Willamette Apple Connection Vol7No1

WAASE Journal A Publication of Willamette Apple Connection, Inc. An Apple |! & Compatible User Education Group January 1994 BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO THE FINDER Part 3: All About Icons By Steven W. Disbrow Over the last two months, quite a few of our readers have called or written to tell me how much they either liked or hated these articles. in talking with the folks that like the articles, one subject kept coming up: [cons “How do they work?", "Why dont mine work?", "How do | use an Icon Editor?” So, in this final installment of the Baginners Guides To The Fidei, we will de answering those very questions, and a few others. To begin, the most popular question was, “What are these ‘Icon’ things anyway?" Icons are small pictures represanting the different devices (disk drives, CD ROMs, printers, etc.) that you have attached to your IIGS. cons are also used to represent the files stored on those devices (to keep things simple, | will call all of the things that loons can represent, items). “Where do these Icons ‘ive'?" loons are kept in files which are called, appropriately enough, “Icon files," or just “Icons.” Volume 7 Number 1 An loon file can contain any number of Icons, and you can have as many Icon files as you can fit on a disk. However, for the Finder to recognize them, Icon files must be in a folder called Icons, and, the Icons folder must not be inside another folder. “How do Icons work?” When you first put a disk in the disk drive, the Finder looks in the loons folder of the disk to see if thera are any loons. If there are, the Finder then uses these loons to represent the files stored ‘on the disk Each of ine loons stored within an loons file contain i fisatt, sav fields that tell the Finder exactly which device, file, or files this loon should be used to represent. All of these fields must match up with the corresponding attributes of an item before a particular loon can be displayed for an item. “What are these fields?" In no particular order, the main fields that make up the innards of an icon are: File Name - The File Name fieid is used to specify the name of the item that this loon will represent. Continued on page 3.. Meeting Notice The next meeting is January 20, 1994. 7:30 pm No ong has volunteered for a topte still so we still don’t have one! Contents Beginners Guide to the Finder Part 3 4 January Word Search 5 BBS News 6 Classifieds 6 1, 3% WAC Joumal Editor Neal Layton Willamette Apple Connection, Inc. P.O.Bax 7252 Salem, Oregon 97303-0053 Voice phone 838-5870 WAC BBS 363-0861 Board of Diractors: President Lawrence E. Tucker 838-6870 Vice President Neal Layton 370-9527 Secretary doe Durst Treasurer VACANT Director-at-Large David L. Weiss ings - P . The regular membership meeting is held on the third Thursday of the month, with a start time of 7:30 p.m.. The meeting is held at: “the computer store” , 444 Fery Street, Salem, OR. The general public is invited to attend. Mestings - Board of Diractors The Board of Directors meeting is hald before the ragular meeting or as otherwise arranged. Annual Membership Ques Individual member $15.00 The WAC BBS is currently provided at no charge, however if you would like to make ‘a donation to keep the tuning, contact: Neal Layton P.O. Box 18435 ‘Salem, Oregon 97305 Wac Jourmal The WAC Journal is an independent Publication not affiliated or otherwise’ associated with or sponsored or sanctioned by Apple Computer, Inc. The opinions, statements, positions and views stated herein are those of the author(s) or publisher and are not intended to be the opinions, statements, positions or views of Apple Computer, Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, and ather Angle tadaratks ara the waAty K Apple Computer, inc. Authors should submit their articles in hard copy, 3 1/2 inch disk or send it via modem to the editor at the above number by the first of the month. Copy should be submitted in ANY form you wish. | can read any format from any computer types so if you have - ‘something that looks good send it in. The WAC Joumal is published monthly. Contributing writers are needed, especially for the Who's Who column. This is a member written column dealing with what each individual is doing with their computer, what kind of computer and programs you use, and how long youve had your computer. | can accept your atticle at any time for this column. Call me! This newsletter was produced with Appleworks GS and printed on an Hewlett Packard HP DeskJet 550C. Continued form page 1........ The Finder will display an icon for an item only if the name of the item and the name specified in this field match. In order to get the Finder to display an 'con for more than one item, this field should contain the wildcard character “'. For example, if the File Name. field of a particular loon were "Kit*,” any item whose name started with "Kit" (.e. “Kitty,” “Kitten,” etc.) would be treated as a match. If the File Name field contains only the wildcard character, every item, regardless of its name, would be considered a match. File Type - This is a number (usually shown in hexadecimal) that is used to specify the File Type of the items that this loon can represent. If this field is Zero, it will match with every item, regardless of its file type. In other words, zero is a file type wildcard. Auxiliaty File Type - This is a number (usually shown in hexadecimal) that is used to specify the Auxiliary File Type of the items that this con can represent. if this field is zero, it will match with every item, regardless of its auxiliary file type. In other words, zero is an auxiliary file type wildcard. (See the "File Types and Auxiliary File Types" sidebar.) Application Pathname - This field tells the Findar the pathname (see the "What's a Pathname?" sidebar) of the application it needs to run when the user double- clicks on an item represented by this Icon. “What happens f an item matches more than one Icon?" Basically, the Finder uses the first con that it finds to represent an item that it has to draw. However, it searches for Icons beginning with the last disk that appears on the Desktop. As you might imagine, this can get a bit confusing. For instance, the first disk the Finder searches for loons is your startup disk. it then uses those Icons to draw all of the items on your Desktop. Now, if you insert another disk, the Finder will search that disk for Icons and use those Icons to represant any items that it subsequently has to draw. lf there are items that the new disk does not contain Icons for, the Finder will use the Icons that it found on the startup disk to draw those items. It should be noted that the Finder will not redraw items to use the joons on a new disk, but f it has to draw an item again, it will use the newer Icons. The Finder establishes this loon precedence each time you run the Finder (.e. when you first start up the computer or when you retum to the Finder from another program) and it updates it each time you insert a disk in a drive. So, if the order of your disks has changed, the Precedence of the icons on those disks will change the ‘next time you run the Finder. Due to this fact, It s a good idea to keep all of your loons on your startup disk. However, Icons can eat up disk space quickly, so (ff you don't have a hard disk) you should carefully consider which Icons you want to keep. “At my Users’ Group meeting, | saw someone double-click ‘on an AppleWorks GS word procassor document. When he did this, AppleWorks GS started up and the document was automatically loaded so that he could begin working with it. How does this work? Also, why does the Finder sometimes tell me that ‘An application can nat be found for ‘this document,' when | double-click on an item?" Let's answer this by example. On my system, AppleWorks GS is kept in a folder named AWGS on my hard disk, which is named Bigi. So, on my system, the complete pathname for AppleWorks GS, and the Application Pathname that is stored in the [con used to represent my AppleWorks. JGS. documents is: :Bigl:AWGS:AppleWorks.GS. So, when | double-dick on an AppleWorks GS document, here (basically) is what the Finder does: Fist, the Finder tooks at the Application Pathiaine field inside of the lcon for that item. If this field s empty, the Finder reports back that, "An application can nat be found for this document." In this example, the Application Pathname is nat empty, so the next thing the Finder needs to do is to verify that the file ‘Big! :AWGS:AppleWorks.GS actually exists. f this file does not exist, the Finder reports back that, “The application AppleWorks.GS cant be found for this document." Along with this message, you are given two buttons to choose from, Cancel and Try Again. The Cancal button is used to cancel the operation and the Try Again button gives you an opportunity to insert the disk containing the application. lf the file :Big!:AWGS:AppleWorks.GS does exist, the Finder starts up that application and passes It a message telling it the pathname of the document that the user doubleciicked on. AppleWorks GS then uses this message to load the document so that you may begin working with it immediately. “Well, that's all very wonderful for the Finder and AppleWorks GS, but why wont my loons work like that?” The number one reason that the “double-click on the Icon, 3 the Application runs, and the document is loaded" feature does not work is that very few applications support this feature. For applications that do support this, the main cause of problems is hat the application does not have the same pathname as the Application Pathname that Is Gefined in the Icon. For example, f you keep your copy of AppleWorks GS on a disk named GSWots, its pathname 's :GSWorks:AppleWorks.GS. If this is not the Application Pathname defined in each of the fons for AppleWorks GS documents, the Finder will not know where to look to find AppleWorks GS. “So, if this pathname stuff is all screwy, how do | fix it?" You use an loon Editor. “Care to elaborate on that?” Basically, an icon Editor is a lIGS application that allows you to examine and change both the appearanca and attributes of the Icons contained in Icon files. Two of the more popular Icon Editors available for the IIGS are foonEd and DicEd, both of these are ShareWare and can be downloaded from any of the layer information services (America Online, CompuServe, GEnie), or our own pro-gspius BBS. You may even be able to find a copy at your next User Group meeting, contact your b's librarian to see if either of these programs is available. Ona you have an icon Editor, you can use it to change the fields discussed above so that your Icons will work correctly with your particular tIGS setup. ff you are feeling artistic, you can also usa an {con Editor to change the appearance of the individual icons. it does Not take a great deal of artistic talent to do (as | prove in each issue of GS+ Magazine), and it lends a whole new Meaning to the term "personal computing.” As for how to actually use a particular loon Editor... the Important thing is to gat a basic understanding of how icons work and refer to the documentation that came with your particular loon Editor. Then, sit down and play with the Icon Editor. in a very short time, you should be able to modify any Icons that you might have. Wel, that about does it for our Baginner’s Guide to The Finder. if you have made it through all three articles, you should have a fairty good idea of how the Finder works, what it can do, and how to make it do it. if you are stil completely lost, here are a couple things you can do: ‘% Read your manuals. That's what they‘re for! ‘% Ask about it at your next User Group meeting. That's what User Groups are for! The best thing you could do though, is to st down at your IGS and explore on your own. That's what i's forl {Sidebar File Types and Auxiliary File Types File Types are numbers that GS/OS uses to identify the general nature of the contents of a file. Text files, for example have a File Type number of 4. Since few af us can even remember our zip code, Apple has defined a set of three character strings that are often used to refer to a File Type. To continue this example, the three character string for text files is “TXT.” Auxiliary File Types are numbers that can be used for just ‘about any purpose that a programmer wants it to be used for. However, it is most often used in conjunction with the File Type to more exactly identify the contents of a file. {Sidebar} “What's A Pathnamo? Every file has a name. This is called a filename. Now, ‘suppose you have a LOT of files. These files may or may not have anything in common, so it would be nice to be able to store them on a disk in a logical fashion, grouping ralated files together. To accomplish this, GS/OS lets you store related files in folders (also called directories). These folders may contain files or they may contain other folders, allowing you to further organize your files. A pathname then, is a name made up of the name of the disk the file is on, the names of each of the folders that you must open to get to a Particular file, and the name of the file itself. Each of these names is separated by a colon (:). Example: if you have a diskette named Data, and on that disk is a folder called Sales, and within that folder is a file named Januaty.90. The complete pathname of the file January.90 would be: :Data:Sales:January.90. Reprinted with the permission of GS+ Magazine and EGO Systems. This article is Copyright 1991 by EGO Systems. For more information on GS+ Magazine, write to: GS+ Magazine, P. O. Box 15366, Chattanooga TN, 37415-0366. Or call (615) 870-4960 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Submitted by..... Roger Hanthorm Computer Terms Word Search NODDMANHHMHACHNHMHAACAAY BOMMEEMANHAHNM -UZHMOREH SH MNOHH EMAAR SHOE ADH KK EZOZAMENENNMEMNMWNDOEZZY ZHMOMmHEOMPAYNNHMDOHOHO Me P>NAMUXMAM EH MHNAHM MAE OHH DCH EHKCAZVDADAHEH OHA NEDOXMMEMANDHHEEHMZOUNNE BHHOMNMAHMAHNMAHOMUHOMMA DPRK EHNEZHHEOUPZNAWH RENN BO MOMAMANNHANOARCHAMDN ANOKMAHMEOMMN EAM HM NHOH PHODKAMHURMUNMOZMOMUAO BOR SZRNUDEPHHOANRMABHHmS OX ZENHMHMMHHMEMURC EH AME AHONOK EH > EHAMAZAZANHME HOR MD HHMODPHAAHAAARMHm PRE AS EXHHHOHEURNE ZONA ZCOHZHONMMARHAMHOD MASE OMAMAMNHEREOUNKCMUHZDZHO EBOAHMOHOOHHARMAEDANNA CE HO OREM HNHNMAAOMMmMAM HMORUNMHAMDNZZHOCNHCAY ol (4 nehx n Bougny cot HM =i MOH EPLEE a PEBEEEE 4 a oan Hae ee oSeeuee aEgeees Sesgesees a z M hea ° yn ne H HH MYH Bo BBE: Ray ange aiBood” ae z 1S) Senoesks . gage HHH Ks} HEA & a Bi 5 SERRE S oh PPEPErE HORIZONTALLY FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND VERTICALLY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM HORIZONTALLY FROM RIGHT TO LEFT AND VERTICALLY FROM BOTTOM TO TOF THE WORDS HIDDEN IN THIS GRID MAY RUN ‘DIAGONALLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS. 5 Classified: Wanted-Buy Sell-Trade FEEEr | would like to purchase a 3.5" drive for my //GS and was told this was a reasonable place to start looking. Please contact me with any info you have on the possibility of me purchasing a 3.5” drive for my //GS. Roy Chamberlian 399-9436 For Sale or Trade: Paint/Write/Draw by Activison --- $20 Graphics Expander Vol.1 =-- $5 Sci-Fi Classics by Infocom --- $15 5.25" Disk Nothcer (New) -- $4 Various Apple Manuals --- $1-$5 Contact Neal at 370-9527 Voice 363-0861 BBS For those that are interested... Tom Zorn Easy Access Memory 503-461-2046 BBS News By Neal Layton Well as a few of you may have noticed already this months issue of the WAC journal takes on a better look. For those of you that.didn't notice the difference yet pull out last months newsletter and check out the difference in print qualityi Thanks to Santa and a few of his little elves | found quite a package under my tree this year. After lots of research | had pretty much decided on a Hewlett Packard DeskJet 550C printer for my GS. As a joke on my christmas list for everyone I listed it as something I wanted, just one of those things to fill space basically. As you can probably figure out, one of Santa's helpers thought that I had been good all year and needed something special. Your reading the first official results of it right now. I haven't got it all figured out yet but as I do you'll see it in the newsletter. As for the BBS, well it's still humming along waiting for all of you to buy modems and get online. If you're a persca still interested in the Apple // and are very discouraged by the amount of printed material available on it. (magazines, newsletters, disks, etc.) Then you should get online. It will instantly connect you with thousands of users from coast to coast Users with as little or as much knowledge as you have are online everyday. A great example of this online wealth of knowledge helped me get ny printer up and running in no time. Since HP didn't design the printer for an Apple //GS, getting the comect cable was a major obsticle in getting my printer hooked to the GS. Well I dialed up ‘America Online’ and in less than 30 min I had ail the spefications I needed to buy or even build my own cable. Well being Christmas day I built my own and ‘was punting from Appleworks3.0 in no time. Without AOL and the online help I recieved I would have had to wait until Monday (2 long Days) to even play with my new toy. Support for the Apple// isn't dead it's just moved from paper and print, to online electronic support. It nice to have an online Apple // databank just waiting to answer all of your Apple // questions, ----Neal a Membership Application >) Willamette Apple Connaction. Inc. An Apple Il & Compatible User Group P.O.Box 7252 Salem, OR 97303-0053 @ Voice 838-5870 BBS 363-0861 S ‘a > Nate ‘Address Giy State Zp k Prone yy, e ~\O _ Please fist computer(s) and software you Please list areas of interest (ie. DTP, use regularly: graphics, spreadsheets,etc,): a Ea _/ Membership ee is $1500 annually. >) Please make your checks payable to: Wilamette Apple Connection, inc. 7 « WSER GROUE C-0HNA-E-C-T-HO-N Willamette Apple Connection, Inc. ke P.O.Box 7252 5 Salem, OR 97303-0053