settings:
In the “Key” box you can set which key will bring up the prompt. Simply click in the box then press the desired key(s). (Note that changing the activation key will cause the program to restart.) You can set both the time to hold down the activation key and the prompt timeout. Both values are in seconds. The color of the prompt can be set as either a six character hexadecimal color value or recognized color name ie red, blue, green, purple etc. You can also set the position of the prompt, the use of event sounds and whether Famulus starts with Windows.
About:
Program information and a brief outline of features, the same information contained in the readme file.
Exit:
Exits the application.