Drop Drawers is a revolutionary user-interface enhancement which provides floating pull-out, snap-shut drawers on the sides of your screen to store text, URLs, aliases, scripts, pictures, sounds, movies and anything else.
Examples of things you can store in a drawer :
• Aliases to frequently-used files, applications and folders.
• URLs for web sites you often visit.
• Snippets of text information, e.g. phone numbers or passwords.
• A catalogue of thumbnails for image files.
• AppleScripts for automating tasks.
• Email addresses for individuals you often contact.
• Multimedia formats including pictures, movies and sounds.
• Styled text phrases for easy inserting into your documents.
• Absolutely anything you can copy via the clipboard or drag and drop.
• A list of running applications (in a separate drawer).
Information in a drawer can also be worked with. For example, styled text can be edited, applications and folders can be dragged onto, URLs can be opened, scripts can accept parameters, pictures can be viewed and sounds and movies can be played.
Drop Drawers works seamlessly with any Mac OS application supporting drag and drop. It can also instantly capture and insert data within any Mac OS application. It is not just another floating application launcher, although it fulfils all those functions too.
Upgrading Instructions
To upgrade from any previous version of Drop Drawers, simply perform the following steps:
• Quit the copy of Drop Drawers currently running.
• Run the normal installer to install the new version of Drop Drawers.
• Run the new version of Drop Drawers.
• When you are happy with the new version, you can discard your old Drop Drawers folder.
The new version will automatically pick up your old preferences and open your usual drawers. If Open Automatically at Startup is on in the preferences, it will also replace the old Drop Drawers alias in your Startup Items with an alias to the new version.
Requirements
• Mac OS System 7 or later to run at all.
• Mac OS System 7.5.3 or later for full drag-and-drop support.
• Scriptable Finder for many filing operations.
• Mac OS 8.5 or later for full system theme support.
Memory Usage
Drop Drawers' default memory allocation is 1Mb but it can be set as low as 256k or as high as you like. This memory is used for drawer data – less memory means more disk access. Drawer offscreen graphics are stored separately in system memory which will be reclaimed by the system when needed. In modern systems, memory shown for Drop Drawers in the About This Computer window will be the total of these two allocations.
Acknowledgements
The following code has been at least partially integrated into Drop Drawers:
• Sig Software's home-grown MADE application framework – http://www.sigsoftware.com/made/
• Matt Slot's appeWindows floating windows framework – http://www.sils.umich.edu/~fprefect/
• James Walker's Find Icon tool – http://users.aol.com/jwwalker/
• Marco Piovanelli's WASTE text editing framework – http://www.boingo.com/waste/
• Jim Stout's Slider CDEF – [no URL supplied in documentation]
• RSA Data Security, Inc's RC5 encryption algorithm - http://www.rsasecurity.com/
The installer for Drop Drawers was created using Installer VISE from MindVision Software.
For more information on Installer VISE, contact:
MindVision Software
7201 North 7th Street
Lincoln, NE 68521-8913
Voice: 402-477-3269
Fax: 402-477-1395
Internet: mindvision@mindvision.com
http://www.mindvision.com
Thanks also to David Goulden, for submitting the winning design for the new Drop Drawers icons and about box.
Finally, greatest thanks of all to everyone who has provided feedback on Drop Drawers – hundreds of helpful messages have been received and many user suggestions have already been, or will be, implemented.
Any distribution of the Drop Drawers application must include this file. No responsibility about Drop Drawers' functionality or integrity is implied. This document and the Drop Drawers application are copyright of the author.
Version 1.5.3 – 20th March 2001
• Even more minor usability improvements.
Version 1.5.2 – 13th March 2001
• More minor usability improvements.
Version 1.5.1 – 10th January 2001
• Minor usability improvements, including speedup with drawers containing networked files.
Version 1.5 – 12th December 2000
• Added configurable grid to clip drawers, with multiple styles and arranging options.
• Added support for scripts in clip drawers, with built-in compilation and parameter passing.
• Added support for drawer templates, with several templates included as standard.
• Added options to use full icon square and dim running application icons.
• Added option for passwords to expire after a specified time interval.
• Added drawer options to float above Finder only and size tabs automatically.
• Added name field to URL editing dialog box.
• Many other minor tweaks and improvements.
Version 1.2.6 – 20th September 2000
• Fixed crashing problem in some pre-OS 8.5 systems.
Version 1.2.5 – 13th September 2000
• Added system theme support for backgrounds and tab shapes (on OS 8.5 or later, Kaleidoscope savvy).
• Other minor tweaks and improvements.
Version 1.2.2 – 31st July 2000
• Ported to combined Classic/Carbon source code and released for Mac OS X.
• Added dialog box to deal with lost alias files.
• Added modeless movie playback.
• Other minor tweaks and improvements.
Version 1.2.1 – 5th June 2000
• Minor tweaks and improvements, including better FinderPop compatibility.
Version 1.2 – 15th March 2000
• Added process drawers.
• Added optional speech recognition for drawer items.
• Added optional patterns and pictures for drawers and tabs.
• Added option for any item to have a thumbnail.
• Added hierarchical menus for folders in drawers.
• Added Drawer menu and option of hiding drawers.
• Added more floating modes.
• Many other minor tweaks and improvements.
Version 1.1.1 – 12th January 2000
• Added Get Info to file actions.
• Added verification of drawers being opened.
• Other minor tweaks and improvements.
Version 1.1 – 1st December 1999
• Added selection-grabbing from and item insertion into any application.
• Added configurable keys to expand or contract drawers and open, insert, show or edit items.
• Added optional password protection of drawers (RC-5).
• Added full control over click, double-click and command-click actions.
• Added viewing of picture items in a separate, scrollable window.
• Extended arranging options, including drawer resizing and item alignment.
• Redesigned drawer options and preferences interface.
• Added automatic rotation of names in drawer tabs.
Version 1.0.1 – 20th September 1999
• Several minor bug fixes and tweaks.
Version 1.0 – 30th August 1999
• Added command-arrow pixel nudging.
• Added alias or file spec retargeting.
• Several minor fixes from Public Beta 3.
Public Beta 3 — 24th August 1999
• Added auto-detection of URLs and email addresses.
• Added Finder Icon caching within drawers for faster redrawing.
• Added option to single-click launch aliases and URLs.
• Added drawer-specific item display options.
• Improved arranging with arrange last command, even spreading and always arrange options.
• Over 80 other minor fixes and improvements.
Public Beta 2 — 16th August 1999
• Added ability to drag files onto applications or folders in drawers.
• Added more color options and tab styles for drawers.
• Added support for QuickTime image thumbnail previews.
• Added easy drawer file moving and renaming.
• Added built-in styled text editor.
• Added many more arranging options.
• Added Undo for all actions.
• Added ability to name any item, including files.
• 100s of other minor fixes and improvements.
Public Beta 1 — 26th July 1999
• Initial release.
About TSM Fix
This text is part of the TSM Fix package – the TSM Fix extension will have been installed in your Extensions folder.
Short Form:
This INIT fixes the jGNEFilter "Missing Clicks" bug, by head *and* tail patching GetNextEvent.
Long Form:
The operating system give low-level programmers a mechanism (called the jGNEFilter) for intercepting user events (mouse clicks, key downs, etc) and "filtering" or modifying them before the computer processes them. Many system extens:ons use this hook to implement special functionality in your computer -- such as SuperClock and ObiWan -- and work transparently to the user.
Since System 7.0, the operating system became much more complex. Now the system has to manage multiple applications at once and feed the right events to the right programs. Occasionally, one of these events does not get sent through the filter as it should -- and the programs checking events never have a chance to handle them properly. Typically, this is seen when programs implement special windows or window parts -- clicks that are destined for interception are passed straight through to the next window.
This system extension remedies the problem by checking events as they are presented to the running programs. If an event has not passed through the installed filters, this extension sends it to be filtered before returning.
The name "TSM Fix" comes from the fact that programs using the "Text Services Manager" (TSM) floating windows typically use the jGNEFilter to find clicks -- and the extension fixes the system bug.
Installing:
Simply drop the extension onto the System Folder (it will be placed in the extensions folder). There will be no visible feedback, but on restart you should never experience that "Missing Clicks" thing.
Distribution:
I wrote this to fix a bug that was plaguing users of certain programs I had written. I hope that it becomes widely used, so it is free to use and distribute. Also, if you have written software that suffers from such "Missing Clicks", you can freely add this extension and readme to your distribution. (Drop me a line if you do so... so I can send you an update as necessary).
Changes in 1.01:
* Fixed incompatibility with After Dark 3.0. (They set the jGNEFilter to zero -- hmmm, isn't that a bad thing?) Thanks to Eric Hon-Anderson.
Changes in 1.02:
* Fixed incompatibility with certain extensions and debuggers that create processes before the Finder launches and sets up the Process Manager.
Changes in 1.03:
* Fixed another incompatibility with Optimem RAM Charger and Jasik's Debugger. This should take care of all your problems!
