That's exactly the question this application answers! Slef is a simple application that shows how much free space is available on each mounted volume. It works with any mountable device including: hard drives, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, shared folders, Novell volumes, and even RAM-disk applications (AppDisk works anyway). It will list up to 32 devices (31 if using PowerTalk) in a small window in the lower left corner of the screen. Each device is denoted by the first character in its name. Slef currently requires System 7.
How do I use Slef?
Just drop Slef into your Startup Folder. Each time your computer starts up, Slef will launch and immediately return to the Finder (If you launch other applications at startup, you might want to add spaces to the beginning of the name so that it launches first).
Because Slef is not really intended to interact with the user, it follows a somewhat non-standard interface (if somebody is willing to show me how to get a dialog up in an INIT, I'd be most appreciative). Because of this, there are a few idiosyncrasies:
1) You'll notice that if you click on the application while it's running, it will return to the Finder. So how do you quit the application? Most of the time this isn't a problem as Slef accepts the Quit Apple Event. If you do a Restart or Shutdown, Slef will automatically quit. However, should you need to quit the application, hold down Cmd-Ctrl and click on the window. Or you can hold down Cmd-Ctrl and select it from the Application Menu. Slef checks for these modifier keys when getting a Resume event and will quit.
2) Slef has one preference setting which may be obtained by double-clicking its window. This will bring up a second dialog that allows you to select how many volumes to display. Keep in mind that if you select a number X (other than zero), it will show only the first X mounted volumes.
Compatibility Issues/Notes
Slef is very stable (thanks to it's being an application). I've never known it to cause a system crash. It's been tested on a Mac SE, IIsi, IIci, Quadra 700, and PowerMac 8100/80.
Quiting the Finder -- Slef will still work even if you quit your Finder. If you click on the window, it will simply switch to the next application rather than the Finder. If you quit your last application other than Slef, Slef will automatically quit. This automatically causes the Finder to restart.
Automatic window hiding utilities -- Because Slef is usually in the background, it is susceptable to being automatically hid when in the background by utilties such as Now Menus (Now Utilities). Turn off this option to maximize its use (otherwise you'll be making many trips to the Application Menu).
Disclaimer
Use Slef at your own risk!! I'm not responsible for any problems incurred by using Slef. I've never had it crash but that doesn't mean it won't!!
Please send bug reports and/or comments to:
AOL: AEWizard
CompuServe: 76206,1640
Internet: cerickso@hmc.edu
Slef is NOT free!!! If you use it, send $10 (US) to:
Chris Erickson
12742 Foliage Ct.
Apple Valley, MN 55124
You may pass Slef on to other users as long as this document accompanies the application.
Finally, special thanks to Dean Dauger and Ben Weiss, who helped get it off the ground and took the risk of the first beta tests.
