◊ This program is distributed as Shareware: if you like it or use it please honor the shareware system by sending $5 to the author at the address above. Since collecting international cheques is very expensive, please send cash only. If you MUST send a cheque, keep in mind that the banks will gobble up more than half of it.
◊ NOTE: Getting some (usually very few) bucks is what you write shareware for, but getting a note, a postcard or anything else is a lot better than getting nothing. I'd like to know how far this program has gone, so remember that you can do something nice even if you don't have a couple of $$$ to spare.
• WHAT IS IT?
◊ ResumeToFinder is a Control Panel/Extension that installs a simple resume procedure in applications that don't have one. When ResumeToFinder is installed, system error alerts (also known as "bombs") will always show a "Resume" button.
◊ ResumeToFinder is only useful in case of "minor" system bombs (the ones that don't freeze up your Mac completely). When you get a system error alert (a "bomb"), you can try to quit the application and return to the Finder by clicking in the "Resume" button. If the bomb isn't too bad, you might find yourself harmlessly back in the Finder (note that there's still no way to recover your work in the application that bombed if you didn't save it already). This may not work if the bomb has affected other applications' memory in any way. Programmers, who often run into minor bombs, will find that ResumeToFinder is an excellent alternative to MacsBug's "ES" command (ExitToShell) - and it leaves you with 100 more K of free RAM compared to Apple's debugger.
• HOW MUCH MEMORY DOES IT USE?
◊ ResumeToFinder takes about 1K of system memory when installed. The file takes about 12K of disk space (mostly because of the color icons). Which means you could even use it on a startup floppy on a 1-Mb or smaller Mac.
• WHAT'S IN THE CONTROL PANEL?
◊ Since it's terribly hard to figure out, here's a brief explanation of what you see in the panel:
1. [On/Off] Switch ResumeToFinder on and off in case you don't have some kind of extensions manager;
2. [Info] Wow! This reminds you the $5 shareware fee, just in case you forgot;
3. [Show startup icon] Show RestartToFinder's icon at startup or don't.
• DISCLAIMER
◊ Guess what? I don't guarantee anything. If you manage to blow up your Mac with this stuff, it's your own business. Use it entirely at your own risk.
• VERSION HISTORY
◊ 2.0 - Rewritten part of the code to take advantage of System 7's features.
◊ 1.06 - The Info dialog in the control panel now behaves better with multiple monitors.
◊ 1.05 - Cut off useless key combinations and Shutdown patch. The name has changed from RestartToFinder to ResumeToFinder.
◊ 1.04 - Fixed the "show startup icon" procedure to auto-wrap correctly when startup icons reach the end of the screen.
◊ 1.03 - Fixed a bug in the Control Panel that could cause address errors on 68000-based Macs when ResumeToFinder was not installed (the bug was reported by Fabrizio Oddone). Minor changes in the Control Panel.
• THANKS TO:
◊ Fabrizio Oddone, who had the idea of installing a resume procedure to get the "Resume" button and helped a lot all the way along;
◊ Alberto Ricci, who had the original idea of the "Force Quit" command in Shutdown Delay, from which this stand-alone Panel was born.
• HAVE FUN! And don't forget to $$$ SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION $$$ so that more cool utilities will see the light in the near future, at the low-low-low costs of shareware.
