AutoLaunch is a screen saver "engine" that launches an application after your Macintosh has been idle for a specified amount of time. It's great for running stand-alone MacroMedia Director movies as screen savers, executing AppleScript applets during idle time, restarting demos after a person walks away, and the like.
Some ideas and sample AppleScript applets are included in the accompanying "Examples & Ideas" folder. We welcome any additions you might have to this folder for future releases.
Please note that AutoLaunch is distributed through the shareware system. If you use it, please take the time to pay for your copy. It’s the only way we’ll be able to continue to support and improve the product, so your payment does matter! The Register SCS application is included for registering your copy via the Kagi Shareware registration service.
If you have any problems with AutoLaunch, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the documentation before contacting us. Many common problems are covered there. If you are still having difficulties, by all means contact St. Clair Software at one of the addresses listed in the "AutoLaunch Documentation" file or in the online help.
If you have access to the World Wide Web, the most up to date software and information on our other products can be found at <http://www.stclairsw.com/>.
Registration
Please note that AutoLaunch is distributed under the shareware system. If you use it, please pay the shareware fee so we can continue to provide you with quality products and support. To register, just click on the "Help" button in the AutoLaunch control panel, then on the "Register" button. Send the resulting form to:
email: shareware@kagi.com
fax: +1 510-652-6589
mail: Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-ST
Berkeley, California, 94709-1405
USA
Support
If you have any suggestions or problems to report, contact us at:
email: support@stclairsw.com
fax: +1 412-835-4402
mail: St. Clair Software
2025 Mohawk Road
Upper St. Clair, PA 15241
USA.
If you have Internet Config installed, you can click on the URL in the AutoLaunch control panel to take your browser directly to our web site.
Interesting 'power user' feature:
If you use AutoLaunch to run Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer, you can have it switch between URLs periodically while your Mac is idle - wow, a web-based screensaver! To do this, you have to use ResEdit (if there's enough demand for this feature, we'll add a user interface). Simply open AutoLaunch with ResEdit, modify 'sstm' resource 7000 to set the time between URL switches (in seconds), then add a list of URLs you want to see in 'STR#' resource 1000. You can also add an URL to 'STR#' resource 2000 if you want your browser to go to an URL when AutoLaunch 'wakes up' for mouse or keyboard activity.
Note that you must restart before your changes take effect.
Known problems and limitations:
- The "Kill on wake up" option can cause crashes when some applications are used as screen savers. "Quit on wake up" is much safer. Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the documentation for more details.
- If AutoLaunch tries to launch an application while the Desktop is being rebuilt, the system may crash when it reads the Desktop database.
- Because some applications you may want to run with AutoLaunch (notably Marathon) turn off screen savers, AutoLaunch does not implement the 'SAVC' gestalt that allows this to be done. If this presents a problem for you, please let us know.
Release Notes:
Version 1.0.8:
- Fixed a bug that could cause AutoLaunch to report an error when launching an application while an Audio CD is in the CD-ROM drive on some machines.
- AppleScript applets are not kept in front the way other screen saver applications are.
- Added the ability to automatically rotate through URLs if AutoLaunch is used to launch a web browser. There is no user interface for this yet - you have to use ResEdit to add the URLs to 'STR#' resources 1000 and 2000, and modify the delay in 'sstm' resource 7000.
Version 1.0.7:
- Fixed a single bug that could cause crashes when using the control panel under System 7.0 or 7.1.
Version 1.0.6:
- If AutoLaunch encounters an error, it will not post an error alert until the machine is used again. This prevents the machine from getting stuck with an alert box showing.
- AutoLaunch now makes sure that the launched application stays frontmost. This can be very useful for applications like FileMaker Pro Server that run significantly slower in the background.
- The cursor is now hidden when the screen saver application is running.
- Changes to internal operation to merge AutoLaunch with AutoLaunch Pro.
- An OpenApplication AppleEvent is now only sent to an already running application if it is an AppleScript applet.
Version 1.0.5:
- Minor changes to the patch mechanism and to fix more register preservation problems. This fixes all known conflicts, each of which occurred only in a specific, isolated configuration. This version was not widely distributed.
Version 1.0.4:
- AutoLaunch did not correctly preserve registers in a patch, which could result in crashes.
