by Harry Alloul, Bernard Frangoulis and Alessandro Levi Montalcini
Support: <mailto:niji@dial.oleane.com>
Web: <http://www.netinfo.fr/objectivesw/>
What is Niji?
Niji is a cool system extension that changes your Mac's user interface. Features include custom windows, menus, pop-ups, scroll bars, buttons, icons, and more.
Niji comes with several predefined appearances, such as "True NeXT" (a genuine NeXT-like interface), "Jump to Eight" (for System 7 users), "Back To Seven" (for nostalgic MacOS 8 users), "Grand Prix", "Waves", etc. Just try them out! Each interface is stored in a separate Appearance file. Advanced users can design and distribute their own customized Appearance files.
Niji requires System 7.0 or later, and is fully compatible with Mac OS 8.
Niji is the Japanese word for Rainbow: "Ni" as in "NIEce", "ji" as in "JIngle"...
OneStep and Niji
Niji is the new name for our former OneStep software. OneStep was designed to give the Mac a true NeXT look. Niji has a broader scope: it lets you change your Mac's user interface at will, choosing from a variety of Appearance files or even creating your own.
Upgrading from OneStep to Niji
If you already use OneStep, please launch the Update OneStep Prefs to Niji utility before installing Niji. Your OneStep preferences are automatically converted for use with Niji, and your old OneStep fonts are moved to the trash. Note that you'll have to restart before you can actually delete the old fonts by emptying the trash.
Installing Niji
To install and activate Niji, you should:
･ Copy the Niji extension into your Extensions folder
･ Copy the Niji Fonts suitcase into your Fonts folder
･ Restart your Mac. It's that simple!
(both the Extensions and the Fonts folders are located inside your System folder on the startup disk)
You can place the Niji Control application and the Niji Appearances folder (or an alias to it) wherever you want on your hard disk. Just make sure that both items are located in the same folder.
Note: if you are using a non-Roman system (e.g. East European, Greek, Japanese, etc.), you should not install the Niji Fonts.
Using the Niji Control
･ To choose and install an Appearance: select the Appearance you wish to use from the list on the left. A preview is shown on the right side of the window. Click Install (or double-click the item in the list, or type Return or Enter), then click Restart.
･ If you download third-party appearances from the Web, move them them into the Niji Appearances folder (or into a subfolder of that folder). The new appearances are displayed when you launch the Niji Control again.
･ There are 3 checkboxes in the Niji Control window:
- Use Japanese version installs a special Japanese version of the Appearance files.
- Show Splash Screen displays the Niji splash screen at startup, replacing the default MacOS screen.
- Solid Window Drags enables solid window drags in applications that support it. If you want to enable solid drags in other applications as well, please download DragAnyWindow from any info-mac mirror or online software site.
･ Advanced features for Appearance designers:
- Edit Appearance opens the selected Appearance file with ResEdit or Resorcerer.
- Edit a Copy duplicates the file and edits the newly created copy, which is saved in the original item's folder and renamed by adding a number after the original name.
- Choose Editor lets you pick your favorite resource editor.
- Reveal in Finder displays the selected Appearance file in its Finder window.
Paying for Niji
Niji is shareware; it is not free. If you use Niji for more than a week or two, you should pay a $15 registration fee. Registrations for Niji are handled by the Kagi Shareware service. After you register, you'll receive information on how to remove the "Niji is not registered yet" reminder text that appears in scrollbars.
Paying for Niji is simple. You can register online using a web browser, or offline using the Register program.
Our online registration page can be found at:
<http://order.kagi.com/?HL&S>
<http://order.kagi.com/?HL> (for browsers that don't handle secure transactions)
or on the Objective Software website at:
<http://www.netinfo.fr/objectivesw/>
To use the Register utility, you need to:
1. Save a copy of the Register utility: launch the Niji Control application, choose "About Niji Control..." in the Apple menu, and click on the "Save Register utility..." button.
2. Run the Register program and fill out the form: enter your name, email and/or postal address, and the number of single user (or site, or worldwide) licenses you desire to purchase. The form accepts many different payment methods such as: US Check, Money Order, Cash (in many different currencies), Visa, Mastercard, American Express, First Virtual, and Invoice (to be given to your accounts payable department).
3. Send it to Kagi Shareware: either email the data generated by the Register program or print it and send it via postal mail or fax. Credit card information is encrypted by the Register program. The address to send the completed form is output by Register when you Print or Copy the completed form. The addresses are:
Email: <sales@kagi.com□>
FAX: +1 510 652 6589
Snail-mail:
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-HL
Berkeley, California, 94709-1405
USA
Features
･ Changes the look of windows, menus, scroll bars, push buttons, check boxes, radio buttons, and popup menus.
･ Enables solid window drags (not just their outline) in real time.
･ Provides an optional NeXT-style bottom window border (for constrained vertical and horizontal window resizing), and an optional miniaturization widget in the title bar.
･ Replaces the system font with a custom one (like Niji 12, inspired by Espy Sans 10).
･ Installs replacement icons for generic folders, the System folder and its subfolders, and the trash.
･ Changes the background color of alert boxes and Finder windows.
･ Adds color to dialog and alert icons (stop sign, caution, and note).
･ Gives the disclosure triangles in the Finder a slight 3D effect.
･ Provides a 3D progress bar, with colors reflecting the user's choice in the Color control panel.
Most features of Niji are highly customizable. If you wish to create and distribute your own custom interfaces, please read the provided documentation.
Tips and tricks
･ Holding down on the space bar at startup time, just before the Niji icon appears, temporarily disables Niji.
･ Any Apple Menu item whose name ends with "-***" is changed into a divider line. This method was inspired by the cool OtherMenu extension by James Walker <JWWalker@kagi.com>.
･ Niji is fully compatible with the SmartScroll control panel by Marc Moini <marc@kagi.com>, which enhances standard scrollbars by adding proportional tabs and active scrolling capabilities. Since this feature exists on NeXT computers, running both Niji and SmartScroll will make your Mac even more NeXT-like.
Distribution
Please do NOT distribute modified versions of Niji. Any distributed copy must be an unregistered copy, identical to the original Niji package with no modification whatsoever. It would be difficult for us to support modified versions.
Niji may be copied and distributed freely for non-commercial use on online sites (Internet archives, BBSs, etc.), magazines, books, disks or CD-ROMS without the authors' explicit permission, as long as the end-user charges don't exceed reasonable distribution or download costs. An explicit written permission must be obtained from the authors for any commercial use.
Known problems and incompatibilities
･ Menus in Canvas 3/3.5 (5 is OK) and in MacWrite II do not currently work when Niji is installed.
･ The "solid drag" feature is not currently available in the Mac OS 8 Finder. Please install DragAnyWindow to fix this.
･ Niji doesn't work well on black and white screens, since it was not designed for them.
･ If you use the Japanese Language Kit, you may experience some instability in the choice of the System font, which may sometimes revert to Chicago or Osaka.
If you find any others, please report them to us and we'll do our best to fix them.
Support
Support is available via e-mail. Please send your questions, comments and bug reports to:
<mailto:niji@dial.oleane.com>
Thanks toﾉ
A great "thank you" to Masatsugu Nagata and all our beta-testers: Odile Brasier, David-Arthur Daix, Patrick Emond, Hubert Figui俊e, Jean-Philippe Guihard, Fabrice Guillemot, Jim Herzman, Haruka Ishi, Scot Lewis, Eric Miclo, Marc Moini, Fabrizio Oddone, Philippe Potier, Alberto Ricci, Martin Sassenberg, Agn峻 Alloul, Marika Pla and Valentina Pavia.
Version history
･ Version 1.2 (97/09/08)
- changed the name to Niji
- full Mac OS 8 compatibility
- new Appearance files
- several minor fixes
･ Version 1.1 (97/08/11)
- partial Mac OS 8 compatibility
- the OneStep Inspector application makes it easy to preview, select and install Appearance files
- more customization settings, now integrated into the Appearance file itself (instead of a separate Preferences file)
- a brand new set of sample Appearances
- several bug fixes, particularly of a nasty bug that could prevent the correct installation of OneStep
･ Version 1.0 (97/07/04)
- first release
Disclaimer
Harry Alloul, Bernard Frangoulis and Alessandro Levi Montalcini (thereafter "the authors") disclaim all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The authors will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if the authors or an agent of theirs has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the authors be liable for any damages, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.
US Government:
If you are acquiring the Software and fonts on behalf of any unit or agency of the United States Government, the following provisions apply. The Government agrees:
(i) if the Software and fonts are supplied to the Department of Defence (DoD), the Software and fonts are classified as "Commercial Computer Software" and the Government is acquiring only "restricted rights" in the Software, its documentation and fonts as that term is defined in Clause 252.227-7013(c)(1) of the DFARS; and
(ii) if the Software and fonts are supplied to any unit or agency of the United States Government other than DoD, the Government's rights in the Software, its documentation and fonts will be as defined in Clause 52.227-19(c)(2) of the FAR or, in the case of NASA, in Clause 18-52.227-86(d) of the NASA Supplement to the FAR.
Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Macintosh, are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Finder is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. NeXT, NEXTSTEP, OPENSTEP are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
