Mac Expert 1995 Winter/Mac Expert - Winter 95.iso/Les fichiers/Utilitaires divers/Divers/AWOL utilities ƒ/Maybe 1.3 ƒ/Maybe Help/Maybe Help.rsrc/STR#_1026.txt

Text File | 1994-04-01 | 5.7 KB | 279 lines






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åWhat Does Maybe Do?





Maybe is a very versatile utility.  The name refers to one of its many

uses.  Here are some of the things it can do for you.










xPrompting the User



When you convert a Finder alias file to a Maybe document, you have a

choice of five action types.  The action will occur when you open or print

the converted alias later on.  The first choice is to prompt the user with a

dialog box, asking whether or not to open or print the target item.





You can choose the text to appear in the dialog box, or let Maybe compose

it.  If you like, you can set a time limit on the response, and decide which

response (“Yes” or “No”) will be assumed if the timer elapses; the user

will see a countdown timer in the dialog box.  Timing the dialog is useful if

the user may not be paying attention, for example, when the converted

alias is located in the user’s Startup Items folder.








xChecking Keyboard State



The second action choice, and one which is also useful for converted

aliases in the Startup Items folder, is to check the up/down state of all

keys on the keyboard before opening or printing the target item.





You select the default response, as above, and two sets of keys:  those

which must be up, and those which must be down, in order to override the

default.  So, if you’re rebooting for the fourth time today, and you don’t

want to wait while that news reader crawls to life, you can press the ‘f’

key and get a “fast” startup.

See the section entitled “Special Treatment of Folders” for another good

use of this action type.








xTalking to Another Program



The third action choice is like the first, but instead of asking the user

whether or not to proceed, you have Maybe ask some other program using

Apple events (program linking).  If it returns an error, Maybe doesn’t

open or print the target item; otherwise, it does.





You compose a single Apple event using a simple notation, and pick a

target program, which can be running locally or on another Macintosh on

your network.  You decide what to do if the program isn’t there, or

doesn’t respond within the time limit you specify.  If the target program

has something to say to the user, Maybe can display it in a dialog box.



This action type is good for logging usage, or for informal access control,

but it also lets you do personally meaningful things, like automatically

quitting one application as you open another.  Your options are limited only

by the Apple event support of the target program.  AWOL Utilities includes

a system extension called Menu Events, which lets programs control

other applications through their menus using Apple events, even ones

which are not designed to be scriptable.

See the section entitled “Suggestions for Use” for more information on

Menu Events.








xTying Two Items Together



The fourth type of action lets you choose a second item (volume, folder,

application, document, alias, or whatever) which will be opened every

time you open or print the converted alias.  By opening one thing, you can

make Finder open two things.  Chaining this kind of converted alias with

others lets you make a whole string of actions happen with one

double-click.





The item you specify is recorded using alias information, so Maybe will

keep track of it just as it does the target item.



If you are using Virtual Desktop, the virtual desktop manager which is

also part of AWOL Utilities, you will find this action type useful for

defining converted aliases which cause the desktop to scroll to the target

application’s work area just as the application or document is opened.

See the section entitled “Suggestions for Use” for more information on

Virtual Desktop.








xAccessorizing an Alias File



The fifth action type is no action at all.  This just lets you use the

following accessory options, which apply regardless of the action type.










xSpecial Treatment of Folders



If the target item turns out to be a folder or volume, and Maybe decides to

go ahead and open or print it, you can tell it to open the folder in the usual

way, which would mean a new Finder window, or you can tell it to open or

print every item in the folder all at once.  This is a convenient way to

group documents or applications you often use together.





Having set the option to open or print every item in the folder, if any of

the items in the folder is a converted alias with an action to check

keyboard state, then you can hold down different keys while opening the

converted folder alias to select subgroups within the folder.  ‘a’ could

mean all items, ‘e’ could mean just the essential items, and no keys down

could mean a default set of items.








xAction Sounds



One way to play a sound while opening or printing a target item is to put

the sound into a sound file, and tie the sound file to the target item using

the action type described above.  However, making sound files is

generally difficult.





Maybe offers an accessory option to play any sound you choose as it

executes the chosen action.  It plays sounds asynchronously, so that they

don’t interrupt whatever else is going on.  The sound can be taken from

the System file, which is where the Sound control panel puts them, or

from the Maybe Preferences file, or from the converted alias itself.  If

you have a new sound in the Clipboard, you can paste it in, name it, and

use it.  If your Macintosh has a sound input device, such as a built-in

microphone, Maybe can do the job of recording new sounds.