Welcome to Plug-In Manager! If you feel like youﾕre drowning in all plug-in modules for your applications, this is exactly what you need. Plug-In Manager will let you enable or disable combinations of plug-ins for any software that you use (such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Quark XPress, Aldus PageMaker, Deneba Canvas, Microsoft Word and so on). You save different combinations as sets for later use.
To make it easier to use Plug-In Manager together with your applications it provides a way for you to launch applications directly from the settings dialog box. You can specify which application that should be linked to each set.
･ Whatﾕs New
This is the first release version and it introduces a new launching technique to reduce memory fragmentation. When you launch another application from inside Plug-In Manager, it will first quit itself completely before starting the second application. This makes it possible to reuse the memory that Plug-In Manager had occupied.
As memory fragmentation isnﾕt a problem anymore I have decided to ship Plug-In Manager as a fat application (i.e., it contains both 680x0 and PowerPC native code). Note that some vital parts of the System are still emulated on PowerPC Macintoshes so there is no huge speed boost at present time.
･ Revision History
ﾗ 1.0
- New way of launching applications makes it possible to reclaim the memory that Plug-In Manager uses.
- Fixed a bug that prevented the Return and Enter keys to work in the main dialog. Also linked Escape to the Quit button.
- Reduced the flicker when enabling/disabling many items at once in the list. It will also not treat fast clicks with Command or Shift as a double-clicks.
- Shipped fat application only.
- Registered Plug-In Manager creator code with Apple Developer Support.
ﾗ 1.0b3
- It is now possible to configure a list of applications, and connect a set to an application that should be launched when the Launch button is clicked.
- The Preferences file may now be stored in the same folder as Plug-In Manager. This has one big benefit: you can have multiple copies of Plug-In Manager installed for different types of applications at the same time. E.g., one copy can be used to handle all Photoshop-compatible plug-ins, and another handle all plug-ins that are used in, say, Quark XPress. Simply put, you need one copy of the application for each pair of enabled/disabled folders that you want to handle.
- Improved memory handling. Plug-In Manager should now warn you before it runs out of memory, and crashes should be rare. If you have a large number (hundreds or more) of extensions, and you create many sets, you may need to increase the memory allocation for Plug-In Manager by entering a higher value in the Get Info window in the Finder.
- Handles more files than before. The previous version relied too much on the List Manager for memory handling, thus limiting the total number of files to about 800. This version has redesigned memory handling and should not have such problems (you donﾕt have 32000 plug-ins, do you?) _provided_ you have set the memory allocation high enough.
- Can now launch applications on any volume, not just from the same one as where Plug-In Manager is located.
- Faster algorithms used internally for more efficient scanning, searching and sorting.
- A keyboard shortcut to select a set has been added: just type the first letter in the set name.
- The icons have been updated from the previous release. Rebuild the desktop if you ever had 1.0b1 installed.
- Support for 68000 Macs without Color QuickDraw.
- Updated the source code to make native PowerPC builds possible from the same source.
- Yeah, included a picture of myself in the about box... look at this picture to see someone that stays up all night to write and debug software that makes YOUR life better.
ﾗ 1.0b2 [very limited distribution]
- Tried to work around a conflict with Symantecﾕs Directory Assistance. Donﾕt think it has been solved, but a number of people tell me that just about anything conflicts with DAﾉ
ﾗ 1.0b1
- First release.
･ System Requirements
Plug-In Manager needs System 7 or later, and should run on any Macintosh model.
･ Installation
IMPORTANT: There is one rule that must be followed when installing Plug-In Manager: It must be located on the same volume as the folders that it should handle. This comes from the fact that Plug-In Manager never copies files, it just moves them.
The first time you run Plug-In Manager the Settings dialog will be presented. You need to select the folders before you can continue. Simply click on each of the ﾒSelectﾉﾓ buttons and pick your folders (you can change these later).
If you uncheck the ﾒStore Prefs file in application folderﾓ checkbox Plug-In Manager will store the Preferences file in the Preferences folder. Leave this option checked if you need to have several copies of Plug-In Manager installed on your computer and each copy should have its own Preferences file.
･ Using Plug-In Manager
Double-click on files to add/remove the checkmark which indicates if the file is enabled. You can use standard selection methods (Shift key to extend, Command key to get discontinuos selections). The enabled status of the file you double-click on determines if the rest of the files in the selection should be enabled or disabled.
You can create different sets of enabled/disabled files. Click the ﾒNewﾉﾓ button to create a new set (a duplicate of the current set), and ﾒDeleteﾓ to delete the currently selected set. The main set canﾕt be deleted.
There is no button for renaming a set, but this can be easily performed by duplicating the current set (click ﾒNewﾉﾓ and enter a name), and then deleting the original set.
To link the set to an application, select the application from the second popup menu. If this menu doesnﾕt show the applications you are looking for, select ﾒConfigureﾉﾓ to add them.
･ Known Conflicts
As far as I know the only conflict is with Symantecﾕs Directory Assistance (from the Norton Utilites package). Some people have reported problems when selecting folders, and I have not been able to solve it. On the other hand DA is infamous for its incompatibility problems so my advice is to disable DA, either permanently or temporarily, so you can make the folder settings.
･ Shareware
This software is shareware and you are allowed to try it for one month. If you use it beyond the trial period you should register by sending US$10 (or equivalent in other currencies) to my address which is listed below. Please, cash or international money orders only!
･ How to Reach Me
Please send registrations, questions, bug reports, comments, suggestions or whatever to:
Jonas Wallden
Rydsvagen 252 c:11
S-582 51 Linkoping, Sweden
Phone/fax: int.+46-13-176084
Internet: jonasw@lysator.liu.se
AppleLink: sw1369
･ Disclaimer
I make no warranties, either expressed or implied, with respect to this software. It is provided as is and no responsibility or liability is taken for any damage or loss of data caused by using this software. Product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective company. There you have it!
