Here is ExAminer 1.4, a System Folder maintenance utility for Mac™ OS computers. With ExAminer you can “mine” for extensions and things in the System Folder. You can change what is enabled and what is disabled, and you can create “sets” of configurations. You can think of ExAminer as a tool that either “mines” (digs) for Extensions and Apple Menu Items (and more) items or lets you “examine” the System Folder. Either metaphor works!
See the end of this README file for ExAminer version history.
ExAminer supports Macintosh Plus and newer Mac OS computers with at least 2MB of memory and requires System 7. ExAminer is a “fat” binary and supports 680x0 Macintosh systems and is “native” on Power Macintosh™ computers. ExAminer is compatible with multiple monitors and large screen monitors.
ExAminer is a shareware program. If you like and use ExAminer, please send your name and mailing address to the author along with the $10.00 (U.S. dollars please) shareware fee. Please include your electronic mail address (if you have one); that makes it easier to stay in touch with registered users. If you have a printer, please use the “Print Registration Form” under the “Other” menu. Registered users of ExAminer will receive support via on-line services and notices of future updates. In fairness to those who register, unregistered users do not receive support.
Distribution of the original, unmodified ExAminer software by users is encouraged as long as the README and ExAminer Guide files included with the “distribution version” of ExAminer are included unmodified, and no payment (other than for on-line connect cost or for distribution media) is accepted for the actual software or documentation.
Feedback on ExAminer is welcome. Contact me using electronic mail on these services:
Apple, and Macintosh are registered trademarks, and Power Macintosh, Balloon Help, PowerTalk, and eWorld are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Mac and the Mac OS logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., used under license.
America Online is a service mark of Quantum Computer Services, Inc.
CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe Incorporated.
ExAminer is warranted to perform as described in the documentation; and any other warranties, implied or written, are invalid. Neither MICHAEL L. WEASNER nor any distributors shall be liable for any loss of information, whether that information is related to ExAminer or not, or for the loss of time or money in restoring any lost information, whether or not such loss is related to the use of ExAminer. In some states the user may have additional rights that only a lawyer could understand (and make a living from that understanding).
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Using ExAminer
ExAminer requires System 7. It is based on the same idea as “Extensions Manger” from Ricardo Bastista; it expands upon the older program to provide a more intuitive interface that shows which items in each folder are enabled or disabled. ExAminer can be used in conjunction with Extensions Manager and the Extensions Manager control panel, which are still useful. The Extensions Manager control panel should be used to configure special types for the control panel to display. ExAminer does not require that you use Extensions Manager. ExAminer is just an application that reads the existing folders and displays the information in a different format from that of Extensions Manager.
To make changes using ExAminer, select a name or several names in the enabled or disabled list and then click the arrow to move them to the opposite list. The moved item(s) will appear at the bottom of the destination list. When Save is selected from the File menu, the file(s) is(are) then actually moved to another folder and the list is resorted alphabetically. Note: if the item being moved is a folder, it is only moved if there is no duplicate of the same folder name (empty or not) in the destination. The same applies if you try to a replace a non-empty folder with a file of the same name. However, a folder can replace a file with the same name.
You can create “sets” of configurations. Make the changes that you want to be in a particular set. You do not need to Save (from the File menu) the changes at this time but if you do, the names will be sorted alphabetically in the lists. To name this configuration, select Name Set from the Sets menu and enter a name (up to 20 characters). The window title will change to this name and the set name will be added to the end of the Sets menu. You can select another named set from the menu or you can select the “Current” set. The Current set re-reads the contents of the System Folder to display the existing (or current) configuration. Switching between sets does not prompt to save the displayed configuration but does retain any changes in the set configuration. However, trying to quit with any set besides Current displayed will prompt to save the changes (unless already saved during this session); and if you click Save, the files will be moved appropriately. You can also delete sets if you no longer need them. Deleting a set will remove the set name from the Sets menu; it does not delete the files within the System Folder.
You can print the lists of an individual category or all categories in the displayed set. Folders will print with “----” in the size and type columns.
You can position the window and Name Set dialog box wherever you like (even on another monitor). These positions will be saved. If you would like the position to be “forgotten”, open the window or dialog box with the option key held down.
ExAminer preferences, such as Window positions and set configurations, are saved in the “ExAminer Prefs” file in the Preferences folder in the System Folder. If this file becomes corrupted you can delete it whenever ExAminer is not running. Note that this file can become quite large if you name lots of sets. ExAminer remembers all the information you see in the printout for up to 126 files/folder.
Use Balloon Help to learn more about using ExAminer. If you have installed Apple Guide (System 7.5 or later), you can also use the ExAminer Guide to learn more about ExAminer.
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Version History:
• 1.0
First release.
• 1.0.1
Minor bug fix release. There was one report of an error occurring when saving a Set. The culprit was found (an uninitialized variable) and fixed. A memory management issue that never resulted in a visible problem was fixed.
• 1.1
Added an information display when a single name is selected in a list. Also added a file/folder “deletion” capability. If there are one or more files and/or folders selected and the trashcan icon is clicked, the selected file(s) and/or folder(s) will be moved to the Finder’s trash. Deleting from a Set will also delete the item(s) from the System Folder folders. Since the items are placed in the Finder’s trash, you can remove items from the trash just as you would any file you drag to the trash. Added additional file type recognition. Reduced memory requirements to 300K from 384K. Fixed a problem that allowed “-” and “(” characters to be entered as the first character of a Set name, which would confuse the Menu Manager. Finally, fixed a minor display bug that would cause an improperly drawn left/right arrow to appear after certain operations.
• 1.2
Added a “Print Registration Form” (under the “Other” menu) for the convenience of users who want to register ExAminer. The Name and Address fields are required; the rest of the information is optional but if you have an electronic mail address please include it and the service it is on. If you have already registered by sending in your $10 payment, you don't have to re-register with this form but I would appreciate it if you would send me a completed form just for consistency in my records.
Added a preferences dialog box (under the “Other” menu) to allow skipping of the restart alert or to auto-restart when quitting from ExAminer. You can also now show all files/folders in the various folders. When showing all files/folders, you are allowed to move any system file including the Finder, System, and enablers, so exercise caution. The main System folders do not appear however. In conjunction with this new feature, changed from prompting for a restart after any move to only prompt when appropriate. This means you will no longer be prompted to restart when Apple Menu Items, Startup items, or applications in the System Folder are moved. Also, added a “Restart” button to the restart alert. When clicked, a ‘restart’ Apple Event is sent to the Finder, which does the equivalent of selecting “Restart” from the “Special” menu. All open applications and desk accessories are closed, with the quitting application prompting to save unsaved changes.
Added a count of items in the displayed folder and a count of the number of items selected (when there is more than one item selected) to the main window display.
Increased the memory partition back to 384K to allow room for new features. Added new file types for newly visible system-level items and PostScript fonts to the Extensions folder and System Folder search lists.
Fixed a bug that would cause a crash if the main window was not open and some other window/dialog was opened. Fixed a potentially serious bug that would delete files even when there was no file to be moved; this resulted from a Set being out-of-sync with the actual files. Now the file is only deleted if there is actually a replacement file being moved. If the Set is wrong, this is noted in the duplicate file alert.
Changed an ExAminer icon number to avoid a conflict with the StyleWriter driver icon when printing. Several other cosmetic changes were made: repositioned the page number when printing set configurations, the cursor switches to an I-beam in the Name Set edit field, there is now a watch cursor during file/folder moves, the main window is now updated before starting a save (to fill hole left by Save alert), the file type description has been added to the file delete alert, the “Clear” and “Select All” menu items have been removed from the “Edit” menu, and the main window scrollbars now properly activate/deactivate when alerts/dialogs appear.
Finally, users have asked how to add new items to existing Sets. When items are added to the various folders they do not automatically appear in existing Set configurations. To make new items appear in existing Sets, simply select a Set, choose “Save” from the “File” menu, and then select another Set or “Current”. By doing this with each Set, you will update the Set configurations to contain new items added to the System Folder.
• 1.3
Due to a change in compiler environments to make ExAminer a native Power Macintosh application, the preferences file format had to change. To avoid confusion with prior versions, the preferences file name was changed. This means that users of previous versions will have to recreate their sets. The new name is “ExAminer Preferences”; you can delete the file called “ExAminer Prefs” from the Preferences folder. My apologies for the inconvenience.
ExAminer now displays the last saved Set name. This is to help when troubleshooting Extension conflicts or can be just a reminder of what set you last used.
The print header was adjusted for international date/time formats and the Macintosh name was added to printouts. New PowerTalk™ file types and descriptions were added. Some other descriptions were updated. The text “Size: 0” was removed from the information display when a folder is selected.
An option was added in Preferences to skip the “Save” alert when quitting. An alert was added that displays “Saving changes...” while changes are being saved.
A button to restart the Macintosh was added to the main window. Clicking this button will save changes and restart the Macintosh. If the option key is down, the Macintosh will shutdown. Holding down the option key to shutdown also works in the “Restart” alert.
Support for selecting names in lists from the keyboard was added. The selected list is framed to indicate which list is active for typing. Note that clicking in the scrollbar does not activate the list (by design). Pressing the Tab key or clicking on a name will select the other list. You can now type the first character of name to select it in the selected list. The character must be an exact match of an upper or lower case character; or if not an exact match, a lower case character will match an upper case name. The Home/End/PageUp/PageDown keys were added for scrolling the lists. Pressing the delete or del key is the same as clicking the trash button with a name selected. The up/down arrow key moves the selected name up/down and the left/right arrow key is the same as clicking the arrow button to enable/disable the selected name(s). Note that the arrow key handling is not very fancy (doesn’t extend selections, etc.).
The extra screen redraw when selecting the same folder as currently displayed was eliminated. This cleaned up a memory leak but resulted in a more noticeable flashing of the scrollbars when changing folders. However, this did increase the list drawing speed.
The preferred memory was increased to 400K.
Fixed a bug that prevented updating item counts when switching display modes. Fixed the count items bug; there is now a maximum of 126 items/folder. Eliminated the “max items exceeded” alert on launch. Fixed the restart flag; now ExAminer really only prompts for restart when appropriate. Corrected wording in the “delete multiple selections” alert.
• 1.4
This version adds some improvements and flexibility. It also corrects some minor problems from previous versions.
The Restart alert was changed to better reflect the restart/shutdown status. If the option key is down, the alert shows “Shutdown Now” instead of “Restart”.
A new feature is the display of status messages during ExAminer startup and when saving changes. During startup you will see a message indicating that ExAminer is checking each folder for its contents. When saving changes the message will indicate the folder on which ExAminer is currently operating. On fast computers these messages will flash by very quickly.
Additional preference items were added to the Preferences dialog box. You can now set whether to display button labels on the main window, skip the restart confirmation alert, remember the last folder selected, and quit on main window close. If displaying labels, the Restart button on the main window will show “Restart” or “Shutdown” depending upon whether the option key is down or not.
A Restart confirmation alert will now appear when the main window “Restart” button is clicked (unless the preferences are set to skip it).
Command-key equivalents were added for named Sets in the Sets menu. Current is 0 with other Set names up to 9.
Fixed a bug that would lock up the computer if ExAminer was in the background and the option key was pressed. Also fixed a bug that would partially frame a list when ExAminer was in the background. Fixed a bug that prevented items from being deleted if they had the same name as files/folders already in the trash. The file or folder name in the trash is appended with ".x" where x is a counter beginning with “1”.
The ExAminer Guide was updated with the new 1.4 features.
One user offered an interesting tip which I’m passing on. When ExAminer is running you can see which Set was the last one saved, but when it is not running you have no easy way to know which Set is active. This user created empty folders named after each named Set with one or more spaces in front of the name and placed the folders into the “Apple Menu Items (disabled)” folder. With the leading space(s), the folder names sort to the top of the Apple menu. In ExAminer he made the proper named folder enabled and the others disabled. This way he can quickly pull down the Apple menu and see which Set is active. Thanks for the tip!
Important note:
Users should be aware that files and folders not shown in a named Set but that are actually present in the System folders will be added to the Set when that Set is saved. Currently this is the mechanism by which newly added files/folders are added to existing Sets. You should verify that newly added files are properly enabled or disabled depending upon the purpose of the Set.
Note to registered users:
Your feedback and suggestions on how to improve ExAminer are greatly appreciated. If you have not yet seen your inputs implemented, it is not because I have forgotten them. A major new release of ExAminer is being planned and will include many new, exciting, and requested features. Many of your suggestions will require major rework of the ExAminer program code to properly implement; and therefore, I have elected to not include them in version 1.4. Stay tuned. And thanks for continuing to support shareware.
