StuffCM is a contextual menu plugin that works with Aladdin Systems' StuffIt Engine. It can stuff, unstuff, convert, and BinHex files directly in the Finder through the contextual menu commands. To install StuffCM, drag it and StuffCM Control to your System Folder (they will be routed to their respective folders inside the System Folder) and restart your computer.
The Control Panel
StuffCM Control is a control panel wich lets you control how StuffCM works. You can choose wich commands will appear in the menu, whether the commands will appear in a submenu, and the settings for the commands themselves, such as whether to delete the original item after processing. StuffCM Control does not actually need to be in your Control Panels folder to work; all it does is modify the data stored in the StuffCM Preferences file.
The Plan
I was going to have Join and Split commands as well, but I ran into problems with the segmenting functions of the StuffIt Engine. I hope to have this working in a future version. It has also been suggested to add the ability to navigate through an archive using the contextual menu. I'm looking into this.
The Problems
StuffCM tells the Finder to display the items resulting from any operation. Unfortunately, if there's more than one item, the Finder reacts by selecting them one at a time leaving only the last item selected. I haven't figured out yet if there's a way around this. Notice that the same thing happens in Find File if you Open Enclosing Folder on more that one item. Another problem is that for BinHex, the StuffIt Engine doesn't report what the resulting file was, so StuffCM has to guess, and it may on occasion guess wrong (especially with long file names). Thirdly, it doesn't work with Convert to .sea/.sit, and there may be nothing I can do about that.
The System Requirements
- Mac OS 8 or later (can't use contextual menus without it)
- PowerPC processor (can't use contextual menu plug-ins without it)
- StuffIt Engine (can't do Stuff without it)
The Shareware
StuffCM is a little thing called shareware - you can download it, keep it, pass it around, show it off at parties, whatever. But if you use it, please pay me $9. You can use the enclosed Register program to send the money by fax, e-mail, or regular mail to Kagi Shareware. Share and enjoy!
StuffIt Engine is also available as shareware, or as part of the StuffIt Deluxe package.
My software page: http://www.kagi.com/dathorc/index.html
My home page: http://bounce.to/dathorc
Aladdin Systems page: http://www.aladdinsys.com/
My e-mail: mailto:dathorc@kagi.com
The History
1.1.1
- Fixed a crash in StuffCMControl that happened when running under Kaleidoscope, plus a little cosmetic glitch that you couldn't see anyway because it crashed.
- Okay, now the about box works. And it works even better than it would have before if it did work. Which it didn't.
1.1
- Added a Conflict Action option for Stuff
- The Encrypt option under Stuff works now
- The Continue Expanding option under UnStuff works now
- The settings from popup menus weren't getting used properly
- Got rid of some excess baggage in the control panel, so the file is now a lot smaller
- The about box works
- It turns out that when a plugin tries to display a standard directory dialog, it crashes, so the "Prompt" option for Conflict Action has been removed. I may come up with an alternate solution in the future. You'll have to re-select your setting.
- The Create Folder menu has been rearranged - Always and Smart were switched. If you had either of those set, you'll have to re-select it.
