================================================================== MacUser's Nom de Plume v1.2.2 - 10/26/91 ================================================================== [Editor's note: Using Nom de Plume is a straightforward process. You either open the application or just drop a file onto it to get an alias-creation dialog. A Preferences menu in the program defines a suffix for alias names and lets you choose a default target folder for storing the aliases.] First, thanks for downloading Nom de Plume! (Hereafter referred to as NdP.) Back in March, I got disgusted with doing the "Alias Two-Step" every time I changed a Mac over to System 7. You know how it goes: dig through your Applications folder, select something, "Make Alias", shuffle folders some more, throw it into the Apple Menu Items folder, pull down the Apple menu, notice that it's now about a mile wide ("Very Long App Name alias"), open the AMI folder, edit out the word "alias" to make it short. All this while cursing the length of time it takes for the I-beam to appear in the S7 Finder. Sometimes, Direct Manipulation just wastes a lot of life-force... I find NdP most useful just after upgrading a machine to S7 (when a lot of new Aliases get created) or right after I've gotten sick of the clutter, and having sent them all to the bit bucket with Alias Assassin, want to start over. That's about it. Many thanks to Ben Templin at ZMac, John Cook at Apple, also Steve Bobker & Greg Youngs and everyone else who helped with testing and bug reports. Bill Monk Please send bug reports and comments to: CIS: 72267,2124 (preferred) AppleLink: MONK Internet: 72267.2124@compuserve.com What's New for 1.2.2 ------------------ Added Editable alias name field that reflects the Prefs selection. Fixed crash on Plus & Classic (I think, that's what this version is testing). Fixed a few minor glitches. What's coming up --------------- Adjustments to the editable name according to feedback. Expanded prefs that allow setting the name suffix per folder. Usage Tips ----------- Balloon Help is available for all items. Some further comments appear in the sections below. Main Dialog: ---------- All the regular System 7 Standard File command keys work as usual, including the arcane ones like Option-click on an Alias to jump to the Alias' parent. This is sometimes handy. Cmd-period or Esc closes the dialog. Cmd-A makes and Alias and Cmd-Q quits the app. Use the Popup menu at the bottom to select a destination folder for items you alias. The most Desktop and the most common folders are already set up for you. If you need some other folder, choose Custom Folder. Then hit Cmd-A to choose a destination and alias the currently selected item into it in once fell swoop. Change the custom folder by clicking the "Set Custom Folder" button. This folder is remembered between successive invocations of the program. Preferences Dialog: ----------------- To get to Preferences, close the main Dialog (rather than quiting). Then look under the Edit menu. When Nom de Plume starts up, you can choose whether the destination folder Popup should be set to the Apple Menu Items folder (this is what I use), or to the destination folder you used last time you ran NdP. You can choose what will be appended to the names of new Aliases. The default is "Ęalias" just like the (U.S.) Finder. If you don't want anything appended, ever, just hit Cmd-X to cut, or backspace over the existing characters and you're set. You can chose whether the word " alias" is appended to the name when you create an Alias in the Apple Menu folder, . The default is to NOT append, because this makes the name shorter, and thus the Apple Menu less wide. You can choose to allow the main dialog to be movable. This is sort of a hack, and a bit confusing once it's turned on, because it looks as if you should be able to switch out to other programs. Unfortunately you can't, because the window is really still a regular Get File dialog, and the Mac resists letting us switch out. I think ALL Standard File dialogs should behave like the System 7 disk copy dialog, but right now they just don't. In the Finder: ----------- You can drag things to the NdP icon: it will launch and make an alias of the stuff you dragged. The default destination is the folder the original was in., but you can choose some other destination if you wish. If NdP is already running, you can still drag stuff to it's icon. You'll get to pick a destination for them all, then their aliases will be created. Sort of a "batch mode"Ę(ugh). NdP change log: Changes for 1.2.2: ----------------- Fix crash on Plus/Classic a startup (I think: this version is a test version to make certain of this). Add editable filename field. You may now type in a different name for the new alias is you want. I default name is supplied, based on the choices you make in Preferences. Replace the system's default help in main dialog with help customized for NdP. Changes for 1.2.1 (never posted): ---------------- Fix a couple of bugs. Change icon slightly. Begin building under Think C 5.0.1, which fixes minor bugs in their code generator and optimizer. No one's reported problems due to 5.0 quirks, but 5.0.1 is a bit better. Changes for 1.2: -------------- If the target has a custom icon, the alias now uses the custom icon straight away, instead of using a generic icon & switching to the correct one after a double-click on the alias. Program is now Apple Event aware, & responds to required AppleEvents. New About box with dithered MacUser logo. Allow dragging objects to the NdP icon to make an alias by way of the open doc Apple Event. Can drag any number at once: NdP makes the aliases, then quits. If NdP is already running, you can drag, say, a couple dozen icons onto NdP's icon. You choose a destination once, then all the aliases are created and thrown into the destination folder. Add Finder message string to Prefs file, so Finder can explain what it is if the app isn't around (per "7.0 Savvy Checklist") Use the new, "Even Newer than Inside Mac VI" Dialog Manger calls from Tech Note #304 to make my life easier. Change color About box to use dithered MacUser logo built with new System 7 CopyBits antialiasing. Change initialization method while finding special folders and speed up the determining if a folder is "special". Allow the momentary "Alias was successfully created" dialog to be dismissed with a click. No more waiting for it to time out - just click. ( Time out is still 3/4 of a second, which -can- seem like forever sometimes, but seems about enough to read the text if you want to). Also fix spelling of word "successfully". Fix pref file code so as to not complain if the System disk is locked and we can't save prefs. Add to prefs dialog: user settable alias suffix, and option to suppress suffix when saving into Apple Menu folder. Formerly, the suffix was always " alias", and suffix suppression was always on. Add balloon help for prefs. Add 'aete' resource so programs like QuicKeys can display which Apple Events are supported (no big whoop). Build under Think C 5.0 with compiler optimizations on, for slightly faster and smaller code. Known problems : --------------- Sometimes, after making a new alias, there's a delay of a second or more. After this period, new alias icons appear on the Desktop, so apparently the Finder is doing something during this time. Maybe it's the scan of it's open windows that the Finder does every 10 seconds. When looking at the desktop in StandardFile, if you alias a disk onto the desktop, the alias doesn't appear in the list. This happens only for disks; somehow my "Did we alias into the currently displayed directory?" is failing in this one case. When "Custom Folder" is clicked, the last selected item -should- be selected again when returning from the custom folder SFGet. If SuperBoomerang's Rebound option is on, this doesn't always happen, since Clicking "Custom" is a "Cancel" as far as Standard File and SB are concerned. When I go to restore the last selected item, SB seems to be overriding me. Have to check on this. When setting a custom folder, the "select" button briefly displays disk name before changing to the selected directory. When aliasing a server or HD volume which doesn't have a custom icon, the alias will have a generic icon until it is clicked. Wish List ----------------- Allow more than one custom folder. Make window movable. Actually, this already works (via setting in prefs), but since it's really a Standard File dialog, there's no readily apparent way to switch out to other program. This is a bit confusing, which is why it's in the prefs. Add Special folder destination popup to the SF dialog when dragging objects to the Finder icon. Your ideas here... ================================================================== Nom de Plume is Copyright Š 1991 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. ================================================================== This utility can be copied but is copyrighted. You may make copies for others as long as no charge is involved, but making copies for any commercial purpose is prohibited. This utility is available exclusively through Ziff Communications on-line services and electronic publishing projects: please do not post it to other services. ==================================================================