NoDesktopCleanup documentation

 

 Version 1.2.1                                                                                                      July 1996 

©1996 Alessandro Levi Montalcini   Technical support, permissions, suggestions:
C.so Re Umberto 10                          Internet email: alm@torino.alpcom.it
10121 Torino                                   ftp://ftp.alpcom.it/software/mac/LMontalcini
Italy                                                ftp://ftp.alpcom.it/software/mac/LMontalcini/alm.html

Binary Software, Inc.                       Orders and registrations only:
2118 Wilshire Blvd Suite 900           Phone: (800) 8-BINARY (824-6279)
Santa Monica, CA 90403                   or: (310) 449-1481
United States of America                   Fax: (800) 555-7217 or (310) 449-1473
                                                        Internet email: sales@binarysoft.com
                                                        CompuServe email: 74220,3377
                                                        America Online email: BINARY SW
                                                        ftp://users.aol.com/binarysw/

• Shareware: $10
◊  This program is distributed as shareware: if you use it please honor the shareware system by sending $10 U.S. to Binary Software at the address above. You can email, fax, snail-mail, or call. When registering please specify the name and version of this program as well as your name, mailing address, email address, phone number, fax number, and your credit card number and expiration date (we accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover). You can also pay with a check, money order, or cash.
◊  Binary Software is only collecting the registrations on my behalf; please contact me directly by email for any information, suggestion, permission, or request about this software. If you want to send non-U.S. cash or any other material including software, books, magazines, CD-ROMs or any hardware, please send it to me at my Italian address. If you do so, however, you should also notify me by email because I only receive my snail mail once per month.
◊  If you can’t afford to register you may still want to send Binary Software your name, address and email address so they can send you new product announcements and other special offers.
◊  Site licenses and group discounts are available for 5 or more registrations. Please check my ftp site or send email for more information.
◊  Please register: your support is the only way for me to keep working on cool shareware programs.

• Introduction
◊  NoDesktopCleanup is a cool control panel that lets you add a confirmation dialog to any menu item in any application. The unusual name comes from the original task I wrote this control panel for: disabling the annoying “Clean Up Desktop” and “Clean Up All” menu items in the Finder, which often make one’s life miserable by moving all the icons on the desktop away from their carefully chosen locations. The “Restart” and “Shut Down” menu items can also be nasty, especially if your Mac has software power-off; I already took care of them with the Shutdown Delay control panel, but NoDesktopCleanup lets you cancel before all applications are closed.
◊  Version 1.1 has a useful auto-confirm timer which prevents your Mac from hanging forever when it’s working alone and there’s no user to press the “OK” or “Cancel” buttons.
◊  Another thing you can do with NoDesktopCleanup is to disable menu items altogether (without any user confirmation). If you leave stuff in the trash and you don’t want your kids to empty it, just disable the “Empty Trash” menu item. When you really have to empty it you can open the control panel, turn it off with the main switch, empty the trash, then turn it back on. The whole thing takes a few seconds, but it can be a real lifesaver.

• The control panel
◊  The NoDesktopCleanup control panel allows you to view and edit the menu items you want to disable or confirm. The following commands are available in the control panel:
◊  New: Creates a new menu item and brings up the menu item editor window.
◊  Edit: Brings up the menu item editor for the selected menu item. Beeps if no menu item is currently selected.
◊  Delete: Deletes the selected menu item after asking if it’s OK to do so. This operation cannot be undone. Beeps if no menu item is selected.
◊  Info: Displays this text and lets you save it as a text file. You may also save a text file with your personal registration form, which can be printed with TeachText or any other text editor.
◊  The menu items list displays all currently defined menu items in alphabetical order. You may double click on a menu item to edit it (same as the Edit button).
◊  The on/off master switch enables and disables NoDesktopCleanup.

• Shortcuts
◊  Typing some characters when the control panel is open selects the first menu item in the list whose name matches the characters typed. You should not use the shift key while typing because it is used for NoDesktopCleanup’s button shortcuts. 
◊  Some keys may be used as shortcuts when NoDesktopCleanup’s control panel is the front window. These shortcuts need the shift key; I could not use the command key because the Finder doesn’t let control panels use it.
>> Shift-N = new menu item
>> Shift-E = edit menu item
>> Backspace = delete menu item
>> Shift-I = info & registration
>> Return or enter = select none
>> Down arrow, right arrow or tab key = select next menu item
>> Up arrow, left arrow or shift-tab = select previous menu item

• Notes
◊  Some versions of the Finder appear to have an invisible “space” character at the end of the “Shut Down” menu item. If typing “Shut Down” alone doesn’t work, you may either add a space at the end of the menu item name or mark it as partial. The same hints apply to any other menu item you can’t get to work properly.

• Installation
◊  System 7: Move the NoDesktopCleanup control panel to your Control Panels folder (inside the System folder) and restart your Macintosh. Open the Control Panels folder and double click on NoDesktopCleanup’s icon to configure it.
◊  System 6: Move the NoDesktopCleanup control panel inside your System folder and restart your Macintosh. Open the Control Panel desk accessory to configure it.

• Distribution
◊  This software is ©1995-96 Alessandro Levi Montalcini. It can be freely distributed as long as it is not modified and there’s no charge for it, but it may not be included in any commercial package without my consent.
◊  All online services and bulletin boards may make it available to their users at no charge other than the normal connection fees.
◊  All non-profit user groups may distribute it at no charge.
◊  All magazines may publish it on floppy disk or CD-ROM without asking me first, as long as I get a copy of the issue containing my software.
◊  All CD-ROM shareware collections and CD-ROM magazines may include it without my prior consent, as long as I get either a copy of the CD-ROM or an offer to buy the CD-ROM at a discounted price.
◊  All redistribution companies such as Pacific HiTech, AMUG, Celestin or Educorp may distribute it, as long as I get a copy of each media containing my software and a catalog of the company’s offerings (where applicable).
◊  You may find the latest version of all my shareware and freeware programs by anonymous ftp to ftp.alpcom.it, inside the /software/mac/LMontalcini directory. The ALM Share and ALM Free packages, which contain most of my stuff and can be registered at a very low price, are also available there.

• Version history
◊  1.2.1 - Updated documentation and recompiled with CodeWarrior 9.
◊  1.2 - Ported to Metrowerks CodeWarrior to ease future interaction with KeyQuencer.
◊  1.1.4 - Added pictures and a contents menu to the online documentation.
◊  1.1.3 - Cleaned up the code and updated documentation.
◊  1.1.2 - Fixed a minor incompatibility with Okey Dokey, thanks to Brian A. Foster for reporting it.
◊  1.1.1 - Removed a couple of lines from this documentation.
◊  1.1 - Added auto-confirm timer option.
◊  1.0 - First public release.

• Thanks to…
◊  Valentina Pavia, who always kept me smiling while I was coding;
◊  Fabrizio Oddone and Alberto Ricci, for the usual testing and suggestions;
◊  Alberto Lenz, who suggested to add the auto-confirm timer.

• Disclaimer
◊  This software should never cause any damage, but you’re using it at your own risk. As an independent software developer, I can make no warranties whatsoever on it.

• Have fun!
◊  And don’t forget to register your shareware, so that more cool inexpensive utilities can see the light in the future.