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FOCNOTES.DOC
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1994-02-21
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This file points out some of the non-obvious features of PMView's File
Open Container (FOC). You should also refer to FOCREF.DOC, which is a
complete reference to all of the commands on the FOC pop-up menu.
I've written this file as a set of questions and answers. You can
either go through the questions in order or jump to the ones that
interest you.
What is the File Open Container (FOC)?
--------------------------------------
The FOC is the large white rectangular area in the lower-left corner of
PMView's File Open dialog. To see the File Open dialog, either select
_File _Open or type Ctrl+O.
The FOC *is* a standard container, which means that you change its
view, drag and drop things to and from it, and resize it. (To do the
last, resize the dialog and the FOC will also be resized.) You can also
display a popup menu for the FOC and for each image inside it. Finally,
you can rename an image by Alt+clicking on the filename (or on the
thumbnail, in Non-Te_xt view).
How do I bring up the FOC pop-up menu?
--------------------------------------
The usual way: Right-click inside the container but *not* on one of the
images. A menu will pop up. If the top item on the menu is _Open, then
you have the menu for one of the images; try again in another location.
If you are in _Flowed view, try right-clicking under the bottom row of
icons. If you are in _Detail view, right-click on one of the column
headings, e.g., on top of the word "Name." Again, this is all as usual.
When I display the FOC, all I see is a bunch of squares that say "No
Thumbnail Available". Why?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
By default, the FOC opens in _Normal, Non-_grid, T_humbnail view. When
you start out, PMView hasn't created any thumbnails yet.
How can I create a thumbnail?
-----------------------------
Right-click on one of your images, preferably a small one. Click
_Thumbnail. (If you hit the arrow to the right of _Thumbnail, then
click _Create.) The thumbnail will change to say "Creating Thumbnail."
After a few seconds (or minutes, depending on how big the image is and
whether you have other things tying up your computer), you will see a
graphical thumbnail. Pretty nifty, huh?
PMView's thumbnails are really standard OS/2 icons, but at a size of
80x80. As usual, these icons are attached to the file's extended
attributes. Thus, if you move or copy the file, the thumbnail goes with
it. OS/2 will scale down the thumbnail if necessary (e.g., if you look
at the image with a drive object). Since the thumbnail *is* a standard
OS/2 icon, you can do the usual things with it, e.g., set another
object's icon by dropping your image onto that other object's notebook.
Note that the thumbnail takes 9540 bytes. Make sure that you don't
accidentally fill up your hard drive with thumbnails!
How can I make thumbnails for all my images?
--------------------------------------------
As with any other container, you can select all the images in the FOC
by typing Ctrl+/, and then right-click on one of the images and select
_Thumbnail. PMView will then make thumbnails for all the images you
selected.
A simpler way is to bring up the FOC popup menu (*not* the menu for one
of the images), click _Thumbnails, and click _Automatic create. When
PMView is in _Automatic create mode, it will make thumbnails for every
image in the directories that you enter.
What are the other options under _Thumbnails in the FOC popup menu?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
"_Manual create" means that PMView won't make any thumbnails
automatically; you'll have to make them all by hand.
"_Automatic create" is as it says under the previous question; PMView
will automatically make thumbnails for the images in every directory
that you enter.
"_Loading creates" means that PMView will create a thumbnail for an
image when it loads that image. This is the option that I prefer to
use. (Peter prefers _Automatic create.)
The last option, "Transparent _Fill," determines what the "background"
areas of a thumbnail should look like. Suppose you have a tall, thin
image. Thumbnails are square, so the left and right edges of the
thumbnail should take some sort of "background" color. If Transparent
_Fill is on, PMView will create thumbnails with a transparent
background. Otherwise, the thumbnail backgrounds will be created black.
How do I select more than one image?
------------------------------------
The usual ways: You can drag a rectangular area, and all the images
inside the rectangle will be selected. Or you can click on the first
image you want and Ctrl+click on the second and subsequent ones. Or you
can type Ctrl+/ to select all the images in the current directory.
There's also one other "unusual" way: If you don't like having to hold
down Ctrl, then bring up the FOC popup, click S_elect, and click
Stick_y select. When sticky select is on, you don't need to hold down
Ctrl to add images to the selection. This is (of course) unusual and
unlike the OS/2 standard. But one user *really* wanted it, so we added
it.
I don't like those huge thumbnails. What are my other choices?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Bring up the FOC popup and click _View. Now click the *arrow* to the
right of _Normal. You can choose to view Thumbnails, standard-sized
OS/2 icons, or text only. If you prefer the last, you might consider
using _Quick view.
Why is PMView so slow at putting images into the FOC? How can I speed it up?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Normal View mode, PMView has to load a *lot* of information for each
image before it adds it to the FOC. It has to load the thumbnail for
each image. It also reads enough of the image to check its actual image
format (as opposed to its filename extension) and its color depth (ie,
how many colors the image could possibly have). It loads all this
information in case you change to _Detail view, or want to sort based
on this info.
If you don't need this info, try _Quick view instead. In the Quick
views, you can only see (and sort on) file names, sizes, dates, and
times. But if that's all you want, _Quick view is the way to go,
especially on slow drives (such as CD-ROMs).
Whew! What are all those _View choices?
---------------------------------------
The best way to figure out the _Views is to experiment -- and to look
at FOCREF.DOC.
How can I sort images?
----------------------
Bring up the FOC popup menu and click Sor_t. By default, PMView sorts
by filenames. If you want to change this default, click the arrow to
the right of Sor_t and pick the sort type you want. Note that some
types of sorts are not available in _Quick mode. For details on the
sort options, check FOCREF.DOC.
Is there any way I can randomly rearrange the images?
-----------------------------------------------------
Use the S_cramble command on the FOC popup. Each time you use it,
PMView randomly rearranges the images in the FOC.
Is there anything else on the FOC popup?
----------------------------------------
Yes -- the _Refresh command. This rereads the current directory and
updates the FOC display. Images will be sorted using the
currently-selected method. Use _Refresh if you're using another OS/2
program (or session) to add (or change images.
Raja Thiagarajan / FOCNOTES.DOC / 2-21-94 release