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#_1027.txt

Text File | 1994-04-01 | 4.9 KB | 247 lines






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åHow Does Maybe Work?






xSetting Options for Converted Aliases



Everything starts with the “Convert Alias…” command, which takes the

place of the usual “New…” command in the File menu.  The resulting file

dialog asks you to choose an alias file to convert.  Ordinarily, selecting an

alias in a file dialog is equivalent to selecting its target item, but that is

not the case here.  (If you want to trace from an alias to its target item

without selecting it for conversion, press the Option key while selecting it

in the list of files.)







You then fill out the options in the Options dialog, including the action type

and any of its special options.  Some action types require you to click a

button which opens another dialog, with more choices to make.  If you

accept the options, Maybe converts the alias file into a Maybe document

called a converted alias.  This document has a name and an icon which are

either identical or very similar to those of the Finder alias file, depending

on the options you chose.



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xUsing a Converted Alias



A converted alias is really a Maybe document that looks like a Finder alias

file.  (If you want it to look different, to make it clear that it’s not the

original and not an alias to it, the default options will stamp a rather large

question-mark “brand” over the icon, and add “ (Maybe)” to the end of

its name.)  From Finder’s point of view, though, you can use a converted

alias anywhere you would use an alias file:  in the Apple Menu Items

folder or Startup Items folder, on the desktop, attached to a macro, or

whatever.





What happens when you open or print a converted alias depends on the

action chosen when the options were set.

See the section entitled “What Does Maybe Do?” for descriptions of the

various action types.



There are a couple of things you can do while opening or printing a

converted alias which affect those actions.



If the action is to prompt the user for a “Yes” or “No” answer, and you

press the Command key while opening or printing, the Prompt dialog will

not appear, and “Yes” will be assumed.



If you press the Option key, the Options dialog will appear, so you can

change the options.  (Maybe actually has two ways to “open” a converted

alias:  one, to do its special action; and two, to change its options.)  If the

converted alias is a stationery pad, and you ask to change the options, you

will be prompted to save a copy first, unless you also press the Control

key, in which case you can change the options in the stationery pad itself.

Stationery pad status has no effect on the way it acts if opened to do its

special action.








xAutomatic Quit Feature



You will need to open the Maybe application whenever you want to convert

an alias or to change existing converted alias options.  Maybe also opens

automatically whenever a converted alias is opened or printed, because

converted aliases are Maybe documents.





It would be bothersome to have to quit Maybe manually every time you

open or print a converted alias.  Therefore, if opened in this fashion,

Maybe tries to excuse itself after about five seconds of inactivity in the

background.  This automatic quit feature is disabled if the user selects any

menu command or equivalent keyboard action, indicating an interest in

Maybe’s other functions.



If Maybe is opened in any other fashion, it will not try to quit

automatically.  If you expect to use converted aliases frequently, and

don’t mind tying up a bit of memory, put an alias to Maybe in your Startup

Items folder, so that it will always be ready when you need it.








xBackground Information



Maybe doesn’t make the alias file; it takes what Finder has created and

enhances it.  Therefore, opening or printing the target item is quite

simple.  Most of what Maybe does is to carry out the actions and options

you specify when you convert the alias file.





Timed dialogs are done using a special countdown timer, which turns on

and off like a button, but shows an animated counter.

See the section entitled “Programmer Notes” for more information about

the countdown timer control.



Keyboard state checking is unsophisticated, so what matters is the state

at the time when the converted alias is opened.  Attaching a quiet action

sound helps the user know when to release the keys.



Apple event construction is done using AEBuild, a simple representation

language and compiler for Apple events written by Jens Peter Alfke.  (See

the attached documentation.)



Everything else is done using standard System software methods,

including everything to do with alias tracking.