Menu

File

  • New - creates new file.
  • Open - opens a file
  • Save As... - saves the current file to a different file name
  • Import... - imports a MadAppLauncher(*.mal) file
  • Exit - closes the program

View

  • Drag and Drop Mode - allows a user to be able to drag and drop items. When checked, the menu items below are temporarily disabled.
    1. Auto Hide
    2. Always on Top
    3. Center on Screen
    4. Lock GUI
    5. Hide Empty Tab Buttons
  • Auto Hide - automatically minimizes the program to the system tray. The program is minimized to the system tray when one of the following actions occur: Pressing ESC (escape key) while the program has focus Clicking on the [x] box in the upper-right corner of the program window) Pressing a key or clicking on a button to launch a program
  • Always On Top - makes the program the top-most window
  • Center on Screen - automatically centers the program in your screen
  • Lock GUI - prevents moving of tabs, buttons, splitter bar and resizing of the window.
  • Hide Empty Tab Buttons - hides empty tab buttons
  • Hide Tab Buttons Row
    • Row 1 - hides row 1
    • Row 2 - hides row 2
    • Row 3 - hides row 3

Data

  • Add Current Data File - adds the current open data file to the list.
  • Organize Data Files... - organize and delete data files on the list. To change the access key for a data file, select its [Menu name] and prepend the letter/access key with an underscore (eg. M_ain.mld, where "a" is the intended access key.).
    • Move Up - moves the selected item up.
    • Move Down - moves the selected item down.
    • Remove - removes the selected item.
    • Sort - sorts the menu names in ascending order.

Tools

  • Open Start Menu (User) - opens the current user's Start Menu folder in File Explorer.
  • Open Start Menu (All Users) - opens the current user's Start Menu folder in File Explorer.
  • Open Control Panel - opens the Control Panel
  • Open AppsFolder - opens the AppsFolder. Applies to Windows 8 or later.
  • View Group Launch List - displays a list of buttons that are grouped to be launched together.

Settings

  • HotKey - opens the HotKey configuration dialog box. You can change the key combination used to activate the program in this dialog box.
    • Activate tab - activates the specified tab (*only applies when using the hotkey).
  • Theme - changes the current theme
    • Add - adds a MaxLauncher theme contained in a zip file.
    • Delete - deletes the selected theme
    • Copy - creates a copy of the selected theme
    • Customize - allows editing of the currently selected theme. This only applies to user customizable themes. By convention, themes that end in an @ sign is customizable. The properties that are customizable depend on the type of theme.
    • Reset - resets the current theme. This only applies to user customizable themes. By convention, themes that end in an @ sign is customizable
  • Options
    • Show in taskbar - [Default: Yes] shows the taskbar button when the window is minimized or closed.
    • Start minimized - [Default: No] minimizes the window when the program is first launched.
    • Minimize on Close - [Default: Yes] the main window will be minimized when clicking the [X] button is clickedj or [Alt] + [F4] is spressed. Otherwise, the program will be closed.
    • Open last file used - [Default: Yes] automatically loads the last file used when the program starts.
    • Check for update on startup - [Default: Yes] checks for program updates when the program starts.
    • Single instance - [Default: Yes] running MaxLauncher.exe or its shortcut will activate the currently running instance if there is one. Note: single instance mode will only activate the instance that was ran using the same path to MaxLauncher.exe. For example, C:\MaxLauncher.exe will start or activate the instance that was ran using C:\MaxLauncher.exe. If C:\PortableApps\MaxLauncher.exe is ran, it will either create a new instance or activate a running instance of C:\PortableApps\MaxLauncher.exe
    • Always use application theme - [Default: Yes] if checked, the application (global) theme is used for all data files. Otherwise, data file themes are used. To change a data file's theme, uncheck this option and change the theme as you normally would and the new theme will be saved into the data file.
    • Hide menu(press Alt to show) - [Default: No] shows/hides the menu. When the menu is hidden, press Alt key to show the menu.
    • Hide button icons - [Default: No] if checked, hides button icons.
    • Hide button text - [Default: No] if checked, hides button text.
    • Clear Search when restoring window - clears the search box and resets the display of buttons when the window is shown.
    • Auto select tab - [Default: No] activates a tab when the mouse pointer hovers over it without clicking the mouse button. Note: You can also use the mouse wheel to switch tabs
    • Double-click mouse to launch - [Default: No] requires a double-click on a button to launch it.
    • Press key twice to launch - [Default: No] requires two consecutive presses of a button's key to launch it (e.g. Press E twice to launch whatever is assigned to button E)
    • Use arrow keys to select tabs - [Default: Yes] if checked, the left and right arrow keys selects tabs.
    • Use folder path as Target - [Default: No] if checked, folder path in Arguments will be used as Target when launching. Check this option if there is a delay when opening folders.
      For example:
      Before After
      Target: %windir%\explorer.exe C:\
      Arguments: C:\

    • Language - selects the language to use for MaxLauncher.

Help

  • Visit Web Site - opens the program's website using the default Internet browser
  • Check for updates now - manually checks for updates
  • Program Information - displays configuration information
  • About - shows information about the program

Button (Context Menu: right-click)

  • Open file location - opens the folder where the program assigned to the button is located
  • Edit - edits the properties
    • Properties(Tab)
      • Icon
        • Default Icon - uses the associated icon for the program/file
        • Browse Icon... - browse for a custom icon
        • Browse Image... - browse for an image to use as an icon
      • Name - description of the program/file
      • Target - the program or file to run
      • Arguments - command-line arguments used by the program
      • Start In - specify the working directory
      • Run as administrator - runs the program with admin privilege
      • Group Launch ID - specify a name for launching a group of buttons. Set the same Group ID for all buttons to be launched when one of them is pressed.
      • View List - displays a list of buttons that are grouped to be launched together. Note: This list will not display the current button being edited.
    • Window(Tab)

      Note: Run must be set to Normal in the Properties tab

      • Location/Size - displays a view on how the window will be displayed on the screen based on the current selection.
      • Run - the initial window state of the program
      • Window title - title of the window to match when moving or resizing the window. When matching Windows Explorer titles, it is best to check "Display the full path in the title bar"
        1. Open Windows Explorer
        2. Select Tools from the menu or Alt-T
        3. Select Folder options
        4. select the View tab
        5. check "Display the full path in the title bar"
      • Window process name - select the process name of the window which title is to be matched. Process names are usually the same as the program.exe's name without the ".exe". Specifying the process name is only necessary when moving/sizing a window when Window title property is insufficient -- some other window is moved/resized instead of the expected one. 

        For example: Lets say you have a button configured to run Excel with its Window title = "Excel" and you have a file named "Excel test.txt" currently open in notepad. When you run Excel, the program may match the notepad window with "Excel test.txt" instead of running Excel. To avoid this behavior, set the Window process name to "Excel" to force the program to only match window titles that is an Excel window.

      • Location/Size Presets ( requires Run=Normal and Window title="some title" ) - select a predefined window location/size or select Custom to specify a custom location/size.
      • When Location/Size Presets is set to Custom, the following choices will be available:
        • Reference Window - select the window that you want to use to fill the location and sizes
        • Left - left coordinate of the window
        • Top - top coordinate of the window
        • Width - width of the window (set to 0 to use the current width)
        • Height - height of the window (set to 0 to use the current height)
  • Cut - copies the properties to the clipboard then deletes them
  • Copy - copies the properties for pasting to another button
  • Paste - pastes the properties currently on the clipboard
  • Delete - deletes the properties

Tab (Context Menu: right-click)

  • Rename - renames the tab's title
  • Add - adds an empty tab
  • Copy - copies the tab and its contents to the internal clipboard
  • Paste - pastes the tab and its contents currently on the clipboard to the specified tab
  • Delete - deletes the selected tab
  • Clear - deletes all the buttons within the tab
  • Sort buttons by...
    • Name - sorts the buttons of the selected tab by name
    • Target - sorts the buttons of the selected tab by target

Search Filter(Text Box)

  • When Text Box Does Not Have Focus
    • CTRL + F - sets focus on text box.
  • When Text Box Has Focus
    • ENTER, TAB or ESC - moves focus out of the text box which means you can press keys to select tabs, launch buttons, etc.