WindowLabels is a System Extension which extends the functionality of the Label menu in the System 7 Finder from just icons to whole windows. (i.e. WindowLabels lets you apply background colors and/or patterns to Finder windows, as easily as you could label Finder icons with the Label menu before.) To use it, simply drag it to your active System folder and restart. Then, open a window, any window, in the Finder. Hold down the option key, and then open the Label menu. Now you can select between any color or pattern shown. When you release the mouse button on a color or pattern, the frontmost window acquires the characteristics you just gave it. Keeping with the “interface” of the current Label menu, you can apply, change, and remove colors and patterns at will.
• Usage Suggestions
- Remember, the Labels Control Panel included with your System Software allows you to change the names and colors of the labels. WindowLabels recognizes and supports any changes you make in this Control Panel.
- If you know you have less labeled windows than the 100 window limit, try throwing out the “WindowLabels Preferences” file in the Preferences folder, within the System Folder. (This problem would usually manifest itself after using WindowLabels for a while, and would occur because folders that no longer exist, but were labeled when thrown away, still count toward the 100 window limit.)
• Known Limitations & Bugs
- You can only label 100 windows. If you try to label more, it’ll beep at you.
- Unlike icon labels, WindowLabels-applied colors/patterns are saved in a preferences file. This means that you can take a drive running on a computer with WindowLabels, move it to another computer running WindowLabels, and the backgrounds will not be moved with it. (But then again, the label colors and titles won’t be moved either, although the labels will.)
- When scrolling a patterned window, the pattern usually becomes discontinuous. The new area also flickers.
- If you select a bunch of stuff in a patterned window in a list view, and then deselect it, the result is not consistent with the original. (Easiest to see with the “Color Pattern”.)
- When you label a window and then open another window with the same title, it inherits the previous label. This is because I keep track of things by their titles. Note that this allows WindowLabels to do some neat tricks, like labeling the copy progress bar window. Make a folder named “Copy”, (case matters) open it, and then label it. Now copy something of a decent size. (At this point, you can trash the “Copy” folder if you want, since it doesn’t need to exist for this to continue working.)
- If you delete or overwrite the active copy of WindowLabels, the patterns and the about box won’t work. You can still change windows to and from patterns, but they just won’t appear anywhere. This is because I get the patterns, their thumbnails, and the about box picture from the extension file each time I need them. (I can’t easily tote them around in memory.)
- The patterns don’t work in black and white mode. This is a feature, not a bug. If they were a darker gray or black, it would make patterned windows too difficult or near impossible to read. (I’ve tried.)
- When you use the optionized Label menu, the menu title flashes when you close it.
• ResEdit Hacking
You might have noticed that there’s no way for you to change the patterns in WindowLabels. While this may be for the most part true, there is a way you can change them with ResEdit. If you’re not familiar with ResEdit, or don’t particularly care about making your own patterns, you might was well skip this section.
There’s three main parts to a pattern in WindowLabels: The pattern itself, the pattern thumbnail, and its name.
The patterns are stored in the WindowLabels Extension as standard “ppat” resources.
The thumbnails are also stored in WindowLabels itself, as standard “cicn” resources.
The names are a little bit more confusing, but not by much. They’re stored in the “PREF” resource in the Preferences file. To edit them, open the WindowLabels extension in ResEdit, and then, while keeping it open, open the “WindowLabels Preferences” file. Open up the “PREF” resource, and edit the appropriate fields. You might notice that there’s a “PREF” resource in the WindowLabels Extension as well. Editing the names in the extension is okay too, but will only work if you throw away the preferences file after you’re done.
I encourage you to make your own patterns, and even mail them to me if you think they’re good, but please don’t redistribute copies of WindowLabels with custom patterns. Thanks.
• Shareware Annoyance
WindowLabels *is* Shareware, and it would be much appreciated if you helped support my efforts by sending me a modest $5 Shareware fee:
Trevden Sherzell
15 Broadview Circle
Wading River, NY 11792-1001
At this point, I’m 15, and Shareware is my main source of income. If you want me to continue to put in time on this kind of stuff, I need your support. Thanks.
