Arranging Program Manager Group Icons in a Specific Order

• Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a

SUMMARY

When you select the Save Changes option while exiting the Program Manager, the layout of the open group windows is saved, but the layout of the closed group icons is not. These icons are automatically reorganized at the bottom of the Program Manager the next time Windows is run. You cannot save their screen positions, but you can save the order in which they appear on the screen.

MORE INFORMATION

Using an example, the procedure below outlines the steps to order Program Manager's group icons. Make sure you follow the instructions closely.

Groups in example:

   Main
   Accessories
   Games
   WEP
   SDK Tools
   MS-DOS Apps

   Games
   Windows Entertainment Pack (WEP)
   SDK Tools
    MS-DOS Apps

   WEP
   Games
   MS-DOS Apps
   SDK Tools

Procedure

1. Switch to Program Manager.

2. Restore ALL group icons to a window (do not maximize them).

3. Select the group window (from the Window menu is probably easiest at this point) that you want to appear on the far right; for example, SDK Tools.

4. Minimize this window to a group icon.

5. Repeat steps 3-4 for the next adjacent group icon; in this case, MS-DOS Apps.

6. Repeat steps 3-4 for the rest of the groups you want to order (first Games, then WEP).

   NOTE: At this point, the group icons should be the REVERSE of what you want.

7. Exit Windows and select Save Changes.

8. Run Windows.

   The group icons are now in the proper order. If you want to avoid any further screen changes in Program Manager, deselect Save Changes the next time you exit Windows .

Technically, when you minimize an icon, its "order" is saved in a "Last-In-First-Out" (LIFO) stack. When you select Save Changes and run Windows again, Program Manager reads the LIFO stack and places the group icons in the window from LEFT to RIGHT, BOTTOM to TOP.

This LIFO technique is the reason the group icons were in reverse order after step 6.