This Control Panel will allow you to play QuickTime‚Ñ¢ movies or Sounds when certain system actions occur (such as Ejecting a disk, closing a window with the close box, emptying the trash, a System beep, etc.).
To use QuickTime‚Ñ¢, you must have QuickTime‚Ñ¢ installed. QuickTime‚Ñ¢ does not need to be installed to use sounds.
What's the purpose of this Control Panel?
There is no real purpose to this, it's just for fun! Some of the actions you can assign movies to could get pretty darn annoying (like the Close Box or Resize Box actions), but I wanted to give you lots of options. If you have any other actions you'd like to assign movies or sounds to, please let me know.
What actions can be assigned to?
The actions you can assign to are as follows:
• System Beep
Replaces System beep with a movie or sound
• Disk Eject
Any time a disk is ejected,
this movie or sound plays
• Disk Mount
Any time a disk is inserted,
this movie or sound plays
• Bad Disk
Any time a non-initialized disk is inserted,
this movie or sound plays
• Waiting for disk
Any time you get an alert saying "Please
insert the disk <disk name>",
this movie or sound plays
• Empty Trash
Any time you use the "Empty Trash" menu
option from the Finder,
this movie or sound plays
• Start Up
This movie or sound will play when the
Mac first starts
• Restart
Any time you use the "Restart" menu
option from the Finder,
this movie or sound plays
• Shut Down
Any time you use the "Shut Down" menu
option from the Finder,
this movie or sound plays
• Close Box
Any time a window is closed by clicking the
close box, this movie or sound plays
• Resize Box
Any time a window is resized by clicking the
zoom box, this movie or sound plays
• On the Hour
When the time gets to the start of a new
hour, this movie or sound plays
• On the 1/4 Hour
When the time gets to 15 minutes after any
hour, this movie or sound plays
• On the 1/2 Hour
When the time gets to 30 minutes after any
hour, this movie or sound plays
• On the 3/4 Hour
When the time gets to 45 minutes after any
hour, this movie or sound plays
Turning ◊QTAction on/off:
You can turn ◊QTAction on or off at any time by clicking the on/off switch box in the lower left of the ◊QTAction Control Panel window. If the switch is up, ◊QTAction is on.
How to assign a movie or sound to actions:
• Assigning a movie:
Either click on the little projector picture
in the Control Panel window, double-click
the action you wish to assign a movie to or
hit the Return key while an action is high-
lighted and open a QuickTime‚Ñ¢ movie.
• Assigning a sound:
Click on the little sound (speaker) picture
in the Control Panel window and select a
sound from the pop-up menu. Sounds can
either be installed in the System, or can
be in a Folder named Sounds in the System
Folder for System 7, or just in the System
Folder for System 6. If any sound files are
found, they will be displayed in the top of
the menu. This way, you don't have to have
all of your Sounds in your System File!
Removing a movie or sound from an action:
To have no movie or sound for an action, just select the action and choose Clear or Cut from the Edit menu or click the Eraser icon (to the right of the movie and sound icon).
Playing a movie or sound associated with an action:
If a movie or sound is assigned to an action you can play it by clicking on the name in the Control Panel window (below the Action List).
Stopping a movie while it's playing:
Just click the mouse button and hold it down until the movie stops.
How to install ◊QTAction:
Just drop this Control Panel file into your System Folder and restart your Macintosh!
Miscellaneous Notes:
• The name of this Control Panel must NOT be
changed!
• Some actions behave differently if the Finder is
the current application.
• You can prevent a movie from playing by holding
down the Command key when you know an action
is going to occur
• You can use the Arrow keys to move to different
Actions. The Return key works the same as
Double-clicking an action.
• Problem: The movie does not play when the
action happens:
• Solution: The movie may have been moved or
deleted, if so, you should either clear
the action or double-click the action
and assign it a new movie.
• Problem: It doesn't seem to work!
• Solution: Perhaps ◊QTAction has been turned
off. Make sure the box in the lower
left of the window is checked.
Who wrote this thing?
◊QTAction for the Macintosh was written by John V. Holder. The idea was by Mark Wallace, thanks Mark!
Thanks:
I want to thank the following people for the wonderful suggestions and the time they put into testing this Control Panel: Larry Kuhn, Jijnes Patel and Mark Wallace.
◊QTAction History:
Version Release Date Description
1.0 (7/23/94) Initial Release.
1.1 (3/2/95) Bug fixes.
This is Shareware:
I've worked hard on this Control Panel and would like to continue to release fun and useful utilities and games, but the only way I can do this is if you send in the requested fee. Please, if you use this, send in the small fee requested. Do your part to keep the idea of shareware (and me) going! Thank you.
I have tested this Control Panel to the best of my ability, but cannot possibly test it with every application, INIT setup, etc. If you find any problems, please let me know about it! Also, if you have any suggestions of other features you'd like to see in this Control Panel, let me know. You can contact me at the address or on-line service below:
Shareware fee: $10
John V. Holder
2862 Lowell Street
Eureka, CA 95501
or America Online.........: JohnHolder
or CompuServe e-mail.: 75040,1126
or on GEnie e-mail........: JOHN.HOLDER
or Internet....................: JohnHolder@aol.com
(for email, AOL is preferred)
OTHER PROGRAMS:
I have written several other shareware games and utilities. They are described below along with the price for each; price does not include disk or postage. To get the latest versions of all of these to try out for yourself, send a disk with a self addressed stamped envelope or send $5 and I will supply the disk and pay postage.
GAMES:
Escape! - Escape is a simple strategy game that's mind-bogglingly similar to an old computer game called Daleks, though there’s lots more goodies in this game! Control a guy as he runs around mazes trying to collect gems, weapons, mines and the occasional extra life, finding tunnels to pass through, while stupid, but persistant, robots attempt to smoosh him. Simple, but addictive as all get out. ($5)
ColorFall - A simple yet very fun and addictive new game! Blocks of 4 colors (or patterns for B&W) drop down; you position and rotate them where you want them and let 'em drop! Try to get 4 or more in a row down, across, diagonally or in a block... But that's not all! Random things happen during play to either help or hinder your progress, such as a falling weight, a bomb and other strange things! Try it! ($10)
SideMinder! - SideMinder! is a challenging game played against the computer. Your mission is to place 3D game pieces on the board, matching as many sides as you can. The more sides you match, the higher the score! Many different options are available, such as various playing boards, tournament mode, rotating pieces, number of colors (or patterns for B&W), and level of difficulty! Try it, you won't be disappointed! (1.02 fixes a Scoring bug and adds new game boards!) I take no responsibility for time or sleep lost due to the habit forming effects of this game! ($10)
PRODUCTIVITY:
ScrapIt Pro - Apple's Scrapbook, Note Pad and SimpleText are wonderful utilities - now check out their big brother! ScrapIt Pro is a must have utility!
New Features:
• speech manager support (speak text items)
• sound recording
• drag and drop
• alias support for scrap item folder
• saves scrap item names when cutting & pasting
• background color in window now easily changeable
• item type priority setting for PICT,TEXT, sounds and movies
• word and character count for text items
ScrapIt Pro is a powerful storage and cataloging utility which will allow you to archive and retrieve anything you can copy to the clipboard, import or drag & drop; sounds, Pictures, Text, QuickTime movies, and lots more.... all accessible at the click of a mouse! You can print thumbnail pictures or text lists of all items in any Scrap file. You can quickly and easily search through all the text items of a scrap file or scrap item names to find what you're looking for.
It can also be used it as a mini-word processor; create new or edit any text items, change fonts, style, size and color! Even have ScrapIt Pro speak any text if you have the Speech Manager installed. ScrapIt Pro can play the sounds or QuickTime movies it stores; it can view all of a large picture by scrolling or reducing to fit inside the window; you can select and copy portions of pictures or Text items... and so much more!
ScrapIt Pro will open any Apple Scrapbook file.
Shareware: $15
TakeABreak - This control panel will remind you to take a break from the computer once in a while... You can have it remind you after a selected time period (every 30 minutes, every 2 hours, whatever you choose) by playing any installed Sound, showing a window, and/or playing a QuickTime(tm) movie! This is a must have utility if you spend over 20 min. at a time on the computer. ($5)
Font DA - Ever wondered how to type a certain character from a certain font that you need? Well, wonder no more with this handy utility! Much better than KeyCaps DA! This DA allows you to view every character (in any size, font and style you select) of any installed font, and will also show what the exact keystrokes are needed to type the character! You can also print these handy tables for quick reference. This is a must have utility and only $5 shareware!
JUST FOR FUN:
QTAction - QTAction is a Control Panel that lets you assign QuickTime movies OR sounds to certain system actions such as the System Beep, emptying the trash, Disk Eject, Disk Insert, Starting the Mac, and more!! Movies or sounds can be played at certain times, too, (on the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 hour or on the hour). Check this out!!! ($10)
