Have you ever been working on your Mac, typing away on some important report or putting the finishing touches on a digital painting, only to have the lights flicker for a moment? Next, your Mac begins to restart and you get a sick feeling in your stomach as you realize that the last time you saved was two hours ago. You just lost 2 hours of work. Or, have you had that same sinking feeling when you see a System bomb box on your screen? If either of these things has happened to you then-- Hi's Universal Saver is for you.
Hi's Universal Saver is a little application which runs in the background and automatically saves your work at an interval which you select. It should work with any application that has a Save command (word processors, painting, drawing, database and many, many others).
Hi's Universal Saver is not free, it is shareware. If you find it useful, and use it for more than two weeks, please register and pay the shareware fee. Registration information is provided below; simply use the enclosed Register application. Or, register online at my website <http://members.aol.com/wilsonware/>.
System Requirements:
Any Mac with a 68030, 64040 CPU or any PowerMac or PowerMac clone. It requires System 7.5.3 or later. Of course, it works great with Mac OS 8.5.
I don╒t know what version of the System I╒m using:
Here╒s how you can determine which version of the Macintosh System software you have installed on your machine. From the Finder, go under your Apple Menu and choose the menu item title ╥About This Computer...╙ or ╥About This Macintosh╙ it varies depending on the System version.
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Next, you╒ll see a box that looks similar to the one below. The System version has been circled in red ink.
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To install:
To install Hi's Universal Saver just double click on the ╥Install Hi's Universal Saver╙ application icon. It creates a folder on your desktop called ╥Hi╒s Universal Saver folder╙. Into this folder it places the ╥Universal Saver Read Me╙ and the ╥Universal Saver Installer Log." It places the Hi's Universal Saver application into your Startup Items folder inside your System folder. All other necessary parts are installed in the appropriate places. For your convenience, you'll also find a folder with bookmarks to the website for Hi's Universal Saver located inside the "Hi's Universal Saver folder." After installation, please keep the folder called "Hi's Universal Saver folder." If you wish, you may remove the "Hi's Universal Saver v.1.6.0 ║" folder.
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After you have run the ╥Install Hi╒s Universal Saver╙ program and restarted your Mac, Hi╒s Universal Saver will begin automatically saving your work. For more details on how to customize the operation of the Universal Saver, please read on.
Using Hi╒s Universal Saver:
- When your Mac first starts up, you╒ll see this dialog box:
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- If you don╒t click on any of the buttons, the dialog box will disappear after 15 seconds and Hi's Universal Saver will begin auto saving.
- If you click the ╥Change Settings╙ button you╒ll see the this dialog box:
VERY USEFUL TIP: Please look carefully at the next picture. Do you notice how the button ╥Save╙ has an extra border around it (on some versions of the System software this border may appear as a bold black line)? This boarder indicates that this button is the default, which means in place of clicking on it with your mouse, you can simply press your ╥return╙ key. This tip applies not only to the buttons in Hi╒s Universal Saver, but to all well behaved Mac programs.
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- All settings for Hi╒s Universal Saver are accessed through a single dialog box. By default, Hi's Universal Saver with automatically save your work in all running applications. Each time the save delay interval is reached, Hi's Universal Saver will try to save the document in the front most application (as opposed to one that╒s in the background) assuming there is anything that can be saved. Normally, Hi's Universal Saver will warn you before it saves, this is called the ╥Warn before save╙ mode and it╒s the default option. When this option is selected, Hi's Universal Saver will put up a dialog box telling you it╒s time to save. If you click on the Save button, it will save your work. Or, you can click on the ╥Not this time╙ button it will not save. However, it will continue to give you the option to save each time your delay interval is reached. Choosing ╥Not this time╙ does not quit Hi's Universal Saver. After the first time you allow it to complete a save by clicking on the Save button, it will report the name of the most recent application to which you auto saved. In addition, it will report the time of day that the save took place and the time in minutes since this save took place. This way, if you╒re repeatedly passing on your chance to save, you╒ll at least have some idea of how long it╒s been since you╒ve saved. If you select the ╥save button default╙ option you will be able to press the ╥return╙ key to activate the ╥Save╙ button rather than using a mouse click.
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- Or, you can choose to have Hi's Universal Saver save ╥silently╙, meaning it will not warn you before it saves. In this case, it will simply save every time your save delay interval has been reached, as long as the front most application has a document that needs to be saved.
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- Simply enter the amount of time between auto saves. You can have a delay as short as a minute, or as long as several hours. I would suggest you keep it rather short, 5 or 10 minutes at most. If you set the delay too long, you effectively defeat the purpose of using Hi's Universal Saver.
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- Hi's Universal Saver works in one of three ways. Saving for all applications (ALL APPS)--in this case it will try to auto save for all running applications. Whenever the delay interval is reached, it will try to save for which ever application is front most. Saving for some applications (INCLUDE)--in this case it will only save for the applications which you pick and it will disregard all others. Exclude some applications (EXCLUDE)--in this case it will try to save for every open application, except for those which you intentionally exclude from auto saving.
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- If you click on the ╥<< ADD╙ button, you get an open dialog box similar to the one below. This works like a standard Mac open/save dialog box. To pick an application which you want to have on your include/exclude list, just navigate to it, select it, then press the ╥Open╙ button. The box will then reappear, and you can choose another application for your include/exclude list. Simply keep repeating this process until you╒ve selected all the applications which you would like on your list. When you╒ve got them all, press the ╥Cancel╙ button.
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- Click on the INCLUDE button if you want the applications in your list to auto save. Or the EXCLUDE button if you don╒t want the applications on your list to have auto saving. When you have everything set the way you want it, click the ╥Save╙ button. PLEASE NOTE: Hi╒s Universal Saver ╥remembers╙ your settings. The next time you start your Mac you╒ll see the same dialog box as you did the first time, just press your ╥return╙ key or click on the ╥Begin Saving╙ button and all of your previous settings will remain intact.
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- If you want you can remove an item from your include/exclude list by clicking on it once to select it, then pressing the ╥Remove >>╙ button.
- You can change your current settings at any time. Select Hi's Universal Saver under your Application Menu to bring it to the front. Now select ╥Hi╒s Universal Saver Settings╙ under the ╥Saver Settings╙ menu, the Saver Settings dialog will appear.
- If you have ╥Warn before saving╙ turned on, here╒s an example of the warn before save dialog box. Click the ╥Not this time╙ button to pass on the save cycle or press the ╥Save╙ button to save.
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- Something to keep in mind. If, for example, you are working in SimpleText and you have more than one SimpleText document open at once, when the save delay interval is reached, whatever document happens to be frontmost at the time will be the only document which is auto saved.
- If the ╥Finder to front on startup╙ checkbox is checked, the Universal Saver will be switched to the background on startup. The Finder will be in the foreground.
- If you decide to quit Hi's Universal Saver, you will be greeted by a warning dialog box asking if you are sure you want to quit. You can click the ╥Cancel╙ button and Hi's Universal Saver will continue auto saving. If you don╒t click either button, the dialog box will disappear after 10 seconds and Hi's Universal Saver will quit.
Which way should I set Hi╒s Universal Saver, ALL APPS, INCLUDE or EXCLUDE?
Many people will probably be satisfied simply using the ALL APPS option. Others, for their own specific reasons, might prefer to only auto save for a few applications, in this case they should use the INCLUDE option and select only the applications for which they want auto saving enabled. A few people might find that Hi╒s Universal Saver causes problems for a couple of their applications (for instance some games might not like being told to save), in this case they should use the EXCLUDE option and select the applications for which they do NOT want auto saving enabled.
In the end, which option you choose is largely a matter of individual preference and the requirements of your own specific set up.
For people using many non-English language applications.
If you are using an English language version of the Mac OS, or if you are using many English language applications, you do not need to use the ╥Advanced Options.╙ The ╥Advanced Options╙ are primarily for those people using many non-English applications. In this case, for Hi╒s Universal Saver to operate with your non-English applications you will need to set the ╥Advanced Options╙ with the appropriate translations for the words ╥File╙ and ╥Save.╙ The picture in ╥Advanced Options╙ dialog box should illustrate what you need to do. You must enter the words exactly as they appear in the ╥File╙ menu for your non-English applications.
Please keep in mind you can have Hi╒s Universal Saver set to work with non-English applications, or with English applications, but not both at the same time. For example, if you set it to work for your non-English language applications, then your English language applications will be automatically excluded.
For those of you who would like to experiment with these settings for other reasons, feel free to give them a try. You can always return Hi╒s Universal Saver to it╒s factory original state by pressing the ╥Restore Factory Settings╙ button.
You need to hold down the option key while selecting "Hi's Universal Saver Settings" under the "Saver Settings" menu to make the "Advanced Options" button available.
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How to register and pay for Hi╒s Universal Saver:
Hi's Universal Saver has the following pricing.
A single user license, $10 per user
A Site License costs $250 and covers all locations for your organization within a 160 kilometer radius of your site (100 miles). One big advantage of a Site License is that you do not need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software.
A World-Wide License costs $750 and it covers all locations for your organization on the planet earth.
Kagi handles my payment processing. Paying for Hi's Universal Saver is simple. If you are paying by Credit Card, you can use the secure online order form located at my website <http://members.aol.com/wilsonware/>. Or, regardless of how you are paying, you can use the Register program that accompanies Hi's Universal Saver. Simply open the Register program and enter your name, your email address, and the number of single user licenses you wish to purchase (or Site or Word-Wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi.
If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi. Their email address is sales@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, which is:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-2SY
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
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 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 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. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed.
Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi when the form is processed.
Once you╒ve paid for Hi╒s Universal Saver, please check the ╥I paid╙ check box in the settings dialog box. This will eliminate all reminders to pay.
Contact Information:
If you are having any problems, please feel free to contact me via email at this address:
Internet: hiram@kagi.com
Please be sure to include a description of the problem along with the model of Mac that you are using and the version number of your Mac╒s System software. The more details that you can provide, the better.
In addition, you╒re welcome to email me any comments or suggestions you have for future versions of Hi╒s Universal Saver.
Please be sure to visit the my web site for news, tips and the latest version of Hi╒s Universal Saver.
My web site is at this URL:
http://members.aol.com/wilsonware/
New versions will also usually be posted in the America Online and Info-Mac archives. There will be some lag time before it shows up on either of these sites.
What╒s with the Menu Events folder?
Hi's Universal Saver uses functionality provided by the Menu Events scripting addition and extension (created by Ross Brown). The Menu Events folder is provided with its complete contents to meet the licensing agreement of its author. All of the parts of Menu Events which are required for the operation of Hi's Universal Saver are automatically installed by the Installer.
Distribution
If you would like to include Hi's Universal Saver in a CD-ROM shareware collection, or some other form of similar distribution, please contact me before doing so. I can be reached at hiram@kagi.com.
Where things are installed:
For those using System 7.5.x through System 7.6.x:
The application Hi╒s Universal Saver is installed here--
System Folder: Startup items: Hi's Universal Saver
The extension Menu Events is installed here--
System Folder: Extensions: Menu Events
The file Menu Events Scripting Addition is installed here--
System Folder: Extensions: Scripting Additions: Menu Events Scripting Addition
For those using Mac 0S 8.0 or later:
The application Hi╒s Universal Saver is installed here--
System Folder: Startup items: Hi's Universal Saver
The extension Menu Events is installed here--
System Folder: Extensions: Menu Events
The file Menu Events Scripting Addition is installed here--
System Folder: Scripting Additions: Menu Events Scripting Addition
Version History
4/3/99 - release of version 1.6.0
- You now have the option to set the "Save" button as the default button in Hi's Universal Saver╒s "warn before saving" dialog box. If you choose to have "Save" button as the default, you can activate the "Save" button in "warn before saving" dialogs by pressing the "return" key.
- Improved support for non-English systems. People using non-English systems will be able to use the new "Advanced Options" settings to customize Hi's Universal Saver for their language.
1/20/1999 - release of version 1.5.2
- Hi╒s Universal Saver now uses less CPU time (power) than version 1.5
- Fixed a cosmetic bug with the Settings dialog box which occured under Mac OS 8.0.
- Added version number to the About Box.
12/1/1998 - release of version 1.5
-Hi╒s Universal Saver has been rewritten from the ground up with numerous behind-the-scenes tweaks and improvements.
- Version 1.5 will run on any Mac with a 68030, 64040 CPU or any PowerMac or PowerMac clone. It requires System 7.5.3 or later.
- Unlike previous versions, the new version no longer requires the ╥Hi╒s Universal Saver Settings╙ applet. On previous versions, this was the menu item under the Apple menu which was used to access the Saver╒s settings dialog after startup.
- With version 1.5, you can now change its settings at anytime by simply switching the Saver to the foreground using your Mac╒s application menu. Once the Saver is in the foreground, you╒ll see a menu heading called ╥Saver Settings,╙ click on this and select the ╥Hi╒s Universal Saver Settings╙ menu item.
- Unlike previous versions, the new version does not require the use of the ╥Dialog Director╙ Scripting Addition.
- Version 1.5 now gives you the option to bring the ╥Finder╙ to the front on startup (some people prefer this).
- Version 1.3.1 of Menu Events is now installed.
2/4/1998 - release of version 1.1
- Hi's Universal Saver will not interfere with unattended startup or unattended shutdown. The saver's startup dialog will now disappear after 15 seconds if you don't click on any of its buttons. Likewise, if you choose to quit the saver or if you choose restart or shutdown, the saver's warn dialog will disappear after 10 seconds.
- A number of behind the scenes tweaks which should improve performance in some situations.
9/9/1997 - release of version 1.0
Legal stuff
Menu Events was created by Ross Brown and is provide with this package with the permission of Ross Brown. Mr. Brown provides Menu Events freely and does not benefit materially from their inclusion in this package.
HI'S UNIVERSAL SAVER WAS CREATED BY ME, HIRAM C. WILSON. ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY TESTED, I CAN NOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE IT WILL OPERATE PERFECTLY FOR YOU. I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF DATA ON YOUR COMPUTER, NOR ANY LOSS OF TIME OR INCOME THAT RESULTS FROM THE USE OF HI'S UNIVERSAL SAVER.
