Snap-To is a Control Panel that snaps the cursor to the default button whenever a dialog comes up on your screen. Simple as that.
Snap-To will increase your speed when using a Macintosh, especially if you use dialogs often and/or have a large screen.
Snap-To’s features include:
• A Control Panel interface, which allows easy customization of several of Snap-To’s features.
• The ability for Snap-To to draw default button outlines around default buttons which normally wouldn’t have them.
• Optional automatic disabling in Open and/or Save dialogs.
• The ability for Snap-To to gradually move the cursor to the default button, instead of abruptly snapping it there.
• The ability for Snap-To to move the cursor back to its original location after you have closed a dialog box.
• Improved snapping over version 1.0.
• Full Balloon Help.
• And more!
••• System Requirements •••
Snap-To 2.0 will run on any Mac running System 6.0.4 or greater.
••• Installation •••
To install Snap-To, simply drop it onto your System Folder.
If you are upgrading from Snap-To 1.0, and are using System 7, you also must first remove the old file “Snap-To” from your Extensions folder within your System Folder.
••• Troubleshooting: General •••
Snap-To has been thoroughly tested with many Macintoshes and various versions of the System Software, and its performance has been proven. However, There are three known problems that you may experience while using Snap-To.
1)
What happens: Snap-To seems not to work. When a dialog comes up on the screen, the cursor stays put.
Example: Many parts of the America Online software.
Why this happens: The program you are currently running deals with the buttons itself, instead of using Apple’s toolbox routines. As far as the System (and Snap-To) knows, there is a dialog on the screen. That’s it. It doesn’t know if there are buttons in it, or anything. What happens is that Snap-To is informed that a dialog has been opened. Not being made aware of any buttons, it assumes that there is a progress dialog open, or something like that, and doesn’t move the pointer anywhere.
There is another instance in which this would occur, in a program that fools around with buttons a lot, such as StuffIt Expander 3.0. In this case, Snap-To is told that the button is somewhere under your desk. (Well, at least not on your screen.) In this case, Snap-To 1.0 tried to snap the cursor to this off-screen point, and finding itself unable to, snapped it to the closest edge of the screen. Snap-To 2.0 is smart enough to realize that the button is outside of your dialog, and doesn’t snap the cursor anywhere.
2)
What happens: A dialog appears that has no default button. Snap-To snaps the cursor to a button anyway. (And if you have outlining turned on, it outlines the button too.)
Example: Various windows in ZTerm.
Why this happens: The System does not draw the outline around the default button. This is up to the program that puts up the dialog. Since the System has no way of knowing whether an outline has been drawn around a button or not, it simply assumes that any button with an ID of 1 is the default button, unless the program tells it otherwise. The program is also responsible for telling the System whether or not the window is a dialog. In this case, Snap-To sees a “dialog” in which there is a button with an ID of 1, so it assumes, along with the System, that it is the default button.
3)
What happens: Snap-To snaps the cursor to a button that isn’t the default button. (And you end up with two outlined buttons if Snap-To’s outlining is on.)
Why this happens: The dialog that this occurs on is using a button whose ID is not 1 as the default button, and it isn’t telling the System about it. According to the rules in Inside Macintosh, applications are allowed to use buttons with IDs other than 1 as default buttons, but they must tell the System about it. As Snap-To will ask the System what the ID of the default button is, programs which do this but do *not* inform the System will exhibit this behaviour.
••• Troubleshooting: Incompatibilities •••
There are two known incompatibilities caused by Snap-To.
1)
What happens: Snap-To doesn’t work at all.
Possible cause: Dialog box coloring is active in Greg’s Buttons 3.0.
Why this happens: One of the “features” of dialog box coloring is a different dialog box outline. Unfortunately, this outline is the “disabled” outline. Before doing any cursor moving, Snap-To makes sure that the dialog it is working with is enabled. If it is not, no cursor movement takes place.
Workaround: Disable dialog box coloring in Greg’s Buttons, or downgrade to Snap-To 1.0. All other features of Greg’s Buttons do not interfere with either version of Snap-To.
2)
What happens: Snap-To crashes at startup.
Possible cause: You are running a System prior to version 6.0.4.
Why this happens: Snap-To relies heavily on the Gestalt family of routines, which are only available in System 6.0.4 and above.
Workaround: Upgrade to System 6.0.4 or above, (Available from your local Apple dealer and most online services.) or downgrade to Snap-To 1.0.
••• ShareWare Notice •••
Snap-To is ShareWare. If you use it, send $5 to:
Trevden Sherzell
130 North Country Road
Shoreham, NY, 11786-1722
Also, feel free to send me suggestions on this program, any other program of mine, or ideas for future programs to one of the addresses at the end of this file. Thanks.
PLEASE! If you find Snap-To useful, can’t you spare $5? C’mon. You’re helping a 13-year-old (me) through life! And I have to pay my own America Online bill! :) (By the way, if you’re a kid, (younger than 14 or 15) feel free to use this program without having to pay me. I know your situation! :) The more response I get, the more incentive I’ll have to keep programming. If you have an idea for a nifty program, send me mail!
••• Acknowledgements •••
Inspired by the Microsoft Mouse Driver 9.0.
Thanks to Shane Looker for releasing the source code for the “Annoyance Pack,” Judd Stiff for his invaluable help in beta testing, and everybody else who helped me out along the way!
___
/ revden
Mail addresses:
(In order of preference)
America Online: Trevden
Internet: trevden@aol.com
US Mail: 130 North Country Road, Shoreham, NY, 11786-1722
