\i or: how to make your Turbo feel like an '030 again\
\i0 by Erik Kay\
\i\fs20 copyright Erik Kay, 1992. All rights reserved\
\i0\ql\fs24 \
MultiView is a BackSpace module that allows you to run several BackSpace modules simultaneously. The list in the MultiView inspector has all of the modules present in the main BackSpace view browser except for
\i All
\i0 and
\i Multi
\i0 (no infinite recursion here, thanks... :-). The list in the MultiView inspector allows multiple entries to be selected via the standard shift-click interface. To make the current selections the default, click on the
\i Set Default
\i0 button.\
MultiView supports running up to nine BackSpace modules at once. However, even on a Turbo NeXTstation, running four modules is fairly slow, so I doubt that you will want to run more than four at any one time until faster machines become available.\
In the lower right hand corner of the inspector, is the control area for the layout of the modules. Each rectangle shown represents one module, and how it will fit on the screen. \
No more than the number of modules shown in the layout window will be displayed, even if more than that number are selected in the list. So if you have four modules selected in the list, but have picked a three module layout, only the first three modules in the list will be displayed. \
In the layout view, each module's area is numbered. This is the order in which the modules will be filled. So the first module selected in the list will go into rectangle one, etc. \
The order of the modules in the list can be changed dynamically by holding down the control key and dragging a module name to a different location in the list. Unfortunately, at this time, the order of the list isn't saved with the defaults.\
Because most modules weren't designed with being able to run simultaneously with other modules, you may get some bizarre effects. For example, the Neko module will slow down all of your views artificially because it has a delay hardcoded into it.\
In addition, some modules will be much slower than they are running alone, since they were optimized to run in a retained window, and MultiView makes all of its sub-modules run within a single buffered window. This will definitely cause a performance hit. Also, most modules will be slightly slower in general since I have to continually lock and unlock focus on each view and send them messages telling them that. MultiView doesn't have the luxory of being able to run in a tight loop like BackSpace does when running a single module.\
Here is a list of further bugs / limitations:\
modules that use the common image loading code don't work in multi-view.\
you can't run the same view multiple times\
you can't save the order of the list of modules\
it doesn't work with modules that are running localized to non-English\
the scrolling matrix of modules sometimes redraws itself incorrectly when list elements are control-dragged through the list.\
you can't overlay modules on top of each other\
no way to easily add your own layout\
unreasonably slow with some modules. even when running only one of them\
Please send bugs and / or comments to Erik_Kay@next.com.\
\i MultiView is freeware. You are free to distribute it, and to reuse all source code included, as long as you leave this help text within it, and credit me if you reuse the source.\
MultiView should not be considered in any way a product of NeXT computers, Inc.\
Thanks to Sam Streeper for ideas and suggestions, and for writing BackSpace.
(.txt)