<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Accessus is a powerful tool designed to shorten the time it takes to work with files. Using only the keyboard, Accessus gives you the ability to launch applications and documents, open folders, navigate through files, and other common tasks. Once you learn how utilize all that Accessus has to offer, your computer use will be faster and more intuitive than ever before.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">The first time you open Accessus you will be presented with the Accessus Setup Assistant, a tool designed to help you quickly configure Accessus, and get started as soon as possible. If you have already opened Accessus, you can reopen the Setup Assistant by choosing "Setup Assistant" from the Tools menu.</font></div>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><i>Install Accessus Alias</i> - Installs an alias of Accessus into your Startup Items folder. This will cause Accessus to be automatically opened at startup, so that it is always available for your use.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><i>Install Hard Drive Aliases</i> - One of the most powerful features of Accessus is the ability to quickly navigate through your hard drive(s) using only the keyboard. In order for this feature to work, aliases of your hard drives need to be created in the Accessus Files folder (a folder created in your System Folder). This option will need to be checked for the File Navigation section of this tutorial.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><i>Hotkey</i> - Accessus is used by letting it run in the background. When you want to use Accessus, you press the hotkey to bring it to the front and open the main Accessus window. F8 is the default hotkey, but it can be configured to any combination of keys (including modifier keys).</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">The Setup Assistant's options are fairly self-explanatory. If this is your first time using Accessus, it would probably be a good idea to keep the default settings. Click the "Setup" button to configure your chosen options, exit the Setup Manager, and begin using Accessus.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Let's begin using Accessus. To start using Accessus, press the hotkey you specified in the Setup Assistant (defaults to F8). Pressing this hotkey should bring the Accessus application to the foreground, and open the Accessus window (hereby known as "invoking"). If you have many applications open, it may become necessary to hold down the hotkey for a half-second or so.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">The Accessus window (fig. 2) cannot yet be used for most functions, as it has not been told what files to work with. This can be done by adding aliases of your favorite apps and documents to the Accessus Files folder in your System Folder. To add files to this folder, type ":files" into the text area. You will notice that as soon as you have typed ":f", the rest has been automatically completed (fig. 3). This auto completion is one of the key elements that makes Accessus so powerful. Press the return key to open the Accessus Files folder.</font></p>
Figure 4. Access Files Folder - Devoid of Files</b></font></td>
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<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Now that the Accessus Files folder is open (fig. 4), you can begin to add aliases* of your favorite applications and documents, as well as commonly accessed folders. These could include internet apps, word processors, graphics apps, media players, utilities, project documents, your System Folder, Control Panels folder, et cetera.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">At this point, your Accessus Files folder should be filled with your most commonly used files/folders (similar to fig. 5). Since your Accessus Files have changed, you will need to reload Accessus so that you may begin using these files. Invoke Accessus (with the hotkey), enter ":reload" (fig. 6), and press return. You are now ready to proceed to launching files.</font><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva" size="1"><br>
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*Aliases are created in the Finder via the "File:Make Alias" menu item, or by holding down the command and option keys while dragging a file (on OS 8.0+ systems).<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">One of the two primary functions of Accessus is launching files. Once you get used to the way that Accessus accomplishes this task, launching files will become very quick and intuitive.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Let's try to launch an application with Accessus. First, pick an application you added to the Accessus Files folder earlier on in this tutorial. For this example, I will use SimpleText, but you can use any application (or document) you wish. Now, invoke Accessus (press the hotkey) and begin typing the name of the application or document. The name should automatically complete (similar to fig. 7). Pressing return will close the Accessus window, move Accessus to the background, and launch the entered application/document.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">This function will work with applications, documents, desk accessories, and other non-directory items. Folders and hard drives are handled in a different way, discussed in the File Navigation section.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Aside from launching files, the other primary function of Accessus is navigating through files. File navigation with Accessus is as simple and quick as launching files.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">The Accessus File Browser uses simple text commands. When in the File Browser, you will be presented with a list of files and folders in your current directory. To switch to another directory, enter its name. To launch an application or document, enter its name. To go up a directory, to the parent folder, enter the ".." command. To open the current folder in the Finder, enter the "." command. All file names and commands should be followed by pressing the return key to execute.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">In order to use the file navigation features of Accessus, an alias of your hard drive will need to be placed in the Accessus Files folder. This should have been done by choosing the <i>Install Hard Drive Aliases</i> option in the Setup Assistant section of this tutorial. If this was not done you can either manually create an alias of your hard drive in the Accessus Files folder (followed by using the ":reload" command as discussed in the "Getting Started" section), or invoke Accessus and use the ":setup" command to return to the Setup Assistant. Once this is done, you may use Accessus to navigate through all of your files.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">To learn about the File Browser, let's try to execute a simple task, opening the Preferences folder. To begin, invoke Accessus and begin typing the name of your hard drive (fig. 8). Then, follow the instructions below (fig. 9 to 13).</font></p>
</b>Your Preferences folder is now open in the Finder!</font></td>
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<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">Now you have a basic understanding of how to use file navigation in Accessus. Try experimenting a little (try launching apps and documents, using the ".." command, et cetera) to get a better feel for how everything works.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">One of the new features of Accessus version 1.1 is the ability to drag files to the main Accessus window and the File Browser. This allows you to quickly open a document with any application in the Accessus Files folder, or to quickly move files.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">For example, say you have a graphic file, saved as a PictureViewer document, that you want to open with a different graphics application. Simply invoke Accessus, enter the name of the graphics application you want to open the file with, and drag the graphic file to the Accessus window (fig. 14). The graphics application should then launch and open your file.</font></p>
Figure 15. Moving via Drag-and-Drop</b></font></p>
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<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">This functionality also works with the File Browser. Say you have a new control panel that you want to move to the Control Panels folder. Simply invoke Accessus, navigate to your Control Panels folder, and drag the file(s) to the File Browser window (fig. 15).<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">The main Accessus window supports many commands used to perform tasks or set configuration options. These commands are outlined below.</font></p>
Opens the Accessus help window. The help window can also be opened by choosing "Help" from the Tools menu.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><i>:hotkey <f-key or keycode(s)></i><br>
Sets the hotkey used to invoke Accessus. F0 sets the hotkey to none, requiring Accessus to be manually invoked with the "Show Accessus" menu item. F1 through F12 sets the hotkey to the given function key. Entering a keycode (or keycodes separated by commas) sets the hotkey to those keys. For more information on keycodes and how to find them, see the ":keycodes" command.</font></p>
Makes sure the Accessus Files folder is in your System Folder, places aliases of your hard drives in the Accessus Files folder, reloads the files in the Accessus Files folder, and places an alias of Accessus in your Startup Items folder.</font></p>
If Internet Config is installed and configured, this will open your default mail app and create a new message to the address specified. For example, ":mail service@half-light.com" will create a new message to Half-Light customer service.</font></p>
Sets a preference. <prefs item> is the name of the preference you want to change, and <option> is what you would like to change it to. For more information on what you can change, and your options, see the "Preferences" section of this tutorial.</font></p>
If Internet Config is installed and configured, this will open your default browser to the web address specified. For example, “:url half-light.com/accessus” will take you to the Accessus home page.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">There are a few preferences you can configure to change certain aspects of Accessus' operation. These preferences are changed via the ":prefs" command, mentioned in the Extra Commands section. The preferences items and options are outlined below.</font></p>
</tt></i>When this is on, the Accessus window will automatically show (without pressing the hotkey) when Accessus is brought to the foreground, and will automatically hide when Accessus is moved to the background.</font></p>
The hotkey used to invoke Accessus can also be used to hide it. After the hotkey has been pressed to invoke/hide Accessus, this preference is the number of ticks (1 second = 60 ticks) that Accessus will pause before invoking/hiding again. If this is set to 10, holding down the hotkey will quickly open and close the Accessus window. The default value is 30 ticks (1/2 second).</font></p>
When this is on, the Accessus window buttons will be displayed in the upper right corner of the Accessus window and the Accessus File Browser. At the moment, the only window button is the help icon (a question mark), which opens the Accessus help window.<br>
<font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><b>Q: Help, I can't get the Accessus window open! How can I open it?</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">A: Well, if pressing the hotkey doesn't work, or you have forgotten what the hotkey is, you can open it manually. First, switch to the Accessus application via the application menu. Then, choose "Show Accessus" from the File menu. The Accessus window will then open. The first thing you will probably want to do is use the ":hotkey" or ":setup" command to change the hotkey.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><b>Q: I changed the files in the Accessus Files folder, but the automatic completion doesn't seem to have updated. How can I get Accessus to see my changes?</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">A: The best way is to invoke Accessus (press the hotkey), and enter the ":reload" command, followed by pressing return. This will reload the files in the Accessus Files folder. Another solution would be to simply quit and reopen Accessus.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><b>Q: I have too much money, what can I do with it?</b></font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva">A: You lucky dog! Well, for starters you can register Accessus by purchasing an Accessus License. They are reasonably priced and available from the Half-Light Store at <http://www.half-light.com/store>. After registering, you will receive your Accessus License serial number via e-mail in a matter of minutes.</font></p>
<p><font face="Verdana,Arial,Geneva"><b>Have a question or comment not addressed here? Please toss an e-mail message to <<a href="mailto:service@half-light.com">service@half-light.com</a>>, we will be glad to here from you.</b><br>
