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The Tera Desktop Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 About Tera Desktop 1.2 The Author 1.3 Hardware and operating system requirements 1.4 Disclaimer 1.5 Support 2 Installation 3 Conventions and background information 3.1 Conventions 3.2 Type of program 3.3 Running a program 4 Menus 4.1 Teradesk 4.2 File 4.2.1 Open 4.2.2 Show Information 4.2.3 New Folder 4.2.4 Close 4.2.5 Close Window 4.2.6 Select all 4.2.7 Cycle Window 4.3 View 4.3.1 Show as 4.3.2 Sort 4.3.3 Hidden & System files 4.3.4 Set file mask 4.4 Options 4.4.1 Install Applications 4.4.1.1 Function keys 4.4.1.2 Document Types 4.4.1.3 Command Line 4.4.1.3 ARGV protocol 4.4.2 Install Desk Icon 4.4.3 Install window Icon 4.4.4 Change Icons 4.4.5 Remove Icons 4.4.6 Set preferences 4.4.7 Editor 4.4.8 Program Options 4.4.9 Window Options 4.4.10 Save settings 4.4.11 Load settings 4.4.12 Save settings as 5 Icons and Objects 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The ICON.RSC file 5.3 Opening icons and objects 5.4 Dragging Objects 6 The ARGV protocol 7 Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1.1 About the Tera Desktop The Tera Desktop is a replacement for the ST, STE or TT desktop. It provides many more facilities than the standard desktop and windows are drawn and scrolled much faster in it; It allows icons for files and programs and provides the ability to view files in windows. The program may be copied and distributed freely provided: 1. All the files listed below are copied and distributed at the same time and none are changed in any way. 2. The program is not sold without the written permission of the author. If the program is distributed by a PD library, only the costs of the disk and distribution may be recovered. The Tera Desktop files are: DESKTOP.PRG The Tera Desktop program DESKTOP.RSC English resource file DESKFRA.RSC French resource file ICONS.RSC Icons resource file README.NED Instructions in Dutch README.ENG Instructions in English CHANGES.NED Version changes in Dutch CHANGES.ENG Version changes in English MANUAL.NED Manual in Dutch MANUAL.ENG Manual in English CONVERT.PRG Program to convert settings VIEWER.PRG Program for viewing .IMG and Degas files VIEWER.RSC Resource file for viewer 1.2 The Author The author and copyright owner of the Tera Desktop is: Wout Klaren Zwolsekanaal 18 7681 ED Vroomshoop The Netherlands 1.3 Hardware and Operating system requirements Hardware The Tera Desktop can be used on any Atari ST, STE or TT computer. It uses about 140 Kb of memory. Although the Tera Desktop can be used without the aid of a hard disk, the use of one is strongly recommended. This is because the program must be available on disk at all times when it is running. This requirement can be facilitated, if you have sufficient memory, by placing it in a RAM disk. TOS version Tera Desktop will work with all current versions of TOS but is very much more useful with versions 1.4 and above. There are several reasons for this, for in version 1.4 and above: 1. Folders can be renamed. 2. The file processing routines are very much better and enables more facilities to be used. 3. GEM programs can be started automatically after booting. 4. There are significant bugs in version 1.0 5. Tera Desktop does not work in low resolution with version 1.0 because of limitations on the size of menus. Resolution It is recommended that you use Tera Desktop in high or medium resolution. The program works in low resolution but with certain limitations: 1. With the ST or TT: a. The dialog box for the input of command lines to TTP programs are smaller. b. The dialog boxes of 'Install Application' and 'Set Preferences' will not work properly because they are too big. 2. Tera Desktop does not work in low resolution with version 1.0 because of limitations on the size of menus. 1.4 Disclaimer Tera Desktop has been tested with TOS 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.42, 1.6, 3.05 and KAOS TOS, but it is possible that it will fail to work properly on other versions or with configurations different from those on which it was tested. It is also possible that there are still bugs in the program which will show up even when using the systems on which it has been tested. The author disclaims all responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from the use of Tera Desktop no matter how it is caused. 1.5 Support In the United Kingdom, new versions can be downloaded from: System ST tel: 0533 413443 Fidonet 2:255/320 NeST 90:102/131 The compressed file containing the system is called TERADESK.LZH. This BBS also provides support for the Tera Desktop. If you have any suggestions for improvements or bugs to report, you can leave a note of them there. In the Netherlands, new versions can be downloaded from: Moir Brandts Honk BBS tel: 070-3461215 If you discover a bug, the author would be very grateful if you would report to him (either in writing or on the BBS) the nature of the bug and provide a description of your computer configuration [TOS version, Auto boot program used (if any), computer type, accessories installed etc.]. 2 Installation The Tera Desktop should be installed as follows: 1. Create a folder called DESKTOP anywhere on your hard disk (or in a RAM disk if you have no hard disk). 2. Copy into this folder the files: DESKTOP.PRG DESKTOP.RSC ICONS.RSC The Tera Desktop can now be started in the usual way by double clicking on DESKTOP.PRG. If you have TOS version 1.4 or greater, you can set it up so that Tera Desktop is started automatically when you boot. To do this: 3. Select the file DESKTOP.PRG by single clicking on it. 4. Select 'Install Application' from the Options menu. 5. Change to boot status from 'Normal' to 'Auto' 6. Click on 'Install' 7. Save the desktop configuration If you have TOS version 1.0 or 1.2 you must use a program such as STARTGEM to run DESKTOP from an AUTO folder. 3 Conventions and background information 3.1 Conventions 1. It is assumed that the reader knows how to use the standard Atari desktop as described in the user manual. 2. We shall often mention the procedure of 'Selecting' an object. By this we mean the act of placing the mouse on the object and clicking the left button once. The display of the Object should change to reverse video. Many icons and some objects in dialog boxes can also be selected by pressing certain keys. If you select a second object while the first is still selected, the first is deselected - UNLESS you held down [Shift] while selecting them; in that way you can select several objects. Another way of selecting several objects at once is to place the mouse arrow to the left of one of them and then hold down the left mouse button. Then, if you move the mouse, a box will form in which you can enclose other objects. When you release the mouse button, all the enclosed objects are selected. Note that all the objects in the box are selected, even though not all are visible. This is relevant if you scroll the contents of a window at the same time . 3. We shall also refer to 'Opening' a file. This generally means that you place the mouse cursor on the file (in a directory) and double click with the left mouse button. Files can also be opened by first selecting them, and then selecting 'Open' from the 'File' menu. 4. We shall refer to keys with square brackets enclosing the symbol written on the key itself. e.g. [Return], [Q] etc. 5. Sometimes we mention 'masks'. A mask is a sequence of symbols which may or may not match a file name. Masks contain the symbols '*' and '?' as well as the standard symbols which may appear in a file name. * Stands for any character or run of zero or more characters so that: A*B matches AB, AAB, ACB, AAAB, ACCB, ABCB etc. A* matches A, AB,AAA,ABC,ABCD etc. ? Stands for any single character A?B matches AAB, ACB, A B etc. 6. Most menu items can be selected with a key as well as with the mouse. To select a menu item with a key, press and hold down [Control] and then press the key indicated. The symbol '^' is there to remind you to use the control key. 7. Likewise, most buttons in dialogue boxes can also be selected by a key. Press and hold down [Alternate] and then press the key of the character in the button that is underlined. Boxes with arrows can be selected by holding down [Control] and pressing the corresponding cursor (arrow) key on the keyboard. 8. When a key is a 'letter' key. use the capital (Shifted) version. 3.2 Types of program In this section we review the various types of program or application that you may encounter. The type of a given program depends on how it is written and is beyond your control; usually the type of a program is indicated by its extension, but be warned, this is not always so. The types are: Type Usual Description extension 1. GEM PRG Program uses GEM and does not require APP parameters. 2. GTP GTP Program uses GEM and requires parameters; the GTP extension is not recognised in standard desktop. 3. TOS TOS Program does not use GEM and does not require parameters. 4. TTP TTP Program does not use GEM but requires parameters. 5. ACC ACC Accessory program Parameters are items of data, often a file name, which are sent to the program as you invoke it. The standard desktop recognizes the last three programs from their extension and reacts appropriately when you open them. With TTP programs it displays a dialog box in which you can enter parameters. Tera Desktop in addition recognises the GTP extension and displays a dialog box for such programs. While it is possible to rename program files giving them an extension which does not properly reflect their type, this is inadvisable. Nevertheless Tera Desktop will allow you to define the type of a program in the 'Install application' dialog box Thus, If a GEM or TOS type program file is given the .GTP or .TTP extension, anything you enter in the parameter dialog box is ignored. Conversely a GTP or TTP type program which has not been provided with the parameters it expects, may not work properly. 3.3 Running a program In this section we describe the various ways in which you can invoke (run) a program both from the standard desktop and from Tera Desktop. 1. Perhaps the most common method of starting a program is to open it by double clicking on its name or icon in a directory window. A parameter dialog box is displayed for GTP and TTP files. 2. A method available only with Tera Desktop is to set up a function key so that the program is started when the key is pressed. 3. Another method, again not available in the standard desktop, is to set up an icon for the program on the desktop so that it is started when you double click on it. 4. Yet another method, also available in the standard desktop, is to double click on an associated 'Application Document' file. The program is started and the name of the application document is passed as a parameter. 5. Finally you can drag an application document (see above) to a program icon. As long as the application document file name matches one of the program's application masks, it will be as if you had double clicked on the file as in method 4. Note that Accessory programs cannot be started from the desktop in any of these ways; they can only be started by selecting their appropriate menu item. 4 Menus We now describe the various menu titles and the items you can select from them: 4.1 Menu Title: Teradesk 4.1.1 Info When you select this item, a dialogue box with the copyright notice will appear. It also shows the TOS version number and the amount of free memory. 4.2 Menu Title: File 4.2.1 Open [^Q] With this item, a selected object can be opened. See section 3 for further information. 4.2.2 Show Information... [^S] When this item is selected, the Tera Desktop displays information about an object you have previously selected: 1. If the selected object is a file, its name, the time and date it was last used and the number of bytes in it will be displayed. The name of the file can be changed. You can also set/unset the Write Protect, Hidden and System attributes of the file. 2. If the selected object is a folder, its name, the time and date of it creation, the number of files and folders in it and the number of bytes used will be displayed. With TOS version 1.4 and above, the folder name can be changed. 3. If the selected object is a drive, the drive letter, the disk label, the number of files and folders on it, the number of used and available bytes and the total free space on it will be displayed. If the disk is empty, it is possible that the total space and the free space will be different; this is due to a bug in TOS. It is possible to select more than one object before invoking this menu item; the information boxes for the various objects will be shown in turn. If you exit with Abort, you exit to the Tera Desktop. 4.2.3 New Folder... [^F] By selecting this item you can name and create a new folder (directory) in the current (top) directory. 4.2.4 Close [^V] If you select this item, the current (top) window is closed. If the window is that of a folder, it is replaced by the window of the directory which is one level higher. 4.2.5 Close window [^C] The effect of selecting this item is similar to that of 'Close'; the difference is that the window of a folder is NOT replaced by another. 4.2.6 Select all [^A] By selecting this window you can select all the files and folders in the top desktop window in one fell swoop. 4.2.7 Cycle windows [^W] When this item is selected, the bottom window is moved to the top. This is particularly useful when one window is covered completely by others for you can view this hidden window without having to move or delete the windows which cover it. 4.2.8 Quit [^Q] Select this item to quit Tera Desktop and return to the standard desktop. 4.3 Menu title: View The items under this title enable you to control the way in which the folders and files in a directory are displayed in a window. 4.3.1 Show as One or other of 'Show as icons' or 'Show as text' may be selected; the selected option is ticked. Files and folders are shown correspondingly as icons or as text. In text mode, the length in bytes, the creation date and time and the file attributes are shown as well as the file name. The attributes which are set are denoted as follows: d - directory s - system file h - hidden file w - file is NOT write protected a - archive bit 4.3.2 Sort With these items you can select the order in which the files displayed in a window are sorted. The possibilities are: 1. Sort by name [^G] 2. Sort by extension [^H] 3. Sort by creation date [^J] 4. Sort by size [^N] 5. Unsorted [^V] If you select 'Unsorted', they are displayed in the order in which they are stored on the disk; this corresponds to the order in which they were placed on the disk; note that this is not necessarily the same as the order of their creation dates. The mode selected applies to all open windows. 4.3.3 Hidden files [^X]; System files [^Y] By selecting these menu items you can toggle between modes in which files, whose system or hidden attributes are set (see section 4.3.1) are either visible or invisible. When the menu item is checked, such files are visible. The mode selected applies to all open windows. 4.3.4 Set file mask... [^T] With this item, you can select which files are shown in the current (top) directory window. A dialog box is displayed into which you can either type a file mask or select a mask from a predefined list. Double clicking on a mask in the list has the double effect of selecting the mask and exiting the box as if you selected 'OK'. It is also possible to delete the mask which is selected or add a new one to the bottom of the list. The mask only applies to the window that was current (Top) when this item was selected. 4.4 Menu title: Options 4.4.1 Install Application... [^L] You can only select this menu option if you have first selected a program file. With it you can install an application and define the ways in which the program can be started. The 'Install Application' menu displays a dialog box in which you can set up these methods for invoking a program. At the top of the box you will see the name of the program you selected. Note that your settings only take effect if you exit with 'Install'. If you exit with 'Remove', any settings you have made are cancelled. The methods available are: 4.4.1.1 Function Key You can associate a function key with the program whose effect is described in section 3.3 Enter a number in the range 1 to 20 in the 'Function key' field. Numbers 1 to 10 correspond the the [F1] to [F10] keys and 11 to 20 to the same keys with [Shift] held down. 4.4.1.2 Document types Here you can install files as application documents of the program. The standard desktop only allows you to specify one extension which is presumed to be common to all the application documents. Tera Desktop is much more flexible and allows you to specify several complete file names or masks in which you can include wild cards if you wish. You can set up a list of several masks for the selected program: 1. You can add a mask to this list of documents by selecting 'Add' in the dialog box and then entering the mask. 2. You can delete a mask by clicking on the arrows till the name you wish to delete appears, and then clicking on 'Delete'. When the list is complete to your satisfaction, click on the install button. When you have done this, you can run the program and at the same time pass the name of the application document to the program as a parameter, all in one fell swoop. You do this by double clicking on an application document whose file name matches the mask. This can be very useful and save much time if, for instance, the program is an editor. Just opening a document file will enable you to edit the document without the necessity of having to double click on the program and then enter the document file name by hand or from the file selector. It is important to note that a file matching a the mask on the list of any of the programs cannot be printed or displayed on the screen by opening it in the normal way. This merely invokes the program to which you have associated it. However this problem may be overcome by holding down [Alternate] as you select it (see section 5.3). You should also beware of associating the same application document with more than one program. If you do this by design or in error, the program to which you have assigned the file most recently takes precedence. 4.4.1.3 Command line You may wish to send other parameters besides a file name to a program. If these are likely to vary from one call of the program to another, your best plan is to invoke the program by opening it. However if the other parameters are constant, you can set them up in the 'Command line' field. Whatever you write in the Command line will be sent to your GTP or TTP program when you invoke it by double clicking on it or by dragging an application document. The symbols %f and %n have a special meaning when entered in the command line: %f This is replaced by the application document file name. %F as %f, however file names are converted to lower case. %n This is replaced by the path (including drive, directory and name) of the application file. %N as %n, however file names are converted to lower case. 4.4.1.4 ARGV protocol The number of characters which specify the parameters is limited to 125 in the standard desktop but Tera Desktop allows you up to employ more. It does this by using the so called ARGV protocol (see section 7). You should note that some GTP or TTP programs do not support the ARGV protocol; you can toggle its use on and off by clicking on the box. 4.4.2 Install desk icon... [^I] You can use this menu option to install an icon on the desktop. When you first select it, a mini-icon appears on the desktop; you can move this about the screen with your mouse till you release the left mouse button; by then you will have placed it at the position you wish the new icon to be displayed. When you release the mouse button, a dialog box appears. You can define the type of icon and its actual design in this. There are three types of Icon each of which has a special use: 1. Disk Files dragged to this will be copied to the disk. 2. Printer Files dragged to this will be printed. 3. Trashcan Files dragged to this will be deleted. In addition there are 35 different designs of icon available You can scroll through these 35 different designs to select the one you prefer. You can also enter an identifying letter (for drive icons) and a title for the icon. Do not forget to exit with the 'OK' button (or Cancel if that is what you prefer). Note that icons representing programs and other types of file can be placed on the desktop simply by dragging them from their directory onto the desktop. In these cases the form of the icon is decided by Tera Desktop which determines it according to it nature. 4.4.3 Install window icon... With this menu item you can determine the way files and folders are displayed when they are displayed by icons (see 4.4.1) in directory windows. When you select it, a dialog box is displayed. The first thing you must do is to select either files or folders. The dialog box contains a window showing a list of file or folder name masks. You can scroll through these by clicking on the arrows. Each mask on the list is associated with an icon and any file or folder whose name matches the mask is depicted by the associated icon. You can add new masks and icons to the list by selecting 'Add' when a new dialog box is displayed. You can enter a mask and select an icon. You can also delete an entry from the list by selecting 'Delete' or edit it with 'Change'. 4.4.4 Change icons... [^D] If you first select an icon on the desktop, you can change its title and form by selecting this menu item. If appropriate you can also change the nature of the object it represents (Drive, printer or trashcan but not a program or other file). 4.4.5 Remove icons... [^R] If you first select an icon on the desktop, you can remove it by selecting this menu item. 4.4.6 Set preferences... [^P] By selecting this menu item, you can set your preferences just as you can in the standard desktop. When you select the menu item, a dialog box is displayed. In this you can: 1. Toggle confirmation of copies. 2. Toggle confirmation of deletes. 3. Toggle confirmation of overwrites The dialog boxes displayed when a confirmation is necessary are similar to those in the standard desktop. 4. Set the size of the copy buffer. This is an area of RAM which is used to store the contents of files being copied. In general, the larger you set it the faster copying will be performed. 5. Set the default tabsize: the number of blank column produced in a text window when a 'Tab' is encountered. 6. Toggle a switch to save the palette. If this facility is switched on, the palette is saved when a program is run and restored when it finishes. This is useful if the program changes the palette without restoring it itself. 7. Set the dialog box display mode. Dialog boxes can be drawn in one of three modes. Each mode has its advantages: Buffered mode. In this mode, the screen under a dialogue box is saved in a buffer. It can thus be restored rapidly if the box is moved or resized. In this mode it is possible to move a dialog box about the screen by clicking on a special button in its top right corner. Window mode. In this mode, dialog boxes appear in windows. This has the advantage that you can use accessories while the box is displayed and can move the dialog box about the screen. Note that dialog boxes displayed by other programs are not effected. Normal mode. None of the special features associated with the other modes are available. 8. Determine the position of the dialog box. There are two possibilities: 1. Place the box at a point determined by the position of the mouse. This option is of most use when the display of the box is initiated by a key press. It is thus possible to prevent it covering other objects. 2. Centre the box on the screen in the standard way. 4.4.7 Editor... As explained in section 5.3, when you open a file which is not a program, you can, among other things, edit the file. Tera Desktop does not provide its own editor; that is up to you. When you select this menu option, the file selector is shown. You can select a suitable editor with it (assuming you have one). This should be of type TTP or GTP. When you opt to edit a file in this way, the name of the file is passed to the selected editor as a parameter. 4.4.8 Program options... [^M] With this menu option you can determine which files Tera Desktop recognises as containing a program and set various other features. A dialog box is displayed in which you can: 1. Toggle a flag which indicates whether Tera Desktop will wait for a keypress after a TOS or TTP program has finished. This is useful when such programs write something on the screen and you want to read it at leisure. 2. Toggle a flag which indicates whether Tera Desktop will redirect output to GEMDOS standard handle 2 to the screen. This is usefull when you are using programs compiled with GNU C. 3. Set which files contain programs. A small window contains a list of file name masks; you can scroll the list or select an entry. Any file which matches one of the masks is recognised by Tera Desktop to be a program. You can add a new mask, edit one already there which you have selected or delete the one selected by clicking on the appropriate button: Add, Change, Delete. If you add or edit a mask, another dialog box will be shown in which you must define the file type and the current drive and set the ARGV flag for the program. 4.4.9 Window options... If you select this menu option, you can determine the appearances of the desktop and of directory and view windows (see below). A dialog box is displayed in which you can: 1. Select a fill pattern for the desktop background 2. Select a colour for the desktop background (black only on monochrome monitors) 3. Select a font and a font size for text appearing in directory or view windows. You must first select 'Directory font' or 'View font'. You can then scroll a set of font sizes. The word 'Text' is shown at the selected size in a small window. 4.4.10 Save settings [^K] If you select this menu item, you can save all the current settings to a file call DESKTOP.CFG. This is similar to the 'save desktop' function in the standard desktop. 4.4.11 Load settings... If you select this menu item, you can load settings that you have previously saved in a file. The file selector is displayed; enter the name of the file containing the settings required. 4.4.12 Save settings as... If you select this menu option you can save the current settings in a file whose name you can choose. In this way you can have several files with different settings, perhaps to suit different resolutions. The file selector is displayed for you to enter the file name. 5 Icons and Objects 5.1 Introduction In this chapter we discuss the use of icons and the objects they represent. 5.2 The ICON.RSC file This file contains the bit-maps of the icons which you can select in the 'Add icon' and 'Change icon' options in the 'Install Desk Icon' and 'Install Window Icon' menu item dialog boxes. If you have a resource editor, you can add your own icons to the file or replace those already there by your own. The maximum size of an icon is 64 pixels wide by 32 pixels high and the maximum size of the file is 64 Kb. Do not add other sorts of object to this resource file; if you do, it will not load. Owners of a Mega STE or a TT can also use the resource file which comes with these computers in place of ICON.RSC as long as they copy it to the DESKTOP folder and rename it as ICONS.RSC. Note that the first 7 icons in the file are used to represent: 1. Floppy disk drives 2. Hard disk partitions 3. Files 4. Programs 5. Folders 6. Trash cans 7. Printers You can replace the default icons in the file by others of your choice. 5.3 Opening objects and icons An object in a directory window or on the desktop can be opened by double clicking on it or by first selecting it and using the 'Open' item in the 'File' menu. What happens when you open an object depends what sort of object it is; the results may be modified in several cases by pressing the [Alternate] key as you open the object. Other objects can be opened in other ways. The results for the different objects are: 1. Disk drive. A new window which contains the objects in its root directory is opened. Disk drives may also be opened by holding down [Alternate] and pressing the key corresponding to the letter of the drive. If both the [Shift] and [Alternate] keys are held down, a new window will not be opened, but the directory will be displayed in the topmost window on the desktop. 2. Folder If the folder is represented by an icon on the desktop, a new window containing its directory will be opened. If the folder is in a directory window, the contents of that window will be replaced by the directory of the folder, as with the standard desktop. If [Alternate] is held down as the folder is opened, a new window containing its directory will be opened. Note that a folder name '..' behaves differently; it stands for a folder one level higher. If you open such a folder, the effect is to replace the contents of the window by this higher level directory. If you do this holding down [Alternate] a new window is created containing this higher level directory. 3. File. A. If the file is recognised as a program the program will be invoked. If the program is of GTP or TTP type, a dialog box will be displayed first. You should enter the parameters required in it. B. If the file is not a program but matches one of the masks set up in the 'Install application' menu item, the associated program will be started and the name of the file passed as a parameter as described in section 3.3. If you hold down [Alternate] as you open the file, the associated program is not started and it is not recognised as an application file. C. With all other files, a dialog box is displayed and you can opt to Show, Edit, Print or Cancel. a. If you opt to view the file, a window is opened and the contents of the file are displayed in it. If the first 256 bytes contain at least 90% ASCII character, the file is displayed in ASCII mode, otherwise it is displayed in HEX mode. See section 6.2 for further details. b. If you opt to edit the file, the editor program defined in the 'Editor' menu option (see paragraph 4.4.7) is run and the name of the file is passed to it as a parameter. c. If you opt to print the file, its contents are sent to your printer to be printed. d. If you opt to cancel, you return to the Tera Desktop. 5.5 Dragging Objects Icons or objects (the Source object) can be dragged to other icons or objects (The Destination object) by holding down the left mouse button and moving to a new position on the desktop. When the mouse button is finally released, the result depends on both the source and destination object. The results for the various destination objects are listed below. The first 4 destination require the source to be a file or folder. 1. File, Folder --> Disk drive Source files and folders (with their contents) are copied into the drive. If you want to perform a disk copy, use some program such as FCOPY. 2. File, Folder --> Folder Source files or folders will be copied into the folder. 3. File, Folder --> Directory window Source files or folders are copied into the directory. 4. File, Folder --> Trashcan The file or the folder together with its contents are deleted. For the next 2 destinations, the source can only be a file: 5. File --> Program The program is started and the name of the file passed to it as a parameter (which it may ignore if it is not of GTP or TTP type). 6. File --> Printer The contents of the file are sent to the printer. For the next destination, the source can be a file, folder or drive. 7. File, Folder Drive --> Desktop If the source object was already on the desktop, it will be moved to a new position defined by the mouse position when the button was released If the source object was in a directory window, the object will be installed on the desktop as an icon. Once so installed it can be used as if it were in a window. Note that all copy operations mentioned above can be modified by pressing [Control] as the mouse button is released. When this is done, the file or folder is moved rather than copied; this means that the source is deleted after it is copied to the destination. If, instead, [Alternate] is pressed as the button is released, a dialog box is displayed. With the aid of this you can rename the new version of the source which is placed in the destination. Note also that if a file or folder, which is installed in the Tera Desktop as an icon, is deleted, the icon is removed as well. If during a copy operation, a file or folder with the same name as the source is found in the destination, a dialog box will appear. This gives you the opportunity to rename both the source and destination object, to overwrite the destination or to abort the operation or to continue. This dialog box will be appear in all such instances of a name conflict and cannot be switched off. Finally note that a copy, delete or print operation can be aborted by pressing [Esc] 6 Windows Two kinds of window may be displayed on the desktop: 1. Directory windows 2. Text (or View) windows. Several features of these have been discussed above. Here we describe how to manipulate them. You can control windows in the standard manner using the various boxes and sliders. In Tera Desktop you can also control them by pressing various keys; these produce specific effects: [Clr Home] Jump to top of window [Shift] [Clr Home] Jump to bottom of window [C] Close the window Cursor (arrow) These keys scroll the window in the direction of the arrow. If the Shift key is pressed at the same time as the arrow key, the window scroll over a whole page, otherwise by a single line or column. 6.1 Directory windows The contents (folders and files) of a directory are shown as in the standard desktop. Certain additional keys have special effects: [Esc] Read the directory again ^[C] Close the window 6.2 Text windows The contents of a file are displayed. They may be displayed either in ASCII mode or in Hex mode. ASCII mode is suitable for readable text files while Hex mode is more suitable for binary files. Every text window has its own menu bar with one title, 'Viewer'. You must click on this to see the two items it contains. i.e. it is a click down rather than a drop down menu. The first item, 'Tabsize' , shows a dialog box when selected. In this you can set the tab size; the number of columns skipped when a Tab symbol is encountered in the text. The second 'Hexmode', enables you to toggle between ASCII mode and Hex mode. When 'Hexmode' is ticked, the file is shown in hex mode. Certain additional keys have special effects: [Esc],[Q] Close the window [Space bar] Scroll to next page [Return] Scroll to next line 7 The ARGV protocol In GEMDOS the length of a command line is limited to 125 characters. The ARGV protocol makes much longer command lines possible. A disadvantage of the protocol is that many programs do not support such long command lines and may even crash. For this reason Tera Desktop enables you to switch the protocol on and off in 'Install application' and 'Program options'. There are two ways you can avoid this difficulty with the ARGV protocol: 1. Install programs which do not support the ARGV separately using the 'Program options' menu item (see paragraph 4.4.8). Enter their full names in the list of program mask but switch off the ARGV protocol for them. Make sure you enter their names before any masks which they might match. 2. Do the reverse of 1. Switch off the ARGV protocol for all programs but enter the names of those that do separately. Another possibility is to install them as applications with the ARGV protocol switched off . 8 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the following people for their contribution to the Tera Desktop: Ric Klaren, Ger Hobbelt and Hans Wessels for testing the Tera Desktop, designing some icons and making some improvements to the program code. Keith Frisby and Mark Matts for distributing and supporting the Tera Desktop in the United Kingdom. Ted Richards for rewritting the English manual. Jean Jacques Cortes for translating the resource file in French. Wout Klaren October 1993