The Prepare() Browser is a utility for reading any tree of text files, such as each issue of Prepare(). It has a file selecting interface like ResEdit and MacSnoop, but it deals with text documents. It can read and write documents of up to 32K in size, with or without styling attributes. Even the styled text files can be read by other applications because the styling information is stored separately in a resource.
This copy of The Prepare() Browser also contains the demonstration of the Profiler and a demo window containing many sample lists (available under the Option menu). For more information about the Profiler, see the Profiler Manual. For more information on the list samples, see the source for AListDemoDoc.
Getting Started with The Prepare() Browser
When you run The Prepare() Browser, you will be presented with one or more scrolling lists of files (one for each mounted disk volume). You can open any file or folder by double-clicking on its name or by selecting it and hitting Return or Enter. You can select multiple files and/or folders and open them all simultaneously by double-clicking on any one of the selected items, or hitting Return or Enter. You can also open files using the Standard File interface by using the Open... item in the File menu or by hitting command-O.
The Prepare() Browser also searches for the folder "Prepare()" starting at the directory containing The Prepare() Browser application, and, if found, displays that directory. If The Prepare() Browser application is in the volume window in the finder (i.e., in the root directory), the search can take a long time. To avoid this, put The Prepare() Browser in a folder, or make sure there is a folder named "Prepare()" in the root directory also. This search will be made optional in a future issue of Prepare().
Reading Prepare() using the Spacebar
Hitting the spacebar typically means "Go On" to the Browser. If a directory window is frontmost, it will go to the next file or folder in the list and open it (unless you just selected an item manually, in which case it opens the selected item just as Return or Enter would do). In a non-editable text window, spacebar means "scroll down one page" unless the bottom of the document is currently displayed, in which case it means "close window". The idea is that you can read through an entire tree of files by just hitting the spacebar, and not miss anything. Used in conjunction with arrow keys for the file list and command-W to close the current window, it also provides a fairly good keyboard-only random access file interface for those that prefer it.
Editing Text
The Prepare() Browser is by no means a sophisticated word processor. It can be useful for editing groups of files, however, and will be expanded in the future. It currently owes nearly all of its text editing functionality to the Styled TextEdit routines provided by Apple, and exhibits most of the problems and limitations of those routines.
By default, files opened in the Browser are read-only. You can select and copy text, and save the document under a new name, but cannot make changes to the existing document. If you try to type into a read-only document, the Browser will beep at you. To set the Browser to open editable documents, you select "Allow Edits" from the "Options" menu or hit command-E. As a convenience, this will also set the currently active document (if any) to be editable, so you won't have to close and re-open the document if you just forgot to set Allow Edits before opening it. When editing is allowed, the spacebar is, of course, not available in the document window to scroll down. You can use option-downarrow instead. The functionality of the spacebar may be moved to a non-printing character (such as the Enter key) in the future to avoid this conflict.
Edit text normally, as you would in any Macintosh application. The Font and Text menus show the settings for the beginning of the selection or the character to the left of the insertion point. These are the styles that you will get if you type into the document with the current selection or insertion point. If you select text in which the font information is not the same for the entire selection and change the information using the menus, all the text will be changed to the newly selected attributes (in addition to any attributes that were already on for the beginning of the selection).
You can use the option key with the arrow keys to scroll the text in pages. This does not change the position of the insertion point or the selection.
Pasted text appears with the styles that it had when copied, or, if the copied text has no styling information, in the same font and style you would get if you typed the text. The Prepare() Browser uses the standard 'styl' resource to copy and paste styled text through the clipboard. MacWrite II can exchange text using this format; other programs may also support this format.
The Prepare() Browser does not yet support tabs or search/replace. These features will be added in future issues. We also plan to add support for more file types (including PICT and PNTG) soon.
Getting the Best Look at Prepare()
To read Prepare(), you should have the fonts Times, Helvetica, and Courier installed on your Macintosh. These are the only fonts used in Prepare(). If these fonts are not installed, the default font will be used. Since the portions of Prepare() written in Courier expect to be in a monospace font, failure to have Courier installed will produce bad column alignment in viewing portions of Prepare().
Documents, Files, and Styling Information
Documents are opened with the styling information from the resource fork, or, if no styling information is available, in Courier 10. This default is not currently settable, but can be changed in the source code. The default font for new documents is the system default, which can be changed by various Shareware and Public Domain utilities. The line length is fixed to a value that allows easy reading on any Macintosh, and cannot be changed. You can view files with wide lines and embedded carriage returns by selecting all the text (command-A) and choosing a smaller font size.
Documents are opened read-only if Allow Edits is not set or if the file containing the document is locked or otherwise unwritable.
Since the styling information is kept in the resource fork of the file, the file can be edited using other text editors. If a file contain styling information is edited using another text editor, the styling information will not be changed and will produce strange results when the document is opened again using The Prepare() Browser.
Distribution
The Prepare() Browser and the files that accompany it are copyright 1990 by Lexington Software Design. This version of The Prepare() Browser may be freely used and redistributed, provided that all the files that accompany it are distributed with it unchanged. Duplication and downloading fees may be charged, but The Prepare() Browser may not be sold.
The version of The Prepare() Browser mailed to subscribers of Prepare() is licensed to each subscriber and may not be redistributed. The versions can be differentiated by selecting About The Prepare() Browser from the Apple menu.
