Kudo for Windows TechNote (c) 1993 Imspace Systems Corporation. All Rights Reserved. This file documents the structure and syntax of the KUDO.INI file. The KUDO.INI file follows the standard Windows syntax for all .INI files. ****************************************************************************** These are the sections in KUDO.INI and their function: [KudoImageBrowserImports] Associates a file extension with a filter DLL [KudoPlacePacks] Associates an application with a place module [OLEDropTargets] Identifies a registered OLE 2.0 drop target Each of these sections can have zero or more entries following the section header. ****************************************************************************** [KudoImageBrowserImports] ------------------------- The entries in this section list all of the file types that Kudo can recognize. This feature is provided to enable users to add more import filters & file types, and redefine what file extensions Kudo uses to recognize each file type. To read image and multimedia files of different formats, Kudo uses a modular system based on the industry standard Aldus filter specification. This system allocates a specific external Dynamic Link Library file (a .DLL file) for each file type to be recognized. These DLL's are known as import filters, or filters. Kudo uses a file's extension to identify what type of file it is, and consequently, which filter DLL to load in order to read that file. The [KudoImageBrowserImports] section of KUDO.INI tells Kudo 1) what file extension represents a particular file format, and 2) which filter to load in order to read that file. The syntax of one of these entries is: =, where : Cosmetic text that describes the particular file type : Path (full or relative) to the .FLT or .DLL file that functions as the import filter for this file type. This is a regular DOS pathname. If it is not a fully qualified path, it is interpreted as relative to the directory where the currently executing copy of KUDO.EXE was found. : 1-4 character text specifying the file extension to associate with this file type. The dot '.' is optional. There should be no spaces around the equal sign ('=') or comma (','). For example, the following entry: [KudoImageBrowserImports] ZSoft PC Paintbrush Bitmap=filters\IRPCX9.FLT,PCX would be interpreted as follows: : "ZSoft PC Paintbrush Bitmap" : "filters\IRPCX9.FLT" : "PCX" This entry tells Kudo that 1) files with a .PCX extension are "ZSoft PC Paintbrush Bitmap" files, and 2) the filter file "filters\IRPCX9.FLT" is the filter DLL to load when trying to read these files. For readability, the entries in the default KUDO.INI also include the file extension at the beginning of the field, but this is cosmetic - only the field is actually used to determine the file extension. The same filter DLL can be specified in more than one entry. This way it is possible to alias several file extensions as the same file type. For example, the Micrographix Drawing File Format is listed twice in the default KUDO.INI file, for both the .DRW and .GRF file extensions. However, you can only have one entry for each file extension. For example, you cannot have two lines specifying .PCX as the file extension. By convention, the filter DLL's that are shipped with kudo bear the file extension .FLT, but they can have any file extension. It is recommended that abide by this convention and use a .FLT or .DLL extension. New file types can be added to Kudo simply by modifying KUDO.INI. Any DLL that implements the Aldus Graphic Import Mechanism, either Interface Version 1.0 or 2.0, can be listed as an import filter in the [KudoImageBrowserImports] section. This interface is documented in the Aldus "Filter Developer's Toolkit", published by Aldus Corporation. For questions about the Aldus standard, you can contact them at: Aldus Developers Desk Aldus Corporation 411 First Avenue South Seattle, WA 98104-2871 206/628-6593 ****************************************************************************** [KudoPlacePacks] ---------------- This section lists each of the available place modules. These Place Modules are provided to enable Kudo to Drag and Drop with pinpoint accuracy onto applications that fall into one or more of the following three categories: 1) applications that are not registered as OLE 2.0 drop targets in the [OLEDropTargets] section (see below), 2) applications that do not accept an image file drop from the File Manager, or 3) applications that require special handling for a drop. Kudo uses an application's window caption to identify it, and consequently, match it with the appropriate place module, if it exists. The [KudoPlacePacks] section of KUDO.INI tells Kudo 1) which applications have place modules, and 2) which place modules to load in order to drag and drop to that application. The syntax of one of these entries is: =, where : The application caption as it appears on the title bar : Path (full or relative) to the .DLL file that functions as place module for this application. This is a regular DOS pathname. If it is not a fully qualified path, it is interpreted as relative to the directory where the currently executing copy of KUDO.EXE was found. As in the [KudoImageBrowserImports] section described above, there should be no spaces around the equal sign ('=') or comma (','). The ending comma is required even if there is no accompanying comment. ****************************************************************************** [OLEDropTargets] ---------------- This section identifies applications which have implemented an OLE 2.0 drop target interface and have been tested as drop targets with Kudo. Kudo uses an application's window caption to identify it, and consequently, match it with the appropriate data transfer object module. The [OLEDropTargets] section of KUDO.INI tells Kudo 1) which applications are OLE 2.0 drop targets, and 2) which data transfer object to load in order to drag and drop to that application. The syntax of one of these entries is: =, where : The application caption as it appears on the title bar : Path (full or relative) to the .DLL file that functions as the data transfer object module for this application. This is a regular DOS pathname. If it is not a fully qualified path, it is interpreted as relative to the directory where the currently executing copy of KUDO.EXE was found. By default, this data transfer object is mdataxfr.dll. As in the [KudoImageBrowserImports] section described above, there should be no spaces around the equal sign ('=') or comma (','). The ending comma is required even if there is no accompanying comment.