Albert.Koelmans@newcastle.ac.uk (Albert Koelmans) (02/22/91)
A couple of new utilities on the server: 'sticky' and 'largeness', both submitted by Brian Brunswick. Here's the description: !Sticky 1.10 ============ Yet another sticky backdrop program, but this one has features that none of the rest have. These actually make it usable, unlike any others I have found. This is of course why I wrote it. Features: * Not a backdrop, but one or more windows, each with a data file. * Double clicking + dragging of groups * Group selections by drag box * Lays out group drags from filer nicely * Work area extent recalculated, when you move icons * Lock feature, prevents accidentally messing up arrangement. * Pull to front by double clicking on background, push to back by dragging or double clicking with adjust. * If accepting is enabled applications can save into it. (files go into same directory as data file) * Can drag stuff into a filer window to copy. If an object name ends in !, instead of being copied, it will be run with the directory as an argument. * Above provides things like set current dir by dragging Samples supplied in !Sticky.tools * Drag onto icon bar runs selection (but now double click runs all too) * Use by having a sticky window for each project you are working on, stored in the project directory. * Runs in one 32K slot. (on a 440) Probably won't go smaller, though. * Unlimited windows, icons limited at 256/window at the moment, easily changed. * Written in BASIC, so if you think of some really silly feature which I refuse to implement, you can do it yourself. !Largeness 1.03 =============== Action: An application to allow an infinite logical screen, by scrolling windows in the opposite direction when the mouse runs off the edge. It uses a patch module that forces windows to be opened with the no bounds bit set, so that they may move off screen. Uses: To quickly produce extra desktop space to put more windows in, and switch back and forth easily. Very useful. To irritate friends - very good at this, especially at fast mouse settings! Details: Double click on the application to run it. Then try dragging the pointer off the screen of one side. The icon bar icon has three actions: Select retrieves all windows into visibility, Menu pops up a menu with a Quit entry, Adjust scatters all windows away from the screen centre. To retrieve a file a file from the archive, send a message to info-server@newcastle.ac.uk with the following content: line-limit 1000 request: sources topic: archimedes filename request: end where filename is replaced by the name of the file that you want. A filename of 'index' will send you the latest index file. JANET: Albert.Koelmans@uk.ac.newcastle UUCP: ...!ukc!newcastle.ac.uk!Albert.Koelmans Computing Laboratory, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK (telephone +44 091-2228155,fax 2228232)
gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) (02/23/91)
In article <1991Feb22.131230.1013@newcastle.ac.uk> Albert.Koelmans@newcastle.ac.uk (Albert Koelmans) writes: >A couple of new utilities on the server: 'sticky' and 'largeness', both >submitted by Brian Brunswick. Here's the description: > >!Sticky 1.10 >============ > >Yet another sticky backdrop program, but this one has features that >none of the rest have. These actually make it usable, unlike any others I What I want of a background is that it behaves exactly like the icon bar, but an icon bar in two-d with active commands anywhere on it. With this, you can also emulate the other kind of backdrop by having several !tinydirs scattered around. Do any of them do this? I've tried to look at a few things in the archive but because they are all sparked I can't tell whats in them, and I'm not downloading (say) 5 mandelbrots and 3 backdrops just to find the particular one of each that I could have found from the readme files. Unfortunately I happen to know that Albert is overworked just now so I'm not going to hassle him for either external readme's or a unix-readable archive format. :-) I will hassle him to split up those disks I sent him into seperate packages though -- why on earth did you bundle everything up into one big archive Albert? An unreadable one at that? Graham PS TIGGR - WHERE'S THAT CALL FOR VOTES??????????????????????????????????? -- (* Posted from tharr.uucp - Public Access Unix - +44 (234) 261804 *)
bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick) (02/25/91)
In article <1836@tharr.UUCP> gtoal@tharr.UUCP (Graham Toal) writes: >> ... announcement of my (bdb's) !Sticky by ak... > >What I want of a background is that it behaves exactly like the icon bar, but >an icon bar in two-d with active commands anywhere on it. With this, you >can also emulate the other kind of backdrop by having several !tinydirs >scattered around. > Mine doesn't do this I am afraid, and I have never found one that does. The problem is that you really have to BE the Wimp to do this, and even then Acorn have made a serious mistake of saying in the user int guidelines that menus from icon bar icons have to be at a constant height on the screen. Ever tried changing the templates to the icon bar is movable, moving it to the top of the screen, and then watching all the menus appear at the bottom? Anyway, I am not sure that I actually want things to be actually running and taking up memory anyway. The !TinyDirs like solutions are best IMHO, and that is what all of these Sticky backdrops are about, some with more or less functionality. I recommend mine - it does everything !TinyDirs does, but in windows. I tend to live with the data file for my main Sticky Window as a !tinyDir on the icon bar, so I can open it whenever I want. Its now grown larger than a standard screen though. Such is life. Brian.Brunswick@uk.ac.cam.cl Disclaimer. Short sig rules!
garyb@abekrd.co.uk (Gary Bartlett) (02/26/91)
In <1991Feb22.131230.1013@newcastle.ac.uk> Albert.Koelmans@newcastle.ac.uk (Albert Koelmans) writes: >A couple of new utilities on the server: 'sticky' and 'largeness', both >submitted by Brian Brunswick. Here's the description: This is really addressed to Brian - (can you read this Brian?). Can someone pass it on if he doesn't read this group. I really liked the idea of largeness, but I came across the following problems: 1) After quitting from largeness, the mouse pointer is still no longer bound to the screen area and there is now nothing to bring it back again so it is very easy to totally lose the pointer. The pointer bounds should be restored on quitting. 2) I noticed when clicking on the icon (it didn't do it all the time) that a window 'Grab Keys' popped up (in disgusting olive and orange colours) which had as a menu the Task Window menu. This is clearly a bug. I have seen this happen before with something else but cannot remember what. A few other ideas: 1) Can I suggest rather than having an `infinite' screen that it becomes a screen with bounds out as far as the furthest windows, so that moving the pointer to the right will scroll all windows until the right-most window is just on-screen and then disabling further scrolling in that direction. The window can still be expanded by moving the (any) window further to the right (thereby extending the right edge extent). This way it is more difficult to `lose' windows. You will always know that there are no windows further away. 2) As another aid in keeping track of window positions perhaps we could have a small window (on the icon bar so that it doesn't move?) showing the relative positions (as small dots/boxes) of windows with respect to the current screen position. This might be tricky if the virtual screen is continually expanding so perhaps the total screen size could be fixed before hand (eg to 5 times screen size). Just a few ideas and suggestions. I realise that this may not be easy to implement but it would be great to use if it could. Thanks for a very interesting idea (and implementation), This idea really should be continued and developed, Gary -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary C. Bartlett NET: garyb@abekrd.co.uk Abekas Video Systems Ltd. UUCP: ...!uunet!mcsun!ukc!pyrltd!abekrd!garyb 12 Portman Rd, Reading, PHONE: +44 734 585421
bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick) (03/01/91)
In article <1991Feb26.101937.12286@abekrd.co.uk> garyb@abekrd.co.uk (Gary Bartlett) writes: >This is really addressed to Brian - (can you read this Brian?). Yup! >I really liked the idea of largeness, but I came across the following problems: > >1) After quitting from largeness, the mouse pointer is still no longer bound Err yes. It should be set back to the screen bounds. Pressing f12 then return will restore things anyway. Noted for a new version. > a window 'Grab Keys' popped up ... This window belongs to the task manager. If you RTM, I did mention this - I consider it a bug in the task manager that it lets it be moved. >A few other ideas: > ... screen with bounds out as far as the furthest windows... > ... a small window showing the relative positions ... of windows ... >Just a few ideas and suggestions. I realise that this may not be easy to >implement but it would be great to use if it could. > I had already thought of these - basically at the moment I haven't put very much work into !Largeness - its still at the stage of a quick hack. Still if I produce a new version (sufficient demand?) I'll certainly be considering these and other improvements. (stopping ludicrously large windows for one) Thanks very much for the feedback anyway - much appreciated. Brian.Brunswick@uk.ac.cam.cl Disclaimer. Short sig rules!
johny@cogs.susx.ac.uk (Lord Yak Da Hairy) (03/01/91)
In article <1991Feb26.101937.12286@abekrd.co.uk> garyb@abekrd.co.uk (Gary Bartlett) writes: >2) I noticed when clicking on the icon (it didn't do it all the time) that > a window 'Grab Keys' popped up (in disgusting olive and orange colours) > which had as a menu the Task Window menu. This is clearly a bug. I have > seen this happen before with something else but cannot remember what. That's so the Task Manager can get the F12 key shortcuts. I ran largeness, killed this window as it was in the way, then tried to get to the CLI with F12. Nothing happened. I spent a couple of minutes banging my head against the wall before I realised what was going on... Now the question. Is it possible to receive the KeyPressed event with just an icon up, ie no windows open? It annoys me that the Task Manager takes a window handle, !HotKeys takes a window handle, !Indicate takes a window handle - all just for key grabbing. It wouldn't be so bad if the max number of window handles wasn't so damn low... -- John Yeates (Lord Yak Da Hairy) -------------------------------------------- -- johny@syma.sussex.ac.uk OR johny@cogs.sussex.ac.uk (0273) 678318 -- Always be excellent, never be rude, with the GIFT OF GAB from DR DUDE! Something for RISC OS 3, perhaps? (Assuming it exists, of course :-)
rhh88@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Heywood RH) (03/04/91)
In <1991Mar1.110839.15802@cl.cam.ac.uk> bdb@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Brunswick) writes: >(stopping ludicrously large >windows for one) Oh no... I liked them. It really pissed a ST owning friend of mine that I had a window about the size of Asia lying about off screen some place!! ttfn Rik ______________________________________________________ / \ / Richard Heywood (Rik) \ / rhh88@uk.ac.soton.ecs \ \ / \ The Spice must flow / \______________________________________________________/ THE GOLDEN RULE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES The one who has the gold makes the rules.