A K A is a utility that allows you to create "aliases" for GEOS applications. These "aliases" can be very useful to you if you have a RAM drive (or 2!) or have physical disk drives of different types. The "alias" that is created will re-route the deskTop to access the quickest copy of the application avaliable, allowing you to run it at the fastest possible speed!
@Using A K A:
Using A K A is very simple. Open A K A, and select the application that you wish to create an "alias" of. A K A will ask you if this new alias should always automatically copy data files to RAM disks, never copy data files, or if the alias should ask you each time.
After some quick processing, the alias is created on the same disk that the application is on. The original application program is not altered in any way. If there is already an alias for this particular application on the disk, A K A will warn you, and ask if you want to proceed anyway. If a filename conflict arises, you will be prompted to enter a new (hopefully unique) filename for the alias to have.
The newly created alias is actually a small application in its own right. It looks very much like the original application, but with minor differences in its name, and its icon. The alias will have the same 40/80 column capability as the original application, and should (I hope!) run in the same modes (64/128) as the original. Each individual application that you wish to be able to run from a particular disk will need an alias on that disk.
@How an alias works:
An alias acts as an intermediary between the deskTop and a specific application. In order for an alias to be active, it MUST appear on a disk's notepad BEFORE the application that it is an alias of. The actual application does not even have to be on the alias' disk AT ALL-- the alias can prompt you to insert another disk with it!
The alias has a GEOS filename that is similar to the actual application's, with "/AKA" substituted for the version number. When you open a data file for the original application on the alias' disk, the deskTop will open the alias instead of the actual application. If you wish to open the application without a data file, you may open the alias itself directly- somewhat akin to opening the application directly.
The alias will search the system for any RAM disks, and see if the real application is already there. If it finds it, it will run the copy of the application that is in RAM instead of on the disk that you opened it from. If the real application is not in a RAM disk, the system will search through the drives (fastest drives first!) and try to find it there. If the application is not found, you will be prompted to insert a disk containing it. Once the application has been found, it will be copied to a RAM disk-- if space permits and if there are no filename conflicts.
If you originally opened a data file (which has in turn opened the alias) the alias will follow the option for copying the data file to RAM that you selected when you created the alias. It can ALWAYS try to copy, NEVER try to copy, or ASK (through a dialog box) if it should copy the data file in this instance. If it does copy the data file to RAM, it will display a warning message-- you will need to remember to save the changed version of the data file back to a physical disk! If there is no RAM disk space available or there is already a file in the RAM disk with the same name as the data file, it will not copy the file and simply use the data file directly from the disk on which it was opened.
The alias will resolve any possible disk drive conflicts by swapping device numbers as necessary to insure that the data file and the real application are on drives "A" and/or "B". This is necessary so that applications such as geoWrite and geoPaint will be able to access the data file passed to them, and also so that the deskTop will not "drop" drives off the system when you finally exit the application.
Finally, the alias will run the actual application, where ever it finally landed, passing to it any data file (or RAM copy) that you may have originally opened.
Whew!
All this is intended to save you a lot of time copying applications and data files to RAM drives, or swapping drives around on the deskTop to run applications from faster drives, such as the 1581 or 1571. You can also use aliases to access applications on drives "C" and "D" easily from the standard deskTop.
To give you an example: If you have:
Drive "
", a
@1541
, with an "
@alias
" of geoWrite, a
@geoWrite document
, and
@geoWrite
on it;
Drive "
", a
@1581
, with
@geoWrite
on it;
and Drive "
", a
@RAM 1571
, that is empty;
...and you open the geoWrite document on drive "A":
First, the deskTop will open the alias instead of geoWrite. The alias will check the RAM disk and find no copy of geoWrite. Then it will check the fastest drive- the 1581, find geoWrite, and copy it to drive "C", the RAM disk. It will copy the document to the RAM disk and display a warning reminding you to save your changes. Next it will swap drives "A" and "C" (as they will appear when you re-enter the deskTop) Finally, the alias will open geoWrite from the RAM disk (now drive "A"), and pass it the copy of the document, also in the RAM disk.
The alias has done the job of finding the fastest way for you to access this file-- all automatically. The next time you clicked on the alias, geoWrite would already be in the RAM disk, so the alias would use that copy- running even faster!
Clear as mud?
A K A is released as freeware... It's pretty complicated, so I feel that if you can understand the concept, you've earned the right to use it! :)
I hope you enjoy it! As usual, any comments or suggestions may be directed to:
(.txt)