Alchemy Help:
Resource Browser window
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The Alchemy Resource Browser Window
The Resource Browser provides a graphical overview of the contents
of your computer's disk drives. You can use the browser to create and maintain catalogs
of the various types of resource files that are stored on your PC, such as graphics
and audio files. The browser displays its information in two window panes. The pane on
the left is the Folder pane, which contains a directory
tree-style view of each disk drive which is attached to your PC. Each directory is
displayed as a folder. The pane on the right is the Document pane,
which displays the contents of the currently selected folder.
The folder pane initially contains a list of the disk drives
which are attached to your PC. Double-clicking on a drive will display the contents
of the drive as a list of folders. Each folder represents a directory. Double-clicking
on a folder will display any subdirectories contained within it. You can select a
directory by clicking on it with the left mouse button or by using the cursor keys on
your keyboard.
The document pane displays the contents of the folder which is currently
selected in the folder pane. Each item in the folder is displayed on a tile
. You can edit the file to which an item refers by double-clicking on the tile,
by pressing the Enter key or by selecting
Edit from the speed menu. You can copy the file to which the
item refers to your project directory by pressing Ctrl+C or by
selecting Copy to project directory from the speed menu.
There are three different view styles available in the document pane. You can change the
view style by selecting the Options/View menu item on the menu bar,
or by clicking one of the view-style buttons on the toolbar.
- Thumbnails + descriptions - For graphics files, a thumbnail image is
displayed on the left side of each tile, while the file size, download time and
image-specific information are displayed on the right. If the image is in a format that can be
displayed by most web browsers (i.e., GIF or JPEG), an inline image
graphic will be overlaid onto the thumbnail. For non-graphics files, an icon
representing the file's type is displayed on the left side of the tile, and the file
size and download time are displayed on the right.
- Thumbnails only - For graphics files, a thumbnail image is displayed.
If the image is in a format that can be displayed by most web browsers (i.e., GIF or JPEG),
the letter "W" will be overlaid onto the thumbnail.
For non-graphics files, an icon representing the file's type is displayed.
- Descriptions only - For graphics files, the file size, download time and
image-specific information are displayed. For non-graphics files, the file size and download
time are displayed.
Alchemy recognizes file types by matching the file name extension against the following list:
- Graphics - .GIF, .JPG, .PNG
- HTML - .HTM
- CGI-BIN - .PL, .TCL, .SH, .CPP, .C
- Image map - .MAP
- Audio - .WAV, .SND, .AIF, .IFF, .VOC, .MOD, .NST, .RAM, .AU, .SF, .IA
- Application - .EXE, .COM., BAT
When you select a directory folder for the first time, the thumbnails will contain the
text "N/A", indicating that there is no catalog present for that directory. To create a
catalog, select the View/Update thumbnails menu item on the menu bar.
If you are using a document pane view which displays thumbnails, and you switch to an
image editing application to edit an image file and then return to the browser window,
the image's thumbnail will contain the text "N/A". This indicates that
the thumbnail is no longer a true representation of the image. You can update the
thumbnail by selecting Update from the speed menu
Here's a walkthrough of the Resource Browser menus.
- File
Copy to project directory
Copies the file referred to by the currently selected item in the document pane to the
project directory.
Edit
Sends the selected file to an editor application. If the selected file is an HTML document,
it will be sent to whatever tool you have selected as
your web editor. Otherwise, Alchemy will select a helper
application based on the file type.
Delete
Deletes the selected file from the disk.
Rename
Displays the Rename file dialog and allows you to rename the
file.
Update thumbnail
Updates the thumbnail image for the selected graphics file.
Exit Alchemy
Terminates the Alchemy application.
- View
Update thumbnails
Updates the thumbnail images for all graphics files in the current directory.
Refresh
Reloads the directory tree.
- Options
Show only resource files
When this item is check, Alchemy will only display files that it recognizes as
resource files (i.e., graphics and audio files). If unchecked, Alchemy will display
all types of files.
View
Allows you to change the document view to Thumbnails+descriptions,
Thumbnails only or Descriptions only.
- Helpers
Allows you to go to a helper application window such as an image editor. You set these
items up in the Helper applications section of the
Alchemy preferences dialog.
- Window
Allows you to selectively display, go to or hide any of the Alchemy windows. You set
these items up in the Windows section of the
Alchemy preferences dialog.
- Help
Contents
Displays this file.
About...
Displays Alchemy product, contact and version information
A Next Wave communication. © Copyright 1996
Next Wave Software.
All rights reserved. Feedback to
feedback@stormsurge.com.
The folder pane