Easy View is an application for intelligent browsing of collections of structured text files, large or small. It allows very fast access by recognizing the internal structure. All of the following text formats can be viewed using Easy View:
* setext, including TidBITS and similar publications
* Info-Mac, c.s.m.p, or similar digests
* Mail collections: Internet, Navigator, Notebook, etc.
* Text with "simple" format
* Dictionaries
* Plain text
Files
-----
Easy View comes with three files, two text and one view, which also demonstrate the two formats:
1. Easy View Introduction [This file]
2. Easy View Notes
3. Easy View - Read Me [This view]
Please open "Easy View - Read Me" (if you have not done so) to read the first two files. You may find the <space> key handy for continuous reading.
(This file is an example of setext format)
Author
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Written by M. Akif Eyler, Bilkent University, 06533 Ankara, Turkey.
The application was developed using MacApp 2.0 and Think Pascal 4.0.1, as such it may contain portions copyrighted by Apple Computer and Symantec.
This program can be distributed freely on any medium, for non-commercial purposes, along with the enclosed documents. It may not be sold or exchanged for profit.
Thanks
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The individuals listed below have contributed to the development of Easy View in some significant way.
**Special Thanks**
Ömer Ayzan Initial motivation & support
Adam Engst TidBITS editor; ideas on user interface
Ian Feldman Design of setext; ideas on user interface
L. Mollamustafaoglu Discussions on MacApp
Riza Nur Pacalioglu Ideas on user interface
Akif Üçel Discussions on MacApp; icon design
**Users**
I would like to express my gratitude to all others who have contributed ideas and encouragement. Too many to cite here, most of the inspiration coming from the users have already been converted to binary instructions in EV 2.3. Some ideas are still in the to-do list. A few suggestions were either beyond the scope of the current design or too difficult to implement.
**Freeware Authors**
The freeware cited below was used (directly or indirectly) in the development of Easy view.
Daniel Schaerer Small Screen
Günther Blaschek PopChar
Joe Holt Swatch
John Norstad Disinfectant
Kaz Matsuki TextMerger
Ken Hancock DeSEA
Leonard Rosenthol StuffIt Expander
Lloyd Chambers MacCompress
Michael Engber Save a BNDL
Michael Hecht ResCompare
Rich Siegel BBEdit
Rick Holzgrafe Applicon
Steve Christensen MountImage
Steve Christensen SuperClock
Tom Dowdy DarkSide
setext
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More information could be obtained from the designer
Ian Feldman <setext-list@random.se>, or from:
------------> setext, the structure-enhanced text concepts index
(last changed March 92) may be requested by sending "setext" alone
on the subject line, no quotes, to <fileserver@tidbits.com>
What's New in EV 2.3
====================
This chapter itemizes changes since EV 2.2.
New Features
------------
* Apple event support: ability to open a text file with the correct application under System 7
* Filters generalize the concept of case-independent search: diacritical marks can be ignored, too
* "Search from top" option in Find dialog
* "Hide Top Window" command works very similar to the Hide command in the Application menu (Hidden window names are in italic)
* "Use Styles" menu toggles the use of styles. When something is copied while it is on, clipboard contents are also styled.
* Temporary memory is used for parsing under System 7, thus decreasing the minimum Finder partition
* When text is scrolled, an overlap with the previous window is retained
* "Print One" and "Print Section" commands are made distinct
* "Display Selection" command makes navigation simplified
Rearrangements
--------------
* The upper portion of a window is divided into two panes, rather than three. File Info is presented on the lower left corner (not optional)
* Menus are slightly rearranged
* Prefs dialog is greatly simplified. ~No more multiple modal dialogs~ "Auto modify", "Auto add", and "Auto remove" are separate options
* Index --> View: we have a view to a set of files (Hundreds of files can be combined in a single view)
* Keypad does not change selection, it only scrolls
* Dialog names and behavior are made consistent
* Clip commands are enabled even when no clip file is open
Bug Fixes
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* Pane sizes are adjusted on zoomed windows, if necessary
* Mail format now displays the separator lines
* Empty Sender/Subject is properly handled
* Find window is not resized with changing font/size
* If a volume pointed by Finder aliases is off-line, it is recognized properly
Warning
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The new "Styles" feature is known to cause occasional system crashes in some configurations. Please uncheck "Use Styles" menu item if you encounter such a crash.
This feature is still experimental and it was included only as a demo. When styles are on, printing will be disabled, text selection may misbehave, and word wrap may not work properly.
Styles should be turned off during extensive searches for better performance. Extracting always turns styles off automatically.
Getting Started
===============
Being an application in a class of its own, Easy View requires a few words for the new users.
Users of previous versions should skip the next section.
Please read the warning about styled text in the previous section.
New Users
---------
(Adapted from TidBITS#136/03-Aug-92)
To start using Easy View, it is a good idea to have some issues of TidBITS. If you don't have as many of the back issues as you would like, you can download them from your favorite site: CompuServe (MACCLUB #8), ZiffNet/Mac (ZMC:DOWNTECH #7), America Online (TidBITS library in the Hardware forum), and the Internet (sumex-aim.stanford.edu in the /info-mac/digest/tb directory).
Once you have all the back issues defunked, put them in the TidBITS folder that comes with Easy View. The folder can live anywhere, but the view to those issues must be in that same folder with the text files. Easy View includes an empty index file in the TidBITS folder, so go ahead and double-click on that to start up Easy View. (Of course, it is recommended that you first double-click on the "Easy View - Read Me" file for more information on Easy View.)
Sample folders are included for other formats, too. These documents themselves illustrate two of the formats, setext and simple.
Upgrading from EV 2.2
---------------------
It is recommended that you delete Easy View Prefs file (in your System Folder) before starting with the new version. This makes sure that you have the new options correctly set. However, this is not required. All files (View and Preference) are compatible between various versions of EV 2.x.
Thus, you need not copy the sample folders that come with this version, your old views (called "indexes" in earlier versions) will work as is.
Configuration dialog is hidden deliberately. If you _really_ need to use it, just press option or shift before releasing the mouse on the Preferences menu.
