◊ This program is distributed as Shareware: if you like it or use it please honor the shareware system by sending $5 to the author at the address above. Since collecting international cheques is very expensive, please send cash only. If you MUST send a cheque, keep in mind that the banks will gobble up more than half of it.
◊ NOTE: Getting some (usually very few) bucks is what you write shareware for, but getting a note, a postcard or anything else is a lot better than getting nothing. I would like to know how far this program has gone, so remember that you can do something nice even if you do not have a couple of $$$ to spare.
• GENERAL INFO
◊ Folder Icon Cleaner is a small utility that lets you get rid correctly of those space and time wasting custom icons, sticked right there on your folders. Let me explain why I say “correctly”. The Finder keeps every folder icon in a separate hidden file. The known versions of the Finder (7.0, 7.0.1, 7.1) do not delete this file when removing a custom folder icon. They only delete the icon resources from the file. Note that no other information is kept into these “Icon” files. Folder Icon Cleaner correctly removes the icon by deleting the file (and by updating the “Use custom icon” attribute of the folder). No data is lost, you only gain a little more free space on your disk. You can achieve this by dragging the folder onto Folder Icon Cleaner; you will be asked for confirmation, and in case you get bored you can skip this message by holding down the option key. Yes, it is so simple.
You may ask: I have deleted a lot of custom icons using the Finder on my disk right there; how can I wipe out these nasty hidden “Icon” files the Finder has left all over my disk? Try dragging your disk onto Folder Icon Cleaner. You can erase only the disk’s icon. You can erase all those hidden (“unused”) space-eating files. You can even erase EVERY custom folder icon on your disk.
◊ Folder Icon Cleaner can be launched multiple times in a networking environment.
◊ Folder Icon Cleaner is intelligent enough to use temporary memory (if available), so you do not have to get mad setting its memory partition.
◊ Folder Icon Cleaner can only be used under System 7 or later; if you try to start it up under older versions of the System you will get an error message. However, it is rather useless on a System 6-or-older Macintosh.
◊ When cleaning single folders, you should hear the system beep if no “Icon” file is present (or an error prevented deletion), and a “Boom!” sound if the deletion occurred successfully. When scanning an entire disk, you may hear only Booms when deleting. The Boom sound is played asynchronously, so that the Mac is not interrupted when searching for icons. If you own a Macintosh equipped with an Apple Sound Chip and lots of icons are being removed, you might hear Booms one over the other. If you own a Macintosh without an Apple Sound Chip and lots of icons are being removed, you might hear only one Boom at a time.
◊ If you change your mind while Folder Icon Cleaner is examining your disk, press Esc or Command-period to stop it.
◊ You should notice that Folder Icon Cleaner is extremely FAST. Its rather awesome speed was made possible by the new searching routines provided by System 7. My hard disk, a Quantum LP80S (80 Mb), is scanned in no more than two seconds.
◊ I have to admit that the visual cleaning effect does not occur instantly. The Finder updates the folder appearance when you close it and keep it close for a while (if you reopen it immediately, sometimes the folder retains its old appearance). I have tried to minimize this inconvenience by sending a Close Window Apple Event to the Finder when you drag folders over Folder Icon Cleaner. I don’t close windows when working on an entire disk.
So if your folders still have the custom icon, don't worry. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. The Finder will update them later.
◊ During the testing phase I have discovered another bug in the Finder. Create a custom icon over a folder; delete it, either with Folder Icon Cleaner, or with the Get Info dialog in the Finder; now create a different icon and paste it over the same folder. You will not see the new icon, but the OLD one! Needless to say, this bug persists in the Finder 7.1.
◊ Yet another bug (it does not seem a feature) in the Finder: if you tell the Finder to close a closed window, it will not ignore the request (as one would expect); rather, it opens and immediately closes the window. This is unfortunate, because this weird behavior can show up if you drop onto Folder Icon Cleaner an alias of a folder. It is impossible for me to fix it, because I cannot ask the Finder if a given window is open or closed.
◊ I wrote Folder Icon Cleaner for every Mac user tired of waiting … have you ever tried opening a folder with 10 or more custom-icon-ized folders? On a floppy disk it looks slow even on a Quadra. I recently tried a development version of Folder Icon Cleaner on a 300 Mbyte removable magneto-optical disk, literally full of custom icons. Opening folders in the Finder was a pain in the butt. I chose to erase ALL the icons, and was a Boom-Boom for less than a minute. Now the disk is faster than ever and folders open rapidly (it is a IIfx, though).
Be happy. Now you can kill them all in a one-shot fashion (killing icons is perfectly legal here in Italy).
• DISCLAIMER
◊ “No warranties at all, either express or implied…” “All trademarks are held by their respective owners…” and all that stuff.
This application should do no damage, but if it does then you will be on your own. Let me know of any bugs you run into, anyway.
• VERSION HISTORY:
◊ 1.0.3 - Added my e-mail address in the About… box; minor internal improvements.
◊ 1.0.2 - The little quirk added for Virtual Memory users actually included a REAL bug, so that Folder Icon Cleaner worked ONLY with Virtual Memory turned on. I apologize for the problems you might have had.
◊ 1.0.1 - There is a little quirk added for Virtual Memory users: Folder Icon Cleaner used to grab a lot of memory to speed up searches. It actually caused a lot of “thrashing” (frenzied disk activity) to take place when physical memory was at a premium.
◊ 1.0 - First release.
◊ 1.0b4 - Minor internal improvements.
◊ 1.0b3 - Changed the layout of every alert message to conform more closely to the Apple Human Interface Guidelines.
◊ 1.0b2 - Better handling of possible changes in the catalog during the search.
◊ 1.0b1 - Added the Close Finder Window feature.
◊ 1.0a5 - Redesigned the alert added in 1.0a4 to respect more closely the Human Interface Guidelines.
◊ 1.0a4 - Corrected a bug caused by a nasty error in Inside Macintosh VI. Check IM VI (25-37) and compare with IM V (392): the PBHGetVolParms parameter block description misses a line. You need to initialize the field named ioFileName (ioNamePtr) otherwise you risk a serious bus or address error. The code example in IM VI (25-14/15) is faulty for this reason. On the contrary, the New Inside Macintosh is correct. Furthermore, you now have a chance to resume “cleaning” if you press esc inadvertently.
◊ 1.0a3 - Added the progress dialog (and a SystemTask() call where necessary).
◊ 1.0a2 - An alpha testing version I distributed during my trip in the United States at MacWorld Expo in Boston and in several other places.
• THANKS TO…
◊ Alessandro Levi Montalcini, who urged on me so much that I was compelled to write this utility; he helped a lot with suggestions and “spell-grammar checking” (my English sometimes gets crazy). For instance he suggested the “Continue” button in the window that appears after you double-click Folder Icon Cleaner. He suggested the name too: it initially was Folder Icon Killer, but I thought it was terribly violent; so I switched to Folder Icon Eraser, but it sounded awful; his final suggestion was immediately accepted.
• HAVE FUN! And don't forget to $$$ SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION $$$ so that more cool utilities will see the light in the near future, at the lower costs of shareware.
For errors, suggestions, and others send e-mail to Fabrizio.Oddone%bbs@osra.sublink.org
