[comp.sys.amiga.tech] Suggestion for WorkBench -- Multiple .info relationships.

spencer@eris.berkeley.edu (Randal m. Spencer [RmS]) (06/30/88)

Recently on *comp.sys.amiga.tech* melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ofer Melnik) wrote:

...be really useful to be able to specify which files where a part of the
...program with an icon, that way when you copy or move an icon, all the
...support files go with it (rather than having to go to the cli)

I think that is what a Drawer Icon is for.  When I ship product, I have the
program Icon on the root of the disk, and then a Drawer Icon next to it that
has all the support files.  The program than goes searching for that drawer
in certain obvious places...

...Ofer Melnik                          Rutgers University
...                                     melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu


"He who dies with the most toys... is dead"
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pete@violet.berkeley.edu (Pete Goodeve) (07/06/88)

In article <Jun.28.10.28.52.1988.22157@topaz.rutgers.edu> melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ofer Melnik) writes:
>Yeah, I don't know if this is what Wade meant, but I think it would
>be really useful to be able to specify which files where a part of the
>program with an icon, that way when you copy or move an icon, all the
>support files go with it (rather than having to go to the cli)
>
>--
>Ofer Melnik                          Rutgers University
>                                     melnik@topaz.rutgers.edu

If you DO have a situation NOW  (rather than waiting for 1.4 or so...(:-))
where you want to have an executable icon that ALSO moves a bunch of files
with it when you drag it to another location, you can use my Xicon 2.0 to
fudge it...

What you do is create a directory (with no drawer icon) that contains all
the files associated with the main program, INCLUDING the program itself,
any xicon script you might need to invoke it, and probably xicon itself
so that the whole thing is self contained.  Then you create a PROJECT icon
of the same name as the directory (with .info tacked on, natch...), which
has a default tool of directoryname/xicon; you also must set MODE=noscript
in the tooltypes, and add either a CMD=... tooltype to execute your program
or a SCRIPT=... if you are running it from a command script.  In either
case "..." is a COMPLETE pathname (including the disk name) -- or alternatively
you can use the LOCDIR=... tooltype to find the starting directory.

If you have it all set up right, you can drag the icon to any other drawer,
and the whole directory will move, just as if it was a true drawer icon;
if you double-click on the icon, the command sequence you have specified
(by tooltype and script) will be executed.  Notice that the icon does NOT
directly invoke the program -- this technique can only be used with programs
that can be called from the CLI.  [And sorry if the above is totally cryptic,
as it will be to anyone unfamiliar with xicon, but the whole thing -- including
a full manual -- is on Fish Disk #102, so I didn't want to get too expansive
here.  If you can't figure it out from that, I did put together a 'tutorial'
(sort of...) disk a few months back; e-mail me and we can figure out how to 
trade a blank disk for it.]

						-- Pete --

[Oh yeah, a quick reminder that this is NOT the "xicon" distributed on
the 1.3 gamma release.  That one is supposed to become "IconX" in the public
release, to avoid confusion.]