PDA Software Library

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ PDA Software Library / pdasoftwarelib.iso / PSION / UTILS / FINDER / FINDER.TXT < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-03-19 | 14.1 KB | 351 lines

FINDER Version 2.0a Copyright (c) Tom Dolbilin 1994 Introduction ============ FINDER is an application written for a Psion Series 3a pocket computer which allows the user to quickly start any application and switch between any running applications (or open files) in just two keystrokes. It may be used as an alternative to the (somewhat slow) System Screen. It may also be useful in the following cases: 1. If you do not already have a touch button assigned to a particular application. There are only 14 touch button combinations that you can use and it is hardly enough for all applications you may have installed. 2. If you do have a touch button assigned but to an application which uses multiple files (like Word, for example). Pressing the button does not differentiate between the open files and always brings you to the most recently used one. FINDER is useful only if it is available at all times, i.e., running constantly. System Requirements =================== In order to run FINDER you need a Psion Series 3a pocket computer with at least 20K of disk space. When running, FINDER is consuming 17K while in the background and 26K while in the foreground. Installation/Removal ==================== Here are the files stored in FINDER.ZIP and where they should go: File (size) Description Target directory ------------------------------------------------------------- FINDER.OPA (19463) Main program file \APP\ FINDER.HLP (6239) Help file (optional) \APP\FINDER\ SYS$HELP.OPO (4157) Help driver (optional) \OPO\ The indicated directories can be created on any local drive (Internal, A or B). Install the icon for FINDER on the System Screen. When you first run FINDER, it creates a directory \APP\FINDER\ on the Internal drive (if it does not already exist) where it puts its initialization file FINDER.INI. The file is only a few bytes long and used to store your preferences. If you use the Run option, FINDER will create another file LIST.ODB in the same directory. This file is used to store the list of most recently run applications. To remove FINDER from your system, delete all of the above files including FINDER.INI and its directory \APP\FINDER\. Remove the icon from the System Screen. NOTE TO USERS OF PREVIOUS VSERIONS OF FINDER: It is recommended that you delete the old FINDER.INI file before running this version. Operation ========= When FINDER is running, it displays a list of all running applications, or tasks. The list can show an applicationÆs name and the file name of the used file (if there is one). Time and Calc are examples of applications that do not use files. Data, Word and Sheet are some of those that do. You can define the format in which each entry is displayed. It can be set under 'List options.' Use the arrow keys to move the selector up or down. Most options in FINDER will affect the currently selected task. For example, selecting System and then pressing Enter will bring you to the System Screen. You can assign shortcuts to any of the running applications for easier identification and switching. The shortcut is a case- sensitive letter or a number. For example, if you want to assign "a" to Agenda, first select it and then press "a." Now, whenever you are in FINDER, pressing "a" will switch to Agenda. Agenda is not a very good example because you could always press a system button instead. However, if you use a lot of third-party applications, this is the fastest way to switch between them. Note that a shortcut setting for an application is lost whenever that application quits. To remove a shortcut use Psion-M or Delete. Shift-Psion-M removes all the shortcuts currently assigned. You can assign shortcuts automatically using the AutoAssign option. FINDER will then assign them based on the first letter of each task. It first uses lowercase letter, then uppercase. If both are already in use, no shortcut is assigned. Memory graph displays the curve of free system memory and used Internal disk space changing over time. Think of it as a sheet of paper scrolling to the left with the drawing needle located on the right edge. The area shaded with gray is the used memory. The darker shaded area below is the space on the Internal disk taken up by files. The built-in Help facility provides the on-line Help on most features. If you see a "?" in the upper-right corner of a dialog box -- this means that you can press Help to get context-sensitive help on this particular dialog. There are a few things in Help that are not documented in this file so installing it at least initially is recommended. The Help system consists of two files: SYS$HELP.OPO and FINDER.HLP. These files are NOT required to run FINDER. SYS$HELP.OPO is a run-time library that is called by FINDER when you press the Help key. It displays the Help data stored in FINDER.HLP. The library is not proprietary and may be used by other programs. Updates to SYS$HELP.OPO may be available separately. Pressing the Menu button brings up FINDER menu. The arrangement of the commands and their descriptions are listed in the following table. RUN menu Run Used to run ANY application that is not in ROM. The resulting dialog asks you to select an application to run. It can be any of the following types: APP, IMG, OPA, OPO, ALS or GRP. You will be subsequently prompted for a file name to open if the application requires it. If you select a GRP (group) file, another dialog box will list you the contents of the group file from where you can also select applications. Run standard Used to run the built-in applications stored in ROM. Again, if an application requires a file, you will have to enter a file name. Select from list This option lets you select from the list of 9 most recent applications that have been run using the 2 options above. TASK menu Switch to Switches to the currently selected task. You can use the Enter key instead. Rename You can use this option to give a task a new name. A task name, like a file name, can be up to 8 characters long. It is not remembered after a task exits. Renaming a task has no relation to renaming a file stored on disk. Close Closing an application is equivalent to using Psion-X from within the application. The open file will be saved to disk before the application closes. Some applications that ignore this command can be killed using the following option. Kill Kills the currently selected task. It is potentially dangerous because the target application does not get a chance to save files. Info Displays information about the currently selected task. The task's name, ID, priority, lock status and memory consumption are shown. LIST menu Update Updates the list of running tasks. If the memory graph is on, the 'free memory' figure is also updated. Options Displays a dialog box where you can specify the way the task list looks and behaves. * QUICK ACCESS MODE is one of the following: Shortcut (when pressing letter keys assigns shortcuts to tasks to be used for switching between them) and Query first letter (when pressing a letter key jumps to the next line which starts with that letter) * SHORTCUT Case-sensitive option set to on makes FINDER to default all shortcuts to uppercase. Otherwise, FINDER distinguishes between upper and lower case. * SORT LIST sorts list alphabetically. The left column is sorted first, then the right column. * FORMAT lets you specify what should be displayed in the list and where. The format affects entries only for file-based applications. See on-line help for definitions of the used codes (you can get help directly from the dialog box). * FONT option lets you select which font, Swiss or Roman, to use for displaying the task list. * AUTOZOOM automatically scales the font size depending on the length of the list to fit as much of it on the screen as possible. SHORTCUT menu Remove Removes the shortcut if there is any from the currently selected task. You can also use the Delete key. Remove all Removes all the assigned shortcuts if there are any. AutoAssign Automatically assigns shortcuts to all tasks based on the first letter of the taskÆs name. SPECIAL menu About Displays the information about FINDER. Set preferences Here is where you set you preferences. All preferences are saved in FINDER.INI so that they are kept even if you exit and restart FINDER. * UPDATE LIST option sets whether the task list should be kept continually updated. If you turn this off, you still can update it manually with Psion-U. The list is not updated when FINDER is in the background. However, it is updated as soon as it comes to front or after you Kill or Rename a task. * UPDATE INTERVAL lets you set the amount of time after which the task list and/or the memory graph are updated * CTRL-SPACE ENABLED lets you set whether you want to use Ctrl-Space as a shortcut to switch to FINDER from another application (and thus saving a touch button for something else). There are a few notes to make about it. First, it will not work if you switch from FINDER and leave a menu, a dialog box or Help on screen. Secondly, it may be very slow to respond from the System Screen. Lastly, it is used in Sheet to select a row of cells, so if you need that feature you may consider disabling Ctrl-Space in FINDER. * PRIORITY setting affects the responsiveness of Ctrl-space from outside FINDER. While higher priority improves the responsiveness, it does NOT affect the performance of other applications. * SHOW MEMORY GRAPH option turns the memory graph on and off. If the memory graph is on, it is always updated every time the Update interval expires. When active, the graph uses 6K of memory. * RENAME TASKS tells FINDER to rename all task names (as shown in Task Info) to the names of the files they are using. This option is provided for better compatibility with Macro programs. Zoom in Increases the font size Zoom out Decreases the font size Exit Exits FINDER Version history =============== 1.0 Jan 12, 1994 - The original public release 1.1 Jan 14, 1994 - Application names have been replaced by names of open files (where possible) - Fixed bug in SYS$HELP.OPO which sometimes caused a scrolling window to redraw incorrectly when Psion-Ctrl-arrow key combination was pressed. 2.0 Mar 9, 1994 (Major upgrade) - Powerful Run feature - List format feature - Improved Memory graph - Context-sensitive help - Numerous other features 2.0a Mar 19, 1994 - Bug fixed: an application launched from FINDER did not respond to its assigned application button (if any). Also, OPA applications did not get their proper icon in the status window. - Bug fixed: launching OPO's by using an alias for RunOPL caused a soft-reset. - SYS$SHLL is no longer renamed to SYSTEM if Rename Tasks option is turned on. - A few minor improvements Registration ============ FINDER is non-crippled shareware. If you like it you should consider registering it. The registration fee is US$15. It can be sent to the address below: Tom Dolbilin 3901 Farhills Drive Champaign, IL 61821-9305 U.S.A. Alternatively, you can register FINDER on CompuServe. GO SWREG, the registration ID is 1882. Thank you for your consideration. Disclaimer ========== The author of this software is not responsible for any damage due to use of this program. This software is provided without warranty of any kind.