This Read Me contains important information about AMICO. Please read it.
What does it do?
AMICO is a utility for the apple menu. It simply lets you change the order of the items that appear in the apple menu, in a very easy way. In addition, you can insert divider lines to group related items together.
Requirements
AMICO is expected to run on any Macintosh model with system 7 or later.
I have successfully tested it on a Macintosh LC, LC III, LC 475, Macintosh IIci, Power Macintosh 6100, and Power Macintosh 5200.
Installation
Just drag the AMICO icon to your System Folder. You will be asked if you want AMICO to be placed inside the Extension Folder. Make sure you press the OK button.
AMICO can now safely be placed inside your Extensions Folder. The problem with a previous version (1.0) has been corrected.
AMICO will be functional after you restart your Macintosh. During the startup time you will see an animated AMICO icon. However, if for any reason AMICO fails to initialize, an Xed icon will appear.
Disabling AMICO
You can disable AMICO by pressing the "A" key during startup. In that case you will see an Xed AMICO icon.
AMICO will be disabled until the next restart.
Deinstallation
Move the AMICO icon from your Extensions Folder to the trash and restart your Macintosh.
How to use AMICO
Open the Apple Menu Items folder which is inside your System Folder and choose the "by Icons" or "by Small Icons" command in the View menu. Use the mouse and change the order of the items inside this folder by moving them around.
If choose "by Icons", AMICO will scan the folder from left to right, and from top to bottom, and will display the items in the apple menu according to their relative location in the folder, as shown in the figure below.
If choose "by Small Icons", AMICO will scan the folder from top to bottom, and from left to right, and again will display the items in the apple menu according to their relative location in the folder, as shown in the figure below.
You can insert a divider line to group related items together by creating a folder (or anything else) whose name begins with a hyphen (-).
In addition, instead of inserting divider lines, you can tell AMICO to insert divider titles. Divider titles are dimmed apple menu items that look like category labels. You can insert a divider title by creating a folder (or anything else) whose name begins with a hyphen (-) and ends with the "less than" symbol (<). Several examples of divider lines & titles are shown in the figure below.
If after the (<) symbol you type B, I, or U, the divider title becomes Bold, Italic, or Underline faced respectively. Also, notice the use of the "vertical bar" symbol (|) in the examples above. AMICO interprets them to columns (:).
For your changes to take effect, you may need to close the Apple Menu Items folder. This forces the Finder to save the changes you made and enables AMICO to function properly. Sometimes, however, the Finder won't save your changes until you launch an application (eg. SimpleText).
Registering AMICO / ShareWare note
AMICO is ShareWare. You can distribute it freely provided that you don't modify it and that it is always accompanied by this Read Me file. However, if you decide to include it on a CD-ROM or post it to any BBS or other software archive, please let me know.
You can try AMICO without any charges for 10 days. If after that trial period you decide to keep it, you will have to pay for it. The ShareWare fee for each single computer is $10 (USD). For Greek users the fee is 1000 drachmas.
The ShareWare fee should be paid directly to me at the address found at the end of this Read Me file.
I have tried to make AMICO as stable as possible. Although, it still has bugs. Some of them are known and I am planning to correct them in future versions. Personally, I use it all the time without any problems. However, if you decide to use AMICO, you use it at your own risk. Under no circumstances, will I (the author) be liable for any incidental, special, or consequential damages that may occur to your system or software, because of the use of AMICO.
Any bug reports are welcomed. You can send them to me via mail or e-mail. See the "How to contact the author" section below.
Known incompatibilities
AMICO 1.1.1 is incompatible with the following products:
- BeHierarchic 3.0.1
- MenuChoice 2.0
- DiskDoubler Finder Menu 4.1.1
- FaxSTF 3.2
- Suitcase
- QuicKeys
- Nisus Writer Macros
Probably, AMICO seems to be incompatible with most of these extensions which alter the appearance of the Apple Menu. I will try to fix this bug in future versions of AMICO.
In addition, some Japanese users have complained that the Underline style of the Divider Titles (see the "How to use AMICO" section above) does not work properly in some Japanese systems.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the people who registered AMICO, those who sent me bug reports, and those who helped me test AMICO.
Also, special thanks to:
- Brian Stern, whose help on INIT writing was invaluable,
- James W. Walker, for his ShowIcon7 code,
- my brother George, who created the color AMICO icons, and
- Christopher Li, for translating the documentation into Japanese.
Future Plans
- Fix incompatibilities with other products
- Better memory handling
- Support the "by Name", "by Size", "by Label", "by Date" views of the Finder
Version History
1.1.1
- Doesn't use the self-modifying technique any more; it instead uses a gestalt selector to access its globals
- Better system environment checking
1.1
- Added balloon help to the Finder icon
- Show animated icons during startup
- Users can now disable AMICO by pressing the "A" key during startup
- Fixed bug with the installation. Now, it can safely be put inside the Extension Folder
- Reduced incompatibilities with other products (such as OtherMenu and Apple Menu Options)
1.0
Initial release
How to contact the author
My address is:
Dennis Chronopoulos
7 Agias Lavras Street
14561 Kifissia, Attiki
Greece (GR)
You can also e-mail me at the following Internet address:
