After installing a ClipFiler FKEY, you may use that FKEY to quickly copy any text that you have selected to a file for later retrieval.
FKEY?
An FKEY is a small program that runs when a special combination of keys are pressed simultaneously. For example, your computer comes with an FKEY installed to take snapshot of your screen and save it as a PICT in your root folder. To use this FKEY you would press the Command key, the Shift key and the "3" key. To use FKEYs, you will always use the Command, and Shift keys. The number key that you press in conjunction with command, and shift, determines which FKEY will be executed. For example, the Snapshot FKEY mentioned above is normally installed as key 3, and therefore Command-Shift-3 is the key combination used to execute it. If you have an FKEY installed at position 7, you would press Command-Shift-7, to execute that FKEY.
Installing ClipFiler:
CilpFiler comes with four different files. There are the "ClipFiler" control panel, "ClipFiler Guide", the "Register" application, and the "ReadMe - CilpFiler" document.
To install ClipFiler, copy the "ClipFiler" control panel to your Control Panels folder. The Control Panels folder is located in your System folder. Also copy the "ClipFiler Guide" to your Extension folder, which can also be found in your System folder. "ClipFiler Guide" is an interactive help system for ClipFiler using Apple Computer's Apple Guide help system. After you restart, the ClipFiler Guide will be available to you from the Help menu when the Finder is the active application.
Using the ClipFiler control panel:
After opening the ClipFiler control panel, you will presented with the following screen:
Installing a ClipFiler FKEY:
To install a ClipFiler FKEY, first determine which position you would like to install it at, and then use the pop up menu to select that position. You will notice that Key 1 and Key 2 are unavailable. This is because the MacOS has reserved Command-Shift-1 and Command-Shift-2 for Eject internal disk, and Eject external disk respectively. You may also see an icon next to an item that looks like the letter "F' next to a key. This icon designates an FKEY is present for that position. After you have selected the key that you would like to install, press the "Install Key" button. A grayed out ClipFiler icon will appear next to "Key #" in the pop up menu to indicate that the FKEY was successfully installed. The icon is grayed because it will not be available until you have restarted your computer.
Setting the Clipping file's path:
Note: Clipping file is the term used to denote a file that is used by a ClipFiler FKEY to store items it has copied.
The location of the Clipping file is shown next to the "Set Path..." button. To change this location, use the "Set Path..." button. The default location is your Desktop.
Setting the Clipping file's type and creator:
Note: A file's type and creator information are used by the System to determine which application is used to open a file, and which format that is contained in the file.
By default, ClipFiler creates SimpleText documents, which have type 'TEXT' and creator 'ttxt'. If you wish, you may change the type of document created by ClipFiler. If you do not know the type and creator for the type of file you would like, use the "Choose..." button to pick a document type that you would like, using a standard MacOS file dialog. If you already know the type and creator, you may type this information in the type and creator fields.
Setting the Clipping Separator:
The Clipping Separator is the text that is placed in between each item that you clip using a ClipFiler FKEY. You may change this to whatever you would like by typing the information in the Clipping Separator field. Starting with version 2.1, tokens were added to the Clipping separator, more on this later.
Making ClipFiler faster:
Normally, when a ClipFiler FKEY is invoked, it switches to the Finder momentarily in order to force an application to place it's private clipboard on the System's clipboard. This is necessary, as some applications keep their clipboard private, and only by switching to another application can this private clipboard be retrieved. However, many applications use the System's clipboard, so no switching is required. If this is the case with the applications in which you use ClipFiler, you may select the "Faster, Less Compatible" option. Don't worry about this option causing your machine to crash. The worst that can happen, is that you will not get what you expect when you invoke the FKEY. If you find that ClipFiler is not copying the text that you have selected, make sure that this option is not set.
Removing an FKEY:
The "Remove Key" button will remove the FKEY that you have selected using the pop up menu. This button will remove any kind of FKEY, including a ClipFiler FKEY. It will not however remove an FKEY which has been installed in your System file. You may remove an FKEY installed in your System file with any resource editor, though tampering with your System is not for the faint of heart.
Huh?
If you have Apple Guide installed on your computer, pressing the "?" icon in the top right corner will bring up the ClipFiler help system, which can take you step by step through all of the items above.
For advanced users:
ClipFiler v2.1 introduced tokens in the Clipping separator field. Tokens are patterns that are replaced when the FKEY is invoked. The following is a list of tokens that are currently supported by ClipFiler:
$CLIP - The clipping.
$SHORT_DATE - Current date using the short format is shown in the Date&Time control panel, e.g. 1/2/92.
$MEDIUM_DATE - Current date using the medium format is shown in the Date&Time control panel, e.g. Thu, Jan 2, 1992.
$LONG_DATE - Current date using the medium format is shown in the Date&Time control panel, e.g. Thursday, January 2, 1992.
$SHORT_TIME - Current time without seconds, e.g. 4:56 PM
$LONG_TIME - Current time with seconds, e.g. 4:56:12 PM
$APP_NAME - The name of the application where the FKEY was invoked.
$PROMPT - Presents a dialog where you may enter the text you would like to replace $PROMPT with.
Note: If $CLIP is not found in the separator the clipping is placed before the separator information.
Example, Assuming the separator is defined as:
---- Clipped on $SHORT_DATE at $TIME_WITH_SECONDS from $APP_NAME
--> $PROMPT <--
*** begin clip
$CLIP
end clip ***
If you were to invoke ClipFiler with the text "The quick brown fox." selected, on July 4th, 1996 at 12:00PM from SimpleText, and you typed "I Love ClipFiler." in the prompt dialog, the following would be appended to your Clipping file:
---- Clipped on 7/4/96 at 12:00:00PM from SimpleText
--> I Love ClipFiler. <--
*** begin clip
The quick brown fox.
end clip ***
Known bugs:
At present, only one that I know of, and there is a work-around. The ClipFiler FKEY doesn't work correctly with BBEdit. Pressing Command-C or selecting Copy from the edit menu before invoking the FKEY gets around this problem. Sorry about the extra keystrokes, I'm looking into this one though.
System Requirements:
ClipFiler has been tested and will run on any Macintosh compatible computer with System 7.1 or greater installed.
Registration:
ClipFiler is shareware, which means if you use it, you should send me US$10.
Pricing Info:
• Single User US$10.
• Site License US$250: covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius of your site (100 miles).
• World-Wide License US$1000: covers everyone in your organization on this planet, and others I suppose
To register this program, open the "Register" program which accompanies ClipFiler. Fill out all of the necessary information, and send it via eMail, Snail-Mail, or Fax to Kagi Shareware. Kagi Shareware is a service run by Kee Nethery which handles registration for ClipFiler as well as a lot of other great shareware. The following explains a bit about the "Register" program and Kagi Shareware.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can eMail or fax the data to Kagi Shareware. Their eMail address is shareware@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an eMail message or you can Save the data to a file and you can attach that file to an eMail message. There is no need to compress the data file, it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via eMail are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an eMail acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet eMail address you will receive an eMail acknowledgement.
If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form.
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi Shareware cannot accept checks in other currencies, the conversion rate for non-USD checks is around USD 15 per check and that is just not practical.
If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable people. You might want to highlight the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with their payment.
Kagi Shareware can not invoice your company, you need to act on my behalf and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.
Please do not fax or eMail payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi Shareware and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct eMail address, you will hear from Kagi Shareware when the form is processed.
Legal Bits:
Distribution:
ClipFiler may be freely distributed by any means, provided you don't charge for it. And provided it is unaltered and all of the files (ClipFiler, ClipFiler Guide, this ReadMe, and the Register) are included. But ClipFiler may not be distributed on CD without my permission.
Liability:
Casey Fleser will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason. Which means although I've tested it very thoroughly, you still assume the risk for using this program.
Version History:
v2.0 - Added the ClipFiler control panel and Guide. Removed dependency on special resource inside the FKEY suitcases. Allow multiple FKEYs to be used, lots of preferences can be messed with via the control panel.
v1.3 - Added option to remove the "clip" string. Added ability to change the creator using the 'kinf' resource.
v1.2 - ClipFiler now does copying for you (I kept forgetting to hit command-c). Now deals with applications that keep a private scrap.
v1.1 - added a short sound when invoking the FKEY
v1.0 - initial release
Acknowledgements:
A special thanks to:
• Florian Boyd who came up with the whole ClipFiler FKEY concept.
• Chris Pepper who made me think a bit about the preferences file, which resulted in the control panel.
• Professor A. E. Siegman whose ideas will probably keep me busy for a long time to come.
• Adam Engst for the recent burst of interest due to his TidBITS article.
• Stephen Piper my Alpha tester!
• Susie Drury for putting up with me, you're still marrying me right?
