Mac Magazin/MacEasy 42/Mac Magazin and MacEasy Magazine CD - Issue 42.iso/Software/Grafik/Bildbearbeitung/PictPocket 1.3.2/PictPocket Help (text)

Text File | 1998-01-07 | 12KB | 301 lines

PictPocket 1.3.2

December 13, 1997



Disclaimer and Copyright Notice


PictPocket is a free utility which captures pictures of windows drawn by
Macintosh applications.  The author, Ross Brown, makes no warranty,
either express or implied, with respect to this software, its
performance, merchantability, or suitability for any particular purpose.
People using the PictPocket utility do so at their own risk.  The author
disclaims all liability for loss of data, mechanical damage, or other losses
suffered while using the PictPocket utility.

PictPocket is an AWOL Software Production, Copyright © 1994-7 Ross
Brown.  All rights reserved.  Permission is granted to make and distribute
copies of this software, provided this disclaimer and copyright notice are
preserved on all copies.  The software may not, however, be sold or
distributed for profit, or included with other software which is sold or
distributed for profit, without the permission of the author.

There are no site license fees for the use of PictPocket within an
organization.  The author encourages you to make and distribute as many
copies of the system extension as you wish, for whomever you wish, as
long as it is not for profit.  PictPocket is part of a set of cooperating
programs, AWOL Utilities.  The tutorial help you are reading is designed
for handling by the help server application Help on Wheels, which is also
part of AWOL Utilities.



Distribution Policy


New versions of individual AWOL Utilities programs, including PictPocket,
are available by anonymous FTP from popular archive sites including
<ftp://sumex-aim.stanford.edu/info-mac/> and its various mirror sites,
such as <ftp://mirrors.aol.com/pub/info-mac/>.

For the latest information about AWOL software, including AWOL Utilities,
please visit the AWOL Web page at <http://www.magma.ca/~awolsp/>.

Support for AWOL Utilities is through Internet mail at
<mailto:[e-mail]>.  The software is not available by
FTP from this site.  The address for paper correspondence is AWOL
Software Productions, PO Box 24207, Hazeldean RPO, Kanata, Ontario,
Canada K2M 2C3.

Macintosh users who do not have access to electronic sources of free and
shareware software may obtain a copy of AWOL Utilities by sending a
self-addressed stamped envelope and an 800K (or larger) formatted
diskette to the author at the above address.  U.S. users are reminded that
postage from Canada in 1997 is C$0.52 up to 30 grams (1 oz.), C$0.77 up
to 50 grams (1 3/4 oz.), and C$1.17 up to 100 grams (3 1/2 oz.).
US$0.50, US$0.75, and US$1.00 in coin is acceptable in place of stamps
for the respective weights.  People outside the U.S. and Canada may send
an international postal reply coupon instead of Canadian stamps (available
from any post office).  Please use sturdy envelopes, preferably cardboard
disk mailers.  (Mailers over 5 mm (1/5") thick require C$1.17 postage to
the U.S.)
Please do not send return envelopes with non-Canadian
stamps, as Canada Post will not accept them.



About AWOL Software Productions


AWOL Software Productions specializes in custom development of
software for the Mac OS.  Since its inception in 1990, AWOL has
developed a number of programs which enhance the Mac OS user
experience, working in nearly every part of the Macintosh Toolbox.  If
you have a short-term programming task or product idea but lack the
staff to do the expert design, coding, and documentation, we invite your
inquiry.

Virtual Desktop is AWOL’s best-known effort, serving the desktop
expansion needs of thousands of Mac users around the world.  Later in
1997, AWOL will release a new commercial version 2.0 to replace the
freeware version contained in the AWOL Utilities package.  Please contact
us at <mailto:[e-mail]> for feature and ordering
information.

Users who want more out of the Mac’s speech capabilities should check
out MacYack Pro, a jointly developed package of speech tools marketed by
Scantron Quality Computers (<http://www.lowtek.com/macyack/>;
<mailto:[e-mail]>; 20200 Nine Mile Rd., St. Clair Shores, MI
48080).



Purpose


PictPocket captures pictures to the Clipboard as your applications draw
or redraw the contents of their windows.  The pictures are in editable
'PICT' format, not bitmaps, so they are small and can be manipulated
using any application which can edit a picture, such as Microsoft Word or
PowerPoint.  This is the method used to produce most of the pictures
contained in AWOL Utilities help files.

The Macintosh window manager helps applications manage their windows
by telling them when all or part of a window needs to be drawn.  What
PictPocket will capture depends on what the application does in response
to that message.  Some applications may draw every element, while
others may only draw the ones that need to be drawn (for example,
because only part of the window was exposed).  You can use Finder’s
Clipboard window to monitor the result, and if it’s more than you need,
you can edit out the rest.

Ordinarily, PictPocket will capture only the contents of a window, that is,
the elements drawn inside the window frame.  There is an option to
capture the window frame as well as the contents, which generally makes
a more presentable picture.



Who Can Use PictPocket?


Any Macintosh running System 7.0 or later can use PictPocket.  There is
nothing special to install.

However, it has no user interface of its own.  It works by watching for a
special key combination (Caps Lock and Shift, and possibly Option)
whenever a window is being drawn.



What Does PictPocket Do?


PictPocket is a system extension.  Once you have placed it in your
Extensions folder and restarted your Macintosh, it enables the capture of
window elements and, optionally, window frames.

Many people are justly wary of control panels and system extensions,
because of the conflicts they often cause with System software and with
each other.  These conflicts usually result from competitive trap patching.

PictPocket patches the BeginUpdate and EndUpdate toolbox traps at
system startup.



How Does PictPocket Work?


PictPocket’s method of capturing window contents is unique, and requires
some attention on your part.  It can only capture a window at the moment
when its application decides to draw it, so you must inspire the
application to do the drawing, and be ready to react when it does so.

PictPocket is only effective when both the Caps Lock and Shift keys are
pressed.  When you want to begin capturing windows, press the Caps Lock
key to lock it in the down position.  After that, you control which windows
get captured by pressing and releasing the Shift key.  If you want to
capture the window frame as well as the contents, also press and hold
down the Option key.

The simplest way to capture a window which has already appeared is to
click on it (while pressing Caps Lock and Shift).  PictPocket will “catch”
the click and force the application to redraw the window.  If the window
you want to capture is just opening, you can simply wait for it to appear.
In either case, when the application starts to draw the window, a pattern
will flash in the part of the window to be drawn for about three seconds
before drawing occurs.  To capture what will be drawn, release the Shift
key.  If you continue to hold down the Shift key, the window will stop
flashing, and another one may start flashing.  Just wait for the one you
want to start flashing, then lift your finger off the Shift key, and go look
in the Clipboard.  When you’re done capturing pictures, unlock the Caps
Lock key.



Suggestions for Use


PictPocket is distributed as part of a free set of cooperating programs,
AWOL Utilities.  This section explains how PictPocket can work in
conjunction with the other programs.


Help on Wheels

Help on Wheels is an efficient and full-featured help server which displays
help files on behalf of client applications.  The help file you are reading is
distributed alongside the PictPocket extension file as a separate Help on
Wheels document.

Because PictPocket is not an application, its help support is limited.  To
read this help, press the Help or Command-? key while the machine is
starting up, and release the key once you see the PictPocket icon with a
help balloon on it.  The help server will open to display the help file after
startup is complete.



Limitations


PictPocket only captures elements drawn in windows, and, optionally,
window frames.  This includes the Finder desktop, but does not include any
type of menu.  If you require a picture of a menu, you should use Flash-It
or any similar screen capture utility.

PictPocket does not work on windows belonging to applications which are
not active, because background applications are not permitted to write to
the Clipboard.

The pictures captured by PictPocket may not contain every element
drawn in the window, depending on how the application draws.  For
example, the thick border around an “OK” button may not be captured,
because it is drawn by the dialog manager, not by the application in
response to a message from the window manager.

If the application draws directly to its windows without using the
conventional window manager invalidate/update mechanism, PictPocket
will not capture a picture.  For example, characters appearing in an editor
or terminal emulator window cannot be captured as they appear, though
you may have success by hiding and unhiding the window.

Because of limitations in the Macintosh picture concept and data
structures, some types of icons are not captured.

If the application redraws only part of its window (due to a partial
exposure, for example), only those elements will be captured.  The result
depends on how the application is programmed; some applications will
draw only what needs to be drawn, while others will draw every element
on every exposure.

If you press the Option key to capture the window frame as well as the
contents, the resulting picture is larger than the “content region” which
confines the drawing of elements.  The generated picture includes
“clipping” commands which simulate this confinement, but if edited,
these clipping commands may be lost, so that elements bleed out into the
frame.  Your picture editor should be able to correct this problem by
resizing the elements.  The clipping commands also mask out any part of
the window which was off-screen or obscured by another window.

If you do not press the Option key, the resulting picture does not include
clipping commands, so you may see more elements than actually appeared
on the screen when the window was drawn.

If there is not enough space in the system heap (an area of memory shared
by all applications) to collect the picture information, or if the size of the
picture exceeds 32 kilobytes, a blank picture may result.



Programmer Notes


Write to the author at the above address if you want to know more about
the PictPocket extension or how it was programmed.



Acknowledgements


Special thanks to the many fine people who alpha-tested this software.



Revision History


1.3.2 (December 13, 1997)
•  Public AWOL Utilities 1.4 release.
•  Minor changes to trap patches.

1.3.1 (June 26, 1996)
•  Public AWOL Utilities 1.3.1 release.
•  The captured picture now includes the window background.  Previously,
PictPocket pictures were transparent.

1.3 (March 6, 1996)
•  Public AWOL Utilities 1.3 release.
•  Added the option to click on a window (with Caps Lock and Shift keys
pressed) to capture its contents.
•  Extended the flashing interval from one to three seconds, to make it
easier to capture the right window.

1.2 (October 17, 1994)
•  Public AWOL Utilities 1.2 release.
•  Added the option to capture the window frame in addition to the window
contents by pressing the Option key along with the Shift key.
•  Windows belonging to inactive (background) applications no longer
flash, because they cannot be captured.

1.1 (March 28, 1994)
•  Public AWOL Utilities 1.1 release.

1.0.4 (March 13, 1994)
•  Initial AWOL Utilities 1.0.5 release.