Please look over this addendum; it contains information which is supplemental to your Now Utilities manual. All page numbers cited in this Addendum refer to pages in the manual.
Super Boomerang
There are two main elements of Super Boomerang which differ from the manual: additional items in the Preferences dialog box, and the inclusion of the Groups feature.
Preferences
The Super Boomerang Preferences dialog box is described on page 93 of the manual; please consult that section for items in the dialog box which have not changed. This section provides a description of the new items that have been added to the dialog box.
Show Volume Name: Specifies that the name of the volume (hard disk) on which a document or application resides will be displayed to the right of the document or application name in Super Boomerang menus (volume names do not appear in NowMenus launch menus).
Note: The full path to an item in a Super Boomerang menu can be viewed by highlighting the item and pressing the “P” or “W” key while holding down the mouse button; see page 67.
Clear Temporary Folders: Causes all temporary folders in Super Boomerang menus to be cleared at startup, so that the folder list is blank except for any folders you have configured as permanent.
Clear Temporary Files: Causes all temporary files in Super Boomerang (and any recent files lists in NowMenus launch menus) to be cleared at startup, so that the file list is blank except for any files you have configured as permanent.
Groups
The Groups feature has been re-implemented in Super Boomerang 4.0.1. Because of the overall architecture of Now Utilities version 4.0, however, this feature does not function in exactly the same way as it did in version 3.0. Therefore, we recommend that you read this section carefully for information on the various ways in which the Groups feature can be used.
The Groups feature allows Super Boomerang to track recent files and folders for related groups of applications that you specify. For example, since Microsoft Word documents can be placed in PageMaker documents, you might wish to group PageMaker and Word so that recent Word files will be included in the list of recent files that appears in PageMaker. When you create multiple groups in this way, the effect is somewhat like having multiple copies of Super Boomerang working on your Macintosh.
It is important to note, however, that unlike version 3.0, Super Boomerang 4.0.1 already provides some of this functionality without the Groups feature being active. The Shared Files setting in the control panel allows documents to appear in the recent file lists of all applications that can open them. Additionally, for those who previously used Groups in version 3.0 in order to define a default folder for an application or group of applications, the Default Folder feature of Super Boomerang 4.0.1 allows you to do this without using Groups (see page 78 for information on configuring the Default Folder for an application).
The following is a summary of the three main states in which Super Boomerang can operate, explaining their relation to the Groups feature.
No Shared Files
First of all, if the “Files shared among applications” option is set to zero, no sharing of files will take place in Super Boomerang’s recent file menus. What this means is that when you launch Microsoft Word, for example, only documents that have been recently opened by Microsoft Word will be listed on its DirectOpen submenu (page 61) or on the File menu in the enhanced directory dialog box (page 62). Even if you have recently opened other text-type documents in other applications, they will not appear in these menus unless they were actually opened by Word.
In the above situation, the folders which appear in the Super Boomerang menus for each application are those containing the recent files that are shown. Folders you have made permanent are also listed, whether or not they contain files that are currently listed. There are no common folders shared between applications, unless a folder happens to contain documents created by multiple applications.
Shared Files
When you set the “Files shared among applications” option to a number greater than zero, you allow the Super Boomerang menus to list recent files that are openable by the current application, whether or not they were actually opened by that application. For example, if you set the “Files shared among applications” option to 10, the Super Boomerang menus within Word would display documents you had recently opened in MacWrite or TeachText. Also, the Super Boomerang DirectOpen submenu attached to the “Place…” command in PageMaker would display recently-opened Word documents; but the menus in Word would not display PageMaker documents, since they cannot be opened by Word.
When Super Boomerang is configured in this way, the folders which appear in the Super Boomerang menus for each application are those containing the recent files that are shown, as well as any folders configured as permanent in each application. In addition, the five most recently used folders, regardless of which application used them, will be displayed in all applications.
Making Groups active
Using the Groups feature gives you greater control over the recent files that appear in the Super Boomerang menus for applications that you specify, and also makes it possible to share folders across multiple applications. This means that you can configure a given folder as permanent for a group of several applications, ensuring that you always have quick access to that folder when running any of those applications. The following instructions show how to configure a Group in Super Boomerang.
To configure a Group:
1. Open the Super Boomerang control panel.
The control panel is shown above as it appears when you first open it.
2. Hold down the Command, Option and Shift keys.
Notice that when you do this, the “Exclude” button in the lower left section of the control panel changes to read “Groups.”
3. While continuing to hold down the modifier keys, click “Groups.”
The Groups dialog box appears. Notice that the top portion is a standard directory dialog box. This is where you locate and select applications to be added to a Group.
Notice the pop-up menu in the lower right portion of the dialog box — it should currently read “Group 1.”
4. Click on the pop-up menu.
It displays a list of seven Groups, and an additional Group called “Universal.” (The Universal Group will be described in more detail later in this addendum.) You can leave Group 1 selected for now.
5. Locate and select an application that you wish to add to the currently-selected Group.
Locate the application in the standard way, using the directory dialog box, then click on it so that it is selected.
6. Click “Add.”
The application name now appears in the bottom portion of the dialog box.
Note: You can remove an application from a Group, if you wish, by selecting its name in the bottom portion of the dialog box and clicking “Remove.”
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to add other applications to the Group.
If you wish to create additional Groups, you can select another Group from the pop-up menu and then repeat steps 5 and 6.
8. When you are finished configuring your Group(s), click “Done.”
You are returned to the Super Boomerang control panel. Your Group configurations are active immediately, without requiring a restart. The effects of the Group configurations are described next.
The effects of Groups
When you configure a Group of multiple applications in Super Boomerang, you are in effect telling Super Boomerang to maintain the same list of recent openable files for all of the applications in the Group. If you have Super Boomerang set to list 30 recent files in its menus (the default setting), this means that for an application in the Group, the recent files list will display up to 30 files that have been opened by any application in the Group. The files listed are still filtered based on whether or not the current application can actually open them, however. For example, suppose you put Microsoft Word, TeachText, and PageMaker in a Group. The Super Boomerang DirectOpen submenu attached to the “Place…” command in PageMaker will show up to 30 files which may be PageMaker, Word, or TeachText documents (note that the DirectOpen submenu attached to PageMaker’s “Open…” submenu will show only PageMaker documents). The DirectOpen submenu in Word will list Word and TeachText documents but not PageMaker documents, and the DirectOpen submenu in TeachText will display mostly TeachText documents as well as any Word documents that were specifically saved as “TEXT”-type documents. This is different from using only the Shared Files option, because the shared files are only a portion (10, for example) of the total number of files that you are listing for each application (30). The key difference in using Groups is that all files on the recent files menus are shared files.
Regarding folders, the folders displayed in the recent folders menus are those that contain the recent files shown. In addition, however, a folder made permanent for one application in a Group is permanent for all applications in the Group. This allows you to share common folders among the applications. To set a default folder for a Group, you need to configure it as the default folder for each application in the Group separately (see page 78 for information on doing this).
Universal Group
The last Group which appears on the pop-up menu in the Groups dialog box is “Universal.” When you add an application to this Group, the Super Boomerang menus function somewhat differently. For example, if you add TeachText to the Universal Group, the recent files menus in TeachText will display all of the openable documents that have been used recently on your system, whether or not they were created or opened by TeachText. The Universal Group is different from using the Shared Files option or one of the other Groups in that, in this example, files opened in TeachText are not added to the recent files menus of any application that is not in the Universal Group.
Summary
As you can see, configuring Groups in Super Boomerang is different from using the Shared Files option in a few distinct ways. You may find, however, that the Shared Files option allows all the interaction you need between your applications. The key is to set up Super Boomerang so that it works best for your needs.
NowMenus
The Preferences dialog box for NowMenus differs from version 4.0 as shown in the manual in a few important ways. In addition, some of the changes to the NowMenus Preferences allow it to function even more like MultiMaster from Now Utilities 3.0; some guidelines for accomplishing this are provided below.
Preferences
The NowMenus Preferences dialog box is described on page 153 of the manual; please consult that section for items in the dialog box which have not changed. This section provides a description of the new items that have been added to the dialog box.
NowMenus launch menus: This checkbox has the same function as the “Now menus” checkbox in version 4.0; the wording is simply more accurate. (The same is true of the other items in the dialog box which refer to “launch menus” — these are any menus configured to display files, folders, applications, lists of recent items, etc.)
Show color icons: NowMenus now includes an option to display color icons for items in its menus. Select this checkbox if you want icons on the menus to appear in color. Be aware that this uses more memory, however, and may cause menus to appear more slowly. The system memory used to draw color icons in launch menus is not relinquished until the Macintosh is restarted. You may also notice a delay during startup as color icon information is assembled.
Show permanent items only: This option applies to the “(Recent Apps)” Smart Item available in the control panel (and installed in the Left Side Pull-Down by default), and to the recent-document submenu which is attached to any application in a launch menu. When this checkbox is selected, only items configured as permanent will appear in these menus. This allows you to achieve a MultiMaster-like setup that was not available in version 4.0. Additional documents and applications can be added using the “Other…” command. (See the next section, “MultiMaster functions,” for more information on this subject.)
(Activate Memory Sizer) When memory is low: This option allows you to select whether NowMenus’ Memory Sizer feature is activated when you attempt to launch an application under insufficient memory conditions. If this checkbox is deselected, NowMenus leaves it to the system software to handle low memory situations.
(Activate Memory Sizer) By pressing at app launch: This option is identical to “Size apps with these keys:” in version 4.0 — it is just more clearly worded to indicate that holding down the specified keys when launching an application will cause the Memory Sizer dialog box to come up so that you can change an application’s memory requirements “on-the-fly.”
Enable App Substitution: This checkbox allows you to specify whether or not application substitution is active. When it is active, double-clicking on a document whose creator is unknown will result in a dialog box indicating that the application needed to open the document could not be found, and asking if you want to open the document with a different application.
Exclude…: Since problems can arise between NowMenus and some applications that use nonstandard menu definitions, the Exclude option has been added which allows you to prevent the NowMenus custom menu font and keyboard shortcut features from being active in such applications. To exclude an application, follow the procedure below.
1. Open the Now Menus control panel.
2. Click “Exclude…”.
The Exclude dialog box opens.
3. Click “Add…”.
A directory dialog box opens.
4. Locate and select the application you wish to exclude, then click “Open.”
You are returned to the Exclude dialog box, where the application name has been added to the list. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to exclude any additional applications.
5. Click “OK.”
You are returned to the NowMenus control panel. NowMenus will no longer be active in the application(s) you excluded.
Note: Microsoft Word is automatically excluded from NowMenus; you do not need to exclude it manually. Also, NowMenus can determine on its own, to some extent, when an application has nonstandard menu definitions and might not handle custom menu font or keyboard shortcut settings smoothly. In many of these applications, NowMenus will disable itself automatically so that you do not have to exclude the application manually. If you notice that an application’s menus do not appear in your custom menu font or that you are unable to set keyboard shortcuts, this may be the reason.
MultiMaster functions
NowMenus 4.0.1 offers an updated approach to the application-and-file launching capabilities of MultiMaster. NowMenus is very flexible in its functions, but there are two main ways in which you can go about creating a MultiMaster-like launch menu. You may wish to create one launch menu using Method A and another using Method B, and use both for a while until you decide which of the two works best for you. To use either one of these methods, first open the NowMenus control panel and select or create a launch menu that you wish to configure (see pages 118-123).
Method A
Using this method gives you a somewhat automated approach to creating a launch menu. NowMenus scans your hard disk for recently-used applications and does some of the work for you in building the initial menu.
Note: When you upgrade from MultiMaster version 3.0 to NowMenus version 4.0.1, your MultiMaster Preferences file will be read automatically and incorporated into the NowMenus Preferences file on the first restart, so that a menu will be pre-configured for you which is similar to the one created using Method A.
To create a launch menu using Method A:
1. Click on the Smart Items pop-up menu (at the far right above the menu items list) and choose “(Recent Apps).”
“(Recent Apps)” is added to the menu items list.
2. Click on the Smart Items menu and choose “Other…”.
“Other…” is added to the menu items list.
3. Activate the launch menu by clicking on the appropriate icon in the menu bar or holding down the necessary keys and clicking.
(You don’t need to close the control panel before you activate the menu.) The menu shows a list of applications you have used recently. Notice that the applications in the list have attached submenus listing recently-used documents.
4. Select the applications and documents that you want to include in the launch menu and make them permanent.
Make an item permanent by highlighting it and pressing the spacebar; notice that the item’s name is underlined when it is made permanent.
5. When you have finished making all the desired applications and attached documents permanent, return to the NowMenus control panel.
6. Click “Preferences…”.
The Preferences dialog box opens.
7. Select the “Show permanent items only” checkbox in the lower left area of the dialog box.
8. Click “OK.”
You are returned to the control panel.
9. Activate the launch menu.
Notice that only the applications you configured as permanent appear in the launch menu, and that only documents that you made permanent are attached to the applications. Additional applications can be installed on the menu by choosing “Other…”, leaving the “Install Permanently” checkbox selected in the resulting dialog box, and then locating and launching the desired application. Additional documents can be added to the document submenus by choosing “Other…” from a submenu, leaving the “Install Permanently” checkbox selected in the resulting dialog box, and then locating and launching the desired document.
Method B
This method is less automatic than Method A, but it allows you to take greater advantage of the menu-customizing capabilities of NowMenus, and offers more flexibility in attaching documents.
To create a launch menu using Method B:
1. Click on the Applications pop-up menu (second from the left above the menu items list) and choose an application that you want to appear on the launch menu.
The application name appears in the menu items list. Repeat this step until you have added all the desired applications to the launch menu.
Note: To add an application that doesn’t appear in the Applications menu, choose “Other…” from the top of the Applications menu and then locate and select the desired application.
2. Select one of the applications that you have added to the launch menu by clicking once on its name in the menu items list.
Notice that information on the application appears in the box in the right-hand portion of the control panel, including a checkbox for attaching recent documents. This checkbox is selected by default; leave it in this state for the time being.
3. Activate the launch menu by clicking on the appropriate icon in the menu bar or holding down the necessary keys and clicking.
(You don’t need to close the control panel before you activate the menu.) The menu lists the applications you just added. Notice that the applications in the list have attached submenus listing recently-used documents.
4. Highlight an application in the launch menu so that its recent-documents submenu appears.
5. Select a recent document that you wish to keep attached to the application and make it permanent.
Make the document permanent by highlighting its name and pressing the spacebar; notice that its name is underlined when it is made permanent. Repeat this step for any other documents that you want to make permanent in application submenus.
6. When you have finished making all the desired documents permanent, return to the NowMenus control panel.
7. Click “Preferences…”.
The Preferences dialog box opens.
8. Select the “Show permanent items only” checkbox in the lower left area of the dialog box.
9. Click “OK.”
You are returned to the control panel.
10. Activate the launch menu.
Notice that only the documents you configured as permanent appear in the document submenus attached to applications. Additional documents can be added to the document submenus by choosing “Other…” from a submenu, leaving the “Install Permanently” checkbox selected in the resulting dialog box, and then locating and launching the desired document.
This is all you need to do to create a basic launch menu using Method B. There are many options available for customizing the menu, however. For example, in the NowMenus control panel you can rearrange the order of the items in the menu; separate them into related groups using separators (available from the Smart Items pop-up menu); and even install folders, control panels, worksets, or documents themselves instead of or in addition to applications. None of these options are available when you use Method A. In addition, Method A requires that you launch an application or document in order to add it to the launch menu (after you have initially configured the launch menu), whereas Method B allows you to add applications and documents using the NowMenus control panel, without launching them (you may wish to install the NowMenus control panel at the top of your launch menu so that you can make changes to the menu quickly when necessary).
Page References
This section contains minor corrections or additions to the manual text. A page reference precedes each note so that you can quickly locate the section of the manual that is affected by the change. Please note that the changes may affect more than one location in the manual; the page reference given is generally the main reference to the function being discussed.
Page 13 — Note to Now Utilities 3.0 Users
Your settings in Startup Manager and NowSave 3.0.x will NOT be carried over to the 4.0.1 versions. Please take the time to write down your 3.0.x settings before updating these components. These settings include Links, Groups, Load Order in Startup Manager, and application settings in NowSave.
The MultiMaster Preferences file will be incorporated into the Now Toolbox and NowMenus 4.0.1 preferences files. Any settings you have made in MultiMaster 3.0.x will be configured in NowMenus 4.0.1 when you restart after installation.
Page 15 — Running the Now Installer
Version 3.0.x users should be sure to select the Now Scrapbook checkbox. All the other selected components will be freshly installed or updated to the 4.0.1 version, depending upon whether or not there are previous versions currently installed.
Page 16 — Where the Now Utilities are installed on your hard disk
Note that the Preferences folder will contain Startup Manager Preferences also, and only one WYSIWYG Menus Prefs.
Page 17 — Installing the Now Utilities manually
Super Boomerang version 3.0.x Preferences are not compatible with version 4.0.1. If you choose to install the 4.0.1 utilities manually, please be sure to delete the old Super Boomerang Prefs file (located in the Preferences folder in the System Folder) along with Super Boomerang itself, Super Boomerang Help (Preferences folder) and Super Boomerang Extractor (Extensions folder). The other 4.0.1 utilities will automatically update or delete outdated Prefs files. Also, be sure to place Super Boomerang Extractor directly into the Extensions folder (if you simply drag it to the System Folder icon, it will be placed at the root level of the System Folder).
In some situations, you may discover that a particular extension needs to load before any others at startup (including Now Toolbox and Startup Manager) in order to function properly. To cause an extension to load before Now Toolbox and Startup Manager, place two spaces before its name if its name precedes Now Toolbox alphabetically, or three spaces if its name follows Now Toolbox alphabetically. (Now Toolbox has two spaces at the beginning of its name.) Also, make sure that the item is located in the Extensions folder; if it is in the Control Panels folder, move it to the Extensions folder and place an alias of it in the Control Panels folder.
Page 60 — Tracking recently opened documents, files and other items
The recent files list in the Super Boomerang menu on the Apple menu may look different from the NowMenus recent files lists. This is because Super Boomerang displays all file types, including applications, control panels, etc., while NowMenus filters files based on which "smart item" you are using (e.g., recent applications vs. recent files).
Page 62 — Enhanced directory dialog box
When you are in the directory dialog box, clicking on the desktop will cause Super Boomerang to switch to the desktop in the directory list. Similarly, clicking on any open Finder window will switch the directory list to the corresponding folder.
Page 84 — Clear Folders menu, Clear File menu
CAUTION: Using the "Clear Folders Menu" and "Clear Files Menu" commands in the Super Boomerang Options menu also clears the corresponding NowMenus Smart Items installed on any launch menus (Recent Files and Recent Folders).
Page 93 — Preferences dialog box
See the Super Boomerang section earlier in this addendum.
Page 114 — Turning folder submenus on/off in the Apple menu and launch menus
This function is only applicable to the first level of a hierarchical submenu — the folder shown in the main menu. It is not possible to turn off hierarchical submenus for folders contained within submenus; a folder on a main menu will always have a hierarchical submenu up to five levels deep.
Page 118 — Creating and modifying launch menus
To remove a launch menu in the left- or right-hand corner of the menu bar, or any other launch menu, open the NowMenus control panel and remove all the items to be displayed in the menu. After you close the control panel, the launch menu will no longer be functional.
Page 131 — Adjusting an application’s memory allotment with Memory Sizer
Memory Sizer’s automatic function for low-memory situations is active only if the “When memory is low” checkbox is selected in the NowMenus Preferences dialog box.
Page 135 — Defining keyboard shortcuts for menu items
Keyboard shortcuts that you set in the application menu (next to the Balloon Help menu at the right side of the menu bar) are assigned to a position in the menu rather than to the item displayed in the menu, since an application's position in the menu will change dynamically as other applications are quit and launched. A suggested use for this feature is to open your most frequently used applications and assign a sequence of keyboard shortcuts (e.g., Opt-1, Opt-2, etc.) to each position on the application menu. When multiple applications are open, you will be able to use these pre-configured keyboard shortcuts to switch from one active application to another in sequence. (Keyboard shortcuts assigned to virtually all other menu items function as you would expect - they are assigned to the item itself and remain attached to that item.)
If you experience difficulties in setting keyboard shortcuts or the selected NowMenus custom font is not being displayed properly in a particular application, you may wish to exclude the application from NowMenus customization. To do so, click "Preferences…" in the NowMenus control panel, then click "Exclude…", select the application and click "Open." By excluding an application for NowMenus modification, you are preventing NowMenus from applying a custom menu font or any custom keyboard shortcuts to the application's menus.
Page 137 — Worksets
When you are adding a document to a workset, it is a good idea to include the application that created the document as well. Including the application in the workset causes multiple documents to be grouped by application type, and reduces the number of times the workset switches to the Finder in the process of launching all of the documents in the workset.
Page 140 — Application substitution
The automatic Application Substitution function is active only if the “Enable App Substitution” checkbox is selected in the NowMenus Preferences dialog box.
Page 153 — Preferences
See the NowMenus section earlier in this addendum.
Page 219 — Thumbnail view
The thumbnails contained in the Sample Catalog were built for color monitors. If you have a black-and-white monitor and wish to rebuild the thumbnails in black-and-white, hold down the Option key while clicking on a thumbnail. (This is true for any catalog containing color thumbnails.)
Page 238 — Printing items and catalogs
Now Scrapbook may have difficulty printing some QuickTime movies. To minimize this problem, increase the PrintMonitor memory partition found in the Get Info window for PrintMonitor.
Page 283 — General
I think the recent files information appearing in my NowMenus and Super Boomerang menus is inaccurate.
The Now Toolbox Prefs file contains a list of all recently opened files and folders. Should you at any time wish to rebuild this preferences file, there are two ways to do so.
If you want Now Toolbox to rebuild its preferences file and re-scan your hard disk for recent items, follow these steps:
1. Restart your computer while holding down the Shift key in order to disable all extensions.
2. Open the Preferences folder located in your System Folder.
3. Locate the Now Toolbox Prefs file and drag it to the Trash.
4. Restart your Macintosh.
If you want Now Toolbox to rebuild its preferences file but not include any recent files in the database, follow these steps:
1. Restart your Macintosh.
2. When you see the "Welcome to Macintosh" message on your screen, hold down the “X” key on your keyboard until startup is completed.
The icons that appear in my NowMenus and Super Boomerang menus are the wrong icons or appear garbled.
The icons that are displayed in the NowMenus launch menus and Super Boomerang menus are stored in the Now Toolbox Prefs file. At times, icons may not be updated properly and may appear as generic documents in these menus.
To rebuild the icon list in the Now Toolbox Prefs file, follow these steps:
1. Restart your computer.
2. When you see the "Welcome to Macintosh" message on your screen, hold down the Command and Option keys on your keyboard until the Now Toolbox icon appears on the screen.
