TaskMan is an extension which adds the ability to switch between running processes using the keyboard.
WHATﾕS NOT NEW?
Sorry! Please forgive me, but this release does not include the much awaited support for key customization. Iﾕm more than aware of those of you out there who cannot use TaskMan because of key conflicts with applications such as FileMaker Pro, 4th Dimension, and Excel 4.0. Please accept my sincere apologyﾑI promise itﾕs on the top of my hit list.
SO WHAT IS NEW THEN?
There have been many many improvements to TaskMan which have occurred in tiny increments over the past several months. The truth is that Iﾕve had very little time to do anything with it, and what I have done Iﾕve just been keeping rather selfishly to myself. Realizing that many of you would benefit from these improvements, Iﾕve decided to release it in itﾕs current state as version 1.2.
And hereﾕs what you get:
ﾑ No more ﾒTaskMan Rouletteﾓ when you hold down any of the process cycling keys!
ﾑ Keyboard navigation in the process list (Just type the name of a process to select it!)
ﾑ Generic icons for desk accessories are now drawn instead of the generic application icon.
ﾑ Processes cycle from front to back making switching between two applications much easier!
ﾑ The icons of hidden processes are dimmed.
ﾑ The most recent process is automatically selected when the process list is activated.
ﾑ Using Option-Tab (instead of Command-Tab) hides the active application before switching!
BACKGROUND
When using multiple applications, switching between them becomes tedious when having to repeatedly click on the windows of inactive processes, or use the Application menu. TaskMan adds this same functionality to specific key combinations which quickly switch processes without wearing a hole in your mouse pad. TaskMan does this by adopting a similar interface that has been successfully used on other platforms.
USING TASKMAN
Pressing Command-Tab displays a window which shows the name and icon of the next process that will be activated when the Command key is released. Repeatedly pressing the Tab key while keeping the Command key down will repeatedly cycle through all active processes in front to back order. Holding down the Shift key while pressing Command-Tab will cycle through them in the reverse direction.
Pressing Option-Tab works just like Command-Tab except that the active application is hidden before switching.
Pressing Command-Esc will immediately switch to the process furthest from the front. Holding down the Shift key while doing this will switch to the second closest process to the front, sending the active process to the back.
Pressing Control-Esc will open TaskManﾕs Process List window. Here all of the active processes are listed with their corresponding icon. In this window, you can
ﾉselect a process by clicking on it
ﾉclick the ﾒSwitch Toﾓ button, or press the Return key to activate the selected process
ﾉdouble-click a process to activate it
ﾉuse the up and down arrow keys to select the process name above or below the current selection
ﾉtype the name of a process to select it.
ﾉselect more than one process with the Shift or Command keys held down
ﾉselect all processes by choosing ﾒSelect Allﾓ from the ﾒEditﾓ menu
ﾉquit the selected process or processes by pressing the ﾒQuit Processﾓ button
ﾉclick the ﾒCancelﾓ button, press the Esc key, or choose ﾒQuitﾓ from the ﾒFileﾓ menu to close the Process List window
ﾉactivate another process by clicking on one of itﾕs windows, which also closes the Process List window
INCOMPATIBILITIES
Because TaskMan intercepts keystrokes at the system level, incompatibilities exist when other software is expecting to receive any of the key combinations used by TaskMan. While this shouldnﾕt cause any problems, it may be quite annoying when using one of these keys cause you to switch to another process. So far, I have received many reports of such incompatibilities with 4th Dimension, Excel 4.0, and FileMaker Pro as well as many others. Unfortunately, thereﾕs no ﾒquick fixﾓ for this, but I promise that a future version of TaskMan will support reassignment of the keys TaskMan uses. Regrettably, these incompatibilities may make TaskMan too bothersome to use in the meantime.
FINDER FUN
Because desk accessories are managed by the Finder, several things happen when the Finder is not running. First of all, items in your Apple Menu Items folder will disappear, making them inaccessible until the Finder is running again. In addition, any desk accessories that were open cannot be quit from the Process List window; they will have to be quit from the desk accessory itself. And because File Sharing is also closely integrated with the Finder, it is disabled anytime the Finder is not running.
Since the Process Manager will not restart the Finder until there are no other processes running, and because of the problems mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is usually not a good idea to quit the Finder. However, this feature is supported for those rare circumstances when keeping the Finder running is not desirable.
TASKMAN WILL NOT LOAD UNDER SYSTEM 8!
I will probably go to Programmerﾕs Hell for this, but after careful consideration and testing, I decided to use undocumented system calls (The Layer Manager) to allow TaskMan to deal with processes in their actual front-to-back order. Apple says, ﾒDonﾕt even think of doing this because it _will_ break in System 8!ﾓ And so it will. But the way I see it is that all good utility software fills a need that the system does not currently provide. TaskMan fills that need NOW. If that need still exists when System 8 is released, TaskMan will be updated appropriately. But why suffer in the meantime?
POWER TOOL DISCLAIMER
As with all of my other freeware, TaskMan was written with simplicity and elegance in mind. If you are looking for the ultimate-do-everything-task-processor, TaskMan is probably not for you. But if it suits your needs perfectly, then just smile because itﾕs also FREE.
FORMALITIES
TaskMan is FREE and may be distributed to anyone by any means as long it remains unaltered, is accompanied by this file, and is not sold for profit. If you have access to internet FTP sites, please upload it so my friends around the world can find it! Send bugs, questions, and comments to me at:
Paul Cunningham
PO BOX 1923
Mango FL 33550-1923
AOL: TKS Paul
CompuServe: 75020,3540 (preferred)
Internet: 75020.3540@compuserve.com
P.S.
A BIG thank you to all of you who have sent me e-mail showing your support.
Your correspondence is sincerely appreciated and will not be forgotten!
