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1988-03-18
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SmartIcon 1.0 - A task-transparent Intuition objects iconifier.
-------------
Copyright ⌐ 1988 Gauthier H. Groult
Written by Gauthier H. Groult in January 1988
Postal address: Gauthier H. Groult
33, Boulevard Saint Denis
92400 Courbevoie, France, Europe
Email: seismo!mcvax!inria!geocub!itecom!groult
Permission is hereby granted to anyone to distribute this software
FOR NON COMMERCIAL PURPOSES ONLY, and as long as the two text files
comming with the binary are kept with it.
This program is a SHAREWARE program. Please read the "Registration"
section BEFORE installing the program in your startup!
SCOPE OF THIS FILE
------------------
This file is divided in x sections:
1. Features and installation
2. Bugs
3. Registration
4. Updates preview
1. FEATURES AND INSTALLATION
----------------------------
SmartIcon 1.0 is an Intuition objects iconifier. Version 1.0 is
limited to windows.
The main feature of this program is to add a gadget to an Intuition
window and let you iconify the window by just selecting that gadget.
The icon produced for the window is a true Workbench file icon,
created in the Ram Disk directory. Thus it has the original
qualities of Workbench icons, but also the drawbacks.
SmartIcon is transparent: the program running on the iconified
window doesn't even notice that his window is not on the display
anymore. This is because (almost) all the resources attached to
the window remain opened and available to the task while the window
is iconified.
SmartIcon lets you iconify windows supporting heavy graphics like
the Box or Dots demos windows.
To install the program, just double-click on its icon then click in
the window.
All the opened windows with depth gadgets will then be patched, on
all screens. All future windows will also be patched (try opening a
Workbench drawer).
To iconify the window, just click on the new "system" gadget, and
an icon will be created in the ram disk while the window is hidden.
Double click on this icon and your window will come back, while the
icon will be removed!
SmartIcon can be started from the Workbench or CLI. If started from
the CLI, it support one argument:
SmartIcon -f
will install the program without displaying the startup window. This
is convenient for installing the program in your startup-sequence
once you have registered...
Once installed, SmartIcon can be removed by a CTRL_C or a BREAK C.
This means that you cannot actually remove it when it is launched
from the Workbench.
You can kill SmartIcon even if some of your windows are still
iconified, you will still be able to re-open them.
SmartIcon works fine in conjunction with DropCloth and DropShadow.
For developpement purposes: your task will receive a GADGETUP
message with a code value of 11366 when its window is iconified.
What you should NOT do:
-----------------------
1. Do not iconify the Ram Disk drawer window: you wouldn't be
able to acces the icons it contains anymore, and the files
do not run from the CLI!
2. Do not discard (trash) an iconified window's icon: you would
loose the possibility to reveal the window.
2. Bugs
-------
Revision 1.0 of SmartIcon as some undesirable features which may be
considerated as bugs.
The first problem is a system bug: the Workbench does not update the
icon display when a file is removed or added unless you close and
re-open the drawer/disk window. This is why you do not see the
window icon when you just iconify it and when the Ram Disk window is
opened. This is also the reason why the window icon will pertain in
the opened Ram Disk window or on the Workbench window when you
reveal a window.
SmartIcon iconifies only window with depth gadgets. It will have no
effects on windows with no depth gadgets like DropCloth's window.
The Ram Disk window can be iconified: doing this is a dire strait.
Some windows with depth gadgets will not be patched correctly. This
is the case, for instance, of the System Request windows (sight!).
The reason why it doesn't work is not known to me yet. It is likely
that these windows are not opened trough a normal Intuition library
call, but rather trough a direct jump at an absolute address.
A few windows will crash the system when iconified. They are very
rare, and the reason is still unknown. A good example is the NewZap
window.
Trying to iconify programs being real wild on Intuition or Layers
lists can cause SmartIcon or the system to crash. Altough I know
this is possible, I haven't found any case of this yet. It seems
that most of the Amiga software is clean, which is great.
The program does not currently test for existing files in the ram
disk. Thus windows with unappropriate names may trash ram disk
files. This is unlikely, tough.
A small bug will trash the icon gadget when a window is made very
small and when the title is longer than the title bar. This is only
a display bug, it as no effect on the program. It is corrected when
the window is enlarged again.
3. REGISTRATION
---------------
SmartIcon is NOT a freeware program. It is SHAREWARE, and priced at
$15 to $20 or 100 to 120 French Francs (or anything more!).
If you intend to USE it or KEEP this program, please send your
registration fare at the postal address mentioned on top of this
file.
By doing so, you will:
1. Gain access to the program sources and technical information.
The detailed and clearly commented source files cover topics
such as:
a) Intuition list browsing
b) Layers
c) Intuition and Exec libraries traps
d) Icon library
e) Workbench and CLI arguments
f) Coding binary files in C
g) Lists management
and more...
All sources are for Lattice C compiler and MC68000 assembler.
The sources will be mailed to you IMMEDIATLY upon receival of
your registration.
2. Register for free futures updates of SmartIcon. Read the next
section for a description of expedted updates.
3. Support developpement of (good) software for the Amiga.
4. Let next similar programs be freeware.
You might think that the fare is more expensive than for usual
equivalent shareware programs: please note that the user support
will in most cases include at least two overseas mailings.
4. UPDATES PREVIEW
------------------
I intend to add many features to the next revisions of SmartIcon.
Revision 2.0 will include:
1. Bug fix for the windows not being patched in 1.0 (I WANT to
be abble to iconify those Sofware Failures!!), plus various
other bug fixes.
2. User selectable option to force depth gadgets on windows that
open without (I WANT to be abble to iconify that DropCloth!!).
3. Support for Intuition Screens iconification.
4. Support for a user supplied path for the window icons and
screen icons directories.
5. User selectable lenght for the window icons names.
6. Maybe some code to force Workbench update if this is made
possible under 1.3 (can you read me, Dale?).
7. Smaller and faster code.
8. Better memory usage.
9. Nice user interface.
All suggestions, comments, donations are welcome. Please feel free to
write me!
Special thanks to every single programmer who placed its software in
public domain. I feel that what has been done and what is going on
with public domain on the Amiga is just wonderful. Moreover, it has
been very helpful to me.