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Contents:
Using Virtual
Vocabulary
Moving windows
Switching virtual screens
Sticky windows
Interaction with VirtualDog
I lost a window, how do I get it back?
Additional features
Preferences
General
Appearence
HotKeys
VirtualDog
Using VirtualStrip
･ Using Virtual:ﾊ
don't worry if Virtual doesn't look like this
on your Mac. It's just that you aren't using
Aaron, or are using a version prior to 1.3.
Vocabulary:
･ virtual screen: I guess you know what this is, by now. In the above screen shot each one of the four gray rectangles represents one virtual screen.
･ the active virtual screen: the virtual screen that you can see on your monitor at the moment. Virtual shows you which one of the virtual screens is the active virtual screen by drawing it in a darker shade of gray (by default), or drawing a wider border around it, if you are using a background image. A small menu bar is drawn at the top of the active virtual screen.
･ the frontmost application: the application that you are currently interacting with. This application owns the menu bar and has its icon all the way at the left of the menu bar. In Virtual, the windows that belong to this application are drawn hilited in blue (by default).
･ sticky window: a window that always stays in the active virtual screen, which means it's always drawn in your real screen. Sticky windows are hilited in green (by default). The Virtual window, of course, is sticky. So are the Finder icons that reside on your desktop (like the hard-disk icons and the trash). You can make other windows sticky if you want to always have them on your screen. You might want to stick the windows created by Stickies for example (the little Post-It notes utility that comes with System 7.5).
･ sticky application: an application which always has all of its windows on the active virtual screen. The effects are the same as if all the windows were sticky, except that any new window is automatically sticky as well and all of its windows must be sticky.
･ the main application (for a virtual screen): the application that was frontmost when that virtual screen was last active. If you make that virtual screen active again, it will make this application frontmost again.
･ dogged application: an application you have set VirtualDog to monitor. Doing this associates the application with a particular virtual screen. VirtualDog will then make sure that all windows opened by the application open in the virtual screen you specified.
Moving windows:
･ you can move your windows between virtual screens by clicking on their representation in the Virtual window and dragging to their new location.
･ if you hold the command (Apple) key while you drag the window to another virtual screen, it will be placed at the exact same place, in the new virtual screen.
･ if you hold the shift key while you drag the window, you will move all the windows that belong to the application.
･ if you hold both shift and command while dragging a window, all the windows that belong to the application will be aligned in the new virtual screen in the same positions as in the old one.
･ if you hold the control key while dragging a window to another virtual screen, Virtual will switch to that screen.
Note: you cannot move a sticky window out of the active virtual screen, and you cannot move a window that belongs to a dogged application out of the virtual screen it is associated with.
Other note: Unlike some Virtual-like utilities on Unix, you cannot drag a real window and drop it somewhere in the Virtual window. The reverse is also true. Either you drag your real windows as you have always done, or you drag their representations in the Virtual window.
Switching virtual screens:
･ if you click in the background of a virtual screen in the Virtual window (outside any window), Virtual will make that virtual screen the active virtual screen. It will also make the main application for that virtual screen the frontmost application.
･ the absolute screen-switching hot keys (command-F1 to command-F15 by default) will have the exact same effect as to click in the background of the corresponding virtual screen.
･ the relative screen-switching hot keys (command-arrow keys by default) will move the active virtual screen one step in the corresponding direction and have the same effect as above.
･ if the 'Mouse-switching' option is checked (see the Preferences section), and you place the mouse near one of the edges of the screen (top, bottom, left or right), Virtual will move the active virtual screen one step in the corresponding direction and have the same effect as above.
･ if you click in a window in the Virtual window, Virtual will switch to the virtual screen the window is in, will make the application that owns the window the frontmost application and will make the window the active window. In addition, the application will be the new main application for that virtual screen.
･ if VirtualDog is enabled, and you make an application the frontmost application with the Finder or the Application menu or any other means except Virtual, and that application is dogged, Virtual will automatically make the associated virtual screen the active virtual screen.
･ if you press the jump-to-window hot key (command-tab by default), Virtual will present you with a list of windows you can jump to. If you select one of these, Virtual will make the virtual screen that window is in the active virtual screen, will make the application that owns the window the frontmost application and will make the window the active window.
Sticky windows:
･ you make a window sticky by holding the option key down while clicking on the window in the Virtual window. The window hilites in green (by default). If the window is not in the active virtual screen, it will be moved there.
･ you make a whole application sticky by holding the option and shift keys down while you click on one of the application's windows. All this application's windows hilite green. If some of the application's windows are not in the active virtual screen, they will be moved there.
･ you unstick a sticky window by option-clicking on it. You unstick a whole sticky application by shift-option-clicking on one of its windows.
Note: you cannot make a window sticky if it doesn't have a name. If you wish to make such a window stick, you can either: use ResEdit to give it a name; or make the whole application sticky.
Other note: if an application is sticky, you cannot unstick only one of its windows, you have to unstick the application.
Interaction with VirtualDog:
･ you make an application dogged by clicking on one of its windows while holding the control key. This dogged application is associated with the virtual screen where the window was located at the time you clicked on it. Virtual beeps in acknowledgement.
･ if you no longer want an application to be dogged, you have to go to the "VirtualDog" preference setting (see below), select the name of the application and click the "delete" button.
Why would I want to make an application dogged?
Many applications can open windows even when the user isn't interacting directly with them. For example, when you double-click on a document in the Finder, the application opens a window in response to your interaction with the Finder. Some applications may open windows in response to an AppleEvent from another application (StuffitExpander when another application wants to uncompress a file), or even whenever they feel like it (Eudora when it checks if you have mail)ﾉ
If these applications are not dogged, when they open their windows, the windows appear in the main virtual screen, instead of in the virtual screen where you expect them to open. This is because the application doesn't know what Virtual is doing with the windows, of course. If the application is dogged, VirtualDog will see when the application attempts to open the window, and will push the window to where you expect it to open.
Also, if you do not make an application dogged, Virtual has no way to know which virtual screen you want to associate with the application, for the simple reason that you may put the windows that belong to that application in different virtual screens. So Virtual wouldn't know which virtual screen to jump to when you make that application the frontmost application. Also, Virtual wouldn't remember where the application was located the last time you ran Virtual.
VirtualDog is a simple, small and fast extension that will not cause problems with other extensions or software. It will have absolutely no effect unless Virtual is running, so you don't have to deinstall it if you know you aren't going to run Virtual during a session. If you do want to disable VirtualDog, just hold the mouse button pressed just before and while the VirtualDog icons appears at the bottom of your screen during startup.
I lost a window, how do I get it back?
Through a bug in the system software, Virtual cannot keep track of windows that are hidden, or windows that belong to applications that have been hidden (by the "Hide Others" or "Hide <application name>" commands in the Application menu). In certain circumstances, this may cause Virtual to place these windows out of sight, out of any virtual screen, so you think these windows are lost. If this happens, just use the "Bring disapeared windows back in Virtual" command in the File menu of Virtual. The windows will be placed in some virtual screen, which may not be the virtual screen you expected them to be. Just move them back by hand. I'm trying to get over this bug, but without success so farﾉ
Additional features:
･ if you click on a window and hold the mouse button down for an instant, a help balloon will give you some information about the window and the application that created it.
･ if the Drag Manager is installed, you can drag an application's icon (or an alias to the application, but not a document or an alias to one) from the Finder or another Drag Manager-aware application onto one of the virtual screens in the Virtual window. This will open the application in that virtual screen.
･ if you click in the zoom-box of the Virtual window, it will toggle between a small and a larger size (see the preference section for how to set both sizes).
･ choose "Virtual Help" in the Help menu for a refresher on how to use Virtual.
･ you can have a background picture instead of the plain background in the Virtual window. Since I do not anticipate great demand for this feature, I did not add it to the preferences. If you do want to have a background picture, just open Virtual with ResEdit (or rather, a copy of Virtual, just in case), and paste a picture. It should be added to the 'PICT' resources. Renumber it to ID 1000. The picture will be stretched to the size of the Virtual window. If you do not want it to be stretched, use a 'ppat' resource instead, with ID 1000.
･ Preferences:ﾊ
At the bottom of the preferences dialog, these 4 buttons allow you to:
･ Reset Panel: cancel the changes you made to that panel only, without exiting the preferences.
･ Apply: look at how the Virtual window would change if you clicked "OK". Some options do not lend themselves well to this, and will not be taken into account. For example, if you change the scale, the size of the Virtual window will change, but the representations of the windows inside it will stay the same size until you click the "OK" button.
General:ﾊ
･ Window type:
- Floating: the Virtual window will float above all other windows.
- Hot Corner (only if 'Floating' is unchecked): Will allow you to select one of the four corners of the screen as the hot corner for Virtual: if you move the mouse there, the Virtual window will come to the top.
- Slow: will wait for an instant before bringing Virtual to the top, so you don't trigger the hot corner by accident.
･ Window size:
- Geometry: sets how many virtual screens you want Virtual to have (horizontal x vertical).
- Scale: sets how much smaller each virtual screen is drawn in the Virtual window, compared to the actual screen of the monitor. Large scales mean a small Virtual window.
- Alt. Scale: the same as above, but for the alternate window size (when you click in the zoom-box in the title bar of the Virtual window.
- No title bar: gets rid of the title bar, so that the Virtual window takes the least possible space on your monitor. When this option is set, you can move the Virtual window by clicking in the background of any virtual screen while holding the control key down, and dragging.
- Use grow box (only if 'Floating' is unchecked): allows you to set the size of the Virtual window (the Scale parameter) by a grow box, drawn as usual in the lower-right corner of the Virtual window.
･ Miscellaneous:
- Hide after launch: if this option is checked, the application that was the frontmost application just before you launched Virtual will be made the frontmost application again just after Virtual has completed startup.
- Mouse-switching: if this option is set, you can switch virtual screens by simply placing the mouse near one edge of the screen (top, bottom, left or right).
- Move Mouse: if this option is activated, when you use the mouse to switch to another screen, the mouse will move to make it appear as if it had just jumped over to the next monitor.
- Auto-switch to main: when this option is selected, Virtual will automatically activate the main application when you switch screen. This is the default, the option is provided for people who didn't like this feature.
Appearence:ﾊ
･ Colors:
- Use color: You can uncheck this checkbox if you really don't want Virtual to use colorﾉ
- To change the color for any element in Virtual, just click in the corresponding color well. The standard color chooser will appear and let you choose the new color.
･ Windows:
- Show application icons: draws the icon of the application that owns each window inside the representation of the window, if there is enough room.
- Dimmed: draws the icon dimmed, for a less agressive effect.
- Show application names: also draws the name of the application.
- Use mini-font for names: uses a custom mini-font to draw the names. Since some characters are not defined in this font (usually because they're too complex to be drawn in a 3x5 matrixﾉ), you might want to use a bigger font that has all the necessary characters and is compatible with language kits. If this option is unchecked, then, the names are drawn using Geneva 9.
Hot Keys:ﾊ
In this section, you can click on any of the rectangles that define a hot key to change that hot key. A window will appear asking you to type the new combination or press the 'Cancel' or 'None' buttons. If you press cancel, the combination will remain where it is; if you press 'None', the feature will be disabled.
･ Jump to screenﾉ: This section defines the hot keys you want to use for absolute screen switching.
･ Relative jump: The hot keys for relative screen switching.
･ Miscellaneous:
- Jump to Window: the hot key you want to use for the built-in window-oriented process switcher built into Virtual (see the section 'Virtual screen switching' for more information about this feature).
- Hide Virtual: defines the hot key that hides/shows the Virtual window. Use this when you want to hide Virtual temporarily to access something beneath the window.
- Consume Keystroke: if this option is unchecked, Virtual will pass the key combination to other applications, so they may react to it. It's a good idea to leave the 'Hide Virtual' hot key to command-esc and the 'Consume Keystroke' option unchecked, because some other applications that use floating windows (like HoverBar, for example) also use this. That way, a single keystroke can hide several floating windows at once.
- Disable all Hot Keys: if you check this option, Virtual will no longer respond to hot keys. Use this option if you normally want Virtual to respond to hot keys, but temporarily don't.
VirtualDog:ﾊ
･ List of "dogged" applications:
The list shows all the names of the applications you have set VirtualDog to watch. The number after each name is the number of the virtual screen you have associated with the application.
If you want to undog an application, just select it in the list and press the "Delete" button. For information on how to make an application dogged, refer to the section "Interaction with VirtualDog".
･ How Virtual reactsﾉ
- Auto move open windows on lauch: if this option is checked, Virtual will automatically move the windows of any open and dogged application to the virtual screen the application is associated with.
- Auto jump to frontmost application's virtual screen: if this option is checked, and you use the Finder or any other means except Virtual to change the application that is frontmost, and if that application is dogged, Virtual will automatically make the virtual screen it is associated with, the active virtual screen.
･ Using Virtual:ﾊ
VirtualStrip will only load if VirtualDog is active. You can use it with any of the Control Strip alternatives, but it's most efficient with Extensions Strip, by Ammon Skidmore.
When Virtual is not running, the module's icon will be crossed in red. You can click on it to open a popup menu that will let you launch Virtual. If it beeps, it means that it could not find Virtual. If that happens and you are sure that Virtual is installed, you can start Virtual by double-clicking on it, and then close it by using the 'Close Virtual' command in the module's popup menu. Next time you try to use the menu to open Virtual, it should remember where to find it.
When Virtual is running, you can close it, or switch to any of the virtual screens by using the module's popup menu. The module's icons indicates which is the active screen at the moment.
VirtualStrip is especially useful if you want to use Virtual but you think it takes too much room. It's an alternative to using the hot-keys.
