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1996-07-15
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@database NewIcons.guide
@$VER: 39.1 (09-Jul-96)
@author "Philip A. Vedovatti/Eric Sauvageau"
@(c) "1996"
@node "MAIN" "NewIcons"
@next "Introduction"
@{b}The NewIcons Package@{ub}
@{b}Version 3.0@{ub}
brought to you by @{"
NewIcons
" link "Authors" 0}
____________________________________________________________
@{"
Introduction
" link "Introduction" 0}
@{"
Features
" link "Features" 0}
@{"
Installation
" link "Installation" 0}
@{b}The Main Programs:@{ub}
@{"
NewIcons
" link "NewIcons" 0}
@{"
DefIcons
" link "DefIcons" 0}
@{b}The Support Files:@{ub}
@{"
NewIconsPrefs
" link "NewIconsPrefs" 0}
@{"
CopyNewIcon
" link "CopyNewIcon" 0}
@{"
InjectBrush
" link "InjectBrush" 0}
@{"
CreateDefaultIcon
" link "CreateDefaultIcon" 0}
@{"
KillNewIcon
" link "KillNewIcon" 0}
@{"
PatchOpenWb
" link "PatchOpenWb" 0}
@{"
Tricks
" link "TipsAndTricks" 0}
@{"
Authors
" link "Authors" 0}
@{"
Acknowledgements
" link "Acknowledgements" 0}
@{"
Distribution
" link "Distribution" 0}
@{"
Version
History
" link "History" 0}
@endnode
@node "Introduction" "Introduction"
@next "Features"
@prev "MAIN"
@{fg fill}Greetings Amiga User!@{fg text}
The @{b}NewIcons Package@{ub} is a revolutionary GUI enhancement system for the Amiga
computer. It adds many new features to the Workbench that, we hope, will be
standard in the next generation Amiga operating system. Specifically, it
allows for a palette independent icon system whereby icons look color correct
on any system, no matter what your Workbench palette is set to. It allows you
to use icons in up to 256 colors, adds default icons for many, many file
types, and works on any Amiga with OS2.04 and up.
If you have never used NewIcons before, please read the documentation
carefully...it will save you from any trouble you should encounter. If you are
a seasoned NewIcons user, also be sure to read the documentation
carefully...there are a lot of new @{"features" link "Features" 0} in this latest version.
This archive is not "just another set of icons". This is a completely new
concept, which we hope will revolutionize, and push in the right direction,
the idea of GUI on the Amiga.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
======================
Kickstart 3.0 was Commodore's first step towards ReTargetable Graphics. There
isn't a device independent graphic engine yet, but there is a new pen
arbitration system which allows applications to obtain a given color, or the
one which is closest to it if there are not enough free pens.
It's simply ridiculous that, on a system capable of displaying a 256 color
Workbench screen, and with a pen arbitration system like the one described
above, icons are limited to 8 colors. Various solutions have been proposed,
ranging from "use some colors and hope they are right" to "allocate some pens
and reserve them for icon display", but they all miss the point, which is:
Why should I, the user, have to care about the icon palette?
Why should I set the system palette in a way decided by someone else
(the icon designer) and not the way _I_ like it?
When you display a picture on the Workbench screen using MultiView, you don't
have to care about the palette: the system chooses it for you. So why should
one care about the palette used by icons? The system should take care of it,
not the user.
Unfortunately, icons don't carry palette information. Therefore, Nicola had to
defiine a new standard for icon files, and write a system patch to make the
system recognize them. Several goals had to be reached:
The new standard should be backward compatible, that is users not
running the patch program should see the standard 4-color icons.
Manipulation of icons by users not running the patch program should not
cause the new icon information to be lost.
Remapping of the icons to the Workbench palette should be as fast as
possible.
Data should be compressed in order to reduce disk usage.
The patch should work even on Kickstart 2.0 systems, with limited
features.
All of the above goal have been reached. The new icon information is stored in
the ToolTypes, so it is completely backwards compatible. A library,
newicon.library, takes care of reading and writing the imagery in the
ToolTypes; it also hides away the special ToolTypes so that when one asks for
Information about an icon only the standard ToolTypes are shown. A patch
program, NewIcons, intercepts calls to icon.library, redirecting them to
newicon.library, so that Workbench and all other applications transparently
get the new icon imagery.
@endnode
@node "Features" "NewIcon Features"
@next "Installation"
@prev "Introduction"
@{"NewIcons" link "NewIcons" 0} is a revolutionary system patch which enhances your Workbench
and gives the user much more power and configurability over the
appearance of the GUI (Graphical User Interface). The NewIcons
system works transparently, and provides for a standard icon system
that will look the same on any system, no matter what the palette is
set to.
@{"DefIcons" link "DefIcons" 0} complements the Newicons system. It works by
recognizing a file's type, and instantly displaying the appropriate
icon image for files without icons attached to them.
@{u}The system's features include:@{uu}
Allows up to 256 color icons on an AGA machine. (!)
Icon colors are color correct on an AGA system @{i}no matter what your
palette is set to@{ui}. They automatically appear in perfect color.
Default icons for dozens of file types automatically appear for
files without icons (@{u}FAST@{uu}!). Recognizes file types in a very
efficient manner. If you click on a "fake" icon, your appropriate
user-defined default tool will appear in the "Execute command" text
field automatically!
Make a brush, convert it to an icon. It will appear on your workbench
in the @{u}exact@{uu} proper colors you created it in, no matter what your
palette is set to. Imagine making gorgeous icons from your digitized
pics, in @{u}more@{uu} than 16 colors!
Icon images are compressed to maximize disk space. They are
uncompressed faster than you can say "NewIcons"!
Also KS 2.04 compatible (16 color icon limitation).
Fix that ugly Cross-DOS icon to look like a standard NewIcon.
Unique icons for RAM-Disks and CD-ROM's that don't have icons.
A complete set of beautiful, standardized Workbench icons, drawn by
artist Roger McVey.
Comprehensive set of utilities to allow you to manipulate your
NewIcons.
FREEWARE! Why would anyone want to pay cash for icons?
Dithering of icon images is selectable for users with fewer available
Workbench colors. This is turned off by default.
Icons can be given a single tooltype, which will tell NewIcons to display
a NewIcon image from elsewhere on the system. This feature
has some @{"caveats" link "TipsAndTricks" 140}, but introduces a huge number of neat possibilities
for configuring your Workbench, and saves on disk space and chip RAM.
Imagine having your Workbench icons appear randomly different on EACH
reboot!
The source for deficons.prefs has been included, so any enterprising
programmer can add their own file identification types to the system!
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} User configurable, GUI enhanced Preferences program to configure all
attributes of the NewIcons system (dither, pen precision, etc.)
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} The NewIcons system is now a commodity, which can be enabled and
disabled on the fly, using Commodities Exchange.
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} RTG (ReTargetable Graphics) mode, which allows graphics card users
to store icon data in fast RAM instead of chip RAM. This has the
advantage of saving your valuable chip RAM for other uses, and speeds
up rendering of icons on the Workbench.
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} Borderblank option! Remember the Kickstart 1.3 days when there
were no gray border boxes around the icons? This new option removes
those silly looking boxes once again, and is user configurable.
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} Faster icon rendering routines should speed things up even more.
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} Optimized newicon.library for '020+ machines. ZOOOM!
@{fg shine}NEW!@{fg text} New DefIcons brainfile which recognizes many more file types,
including .lzx, .png, and much more.
@endnode
@node "Installation" "Installation"
@next "NewIcons"
@prev "Features"
To install the package, just double click on the "Install_NewIcons"
icon. If you are currently running a previous version of NewIcons,
double click on the "Update_NewIcons" instead -- the updater script
will update only the binaries and won't install the icons.
Make sure you have some disk space on your SYS: partition.
You should have at least 250K available if you install the entire
package. If you don't have enough room on your partition and
you still want to install the package, see the @{"tips
tricks" link "TipsAndTricks" 0} section
to learn how to make more room for the images. Alternatively, you
can install @{"NewIcons" link "NewIcons" 0} without the @{"DefIcons" link "DefIcons" 0} files.
You will be prompted as to which parts of the distribution you want
to install. For maximum performance, it is suggested that you install
both NewIcons and DefIcons.
The installer script will install the icon images on your system. The
existing tooltypes of your icons will not be touched by the installation
script, and the original icon images will not be altered. You will not see
the new icon images until the NewIcons program is run. The installer
script will launch NewIcons immediately, so you can view the new images
right away. Since your original icon images are not actually deleted,
it is easily possible to restore the icons to their original appearance,
so don't be intimidated by the installation process.
The NewIcons program will be copied to your c: directory, and
newicon.library will be put in your Libs: directory. You'll
be given the option of where you would like to put the other icon
utilities. If you choose to install DefIcons (highly recommended),
the program will be copied to your c: directory and the default icons
and brainfile will be put in ENVARC:. Your old default icons will
be backed up by the installer.
The program @{"PatchOpenWB" link "PatchOpenWb" 0} will be copied to c:.
Two short commands will be added to your s:user-startup file to launch
NewIcons and DefIcons whenever you boot your system.
@{b}Users of previous versions of NewIcons! IMPORTANT!:@{ub}
The 3.0 version of NewIcons requires a change in how it is run in the
user-startup script. For technical reasons, it must now be RUN'ned
like this:
RUN <>NIL: c:NewIcons
If you installed NewIcons previously with the installer script, the
installer will seek out the ;Begin Newicons line in the user-startup,
and will make the change for you automatically. If you have altered
your user-startup and removed the ";Begin Newicons" section, or added
the NewIcons commmand elsewhere in your startup, you will have to
remove the old NewIcons command from the user-startup script.
@{b}@{fg shine}If your user-startup script launches NewIcons the old way (without
"RUN <>NIL: c:NewIcons"), your Amiga will freeze during bootup.@{ub}@{fg text}
@{b}Kickstart 3.x users! IMPORTANT:@{ub}
----------
You need to add a line to your s:startup-sequence to fix a bug in
Kickstart 3.x. Add the following line to your startup-sequence,
before IPrefs and after SetPatch:
C:PatchOpenWB
Users of 2.04 need not worry about this step.
---------
Once the installation is complete, reboot your computer and you're
ready to have the best looking GUI anywhere!
The installation program only installs images for the standard WB, so
some files will likely not be "NewIconized" by the installer script.
Don't worry; you can add images to these icons later using the
@{"CopyNewIcon" link "CopyNewIcon" 0} utility supplied in this archive.
NewIcons works by installing compressed images of the new icons into
tooltype lines of the .info files. Once NewIcons is launched, you
will not see these tooltypes, so they will not interfere with your
work. If for some reason you are not happy with NewIcons, you can
use the utility @{"KillNewIcon" link "KillNewIcon" 0} to remove these images from the .info
files, restoring them to their original appearance.
The big advantage of this system is that when the NewIcons program
is run, you see the new icon images. When NewIcons has not been
started, you will see the boring old icon you viewed before you
received this package. Therefore, icons that are transferred to
users not running NewIcons will still be visible as a plain,
old-style icon.
@endnode
@node "NewIcons" "NewIcons"
@next "DefIcons"
@prev "Installation"
@{fg shine}NEWICONS@{fg text}
========
This program is the heart of the package, and is launched from
your user-startup. It must be RUN'ned from the user-startup
like this:
RUN <>NIL: c:newicons
It accepts three parameters, and its template is as follows:
@{b}CX_PRIORITY/N/K,CX_POPKEY/K,PE=PREFSEDITOR/K@{ub}
@{b}CX_PRIORITY/N/K@{ub} - This is the standard commodity hotkey priority.
This parameter prevents conflicts with hotkeys
between different programs. Consult your
Workbench manual if you don't understand this
parameter. The default setting for this
parameter is 0, and most likely you won't need
to change it.
@{b}CX_POPKEY/K@{ub} - NewIcons is now a commodity, and pressing the
specified hotkey will open a window displaying
information about NewIcons, the current settings
for NewIcons, and displays a gadget to launch
the prefs program. The default hotkey is
Lalt Shift N.
@{b}PE=PREFSEDITOR/K@{ub} - This defines where NewIcons should looks for its
preferences program. By default, it looks for
Sys:Prefs/NewIconsPrefs. If you have placed
the prefs editor in another location, use this
parameter so NewIcons can find it.
Examples:
RUN <>NIL: C:NewIcons (most people will use this)
RUN <>NIL: C:NewIcons CX_POPKEY "lalt shift P"
RUN <>NIL: C:NewIcons PE Work:Prefs/NewIconsPrefs
The idea behind NewIcons is that we shouldn't need a fixed color
scheme for icons anymore. NewIcons will automatically remap icon images
using the colors available on the Workbench screen. A specific palette
is therefore not required (icons look @{i}reasonable@{ui} even on a 2-color
Workbench) but it is suggested to obtain best results. If you use a
Workbench with >= 64 colors, you can ignore the palette completely.
The file "palette.preset" is the palette I use on my Workbench. Note
I have changed the pens used by bright and dark edges to have smoother
button gadgets, and that color 3 is the same as color 0 so that the
shell cursor is of the correct color. This palette uses 7 out of the
standard 14 colors used by the NewIcons. The remaining 7 are dynam-
ically allocated at run time.
@{b}Workbench 2.0 users:@{ub}
If you are running Kickstart 2.0, you will have to set up a suitable
palette. The colors used by the supplied icons are:
Dec
R G B
--- --- ---
Black 0 0 0
Gray1 2 2 2
Gray2 5 5 5
Gray3 8 8 8
Gray4 10 10 10
Gray5 12 12 12
White 15 15 15
Green 2 8 2
Yellow 13 11 3
Red 13 2 2
Purple 9 4 10
Light Brown 12 9 6
Dark Blue 0 5 9
Light Blue 5 8 11
Of course you can sort them anyway you like, since NewIcons will pick
the correct colors from the above palette for you.
A palette for 2.0 is supplied in the Extras drawer of this
distribution.
In this version, there is a new tooltype feature. Any icon that does
not have NewIcon image data in it can be given a single tooltype to
cause NewIcons to "borrow" an image from another NewIcon icon. To
use this feature, you simply add the following tooltype to the icon:
@{b}DEFAULTIMAGE=<location of image to "borrow">@{ub}
For example, you could direct all your drawer icons to a single image
on your harddisk or RAM: disk. Once this is done, you can change the
image of all your drawers by changing the single "loaner" icon. You
can read more about using this feature @{"here" link "TipsAndTricks" 145}.
@endnode
@node "DefIcons" "DefIcons"
@next "NewIconsPrefs"
@prev "NewIcons"
@{fg shine}DEFICONS@{fg text}
========
Deficons is run as a single command in the user-startup. It takes no
parameters, and does not need to be RUN'ned, since it automatically
detaches from the CLI.
The DefIcons patch will magically transform Workbench's silly fake icons
(displayed when you pick the menu item Window/Show/All Files) into more
meaningful ones. The program not only recognizes files such as projects
and tools, but identifies various other file types:
IFF, JPEG, ANIM. GIF and PNG files
8SVX, SMUS, DCMS, Med, and PT/ST mods
Handlers, Kickfiles, and Filesystems
ASCII, TeX, AmigaGuide and Postscript files
Source codes of various languages
Keymaps, Datatypes, Libraries, and Printer Drivers
Various crunched filetypes
Bitmap and Outline Fonts
...and several more.
Just like any "fake" icon, you can't double click on fake icons to
start the associated tool immediately, but if you have designated a
default tool for the deficon (located in ENVARC:sys), the "Execute
Command" text field will automatically have the default tool entered
for you. This feature is very handy for things like text files and
picture files that don't have icons attached to them.
Additionally, you can transform a fake icon into a real icon using
the @{"CreateDefaultIcon" link "CreateDefaultIcon" 0} utility.
DefIcons has a brainfile called deficons.prefs, which is copied to ENVARC:
by the install_NewIcons script. Unfortunately, it is currently not possible
to easily edit the brainfile, so you can't add your filetypes, but the
source code for deficons.prefs is included. Will a little programming
knowledge, you can create your own deficons classes. When you install
NewIcons, the Installer script copies the default def_xxx icon images to
ENVARC:. These icons are used by DefIcons.
Apart from fake icons, DefIcons has another wonderful feature: if a
volume doesn't have a disk.info icon, it will replace the standard
def_disk.info icon used by Workbench with a user-defined one. For
example, it will use def_CD0disk.info for a CD in CD0:, and
def_RAMdisk.info for the Ram Disk. If you did the old 'copy ramdisk.info
to ram:disk.info' trick, you can remove that command from your
startup-sequence.
DefIcons works well with multiple files systems and MFS. When a disk
without disk.info is inserted in DF0:, it first searches for an icon
named def_DF0disk.info; if it can't find it, it looks for an icon
named after the file system (def_DOS0disk.info, def_MSD0disk.info,
def_PFS0disk.info...) so you can have different icons for different
file sytems. Latest versions of CrossDos use an icon of their own
for MS-DOS disks. Since the icon is really ugly, you may want to use
your def_MSD0disk.info. To do that, load L:crossdosfilesystem into
a hex editor, search for the string "disk.info" and replace it with
something else, for example "dusk.info".
The disk trick will also work for non-DOS disks. In this case, the
basename is the one displayed by Workbench under the icon. For
example if Workbench shows "DF0:NDOS", the icon named def_NDOSdisk.info
will be used. DF0:???? is a special case: def_BADdisk.info will be
used.
DefIcons uses a tree structure when identifying files. For a JPEG
picture, for example, DefIcons will search in order first for
def_jpeg.info, def_picture.info and def_project.info. IFF files are
special, and DefIcons will search for def_XXXX.info, where XXXX is the
FORM type of the file. If it can't be found, def_iff.info is used.
For archived files there are three families: def_archive (lha, zip,...),
def_filearchive (for uuencode, compress, gzip,...) and def_diskarchive
(DMS). These families can have sons (i.e, def_lha, def_dms, etc)
if you create and add them to your ENVARC:sys directory.
@endnode
@node "NewIconsPrefs" "NewIconsPrefs"
@next "CopyNewIcon"
@prev "DefIcons"
@{fg shine}NewIconsPrefs@{fg text}
=============
This is a new feature in NewIcons v3. All configuration of
NewIcons options done with the preferences program. There
are three ways of launching the preferences program for your
convenience:
1) Start the Commodities Exchange program and select NewIcons.
Click on the "Show Interface" gadget, or:
2) Double-click on the NewIconsPrefs icon from the Workbench,
or:
3) Just hit the NewIcons hotkey (default is Left-Alt+shift+N)
NewIcons will open a status window showing how many Newicons
are currently open, and all the current options. From here
you can click on "OK" to close the window, or click on
"Prefs" to launch the preferences program.
@{b}Using NewIcons Prefs@{ub}
There are five configurable options from the Preferences program:
@{b}DITHERING@{ub} - (default: OFF) - Normally NewIcons does not dither
the icon images. This generally results in better
looking icons for AGA systems, since the icons
appear exactly as they were created. For users
with a limited number of available colors on the
Workbench (such as those with <32 colors or a 2.04
system), you can try the DITHER option to improve
the appearance of the icons.
@{b}NO BORDERS@{ub} - (default: OFF) - Using this option removes the
bounding icon boxes around your icons. This can
dramatically change the appearance of your WB.
This option is recommended primarily for die-
hard NewIcons users who have done away with all
those non-NewIcon images on their system. It
can make non-NewIcon icons look strange at times,
but can transform your Workbench into a visually
stunning interface. Color zero is made completely
transparent, so the backdrop will fill where the
box was.
@{b}RTG MODE@{ub} - (default: OFF) - This new feature has been added
for the benefit of graphics card users only, and if
you have a graphics card, you should set this mode
to ON. RTG mode allows NewIcons to render the icon
images in Fast RAM instead of Chip RAM. It has
several advantages, including saving your precious
chip RAM for other uses, and speeds up icon render-
ing, since access to fast RAM is, well, faster! :)
If you don't have a graphics card, keep this mode
OFF or you will meet the Guru, most likely.
Note: RTG mode is only available with the '020+
version of the library.
@{b}DEPTH PROMOTE@{ub}-(default: NONE) - This option is really only use-
ful when using the NO BORDERS option. If you have
non-NewIcon images that look particularly strange,
you can try this option. Turning on this option
causes all non-NewIcon images to be promoted to
8 bitplanes, and can sometimes fix those wierd
looking non-NewIcon images. The drawback of using
this mode is that it eats more memory. There are
3 modes available with this cyclegadget: NONE,
which will not promote icons (default), ONLY
WORKBENCH, which will promote only Workbench icons,
and ALL, which will promote appicons and other
images like dock icons that use icon images.
Depth promote may look better or worse, depending
on your OS/configuration. Play with the settings
and find the best effect for you.
@{fg fill}IMPORTANT!@{fg text} If you are doing some editing on non-
NewIcons with an icon editor, be sure to turn
the DEPTH PROMOTE option to NONE or ONLY WB. If you
don't you'll be playing with an icon copy, and your
editor won't save it properly. You have been
warned.
@{b}PEN PRECISION@{ub}-(default:16) - This option allows you to set
how exact NewIcons will select the colors for
displaying the icons. The default value is
16, which is reasonable if you have a limited
number of pen colors available on your WB. It
won't steal all the colors from your other
programs, but may not display everything with
exact precision. The lower the PRECISION
parameter, the greater the precision when
picking colors to map the icons. Zero is very
high precision, -1 is the highest, and is
recommended for graphics card users or those
with lots of available WB pens.
Note: If you are running Kickstart 2.0, this
parameter does nothing.
The four other gadgets in the Preferences window are fairly
self explanatory:
@{b}SAVE@{ub} - Saves the currently set configuration permanently.
@{b}USE@{ub} - Keeps the currently set configuration until the
next reboot.
@{b}CANCEL@{ub} - Cancels any changed parameters.
@{b}NewIcons Logo@{ub} - Click here for version and author information.
NewIconsPrefs uses the ClassAct GUI system, and requires a few ClassAct
gadgets to be installed in Sys:classes. The installer will take care of
installing these.
@endnode
@node "CopyNewIcon" "CopyNewIcon"
@next "CreateDefaultIcon"
@prev "NewIconsPrefs"
CopyNewIcon will likely be the most used of the support utilities.
This command is used to copy the NewIcon image from one icon to another.
You can use it to add NewIcon images to your other programs/files.
ONLY the NewIcon image is copied. The standard image and the other
properties of the destination icons are not affected.
You'll need this command to use the icons contained in the Icons/Misc
drawer. @{b}DO NOT USE THE USUAL 'COPY' COMMAND TO COPY THOSE ICONS@{ub}. You
should consider the Icons drawer as a sort of "catalog" of images,
which you can pick @{b}IMAGES@{ub}, and not true icons, from.
From CLI:
@{b}Copynewicon srcicon desticon1 [desticon2...]@{ub}
From Workbench:
click on CopyNewIcon
shift-click the icon you want to copy from
shift-click the icons you want to copy to
shift-double click the last icon
You can also add this command to the Tools menu using ToolManager or
ToolsPrefs.
@endnode
@node "CreateDefaultIcon" "CreateDefaultIcon"
@next "InjectBrush"
@prev "CopyNewIcon"
This will convert a fake icon to a real icon. Of course it is much more
useful if @{"DefIcons" link "DefIcons" 0} is running.
It also replaces real icons with standard icons, that is with the ones
which would be used as fake icons if there wasn't a real icon. I hope
I've been convoluted enough to confuse you ;-)
Anyway, the interesting part is that if you use this command on a real
icon, the original properties will not be lost (position, drawer
dimensions, tooltypes, default tool - @{u}unless@{uu} the def_icon has a default
tool by itself). This command is VERY handy to quickly replace all the
drawer icons in your hard disk.
Usage is the same as @{"KillNewIcon" link "KillNewIcon" 0} :
Click on CreateDefaultIcon, then shift-click on the icons you want
to make into a real icon. Double-click on the last icon selected.
If you have a standard default tool for certain files (like Multiview
for your AmigaGuide
files), you can add that tooltype to your
default icon (Envarc:sys/def_guide.info) and any AmigaGuide
files you
use CreateDefaultIcon on will have the correct default tool associated
with it. This technique is useful for picture and sound files, and ASCII
text files as well.
@endnode
@node "InjectBrush" "InjectBrush"
@next "KillNewIcon"
@prev "CreateDefaultIcon"
This command is used to create a NewIcon. It can be used only from CLI.
It takes the name of the icon to NewIcon-ize and the names of two ILBM
brushes. The brushes should be 36x40 in size, and use the standard
palette. In the Extras/BUILDING_BLOCKS directory you find some standard
elements to use in creating NewIcon images.
Template:
ICON/A,NORMALIMAGE/A,SELECTEDIMAGE,FORCE/S
Example: @{b}injectbrush myicon.info brush1.iff brush2.iff@{ub}
You can leave off the ".info" extension if you like. Injectbrush is
smart enough to know you mean the icon file, not the file itself.
Note that the original image is not removed from the icon. It stays
there so that users not running NewIcons can see an old-style icon.
Color 0 of the brush used to create a NewIcon is always considered
the transparent color. That is, it will always be remapped to color
0 of the screen.
The newicon.library does not optimize the color data. Thus, if you use
an 8 bitplane brush to create an icon, and it uses only 16 colors of
the 256 available, the icon created will be larger than if you used a 4
bitplane brush. The best thing to do is to always work on a 16 color
screen, using the building_blocks/platform provided to start from.
Injectbrush expects the brushes to be of the standard size and color
palette. You will be prompted if the brushes are not 36x40, or if the
palette colors are non-standard. This is NOT implemented to force you
to use a particular icon size or palette. Rather it is included as a
feature for those who want to keep their icons the same palette and size,
consistent with the included icon set.
This feature can be overridden by using the @{b}Force@{ub} option.
@endnode
@node "KillNewIcon" "KillNewIcon"
@next "PatchOpenWb"
@prev "InjectBrush"
This is the complementary of @{"InjectBrush" link "InjectBrush" 0}. It removes the NewIcon and
restores the icon to its original image.
From CLI:
@{b}Killnewicon icon1 [icon2...]@{ub}
From Workbench:
click on KillNewIcon
shift-click the icons you want to remove the NewIcon from
shift-double click the last icon
You can also add this command to the Tools menu using ToolManager or
ToolsPrefs.
@endnode
@node "PatchOpenWb" "PatchOpenWB"
@next "TipsAndTricks"
@prev "KillNewIcon"
Kickstart 3.x has a serious bug concerning Workbench screen opening. If the
Workbench screen is closed and a program causes it to be opened, either by
calling OpenWorkBench(), or OpenWindow(), or LockPubScreen(), the system
may hang. Specifically:
If the program has priority less then 0, it will always hang.
If the priority is greater than 0, it will never hang.
If the priority is 0, it may or may not hang; it depends on when
task switching happens.
This program is a workaround for the bug. It will intercept OpenWorkBench(),
OpenWindow() and LockPubScreen() calls and temporarily raise the priority to
1, thus avoiding the deadlock. This patch is @{b}necessary@{ub} when running
NewIcons, otherwise the system will always hang when the Workbench screen
is closed and reopened.
Users of Workbench 2.0 do @{b}not@{ub} need to use this command.
To install the patch, just execute the program @{b}PatchOpenWb@{ub} in your
startup-sequence, preferably before IPrefs, and after SetPatch.
@endnode
@node "TipsAndTricks" "Tips And Tricks"
@next "Authors"
@prev "PatchOpenWb"
Here are some tips to help you make the most of the Newicons system:
Q: I just installed NewIcons version 3. Now my computer seems to freeze up
during the boot process. What the hell?!
A: Hopefully we have placed this information in enough places in the
archive that users won't have this problem. If you have updated from a
previous release of NewIcons, and didn't originally install everything
with the installer, you may have to make a change in the user-startup.
NewIcons now requires a change in the command line that launches it.
NewIcons MUST be launched with "RUN <>NIL: c:NewIcons" now. If your
old command line in user-startup still says "c:NewIcons", you must
change it. If you installed NewIcons previously with the Amiga
Installer program, the version 3 installation should take care of
this automatically.
Q: When I ran the installer script, it didn't convert every single icon on
my hard drive. Why not?
A: Since everyone's system can be configured differently, the installer
can't possibly configure for all setups. The installer is designed
to install the typical Workbench System file icons. To convert the
rest of your icons, use the @{"CopyNewIcon" link "CopyNewIcon" 0} utility to copy images to
other icons.
Q: I used CreateDefaultIcon to convert my icons into NewIcons. Now my
tooltypes and default tool settings are missing from the icons. Help!
A: Go back and read the documentation. If the default icon in Env:sys
associated with the icon you created has a default tool setting in it,
it will be used, as well as the tooltype settings. For general use in
converting @{b}existing@{ub} icons to NewIcons, use @{"CopyNewIcon" link "CopyNewIcon" 0} instead.
@{"CreateDefaultIcon" link "CreateDefaultIcon" 0} is for adding icons to files that don't have .info
files!
Q: With 2 images in each icon, my icon sizes are a bit bigger than standard
icons. Is there anything I can do about this?
A: If you decide that you really like the NewIcons system, and make it a
permanent part of your Workbench, you can make the standard icon images
very small, i.e. a few pixels large. This is done quite easily with
the included utility "Killoldicon", by Michael Barsoom. This changes
the old icon images permanently, so don't do this procedure unless you
are sure you won't need them back. To use, simply shift-click on
killoldicon, then shift-click on the icons you wish to convert. While
holding shift, double-click on the last icon to convert. Since NewIcon
images are compressed, the resulting final icon can be considerably
smaller than a standard icon with the equivalent number of colors.
Also these icons load considerably faster with the old image removed.
One drawback of this method, however is that if you share these icons
with people not running NewIcons, they will only see the tiny pixel
icon.
Q: Can I run Deficons without running NewIcons?
A: Absolutely, if you only want to use the default icon feature. In this
case you will only have the standard icon images to view, however.
@{"NewIcons" link "NewIcons" 0} can be run without @{"Deficons" link "DefIcons" 0} also, although you won't get
default icon images for "fake" icons.
Q: Sometimes when I change screenmodes, the colors of my NewIcon appicons
don't look right. What's going on?
A: Intuition doesn't reset the colors properly for appicons, unfortunately.
You'll have to switch back to the screenmode you were using, or restart
the program that created the appicon. Sorry, this is a fault of the OS.
For Toolmanager Docks, this shouldn't be a problem with NewIcons version
3. A fix for Toolmanager docks only has been implemented. This might
break with future versions of Toolmanager.
Q: My icon colors don't look the right colors.
A: The NewIcons system dynamically allocates colors as needed when
an icon appears on the Workbench. Most likely if you are having
a problem with the icon colors, you don't have enough free colors
available on your Workbench screen. Unless you are using a back-
drop with a large number of colors, 32 or 64 colors is usually
plenty with the supplied icons. Increasing the number of bitplanes
in the screenmode settings should fix this problem. Alternatively,
you can set the DITHER mode in @{"NewIconsPrefs" link "NewIconsPrefs" 0} to ON.
Q: I want to make my own icons that are different sizes and colors from
the supplied icons. How can I get injectbrush to work with the
brushes I use to make the images?
A: All the supplied icons use the same 15 color palette to preserve the
number of available colors on the Workbench. If you choose, you are
certainly not limited to these colors and you can make icons as complex
as your heart desires. Icons also do not have to be the 36 x 40 pixel
size either. Using the "FORCE" option in @{"injectbrush" link "InjectBrush" 0} will allow you to
use nonstandard palettes and sizes (up to 93 x 93 pixels). Make sure
your brushes are the same size and palette, or injectbrush won't allow
you to make them into icons.
Note: Although you can create up to 256 color icons, this is not really
recommended, since you will very likely lock all the available colors
for the workbench, and programs like Multiview will not be able to
dynamically allocate the correct colors for viewing pictures and
so forth. In addition, icons with large palettes take up a larger
amount of disk space.
Q: IconEdit doesn't work with my NewIcon images. What gives?
A: Do NOT use standard icon editing tools to manipulate NewIcon
images. Some programs could cause serious damage to the icon
data, saving the NewIcon image as an old-style image, therefore
losing palette information. The best way to create NewIcon images
is to use a paint program; create a brush, and then use injectbrush;
there are NewIcon editors out there as well, such as Iconian.
Q: I prefer the magic workbench style of icons. Can I get the benefits
of using NewIcons with mwb?
A: Absolutely. Just convert the images to brushes and change them into
NewIcons with @{"injectbrush." link "InjectBrush" 0} From now on you'll never have to worry
about what your palette is set to. There is also a utility to convert
mwb icons to NewIcons available on Aminet, called MWB2NI.
Q: If I want to make my own default disk icons, do I have to make them
a disk type icon?
A: No. @{"Deficons" link "DefIcons" 0} can use drawer type icons for disks or drawers in most
cases. It will also use any type of icon for the "kick" type icons.
Therefore, if you make new default icons for your ENVARC:sys drawer,
you don't usually have to convert them to a disk or kick type icon.
This applies to the custom icons only, such as def_RAMdisk, etc.
The standard def_disk.info and def_kick.info icons still must be of
the proper type.
Q: When I double click on an iconless file, sometimes the "Execute Command"
gadget doesn't get filled in with the default tool like it's supposed to.
A: This is due to Intuition, not Deficons. If you open a drawer and click
on an iconless Amigaguide file for example, Multiview should be selected
in the "Execute Command" field. However, if you open a second drawer or
click on other icons in a different drawer than the first, then try to
open that same AmigaGuide file, the default tool will not appear. Sorry,
there is no easy solution to this problem; it's a fault of the OS.
Q: I really don't want a great looking Workbench...how can I deinstall it?
A: There is a script in the archive that will deinstall the package for you.
To remove NewIcon images from icons by hand, just run @{"KillNewIcon" link "KillNewIcon" 0} on
them.
Q: How do I use the DEFAULTIMAGE tooltype?
A: Use it with icons that have NO NewIcon image data in them. For example,
to make all your drawers use the image of an icon called
Work:MyDrawer.info, add this tooltype to your non-NewIconized drawers:
DEFAULTIMAGE=Work:MyDrawer.info
Now, you can change the look of ALL your system drawers just by changing
the MyDrawer icon's image. Pretty cool! You could even set up your
user-startup to randomly copy a different image at each bootup to
Env:sys, and make your Workbench look different every time you start
your computer!
Using this feature slows down loading time slightly, because two icons
have to be loaded (the main one and the one whose image is to be
borrowed), but has several advantages, especially with icons which are
used frequently, like drawer icons:
1) It saves disk space, because the image is stored only once.
2) Saves memory when the icons are on screen, because the Tooltypes
containing the compressed image are loaded, decompressed, and freed,
whereas in the normal method they stay in memory until the icon
is freed.
3) If you get bored of an image, just replace the default one, and all
the others will change automatically!
Remember that the image stored in the icon has precedence. Therefore,
you have to run @{"KillNewIcon" link "KillNewIcon" 0} on a NewIcon to have the DEFAULTIMAGE
ToolType work.
WARNING!!!: This trick is recursive, that is, if DEFAULTIMAGE points to
an icon which has a DEFAULTIMAGE itself, a third icon will be loaded,
and so on. Pay attention not to create loops which refer back to
another icon. If you do, you will likely meet the big GURU. You
have been warned.
Q: I'm using the borderblank option and some of my old non-NewIcon images
look very strange. What's wrong?
A: Workbench 2.04 and up was not designed to have the borders removed around
the icons. With the borderblank option turned on, color zero is now
transparent. Any area of the icon with color zero will now show the
backdrop through the icon. This can cause some icons to appear strange.
The options for fixing it are 1) change your backdrop to a somewhat
neutral gray color 2) don't use the borderblank option, or 3) get
rid of those old icons altogether, and use NewIcon images instead.
Another note about the borderblank option: some non-newicon icons will
really look bizarre, especially the secondary image if the alternate
image is just a complemented color. You can try toggling the DEPTH
PROMOTE option in @{"NewIconsPrefs" link "NewIconsPrefs" 0} on or off. Depending on whether
you use a graphics card, this option might help either way.
One further note about the borderblank option: If you use colorfonts
for your icon font, these can look weird also with non-NewIcon icons.
It appears to be a quirk in the OS. The solution is the same as above:
1) don't use borderblank, or 2) use only NewIcon images on the Workbench.
Q: Can I use RTG mode if I don't have a graphics card?
A: NO! Don't even try it. You will surely end up looking at a flashing red
and black system error screen (i.e. GURU).
Q: If I have a graphics card, must I use the RTG mode?
A: You don't have to, but there's certainly no reason not to, unless you
like eating up all your chip RAM.
Q: How can I make my NewIcon icons into brushes for editing?
A: There's a utility on Aminet (gfx/conv/newicontobrush) which will do this
for you.
Q: Where can I get more icons in the isometric/McVey style?
A: There are loads of them on Aminet (well over 1000 images) in the pix/icon
directory. Some of the best ones are @{"McVey's" link "Authors" 0} NewIconsXTRA and NI-V2
packages, and the AESicons series by @{"Phil
Vedovatti" link "Authors" 0} (IMHO! ;-).
Q: Are there any backdrop sets for NewIcons?
A: Yes! Look in the pix/icon directory on Aminet. Roger McVey has uploaded
literally hundreds of NewIcons compatible backdrops. They look great!
@endnode
@node "Authors" "Authors"
@next "Acknowledgements"
@prev "TipsAndTricks"
@{fg shine}The NewIcons Team@{fg text}
=================
The NewIcons project is the result of many months of idea-exchanging,
late-night IRC sessions, numerous reboots and collaboration among people
who have never once met each other in person. The NewIcons package
was created purely for the enjoyment of its users.
Please send any bug reports to Eric or Phil.
Brainstorming, programming, documentation and artwork for Newicons 3+:
@{b}Eric Sauvageau@{ub}
5338 10th Avenue
Montreal, Quebec
CANADA
H1Y-2G6
IRC: RMerlin
E-mail: dream@step.polymtl.ca
@{b}Phil Vedovatti@{ub}
2424 41st Ave E. #370F
Seattle, Washington 98112
USA
IRC: Aesculape
E-mail: vedovatt@u.washington.edu
The new deficons.prefs file:
@{b}Ariel Magnum@{ub}
IRC: Ariel
E-mail: arielmag@actcom.co.il
The icon artwork was done by
@{b}Roger McVey@{ub}
E-Mail: r.mcvey@genie.geis.com
Original concept, and programming for versions 1.0 - 2.0:
@{b}Nicola Salmoria@{ub}
Via Piemonte 11
53100 Siena ITALY
E-Mail: MC6489@mclink.it
@endnode
@node "Acknowledgements" "Acknowledgements"
@next "Distribution"
@prev "Authors"
Acknowledgements
================
Many thanks go out to our beta testers, who risked crashing their systems
for the sake of NewIcons:
@{b}Steve Bara@{ub} (IRC: Frotz)
@{b}Jonathan Larson@{ub} (IRC: Multitask)
@{b}Giacomo Magnini@{ub} (IRC: Swatch)
@{b}Ariel Magnum@{ub} (IRC: Ariel)
@{b}Peter J. Mills@{ub} (IRC: DrPhuQt)
@{b}Andrew G. Robson@{ub} (IRC: Greebo)
@{b}Chris Townsend@{ub} (IRC: Vidar)
@{b}Joshua B. Wingell@{ub} (IRC: Shape)
Thanks to @{b}Chris Green@{ub}, whose chunky to planar routine was based upon.
(Chris based his routine on one by @{b}Richard Addison@{ub}).
Thanks to @{b}Federico Giannici@{ub} who pushed Nicola to make the color remapping
faster, and faster, and faster...
Thanks also to @{b}Michael Barsoom@{ub}, who kindly allowed the inclusion of his
program, "killoldicon" in the package.
A special thanks to our friends who transcribed the installer scripts:
@{b}Eric Sauvageau@{ub} for the French version, @{b}Giacomo Magnini@{ub} for the
Italian version, @{b}Volker Schleifstein@{ub} for the German version.
@{b}B
rge N
st@{ub} for optimizing the ASM DecodeLine routine.
@{b}Christopher Aldi@{ub}, @{b}Tim Aston@{ub} and @{b}Osma Ahvenlampi@{ub} for Class Act.
All the folks on EFNET IRC channel #amiga who begged us to finish this
release.
And thanks to all the NewIcons fans out there!
@endnode
@node "Distribution" "Distribution"
@next "History"
@prev "Acknowledgements"
@{b}This software is FreeWare. It is freely distributable as long as the archive
remains intact, and only a nominal fee is charged for its distribution.
This software is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either
expressed or implied. By using it, you agree to accept the entire risk as to
the quality and performance of the program.@{ub}
@endnode
@node "History" "History"
@prev "Distribution"
Version History:
@{fg shine}V1.0:@{fg text}
Original public release.
@{fg shine}V2.0:@{fg text}
In the previous version of the docs I forgot to mention that the chunky to
planar routine was based on a routine by Chris Green (who based his routine on
one by Richard Addison).
fixed bug in DefIcons, was causing "plase insert volume dir c" after doing
execute command - dir c:
fixed bug in DefIcons, would hang if it couldn't find deficons.prefs
fixed bug in DefIcons, was causing a disk icon to appear for files called
"disk".
fixed bug in DefIcons, would show a drawer as disk icon for disks containing a
directory called "disk" (which is a bad idea anyway).
The GetDiskObjectNew() patch now returns NULL if the given name doesn't exist
(like the standard function)
now does dithering (optional)
some file types added to deficons.prefs.
bug fix: createdefaulticon now preserves the tooltypes of tool icons and of
project icons whose default icon have no default tool.
bug fix: newicons would check the argarray after FreeArgs(). Thanks to Nicola
Soggia for discovering it and not reporting it. Thanks to Moreno Magnani who
did report it.
bugfix, arj files were not recognized
bug fix: DefIcons now uses Stricmp() to avoid problems with international
sorting
DEFAULTIMAGE special ToolType added
Fixed installer: no longer copies over the original def_#? icons in
Envarc:sys. It now just copies them to a safe place.
Localized installer and documentation files added
Replaced "ReplaceImage" utility with "KillOldIcon", since ReplaceImage
required NewIcons not to be running to use.
Changed a few of the icons from the original distribution archive
@{fg shine}CHANGES since last version from Nicola (Release 2, V38.3)@{fg text}
=========================================================
@{fg shine}3.0@{fg text}
- Development is now done by @{"Phil
Vedovatti" link "Authors" 0} and @{"Eric
Sauvageau" link "Authors" 0}.
- A much requested feature: you can now have borderless icons on your
Workbench, just like under Kickstart 1.x :) Note that it is really a
hack, so it _might_ break under future versions of Workbench, and it
has some minor drawbacks. Make sure you read the @{"NewIconsPrefs" link "NewIconsPrefs" 0} section
about it before enabling it.
- New RTG Mode which uses Fast RAM instead of Chip on systems with graphics
cards.
- Library (V39.1) now comes in two versions:
o 68020 and up, OS 3.x (Required for RTG Mode)
o 68000, OS 2.x
The library base has also changed, so application programmers
should check the updated libraries/newicon.h include file. Note
that things are still fully backward compatible).
Various speed optimisations have been done, and the tooltype
decoding routine has been rewritten by B
rge N
st. We're hoping to
also have the C2P routine rewritten in a future version :)
- NewIcons has been rewritten in E, and is now a commodity which can be
enabled/disabled. The hotkey will let you see some information about
the current settings, and allow you to directly launch the external
@{"preferences" link "NewIconsPrefs" 0} editor.
- NewIcons will no longer auto-detach from the CLI so it must be
Run <>NIL:. It also has a totaly new template:
'CX_PRIORITY/N/K,CX_POPKEY/K,PE=PREFSEDITOR/K'
Hopefully NewIcons will auto-detach again in a future version.
- The former Newicons settings have been moved to a separate prefs editor.
Makes it easier for the user to install/configure, and gives you more
freedom to experiment with the various settings without needing to
reboot.
This editor uses the ClassAct BOOPSI package for its GUI (all the
required classes are included in this archive.)
- Added a "kludge" so that icons used by ToolManager docks get properly
remapped on screenmode changes.
@endnode