IconWrap II is an extension that makes sure the startup icons for your system extensions and control panels march across the screen in nice orderly rows. Mac system extensions follow a set of de facto standards for displaying their startup icons, but some are a little more capable than others. Almost everyone's icons march horizontally across the screen very well these days, but some still fall apart when they reach the right hand side of the screen and have to start a new row above the first. Others just refuse to be put in the second row and hop back down to the first, causing havoc on the screen (OK, not really, but it sounds more exciting than saying "they leave this little blank space...").
IconWrap II is loosely based on Ken McLeod's original IconWrap, though most of it was rewritten in the update. Thanks to Ken for his advice and permission to release IconWrap II, and thanks to all the programmers that have publicly provided example code to promote the startup icon positioning standard.
How Do I Use It?
Just drag " IconWrap II" and "ﾑIconWrap II Cleanup" onto your System folder. When you are asked whether you want to put them in the appropriate places, click OK. Note that these files are named so that they load, respectively, before most other extensions, and after all other control panels. This is necessary for them to operate correctly.
PowerMac Compatibility:
Note that while IconWrap II is compatible with all Macintoshes and PowerMacs, it is not yet PowerMac native. In most cases, the IconWrap II Cleanup control panel will remove the patches that IconWrap makes to your system, so performance will not suffer.
IconWrap II Cleanup shows a number when it loads, indicating how many patches are left installed. Ideally, it should begin at 4 and count down to zero. If other extensions patch the same functions, however, it is not currently able to clean up everything, so the countdown may stop at 1, 2, 3, or even 4. While this is not ideal, it makes very little difference unless the CopyBits trap is left patched and you're running on a PowerMac. If this happens, IconWrap II Cleanup will display a red exclamation mark over its startup icon.
If IconWrap II Cleanup displays the red exclamation mark and you have PowerMac native programs such as games that use CopyBits to do fast, frequent screen updates, IconWrap II will impact their performance. You may want to remove IconWrap II from your system, or use a tool such as TattleTech (available as shareware via most online services and the Internet) to determine which other extensions are patching CopyBits□. You may be able to work around the problem by changing the name of IconWrap II so it loads later in the startup sequence (but make sure it's still in the first row of icons).
Please note that if you have a 680x0 Macintosh, none of this applies to you. The impact of IconWrap II's patches on the performance of these Macs is minimal, though IconWrap II Cleanup is still worth having - it never hurts to get rid of any overhead you can.
How Much Does It Cost?
Nothing. IconWrap II is free, though it remains a copyrighted product. All rights are retained by St. Clair Software. It is also freely distributable, as long as all of the original files accompany the software.
If you have any bug reports, suggestions, or other comments, please send them to
Internet: gotow@stclairsw.com
America Online: StClairSW
CompuServe: 72330,3455
The most recent versions of all of St. Clair Software's products can be accessed via FTP from ftp.stclairsw.com in the stclairsw directory (ftp://ftp.stclairsw.com/stclairsw/). If you're a web surfer, take a look at our web page at http://www.stclairsw.com/stclairsw/.
Revision History:
- version 1.2 - Fixed many problems with certain classes of extensions
(including Suitcase, Deep Thought, Click There it Is, OtherMenu, and
Random Beep). Operation is now much more consistent in different setups.
Added the IconWrap II Cleanup control panel to undo patches when possible.
- version 1.1 - Corrected startup icon display problem with Now Startup
Manager. Fixed problems with MyEyes 2.1 and other faceless background
