Office: Changes in MOM 4.2 from MOM 4.0

ID: Q113620

The information in this article applies to:
The following is a list of the new features, changes in functionality, and limitations of Microsoft Office Manager 4.2 as compared to Microsoft Office Manager 4.0.

LIST OF NEW FEATURES

Functionality Changes

MOM Is Hidden During PowerPoint Slide Show

MOM is no longer visible when you run a PowerPoint 4.0 slide show. (To do this, PowerPoint sends an API call to hide MOM.)

Workstation Setup/Uninstall Is Streamlined

The Setup And Uninstall command on the Office menu is unavailable if there is no valid MSOfficeSetup key in your REG.DAT file. This functionality is also better documented so that workstation users and users who did not install the Setup files will no longer get an error stating that you must run Setup another way.

Find File Is Easier to Access

The Find File command appears on the MOM toolbar and menu by default.

Under Windows NT, ToolTips Are Only Displayed If MOM Has Focus

If you are running Microsoft Office under Windows NT, ToolTips are displayed only if MOM has the focus. (This functionality was changed because of focus problems under NT--MOM gets the focus if it displays a ToolTip. And ToolTips no longer appear in strange places and remain when you move the mouse.)

The "Registered Location" of the Applications on the

Default List Is Now Shown in the Edit Program Item Dialog Box

MOM gets this info from the REG.DAT file or, if the application is not registered there, then it gets it from [Extensions] section of WIN.INI (check in [Extensions] special-cased only for Mail, Microsoft Access 1.x, and FoxPro versions earlier than 2.5b).

New Documentation Command with CD Version

For Office 4.2 on CD, an item is added to the default application list and is displayed on the toolbar menu by default. This item, called Online Documentation, is used to access online help.

Don't Have to Exit MOM to Update to New Installation

When you install an application while MOM is running, you no longer have to exit MOM and restart it to get it to recognize the new installation.

Earlier, MOM only read the REG.DAT when you started Office; therefore, changes were not seen by MOM during that session. In the new version, MOM reads REG.DAT whenever you click a toolbar button or choose a menu item.

Easier Access to Multiple Instances of a Program

If multiple instances of an application are running, clicking the toolbar button or choosing it from the Office menu toggles through the existing instances.

Features for Customizing Office

MOM Can Use Icon in .EXE for Button Face of Custom Item

MOM can now use the icon embedded in an .EXE file for the button face of a custom toolbar item.

To do this, choose Application Icon from the Button Image box in the Add Program Item dialog box. If the application added does not have an icon (for example if it's a .BAT or .PIF file, or if it's an MS-DOS application), MOM uses a generic icon.

Ability to Disable Splash Screen

To disable the splash screen when MOM is started, clear the Show Title Screen At Startup check box on the View tab of the Customize dialog box.

New Items Have Been Added to the List

of Applications in the Customize Dialog Box

New items added to the list of applications in the Customize dialog are as follows:
MS Money
Find File
Run
Screen Saver
Task Manager (not on the list if you are using NT)
The Screen Saver button only works with screen savers selected in Control Panel, Desktop. If none are selected, the Screen Saver button and menu do not do anything.

New Features for Developers

Ability to Add/Hide MOM

Developers who want to add themselves to MOM or hide MOM for a full-screen application view can modify the MSOFFICE.INI file directly to add themselves to the toolbar or menu, then send a Windows API call to MOM to force it to re-read its .INI file and update its display accordingly. To hide MOM for a full-screen application view, send API calls to MOM to override the "always on top" property. These features are documented in MSOFFICE.HLP in the Advanced Office Help section.

Can Add Entry for Class Name on 32-Bit Versions

A new feature has been added for Microsoft Application developers who are working on 32-bit versions of their applications. You can write to a new [Alias32] section of MSOFFICE.INI (this section will not exist until added by a 32- bit application--there are none yet that do this), and add an entry for a 32-bit application's ClassName to correspond with that application's menu and toolbar item. This is necessary because MOM has trouble restoring 32-bit applications without knowing its ClassName.

For example, when 32-bit Word comes out, Word Setup will need to write an entry to MSOFFICE.INI so that clicking the Word button under Windows NT launches/restores Word properly. The syntax of the entry is as follows 

   [Alias32]
   MSAppx=ClassName[, ModuleName]
where MSAppx (or UserAppx) matches the MSApp# or UserApp# for the application in the [ToolbarOrder] and [MenuOrder] sections of the MSOFFICE.INI file(applications now use the same number in both [ToolbarOrder] and [MenuOrder] sections).

NEW LIMITATIONS OF MOM

Find File Can Only Preview Microsoft Excel 5.0 and PowerPoint 4.0 Files

Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint are the only applications that create the kind of summary file that is compatible with the Find File preview display mode. Files created in Microsoft Access 2.0, Microsoft Word, or versions of Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint earlier than 5.0 and 4.0, respectively, will cause "No Preview Available" text to be shown where the preview would be.

For more information about previewing files in Find File, query on the following words in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
find and file and feature and preview and display

Additional query words: \* 4.2b 4.20b 


Keywords          : 
Version           : 4.20
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: June 1, 1999