Command-Line Flags for Sketchpad (Windows Version)

With the Windows version of Sketchpad you can set several command-line flags that determine Sketchpad’s start-up behavior. You can use command-line flags to maximize the Sketchpad application window, to maximize the frontmost document window, to specify a default document for Sketchpad to open, to determine the location of the Sketchpad Preferences file, to specify a folder to use as the Tool Folder, or to specify the folder Sketchpad will use when first opening or saving a file.

To set command-line flags, you must create a shortcut to the program itself. Windows automatically creates such a shortcut when you drag the Sketchpad icon to the Start button to install Sketchpad in the Start menu. You can also create such a shortcut on the desktop by right-clicking the Sketchpad icon and choosing Send To | Desktop. Consult your computer’s Windows manual or online help to determine other ways to create a shortcut. Once you have created a shortcut, follow these steps to set its command-line flags.

1. If the shortcut is on the desktop, right-click the shortcut and choose Properties.

If the shortcut is in the Start menu, activate the Start menu, right-click on Sketchpad, then choose Properties.

2. On the Shortcut panel of the Properties dialog box, click in the Target edit box and type the desired command-line flags at the end of the existing target. Here are examples of the command-line flags you can use.

-ma Maximize the application window. The main Sketchpad window will fill your screen.

-md Maximize the first document window. When you start Sketchpad, the document window will fill the application window.

"Read Me.gsp" Open the sketch named Read Me.gsp.

-pref "h:\Sketchpad\Modified Preferences.dat" Start Sketchpad using the preferences in the specified file. (Normally, Sketchpad uses the preferences in the file Sketchpad Preferences.dat from the Windows folder.)

-f "c:\Program Files\Sketchpad\Samples" Sketchpad will use the Samples folder when it first opens or saves a sketch.

-t "Triangle Tools" Start Sketchpad using the folder named Triangle Tools as the Tool Folder.

3. Click OK.

Your command-line flags will be in effect every time you run Sketchpad from the modified shortcut.

For example, if Sketchpad is installed in the folder c:\Sketchpad, the following target entry in the Shortcut Properties panel will start Sketchpad with the document maximized in the application window, using the folder named My Tools as the Tool Folder, and with the file named Read Me.gsp open:

"c:\Sketchpad\GSP 4.0.exe" -md "Read Me.gsp" –t "My Tools"

The following target entry in the Shortcut Properties panel will start Sketchpad with the file GSP Algebra Prefs.dat as the preferences file:

"c:\Sketchpad\GSP 4.0.exe" -prefs "GSP Algebra Prefs.dat"

The following entry will start Sketchpad so that the first time the user chooses File | Open or File | Save, the dialog box will show the folder containing the Geometry sample sketches:

"c:\Sketchpad\GSP 4.0.exe" –f "Samples\Sketches\Geometry"