The first time you start AutoRun Typhoon you'll see the window below that allows you to Create a New Project, or Load an Existing Project. Click on the Create a New Project button.

The following window will open, where you enter a project name. You can also specify where you want the project to be located, and choose one of the default project types. We'll use the blank project type for this example.

The main AutoRun Typhoon window will now open. Let's take a look at all the elements of the interface.

Along the left hand side, and highlighted in light green is the project workspace. This is where all the Actions in your project are located. There are 10 main Actions you can add to your project; opening a document, displaying a menu, etc. The first item listed in the workspace is the Project Settings. Above the workspace are the 3 main buttons that you'll use to control the Actions in your project, Add Action, Delete Action and Test Action. When you press the Add Action button a window will pop up that allows you to choose the Action you would like to add. You can also delete an Action and Test each Action individually (without having to test the entire project).

Along the top of the window are the status area, and the Publish, Preview, and Finish buttons. We'll get to these at the bottom of this page.

The rest of the window is the settings area. This is where you adjust the properties of each Action in your project. Since Project Settings is selected in the workspace, the settings area shows the Project Settings properties.

Let's add an Action to the project now.

Click the Add Action button and the following window will open. From the drop-down box under Select an Action you can choose the type of Action to add. I'm going to choose Open a Document. You are prompted to select the document you want to open, in this case I'll choose a PDF file. You can select the position in your project that you want this document to be located; since there are no Actions your only choice is the first Action in the project. Actions are executed from top to bottom, so Actions at the top of the workspace are executed first. You can also click and drag an Action to change the order in the workspace.

You can see the PDF file added to your project. Click on it in the workspace and the settings area will change to the properties for your document.

Note: Throughout AutoRun Typhoon you'll notice these Help icons. Click on them and a help window will open up that will provide useful information and tips.

You can continue adding as many Actions to your project as you like. You can test out each Action by pressing the Test Action button. When all your Actions are working the way you would like press the Publish Project button. This will copy your all your files to your project folder, as well and copying and configuring the files AutoRun Typhoon needs. Press the Preview Project button to test out how your whole project will run. You can go back and make changes to your project as often as you like, just remember to publish your project again to update your project files when you are done. The last step is to finish your project. Press the Finish Project button and AutoRun Typhoon will either burn your project to CD / DVD or compress it into a single EXE.

Continue to part 2 of the manual - Working with Menus