Application Substitution, File Launching, and More.
When the original HandOff appeared a while back, it solved a common and irritating Macintosh complaint: clicking on an icon and getting a dialog box which said that “the application is busy or missing”. HandOff met with universal acclaim as a modest utility that answered a universal need. Now HandOff II has arrived, and a number of appealing features have been added.
HandOff II, like the original HandOff, lets you specify a substitute application to open your documents. For instance, how many times have you double-clicked on a “Read Me” document, only to get the message, “The file ‘Read Me’ could not be opened/printed (the application is busy or missing)”? This can happen when, for instance, a document was created by Microsoft Word or WriteNow, but MacWrite II is your word processor. With HandOff II, you’ll see instead a dialog box which asks you which program you’d like to use to open the document. You have to choose a compatible application—you can’t expect PageMaker to open a DesignStudio document. As long as your program has the ability to read the document, all will proceed as if nothing unusual had happened; your document will open for reading, editing, printing, etc. Furthermore—and this is the really good part—HandOff will remember your substitution, so that the next time you double-click on a Word document, MacWrite II will welcome it like the prodigal son. This simple substitution can save lots of time and aggravation. If you don’t have MacPaint, you can set FullPaint or SuperPaint to open MacPaint clip art files. A model of transparency, HandOff appears whenever it is needed and remembers your desires.
File Launching
HandOff II has added several new features. Chief among them is File Launching. We’re all aware by now of the difficulties of organizing even a modest-sized hard drive. In order to cut down on desktop clutter, applications and documents are placed in folders. Sometimes, finding a program or document can involve searching through several levels of folders. This process can be not only time consuming, it can also leave your desktop cluttered with open folders.1 There are several other products which address this problem—notably On Cue, DiskTop, and Andrew Welch’s soon-to-be-released Quick Tools. Here’s how HandOff II handles the problem: a new, drop-down File Launch menu is added to your Mac. This menu contains the names of programs and documents. Simply choose the name to run the program. It’s as easy as selecting a desk accessory.
[ILLUSTRATION: File Launching]
HandOff II’s File Launch menu is preset to drop down when you click in either upper corner of your Mac’s menu bar.2 You can also configure the menu to pop up anywhere on your screen when you press user-modifiable “hot keys”.
Several interesting and useful twists have been implemented which extend the usefulness of the File Launch menu. First, there is a MultiFinder application switcher included at the top of the list which shows—and lets you choose from—a list of currently running applications. This is a big improvement over Apple’s current MultiFinder menu, which is located at the bottom of the desk accessory list.
The File Launch menu lets you attach documents to your applications. If a program has documents associated with it, a triangle will appear alongside its name. Choosing the name of the application will cause the list of documents to pop out. From there, the document will load directly in. This can be a real time-saver, especially if you use stationery files, or if you keep adding information to the same spreadsheet file or database.
Categories
Another interesting twist is that the File Launcher can create Categories. For instance, if you have a lot of programs, your list of programs might get uncomfortably long. With HandOff II, you can create categories of programs, so that, for instance, all of your graphics programs pop out from the Graphics category.
[ILLUSTRATION: Categories]
[Caption: Several applications have been grouped under the category “Graphics,” thus shortening the File Launch list.]
Briefcases™
Offering even more interesting possibilities is the “Briefcase” feature. A Briefcase entry can contain a number of items—applications and/or documents—that are all associated with one project that you’ve defined. When you select the Briefcase from the File Launch menu, all of the associated documents will open. Depending on your working habits, this can be a very handy feature. The concept of a Briefcase in the Mac world of suitcases seems both elegant and obvious…why didn’t anybody think of this before?
[ILLUSTRATION: Briefcase]
[Caption: A “Briefcase” named “MMon” has been created. Choosing it will run all of the applications and documents shown in the submenu.]
Another clever feature of HandOff’s File Launch menu is that you can set independent sound and color levels for each application. Some programs, such as photo retouch programs, need the color level set to 256 Grays. Certain games run best at the 16 Color setting. Many applications will run faster in the black-and-white mode. Some games have sound effects that are too loud for late evening play. Going to the Control Panel to make these changes has always been a chore. Now, with HandOff II, you can preset sound and color levels once and never worry about it again.
Installation and Configuration
HandOff II is an INIT/CDEV combination. To install it, simply copy it into your System folder and reboot. From then on, it works automatically. If you want to configure any of its features, just bring up your Control Panel. The manual is a little confusing in spots, and some operations are not intuitive, but a little experimentation will pay off.
HandOff II is a welcome upgrade to a valuable utility. The new features work smoothly. One consideration remains: which of these features will be needed after Apple brings out System 7.0? Still, HandOff II is available now to smooth out several of the Mac’s rough spots. HandOff II is a good program and a good value.
1. Here’s another tip to avoid a cluttered desktop when opening nested folders: if you hold down the Option key when double-clicking on a folder, its parent folder will close behind it. This technique is only available with more recent systems and has been nicknamed “tunneling.”
2. This position might interfere with PopChar, which also pops up from an upper corner. Neither product is very handy for those of us with two monitors. The upper-right corner of my main monitor is hard to locate quickly and with precision, due to the pointer sliding onto the second monitor. Let’s all hope other programmers don’t opt for these hot spots.
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Jim Alley • 320 East 54th Street • Savannah, GA • 31405
