The OS8 CMM Expansion Pack was written to expand the functionality of the MacOS8 contextual menu which is acessed by holding down the control key while clicking on anything in the OS8 Finder. Four plugins are provided, Finder Info 1.0, Set Custom Icon 1.1, Eject Volume 1.0 and Volume Size 1.0. Additionally, the pack includes a small utility, Visibility 1.0.
Version 1.2 updates 1.1 by adding the Eject Volume 1.0 and Volume Size 1.0 plugins and is a free upgrade to registered users of earlier versions of the OS8 CMM Expansion Pack. If you have not registered, please see below for details.
The Set Custom Icon 1.1 plugin lets you quickly and easily change custom icons on files, folders, applications and drives. Simply control-click on the icon and you will see a Custom icon item and submenu appear, choices include cut, copy, clear and paste depending on whether or not a custom icon is present or on the clipboard. Much more pleasant than the old fashioned way of going through the Get Info dialog. Future enhancements will include the ability to paste PICT files as well as icons.
The Finder Info 1.0 plugin is likely to be of more interest to programmers as it allows you to toggle the Finder information bits such as the Invisible and Custom Icon bits. Control-click on the icons in the Finder and you will see a Finder info item whose submenu lists the bits and their current values, select these to toggle on or off. Please use this with care as this information is actually used by the Finder and misuse can cause problems. I'd like to add creator and type code changing here as well but I've yet to work out a nice interface.
The Eject Volume 1.0 plugin adds an eject command to the menu whenever the selected item or window belongs to an ejectable volume. This lets you eject from any window of a volume, not just the root level (using put away) and from any icon, not just the volume icon itself. Both of which are quite handy when you have lots of windows open obscuring the volume icons.
The Volume Size 1.0 plugin adds a menu which gives the name of the volume that a particular file, folder or window belongs to (which is quite handy by itself sometimes) and attaches a submenu which tells you how large the drive is and how much space is in use or available.
Visibility 1.0 lets you select invisible files or folders and make them visible. Simply launch the application, choose the file or folder and click on the show button(s). Visibility will then quit having made the item visible. This is a quick single focus utility so niceties such as menus etc have been dispensed with.
Visibility is a Fat Binary application that will run on both 680x0 and PowerPC Macintosh computers running System 7 or later. It needs only 400K of RAM and occupies only 40K of disk space.
The Visibility utility will let you make a number of system files and folders visible, I strongly suggest you do not do this unless you are confident you know what you are doing. I accept no warranty for damage you may do to your computer or time you waste as a result of using this software.
Using the OS8 CMM Expansion Pack
Copy the four plugin files onto your System Folder, the OS will put them in the Contextual Menu Items folder for you. Restart your computer. To see the new options, select an icon under the finder while holding down the control key. Have fun!
Shareware Fee And Contacting The Author
OS8 CMM Expansion Pack is shareware, please be honest enough to pay if you play. The fee is US$10 which I will happily accept in cash if you don't want to pay the exorbitant fees charged by banks for other currency instruments. I know the postal service hates this, but put it between two pieces of good white paper (giving your contact details, perhaps 8-) and I promise not to tell on you. Other currencys are acceptable but I would prefer the US$ as I travel occasionally over there.
You can send cash payments to:
Stephen Marshall
c/o Information Technology Services
Kelburn Parade
PO Box 600
Wellington
New Zealand
For other than cash payments, you can use the Register program and pay through Kagi Shareware as detailed below.
If you are paying for more than one user then these are the charges:
1- 20 single user licenses, US$10 per user
21+ single user licenses, US$5 per user
A Site License costs $200 (equal to 40 users) and covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius of your site (100 miles). One big advantage of a Site License is that you do not need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software. A World-Wide License costs $500 and it covers all locations for your organization on the planet earth.
Paying for OS8 CMM Expansion Pack is fairly simple. Open the Register program that accompanies the OS8 CMM Expansion Pack. Enter your name, your email address, and the number of single user licenses you desire for each program you wish to purchase (or Site or Word-Wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi Shareware. More specifics on the Register program to follow. Kagi Shareware handles my payment processing.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi Shareware. Their email address is shareware@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an email message or you can Save the data to a file and you can attach that file to an email message. There is no need to compress the data file, it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet email address you will receive an email acknowledgement.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-DR
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi Shareware cannot accept checks in other currencies, the conversion rate for non-USD checks is around USD 15 per check and that is just not practical.
If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable people. You might want to highlight the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with their payment.
Kagi Shareware can not invoice your company, you need to act on my behalf and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed.
Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi Shareware and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi Shareware when the form is processed.
My email address for comments, bug reports etc is marshall@kagi.com. The latest version of the OS8 CMM Expansion Pack will be posted in all the usual online places and will also be available from:
If you give me an email address when you register, I will notify you of updates and if requested, include the updates as BinHQXed attachments.
Please note that the OS8 CMM Expansion Pack is not a product of Victoria University of Wellington, nor is it endorsed by them in any way whatsoever. I happen to work there, but that should not be regarded as any validation of me or this software by the university.
Copyright Statement And Warranty Disclaimer
OS8 CMM Expansion Pack is copyright ｩ1997. Stephen Marshall asserts the right to be identified as author and has provided this software under the shareware system. You may copy this software and give it to your friends, provided that this document is also passed on with it. If you retain the software for more than 2 weeks you must send a payment of US$10 to Stephen Marshall at the address given above. This will entitle you to email notification of updates if you supply your email address.
By using this software you accept all warranty for its effects. Stephen Marshall accepts no responsibility for loss of data, time or anything else of value caused by the use of this software. The Finder Info plugin can have serious effects on your computer and as user you are responsible for these. Stephen Marshall accepts no liability under any circumstances but in all you accept that you are entitled only to a refund of your shareware fee if the software fails to perform.
MacOS 8 is a trademark of Apple Computer used without permission but I don't think they'll mind 8-). Other trademarks are the properties of their owners used for informative purposes only, they know who they are.
