Desktop Notes Release 2.0x, 4/4/93 or thereabouts (see note below for the minor changes from the 12/31/91 version)
Now with full color icons!
Background
This all started when I was looking for a way to leave short notes on file server policy on the file server itself. I've always wished you could type a line of text in a Finder window to identify a group of files in View By Icon, or even draw a box around them. Oh, well.
Then I remembered a little do-nothing application that contained only a RTS instruction, so that if launched, it just ran and quit. Sorry I can't credit the author as I've modified it so many times I can't remember where it originated. It was similar to the very old "MakeStart" application (circa 1984) you could launch to switch Systems to another disk, though - could have sprung from that.
Foreground
Pick an appropriate Desktop Note icon and copy it to the desktop or folder where you want to leave other users a note. Type in a new name to serve as the note — you can use up to 31 characters. You can put more text in the Get Info box. While there, lock the file to prevent accidental modification or deletion. Change the color too (System 6.x), if you like (on present and future color Macs). Under System 7, it's best not to use Labels, since this messes up Desktop Notes' new color icons.
Typical uses
The first place I used one of these (the NetAlert) was at Apple Computer, where I was establishing network policy and procedures in a department populated mostly by MBAs. An AppleShare file server's desktop was always a mess - one person would change the view and another would move a folder wherever. This lost one of the Mac's virtues - consistency. Folders were in a different place every time you opened the server (note: this can be prevented by ensuring the volume itself is owned by the SuperUser). I put a note "Please don't change desktop" Desktop Note on the desktop, and explained why in Get Info (Plus/SE users couldn't see windows dragged too far down and to the right, ferinstance). Within a few days, the opening desktop display stabilized! Now the view was always the same, and all without (benevolent) dictatorship-type policy. This group sported the only organized, consistent AppleShare file server desktop in the building. It works! And the users like it.
I left a folder of Desktop Notes called "Desktop Notes - Take One" on the server's desktop. Soon users were using them on their own to leave notes to other users of departmental and workgroup folders. Realizing the potential, I created more Desktop Notes for various situations, some serious, some not. Here they are for you, your Network Manager, and users to sprinkle about.
Other Uses
I put a "Do Not Disturb" Desktop Note on the desktop of a mail server, along with a SmileyFace that had the server's network name. The uses are endless. You can use them just to dress up your own desktop as well, of course — "No Bozos" is good. To make just the icon show in a window, name it Option-space. After I joined Aldus, I discovered they were everywhere before I got here! The pointing hand was used to show which version of a program to use, ferinstance.
Techie Stuff
From that first app I changed the BNDL, ICN#, and OwnerName resources to make the app have a unique icon (this is much easier to do today in ResEdit using the BNDL template). I added a SIZE resource so it wouldn't use up 384K if launched under MultiFinder/System 7. The SIZE is set as small as possible to launch reliably.
You could cut the CODE resource, change the type from APPL, and still keep the icon, but then users would get the "can't find app" alert if they tried to open it. The application way seems less confusing, especially under MultiFinder/System 7, where you get a quick in/out zoom rectangle effect and that's it. You can delete the CODE resource if you don't want the Desktop Notes to open (run).
In most cases, I used Apple's reserved icon colors. Small icons were not cleaned up much or at all, since Desktop Notes are designed to be used in the icon view. Please feel free to edit them and send me the results for the next release.
Etc.
You can edit the icons with ResEdit to create your own Desktop Note, but you'll need to rebuild the Desktop file to see the change. You can do this by holding down Command and Option while the Finder is loading, as when starting up or quitting an application (doesn't work under MultiFinder/System 7 unless you force quit the Finder), or when rebooting.
With any luck Desktop Notes' creators won't conflict with any existing apps. If you suddenly see "NetAlert" or "No Bozos!" DOCUMENTS in the Finder view-by-text listing, or can't launch certain docs from the Finder anymore, you have a conflict. Throw that note away and rebuild the Desktop as described above. ResEdit users with a knowledge of file resources can change the creator type to avoid conflicts (several changes are necessary). Please report any conflicts.
Revision History
Version 1.0
First I made a few (1.0), then later I made some more (1.1). Touched up the icons on a few of the old ones.
Version 2.0
Finally added Iclx's on a color Mac at w*rk. Added the ArtMac, AppleServer (icon borrowed from someone more creative than I) and the left-handed This Is It, called That Is It. Some icons I made, others I stole. I hereby give credit to those unnamed, generous souls.
May make some more someday.
April 4, 1993 Changes
Mean ol' 3M Corp. griped about using the name "Post-it Note," so I changed all such references to "Desktop Notes." I improved the Armadillo icons a bit (borrowed them from Ramadillo, a "real" app I wrote to help find memory leaks) and fixed an ics8 in Peace. I also made all creators have at least one capital letter because Apple reserves all lower case creator codes. If you have the old 2.0 version, you should rebuild the desktop to clear out the old icon resources. There's no real reason to "upgrade," however.
Distribution
Desktop Notes are beerware. If you use them, you must drink a Lone Star beer or local equivalent in my name. Commercial use or charging fees for these files is not permitted, except by legitimate Macintosh user groups or my permission. My lawyer's bigger'n your lawyer. He looks like Lyle Alzado on weapons-grade steroids and hasn't been getting enough fiber in his diet.
I hope these efforts brighten up your desktop and make network admin a little easier. They work well for me. Look for more Desktop Notes - someday. And please contribute your own!
