All documentation and program materials included in this archive are
Copyright 1993 Steve Anichini. All rights reserved.
This program is FREEWARE. You may distribute it as you wish as long as the following conditions are met:
1) The original archive is intact, unmodified, and in its original form.
2) The distribution is non-commercial.
or
3) You have written permission from the author of the program to break conditions (1) or (2).
Fred Fish has permission to distribute this program in his collection
of PD and Shareware programs.
INTRODUCTION
Why DropBox?
As a frequenter of ftp sites and bulletin board systems, I always have a lot of archives that need to be de-lha'd, de-arc'd, or whatever. I've always found it inconvenient to enter the shell and manually extract the files from these archives. So I s
id to myself "Wouldn't it be great if I had a program that did this junk for me?"
That program is DropBox. But DropBox isn't limited to archivers. Since its database is flexible, there is no reason you can't add iff-file viewers, doc file viewers, or the like.
DropBox is also a commodity, so you may use the Commodities Broker to control it.
1.01 (6/23/93) Somehow I had forgotten to implement the underscore
gadget shortcuts. This is now fixed.
INSTALLATION
Installing DropBox is a breeze. Just "drop" (bad pun) it in your WBStartup directory, or wherever if you don't want it to be automatically loaded. You might want to copy the file DropBox.prefs to ENVARC:. It has a starter database, which you may or
may not have to change a few parameters.
USING DROPBOX
DropBox is fairly automatic. To "translate" a file (such as decompressing a lha file), just drop its icon onto the AppIcon created after DropBox is started up. DropBox will then search its translation database for a proper translator, and have the t
anslator act on the file. The file is now "translated" (in our example, uncompressed).
If DropBox doesn't find a translator for the file, it will ask you if you want to create a new entry. If you answer yes, it will open the configuration window.
DROPBOX TOOLTYPES
DropBox accepts these tooltypes:
CX_POPUP:
YES will cause the options window to open on startup. NO will
prevent this.
CX_PRI:
The Commodities Priority of DropBox.
HOTKEY:
The hotkey to call up the options window.
PREFS:
The path and filename of the prefs file to load at startup.
ICON_X:
The x position for the DropBox AppIcon.
ICON_Y:
The y position for the DropBox AppIcon.
If ICON_X or ICON_Y is not present, the workbench will automatically set the x or y value respectively.
CONFIGURING DROPBOX
To configure your translation database, you must call up the options window. Do this by either:
1) Double clicking the AppIcon.
2) Selecting the AppMenuItem.
3) Sending it a "Show" command from the Commodities Broker.
4) Pressing the HotKey.
There are two things to concern yourself with on the options window:
GADGETS
Most of your configuration will be done through the gadgets.
Translation Database Listview:
Here you will find the list of translators currently in your database. The string gadget is the name of the currently selected translator. Underneath the database is a row of gadgets for manipulating the items in the listview.
Add:
This gadget adds a new translator at the bottom of the list. The new item will be the selected item.
Del:
This gadget will delete the currently selected translator.
Ins:
This gadget will insert a new transltor before the currently selected item.The new item will become the selected item.
Up:
This gadget will move the currently selected item up one space in the list. The reason I include this gadget is DropBox currently supports a one to one relationship between translator pattern and translator. It will return the first translator that
atches the pattern of the file given.
Dn:
This gadget will move the currently selected item down one space in the list.
Sort:
This gadget will sort the list alphabetically.
Destination:
This string gadget holds the destination of the output file created by the translator. It should be a directory. The getfile gadget next to it will allow you to browse and find the directory.
Command:
This string gadget holds the command to use in the translation. For a Lha file, you would use the command Lha. The getfile gadget next to it will allow you to browse and find the command.
Template:
This string tells DropBox how to use the destination, source file name (the dropped file), and the command. DropBox uses a simple psuedo-language. [COM] is used for the command file, [SOURCE] for the dropped file name, [DEST] for the destination. An
other text will be copied as is. Be careful to enter the template correctly, as DropBox doesn't have the most stringient parsing. Maybe in an upgrade.
Pattern:
This string holds a legal AmigaDOS pattern for DropBox to match against a dropped file. Example: For a Lha translator, the pattern would be #?.Lha
Output:
If this is checked, DropBox will open a CON: window to display the program's output.
Input:
If this is checked, DropBox will open a CON: window to accept input. If both Input and Output are checked, DropBox will use the same CON: window.
MENUS
PROJECT MENU
NEW
This menu option will erase the current configuration.
OPEN
This menu option will load a new preferences file.
SAVE
This menu option will save the current configuration in a file. If no preferences file was found at startup, the first time you Save will be like a Save as.
SAVE AS
This menu option allows you to save the current configuration under a new filename.
ABOUT
This menu option displays an about requester with some info about me.
HIDE
This option closes the options window. NOTE: closing the options window via the close gadget does NOT quit DropBox.
QUIT
This option quits DropBox.
EDIT MENU
CUT
This option deletes the currently selected item, and saves it to be pasted.
COPY
This option copyies the currently selected item, and saves it to be pasted.
PASTE
This option pastes the saved item onto the currently selected item.
CLOSING
DropBox is 2.04+ only!!! Just wanted to remind you.
DropBox was compiled with SAS/C 5.1b. I used GadToolsBox 2.0c to created the gui code (a great program!). I also used ILBM2Image to convert the funky Meef()Ware logo from an iff file to C source.
Thanks to:
Anthony Li for his example of handling underscore gadget shortcuts.
About Meef()Ware:
This silly name is something me and a bunch of other future cs-students thought up while attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Meef is a substitue for foo. So next time you think about naming a file blah.foo, name it blah.meef.
To Joe, Steve, and the rest of the Masters of Time And Space: Meef()!
If you have any questions, comments, bug reports, compliments, money, pizza, or beer send it to:
Steve Anichini
380 Grandview Ct.
Algonquin, IL 60102
or better yet, use email:
internet - zucchini@imsa.edu
NOTE: I will be attending Carnegie Mellon in the fall so future versions of DropBox might have a newer address.
