Dual Monitor Tools Files

Dual Monitor Tools v2.4
-----------------------

Dual Monitor Tools is a collection of tools for users running multiple
monitor setups on Windows.

Currently the tools available are DMT and DualWallpaper.

For users of the 1.* versions, DMT now provides all of the functionality
of SwapScreen, DualLauncher, DualWallpaperChanger and DualSnap.

Dual Monitor Tools is free and has been released under the GPLv3 license.

For further information on usage of the tools, visit http://dualmonitortool.sourceforge.net


Changes in version 2.4
----------------------

DMT:General now shows information about monitors
DMT:General can now change active monitor
DMT:General can now change monitor brightness
DMT can now be closed from the command line with -x option
DMT:Cursor fix for remembering free movement key
DMT:Snap fix for snaps that are smaller then secondary on one dimension only
DMT:SwapScreen fix for 'Next Screen' when taskbar at left or top of monitor
DMT:Wallpaper changer obeys exif orientation flag
DMT:Wallpaper changer temporary fix for Unsplash images


Requirements
------------

Dual Monitor Tools should run on any version of Windows that has
.NET 4.0 or later installed.
Ideally you need two or more monitors attached to the computer, but some
of the features can be useful to users with a single monitor.


Installation
------------

There are 2 choices for installation:
1) Use the msi installer - this is the simplest method and will make
installing any future versions even easier.
2) Portable install - this gives you the most flexibility and is the
route to use if you are installing to a portable device.


Msi Installation for new users
------------------------------

Just download DualMonitorTools-2.3.msi and run it.


Msi installation for existing/portable users
--------------------------------------------

With a msi installation, the executable and configuration files will live
in different locations, so there are some extra steps that you need to go
through if you wish to keep your existing configuration:
1)  In your existing version of DMT, make sure "Start when Windows starts"
    (found in Options->Dual Monitor Tools->General) is not ticked.
2)  Make sure DMT is not currently running.
3)  Make sure you have a backup copy of the following configuration files:
    DmtMagicWords.xml
    DmtSettings.xml
    DmtWallpaperProviders.xml
    These would normally be in the same directory that you previously installed
    Dual Monitor Tools too.
4)  Download and run the new msi installer.
5)  Double click on DMT in the notification area.
6)  Select the 'General' page under 'Dual Monitor Tools'.
    This will show the location where the configuration files now live.
    The files will be in the '%appdata%\Dual Monitor Tools' folder, which should
    be something like:
    'C:\Users\<your login name>\AppData\Roaming\Dual Monitor Tools'
7)  Stop DMT.
8)  Copy the 3 xml files into the above location.
9)  Start DMT. There should be an option in the Start menu to do this.
10) Don't forget to tick the "Start when Windows starts" option if required. 

Note: future updates will be much simpler as they can be performed from within
DMT.


Portable installation
---------------------

1)  Download the zip file.
2)  If you are already running the files from a previous version, then stop
    them.
3)  Unzip the zip file to your desired location.
4)  The tools are now ready to run.  You may need to give Windows permission
    to run the files as they were downloaded from the internet.


TOOL - DMT
----------

This is the main tool, currently consisting of 5 modules offering the 
following;

Cursor - Control movement of cursor between monitors.
        The cursor can be locked to a monitor or made sticky, so extra
        effort is required to move it between monitors.

Launcher - Allows you to launch your favourite applications with a 
        few key strokes and to position them at pre-configured
        positions on any of your monitors.  All other DMT commands can
        also be run this way.

Snap -  Take snapshot of primary monitor and show on secondary.
        Previous snapshots can be viewed, saved to a file or copied
        to the clipboard.

Swap Screen - Allows easy movement of windows between monitors,
        and allows Windows to be moved to pre-defined positions.

Wallpaper Changer - Changes wallpaper periodically using a variety of
        sources and allows you to control how images are shown
        across your monitors.

When run, it will reside in the Windows Notification Area.
Double click this icon to see all of the options available.
'Dual Monitor Tools'->'General' contains an option so start up
DMT every time Windows starts.


Hotkeys
-------

Most of the actions are accessible via hotkeys.  You will need to define 
hotkeys for the actions that you want to use.  Not all key combinations
are available as Windows reserves quite a few for itself, and each new
version of Windows grabs more and more of them.

Probably the most important hotkey to define is the 'Activate Magic
Word input' under Launcher->Hotkeys, as this will then allow all other
actions to be actioned by the use of this hotkey followed by a magic
word.  On a UK keyboard Win+<OemPipe> is a good hotkey to use for this
as it is easy to enter.  For other keyboard layouts, you may need to
experiment to see what is available and easy to enter.

On the same page is the 'Add Magic Word for current application'
hotkey.  If you press this hotkey, while running another application,
it will offer to create a magic word which you can then use in the future
as a quick wat of starting that application. Win+A is a nice hotkey for
this, but be aware that Windows 10 now uses this key combination.


Magic Words
-----------

You can associate applications, websites and DMT commands with a Magic
Word.  When you hit the launcher hotkey, a dialog box will pop up 
allowing you to start entering the magic word. This uses auto-completion
so you won't normally have to type in the whole word.

You can also assign the same Magic Word to multiple applications.
When you enter the Magic Word, all of the applications will be started.


Importing Magic Words
---------------------

If you are a user of Dual Launcher, then you can import your existing
Magic Words into DMT using the options on the 'Import / Export' page.
Dual Launcher saves it's Magic Words using a path of the form:
C:\Users\<Your login name>\AppData\Local\GNE\DualLauncher\DualLauncher.xml
Just press 'Import XML; and select this file to import it.


TOOL - DualWallpaper
--------------------

Dual Wallpaper simplifies the process of using images as wallpaper on 
multiple monitor setups

You can have a single image which is spread across all of your monitors,
or you can have different images on each monitor, or if you have enough
monitors, you could say have an image spread across 2 of your monitors
with another image displayed on the third monitor.

It also correctly sets the wallpaper when your primary monitor is not
your leftmost or topmost monitor.


Portable Usage
--------------

The tools are designed to be easy to use in a portable environment, so
they can be copied to a USB drive and ran direct from there.
Make sure you install from the zip file and not from the msi installer.

When specifying filenames (for the launcher executables and wallpaper
locations), you may want to make sure that any paths you enter are
relative paths if they exist on the USB drive to ensure portability.


Data Files
----------

In a portable installation, the tools will write to data files in the
same directory that the executables are.
The files written to are:

DmtMagicWords.xml - Magic words used by the Launcher.
DmtWallpaperProviders.xml - Specifies wallpaper image source.
DmtSettings.xml - Any other settings go in here.
- There will also be .bak versions of these files which are just
backup copies of the previous versions of the files.

In a msi installation, there will be a DmtFileLocations.xml in this 
directory that will specify where the other xml files live which would be in
"%APPDATA%\Dual Monitor Tools".


Uninstall of msi installation
-----------------------------

You can uninstall from within Windows installed application list.


Uninstall of portable installation
----------------------------------

If you have set the 'Start when Windows starts' in the options, then you
will need to turn this off before removing anything.

Then make sure none of the tools are running, and you can just delete
the files you unzipped and the data files mentioned above.


Known problems
--------------

If you wish DMT to fully work when you have windows from applications
that have been 'Run as Administrator', then you will also need to start
DMT with 'Run as Administrator'.