There are no special tricks to installing Gumshoe: you install it simply by copying it to your hard disk. We do suggest that you make an alias of Gumshoe and place the alias on the Desktop; the easiest way to get information on something is just to drop it on the alias of Gumshoe. (Of course, you can place Gumshoe itself on the desktop, if you prefer, rather than making an alias of it.)
BEFORE YOU LAUNCH GUMSHOE:
You should duplicate either the Gumshoe folder or the compressed file (the one with the .sit extension) before you launch Gumshoe for the first time. Gumshoe is set to allow you a 21 day free trial period. If you want to give a copy to your friends or upload a copy to a BBS or on-line service, make sure to give them a copy of the original (unlaunched) version you downloaded. That way, everyone will be assured of receiving a full 21 day free trial period. Please note that this applies only to non-commercial distribution. For restrictions applying to commercial distribution, read the License Agreement (also in the Gumshoe folder).
Itﾕs also a good idea to have a copy of the unlaunched version in case the unthinkable happens and you have to re-install all the software on your hard drive.
THE FIRST TIME YOU LAUNCH GUMSHOE:
When you first launch Gumshoe, two separate dialog boxes will come up. The first contains the License Agreement for Gumshoe (note: a Simple Text file containing the same text as this dialog has been included in the Gumshoe folder). You must read the agreement carefully and click the ﾒAcceptﾓ radio button before you will be allowed to use Gumshoe. If you click the ﾒDonﾕt Acceptﾓ radio button, Gumshoe will quit when you exit the dialog.
The second dialog box you see the first time you launch Gumshoe asks for your name, organization and serial number. If you are re-installing Gumshoe and already have a serial number, go ahead and enter the information in this dialog. Otherwise, simply click the ﾒDonﾕt Registerﾓ button.
Clicking the ﾒDonﾕt Registerﾓ button marks this copy of Gumshoe as an unregistered copy, which will function exactly the same as a registered copy, but for 21 days only.
If you have not registered and received a serial number for you copy of Gumshoe before the the end of the 21 day free trial period, whenever you try to launch Gumshoe a dialog box will come up offering you two choices: quit or enter your serial number.
If this happens to you, receiving a serial number to re-activate your copy of Gumshoe is a simple matter. Just fill out and return the registration form (also included in the Gumshoe folder) along with a check or money order (sorry, no credit cards) for $15.00 US to:
Shepherdﾕs Pi Software
3408 S. Rusk St.
Amarillo, TX 79109
If you register and receive your serial number before the end of the 21 day free trial period, you may enter your serial number by choosing the ﾒRegister Gumshoeﾉﾓ item from the Apple menu (immediately below the ﾒAbout Gumshoeﾉﾓ item). Once you have registered your copy, the ﾒRegisterﾉﾓ item disappears from the Apple menu.
If you include an e-mail address when you register you will receive your serial number more quickly.
SETTING PREFERENCES:
Note: Balloon help is available for all items in the preferences dialog. To turn on balloon help, choose the Show Balloons item from the Help menu.
You may customize the way you interact with Gumshoe by changing the settings in Gumshoeﾕs Preferences dialog. To access this dialog, select Preferences from the File menu (or type Command-F).
The various settings and controls and their effects are summarized below:
Display only/Also modify Radio Buttons: These two buttons determine whether Gumshoe merely displays its information, or also allows the information to be modified.
Actually, ﾒdisplay onlyﾓ is a bit of a misnomer: in this mode you may still add or edit comments for the item, and, if youﾕre getting information on an application, modify the minimum and preferred size for the applicationﾕs memory partition.
As a very loose rule of thumb, if the Finder allows something to be modified in its ﾒGet Infoﾓ window, you can probably (but not always) modify it in Gumshoeﾕs ﾒdisplay onlyﾓ mode. Another way of putting it: if thereﾕs no way to do permanent damage by changing something, you can probably change it in ﾒdisplay onlyﾓ mode.
Always Use Standard Mode: Clicking this radio button indicates that Gumshoe should always display its information in its ﾒstandardﾓ mode, which is very similar in its scope to the Finderﾕs ﾒGet Infoﾓ window. However, Gumshoeﾕs standard mode also displays and/or modifies (see above) the ﾔflagsﾕ for the item (e.g., is the file invisible?, does it have a custom icon?, etc.) and the creator and file type codes for the item.
Also note that Gumshoeﾕs listing for the size and number of items in a folder is (technically speaking, at least) more accurate than the one the Finder provides: the Finder ignores invisible items (such as the custom icons for folders) when itﾕs figuring the number of items in the folder and the amount of room those items occupy.
Since Gumshoe was created for ﾒpower usersﾓ it takes invisible items into account; the items really are there and really do take up room, just as visible items do, so (to our thinking, at least) they should be included in the totals.
For more information on the standard mode, see the section ﾒStandard Mode,ﾓ below.
Lock Standard Mode: Marking this checkbox, which is only active when the ﾒAlways use Standard modeﾓ radio button is selected, ﾔlocksﾕ Gumshoe into standard mode. This effectively keeps anyone from accessing some of the ﾒless safeﾓ changes that can be made from Gumshoeﾕs extended mode.
Once this option is selected and the preferences are saved, Gumshoe cannot be switched out of ﾒAlways use Standard mode.ﾓ
Note: If you accidentally lock Gumshoe into standard mode, donﾕt panic. If you throw away the ﾔGumshoe Preferencesﾕ file (in the Preferences folder of the System folder of your startup disk) and then launch Gumshoe, forcing it to create a new preferences file, everything will be back to normal.
Always Use Extended Mode: Clicking this radio button indicates that Gumshoe should always display its information using its ﾒextendedﾓ mode. Gumshoeﾕs extended mode displays and/or modifies virtually every scrap of information the Finder and/or the desktop database stores on the item. For more information on the extended mode, see the section ﾒExtended Mode,ﾓ below.
Modifier Key Determines Mode: Clicking this radio button indicates that Gumshoe should display its information using either its standard or extended mode, depending on whether your specified Modifier Key (see below) was depressed when you dropped items on Gumshoe.
Standard Mode is Normal/Extended Mode is Normal: This set of two radio buttons, which is only active when the ﾒModifier key determines modeﾓ radio button is selected, determines which mode Gumshoe will use when.
If the ﾒStandard mode is normalﾓ button is selected, Gumshoe will use standard mode if the Modifier Key is not depressed during a drop launch (the normal way of doing things), and will use extended mode if the Modifier Key is depressed.
If the ﾒExtended mode is normalﾓ button is selected, the modes are reversed (extended when the Modifier Key is not depressed, and standard when it is).
Modifier Key: Gumshoe may react differently when you drop-launch files on it depending on whether or not you are holding down the specified Modifier Key (see ﾒModifier Key Determines Mode,ﾓ above). Your choices for the Modifier Key are: the Shift key, the Control key (marked Ctrl), the Option key (marked Alt on some keyboards), or the Command key (the one marked □). The ﾒfactoryﾓ setting for a modifier key is the Option key.
Cancel button: To cancel the preferences dialog and close it without saving any changes you have made, click this button. Note that this button is ﾒgrayed outﾓ whenever the preferences dialog is first opened and after you click the Save Preferences or the Restore Original buttons, or if Gumshoe is ﾔlockedﾕ into standard mode: there are no changes to cancel under these circumstances.
Done button: Closes the preferences dialog when you are finished looking at the current preferences and/or changing any preferences. If you have made any changes but havenﾕt yet saved them, Gumshoe will ask you if you want to save the changes.
Save Preferences button: To save your preferences to disk so that Gumshoe will use the current settings every time it launches, click this button. Note that this button is ﾒgrayed outﾓ whenever the preferences dialog is first opened and after you click the Restore Original button or this button itself: there are no changes to be saved under these circumstances.
Restore Original button: To restore all settings to their original ﾒfactoryﾓ settings, click this button. Note that this button becomes ﾒgrayed outﾓ after you click it and remains this way until you change one or more settings.
Note: Balloon help is available for all items in the preferences dialog.
STANDARD MODE:
Gumshoeﾕs standard mode is largely self-explanatory. Most of the information it presents is the same as you would find in the Finderﾕs ﾒGet Infoﾓ window. However, there are a few points worth noticing:
Flags: The flags area of the standard info window may be display only (clicking the checkboxes has no effect) or may allow modification (clicking the checkboxes toggles the status of the flag), depending on your settings in the preferences dialog (see above).
Also note that clicking a checkbox does not immediately change the setting for the corresponding flag. Instead, that setting is marked ﾒdirty,ﾓ which makes the ﾒSave Changesﾓ button active. Then, when you click the Save Changes button or press the Enter key, the setting for the flag is actually changed.
This allows you to change your mind and back out without actually making any changes by closing the window and answering ﾔnoﾕ when you are asked if you want to save the changes.
It is beyond the scope of this manual to give exhaustive information on what each flag means and why you might want to set or clear it, but below is a brief explanation:
Alias: This flag is set for a file which is an alias to another file or folder, and cleared if it is not an alias. Note that setting this flag does not actually make the file an alias, any more than clearing it makes it not an alias. The flag is merely an indication to the Finder of how to treat the file.
Invisible: Setting this flag makes the file or folder ﾒinvisible,ﾓ and clearing it makes an invisible item visible. This is a ﾒdown and dirtyﾓ way to ﾔhideﾕ files and folders. It is not however, a safe way to ﾔhideﾕ them: many utilities and some applications (including Gumshoe) routinely display ﾔinvisibleﾕ items in their open and save dialogs. And once someone knows the file is there, itﾕs a simple matter to use Gumshoe (or ResEdit, or any of a dozen others) to make the file visible.
Bundle: This flag is really only meaningful for applications, INITs and cdevs (control panel devices). If such an item has its own icons it would like the Finder to display for the item itself and/or any file types the item creates, it sets this flag to indicate to the Finder that it should read the icon resources into the desktop database. This flag should normally be set for applications, INITs and cdevs, and cleared for everything else.
Name Locked: Basically the same as System 6ﾕs ﾔBozoﾕ bit (for the historians among you), this flag indicates to the Finder that it should not allow the itemﾕs name or icon to be changed. The item may still be moved, duplicated or deleted, however. For a slightly more secure ﾔlock,ﾕ see the ﾔLockedﾕ flag under ﾒExtended Mode.ﾓ
Stationery: This flag indicates to the Finder that it should open a copy of the file, rather than the file itself, any time the file is opened. Implementation of stationery pads is very application-dependent: some applications know what to do with stationery pads, and some donﾕt. If the applicationﾕs ﾔSIZEﾕ resource is set properly, however, the Finder will take over and correctly handle a stationery pad, even if the application doesnﾕt know what to do with it. Generally speaking, you may safely set this bit for any file, but it should be cleared for applications and folders.
Custom Icon: This flag indicates to the finder that the item has a custom icon which the Finder should display for it. As with the alias bit, setting this flag does not actually give the item a custom icon, and clearing it does not delete the icon resources for the item; it is merely an indication to the Finder of how it should handle the item.
Inited: If this flag is set, it indicates that the information for the item has been read into the desktop database. If it is cleared, the information has not yet been read into the desktop database. (About the only time youﾕll see it cleared is when youﾕve just created or moved an item to your disk and havenﾕt yet restarted your computer; files that do not have their ﾔinitedﾕ flag set are read into the desktop database at startup.)
No INITs: Valid only for files of type ﾔcdevﾕ (control panels), this flag indicates whether or not the control panel has code the computer needs to load at startup. If the flag is set, the control panel has no startup code. If the flag is cleared, the control panel does have startup code. It shouldnﾕt hurt to set this flag for anything thatﾕs not in the System folder, but it wonﾕt accomplish anything either.
Shared: This flag is set if the item is shared via the Sharing Setup control panel, and cleared otherwise.
Creator: This four-character string indicates to the Finder who the creator of this item is. The Finder uses this information, along with the File Type (see below) to determine what icon to display for the item (among other things). Changing a fileﾕs creator will cause the application represented by the new creator to be launched when you double-click the file (assuming that application can open the appropriate type).
Type: This four-character string represents the type of file. This information, coupled with the creator, indicates to the Finder what icon to display for the item, as well as what application should be used to open the item. If the application represented by the creator (see above) is not available, the Finder will look for other applications which can open the specified file-type (e.g., if the type is TEXT, the Finder will ask if you want to open the file with TeachText or SimpleText, whichever is available).
The rest of the information in standard mode is basically identical to that provided by the Finder in its ﾒGet Infoﾓ window, and really needs no explanation, with the following exception: if the ﾒAlso allow information to be modifiedﾓ radio button is selected in the preferences dialog and you click the itemﾕs icon in the standard info window, Gumshoeﾕs powerful Icon Pasteboard dialog is opened, allowing you to paste in a new custom or standard icon for the item. See the section ﾒIcon Pasteboardﾓ for more information.
EXTENDED MODE:
Gumshoeﾕs extended mode is where the real power lies. All of the information included in standard mode is also included in extended mode, and much more besides. For an explanation of the ﾒFlagsﾓ section of the window and the creator and type edit areas, see the ﾒStandard Modeﾓ section above.
Icon: If the preferences settings allow modifications, clicking the itemﾕs icon will open Gumshoeﾕs Icon Pasteboard. See the section ﾒIcon Pasteboard,ﾓ below, for details.
Name Edit Area: This area allows you to rename the item by simply typing a new name here.
Vers2 Edit Area: This area, immediately below the Name edit area, allows you to edit the itemﾕs ﾔversﾕ resource with an ID of 2. This area will only be active if the item already contains a ﾔversﾕ resource with an ID of 2 (at this point, you canﾕt add a ﾔversﾕ resource by using this area).
Note to Programmers: This area displays and edits only the second of the two strings in the itemﾕs ﾔversﾕ resource with an ID of 2. For anything beyond that, youﾕll still have to use ResEdit (or whatever youﾕve been using) -- at least until we come out with an upgrade that handles this better.
Size Button: This button, next to the ﾒSizeﾓ section of the extended info window, displays a dialog with detailed information on the First Allocation Block, the Logical End-of-File and the Physical End-of-File for both the data fork and the resource fork of the file or application (not available for folders or disks).
Move Button: When you click this button, a dialog is displayed asking you to choose a new location for the item. Not available for disks.
Created Edit Area: This area allows you to assign a new creation date for the item. The new date and time should be entered as follows: ﾒmm/dd/(yy)yy;hh:mm:ss,ﾓ or ﾒmm.dd.(yy)yy;hh:mm:ss.ﾓ You need only supply as much information as you want. For instance, ﾒ1/1/95ﾓ is valid, as is ﾒ01/01/95;00:00:00ﾓ and both produce the same results.
Modified Edit Area: As above, but for the modification date of the item.
Backed Up Edit Area: As above, but for the backed up date of the item. For files which have never been backed up by an application which sets the backup date for the files it backs up, this date will be displayed as ﾒFri, Jan 1, 1904 12:00 AMﾓ (the day someone at Apple decided the Universe began -- this corresponds to a date of zero).
Version Edit Area: This area allows you to directly edit the ﾔversﾕ resource of an item by typing new version information here.
Note to Programmers: This area displays and edits only the second of the two strings in the itemﾕs ﾔversﾕ resource with an ID of 1. For anything beyond that, youﾕll still have to use ResEdit (or whatever youﾕve been using) -- at least until we come out with an upgrade that handles this better.
Creator/Type Edit Areas: These areas are the same as those explained under ﾒStandard Mode,ﾓ above.
Set Same asﾉ: This button, immediately below the extended info windowﾕs text entry areas for Creator and Type, opens a file dialog which allows you select a file from which you would like to ﾒstealﾓ creator and type codes. The file dialog has two checkboxes, ﾒChange Creatorﾓ and ﾒChange Type,ﾓ which allow you to specify whether you want to ﾒstealﾓ creator only, type only or both (if both checkboxes are marked) from the file you select.
Suggested/Minimum/Preferred Size Edit Areas: As described under ﾒStandard Mode,ﾓ above, with the exception that in extended mode, the applicationﾕs Suggested size may also be modified.
Note to Programmers: Changing the suggested size modifies the applicationﾕs ﾔSIZEﾕ resource with an ID of -1. Changing either of the other values modifies (and/or adds if necessary) ﾔSIZEﾕ resources with the IDs of 0 and 1.
Comments Edit Area: The same as the comments edit area of the Finderﾕs ﾒGet Infoﾓ window. Note that these comments are stored in the same place as the Finderﾕs comments (the desktop database), and so go away when you rebuild the desktop, just as they do when entered from the Finder. In fact, adding a comment here is identical to adding it from the Finder, and vice versa.
Extended Flags: In addition to the flags explained in the ﾒStandard Modeﾓ section, extended mode provides three additional flags. These are ﾒLockedﾓ (much the same as the Name Locked flag explained in the ﾒStandard Modeﾓ section, but also indicates that the file may not be opened for writing, nor may it be duplicated, deleted or moved), ﾒRes Fork Openﾓ (the resource fork of this file is open if this flag is set) and ﾒData Fork Openﾓ (the data fork of the file is open if the flag is set).
Each of these extended flags has a button beside it which will toggle its status. (These flags were handled this way because there are occasions when Gumshoe cannot toggle the status of these items, and ﾒgraying outﾓ the checkbox that indicates the flagﾕs status was distracting.)
Setting or clearing the ﾒLockedﾓ flag is much the same as setting or clearing any of the ﾒnormalﾓ flags, as described in the ﾒStandard Modeﾓ section: clicking the button marks the checkbox and sets the window ﾒdirty,ﾓ but does not actually change the status of the flag until you click the Save Changes button or type Command-S.
The Res Fork Open and Data Fork Open flags operate a bit differently, however. Opening the resource or data fork by clicking the appropriate button takes effect immediately, and its effects last only as long as Gumshoe is open (these flags do not permanently change any settings).
What Gumshoe does when you click these buttons is to internally open a path to the specified fork with the highest permission level that is currently allowed. You wonﾕt see any results (other than the flagﾕs checkbox being marked). This option might come in handy for programmers under certain circumstances, but others will seldom if ever have any reason to use it.
Window Edit Areas: Available only for folders, typing new values in these boxes assigns new values to the rectangle the Finder uses to specify the window to open when the folder is opened.
Note: You may graphically edit these values by clicking the Edit button below the Window edit areas and beside the Scrolled By edit areas. This opens the Finderﾕs window for the folder and allows you to resize and scroll it as you wish. The values in the boxes will then be updated when Gumshoe is brought back to the front after editing the window.
Scrolled By Edit Areas: Available only for folders, typing new values in these boxes allows you to specify by how much the folderﾕs window is scrolled when it opens. You may graphically edit these values by clicking the Edit button beside this area (see the note above).
Icon Location Edit Areas: Typing new values in these boxes allows you to specify a new point for the upper left corner of the itemﾕs icon within the window in which it is displayed.
Note: You may graphically edit the iconﾕs location by clicking the Edit button next to this area. This opens the window in which the item appears and allows you to move the icon to the position you wish. The values in the boxes will then be updated when Gumshoe is brought back to the front after editing the icon location.
ﾒPut Awayﾓ Directory ID Edit Area: To assign a new ﾔhardﾕ ID of the directory to which this item will be moved when the Finderﾕs ﾒPut Awayﾓ command is used, type the ID in this box.
Note: If you prefer, or if you donﾕt know the ﾔhardﾕ ID of the directory, you may click the Choose button next to this area. This will display a file dialog asking you to choose a new ﾒPut Awayﾓ directory. The value in the box will be updated to represent whichever directory you choose from the dialog.
Lauch Button: Not available for directories, this button has the same effect for other items as double-clicking the item from the Finder.
Reference Num: For an open file, this is the Finderﾕs reference number for its path to the file. This will always be zero for files which are not open.
ﾔHardﾕ ID: A number which uniquely identifies this item to the Finder. This number is assigned when the item is copied onto the volume.
Parentﾕs ﾔHardﾕ ID: A unique identifier for the folder in which this item resides. A parent ID of 2 always indicates that the item is at the root level of its volume. A parent ID of 1 indicates that the item is the volume itself.
Items in Directory: If the item is a directory (folder), this will tell you the number of items in the directory, counting sub-directories as one item and ignoring the items within those sub-directories (as opposed to the count given in the Size area, which counts all items within all sub-directories).
ICON PASTEBOARD:
Gumshoeﾕs Icon Pasteboard is a powerful dialog which allows you to assign new custom or native icons to almost anything. It is not, however, a bit-level graphical editor (donﾕt throw away your copy of ResEdit quite yetﾉ but the bit-level graphical editor is coming).
If the icons you want to paste to this item already exist as an icon suite (resources of type ICN#, icl4, icl8, ics#, ics4 and ics8) in the resource fork of any file, youﾕre all ready to go. If not, create a new resource file (using ResEditﾉ see, we told you not to toss it) and save the icon resources to it. Then display Gumshoeﾕs Icon Pasteboard by getting information on the file or folder for which you want to change the icon and clicking the itemﾕs icon in the information window.
When the Icon Pasteboard comes up, youﾕll see the itemﾕs ﾔoriginalﾕ icons displayed on the left of the dialog (obviously, unless your monitor is displaying at least 256 colors the icons beyond your current bit-depth will be displayed at the highest bit-depth possible, but not correctly). On the right are ﾒemptyﾓ boxes ready to receive the new, replacement icons for the item.
Click either the ﾒReplace Originalﾓ or ﾒUse as Custom Iconﾓ radio button, depending on which you want to do. If you already have an icon resource on the clipboard (from cutting or copying it in ResEdit or whatever), you may select the corresponding icon from the area on the right by clicking within its box and then type Command-V (Paste) or click the Paste Individual button. If you want, you may copy each icon in individually this way; but that becomes a bit tedious.
And thatﾕs where the Icon Pasteboardﾕs real power comes in. Click the ﾒGet Icon from Fileﾉﾓ button. A dialog comes up asking you to locate the file that contains the icon resources you want to use for this item. If the file you select contains more than one icon suite, another dialog will come up with a scrollable list of all the icon suites contained within the file; select an icon from the scrollable list and click the OK button or press the Enter key. If the file you select only has one icon suite, you donﾕt have to do anything else: youﾕve just moved an entire suite of icons to the clipboard at once.
Now all you have to do is type Command-V (Paste) or click the Paste Suite button. The entire suite is pasted into the Replacement boxes on the right at once. (See how painless that was!)
By clicking the Done button or pressing the Enter key, you mark the main information window ﾒdirtyﾓ and temporarily paste the new icon in for this item. At this point you may still back out of the change by closing the information window and answering ﾔnoﾕ to the dialog asking if you want to save the changes. To make the change permanent, click the Save button or type Command-S. This updates the resources for the item and also updates the desktop database with the new icon (if appropriate) -- that means you wonﾕt have to rebuild the desktop just to see your new icon! (Youﾕll probably have to restart -- the Finder tends to be very tenacious in holding onto its cache of icons -- but thatﾕs not as painful as restarting and rebuilding the desktopﾉ)
One last note on the Icon Pasteboard: Gumshoe makes its ﾒbest guessﾓ as to whether or not you will have to restart the machine in order to see the new icons, and, when you quit, asks if you would like to restart the computer if it thinks it will be necessary. Switch to the Finder and check before automatically answering ﾒRestartﾓ to this dialog: there may be occasions when the Finder actually caught up to what we were doing but Gumshoe assumed it wouldnﾕt. Conversely, be aware that there may be occassions when Gumshoe does not think a restart is necessary and the Finder does. If thereﾕs a way to know with 100% accuracy whether a restart is necessary or not, we havenﾕt found it yet.
That covers the ﾒhigh points.ﾓ Experiment and see just what Gumshoe is capable of. But if you donﾕt know exactly what the effects of changing an option will be, itﾕs best to work on a copy rather than the original item. And donﾕt go changing values just to change them. Some of the settings could conceivably damage things pretty good if theyﾕre changed indiscriminately to ﾒwildﾓ values. None of the changes should affect anything beyond the item theyﾕre working on itself, but thatﾕs not a guarantee.
The bottom line is: if you donﾕt know what youﾕre doing, leave it alone. Shepherdﾕs Pi Software is not responsible for any damage you may cause from using or misusing Gumshoe.
Enjoy! And donﾕt forget to register. Gumshoe is shareware, not freeware. You may register your copy of Gumshoe by sending $15.00 US (check or money order only ﾑ sorry, no credit cards) to:
Shepherdﾕs Pi Software
3408 S. Rusk St.
Amarillo, TX 79109
For technical support (registered owners only!) you may write us at the address above or contact us at:
ShepherdPi@aol.com
We also enjoy hearing what you like (or donﾕt like) about our products and any ideas you might have for making them better. Drop us a note on-line, or by ﾒsnail mail.ﾓ We try to answer everyone, but be patient; people who need legitimate technical support get first priority, and everyone else gets answered as we can.
