XoLaunch came about because I was trying to run a game demo on a friends 4 meg LCIII, which required 3 point something megs to run in. I tried virtual memory, but it was incompatible with it. So then it was down to killing all the extensions, the sounds, the fonts and just about everything else, until the machine was down to a bare minimal System and a Finder, but it was still about 100k short. So I tried an older version of system software which takes up less memory but found that the machine would only run on a 7.1. So now what?
Well if you notice, when running system 7, the Finder hangs about in your application menu, but to run a game you don't actually need any of it's features. Also it's an application just like any other, so it can infact be quit, thus freeing about 300k of memory which it uses normally. The problem is the Finder has no formal quit option, so how do you get rid of it? The answer is to send it an Apple Event. Once you've quit and saved all this memory how do you then launch your application? Well that's what XoLaunch does.
•How do I use XoLaunch?
Firstly launch XoLaunch, and you will be presented with a File menu, under which are three options, Launch, Quit Finder and Quit XoLaunch. Firstly ensure you have no other applications running by checking the applications menu (very easy to forget about a hidden running app). Next Choose Quit Finder, then choose Launch, and find the application you want to execute (or it's alias, XoLaunch will resolve it for you) and click open. The application will then be launched, easy as that. To get the Finder back, quit all running aplications including XoLaunch.
•But doesn't XoLaunch use memory like the Finder?
It does, but only about 24k compared to the Finders 300K usage. So you make a saving of slightly over 276k. XoLaunch will run on 22k, if you intend to use the help baloons though, it requires 24k to stop it bombing out(I dont't know why you would want help balloons with an application as simple as this but the feature is supported anyway).
•Is it going to take a lot of space on my Hard Drive?
No, only about 10k of disk space.
ERROR MESSAGES
•No application was launched.
This indicates that a problem was encountered while trying to launch an application. During testing I have encountered only two applications which produce this error, both were old Public Domain programs.
•Problem in calling Gestalt.
This indicates that a function which tests for the availability of features was not itself available. You should only see this if your not running system 7.
•Can't verify the availability of Apple Events.
This indicates that Apple Events (which are required to Quit the Finder) are not available on your computer, hence XoLaunch cannot run. You should only see this if your not running System 7.
•Could not install the necessary Apple Events.
This indicates that the System 7 required Apple Events could not be initialised for use within XoLaunch, hence XoLaunch could not run. You should only see this if your not running System 7.
CONTACTS
•Author Leon J. Bubb.
If you have any comments or bug reports (likely because it's not well tested) please contact me through e-mail as:
XoLaunch is FreeWare which means there is no charge to use it (an e-mail might be nice though), although I retain rights to it. You may not include it in a commercial package without my written consent, though. If you want to include it in a large media PD collection, like a ShareWare CD, go right ahead, but please send an e-mail to tell me first.
