Align Utilities is a set of two AppleScript Drag & Drop applications that are useful in improving the appearance of disk and folder windows under Mac OS 8. Both of these applications require Macintosh OS 8.0 or 8.1 with AppleScript installed and with "Jon’s Commands" installed in the Scripting Additions folder. Window Align also works with Mac OS 8.5, but Icon Align does not. (The Option Key features are available only if Jon’s Commands is installed. The latest version (2.0.5) of Jon’s Commands may be downloaded at <http://www.seanet.com/~jonpugh/>.)
Window Align
Before using Window Align, you should set its preferences. Double Click Window Align — you will be presented with a display having Height… and Width… buttons. Click these buttons to set:
Height…
You will be asked to "Set the bounds (in pixels) for the bottom of a window to …". Enter a value by typing it in the field, then clicking the Enter button. The value you enter here is the distance from the top of the screen below which the bottom of a window will not extend. The default value is 472, which will not allow a window to extend below the bottom of a 640 x 480 screen. If you have a 640 x 480 screen and wish to leave a row of desktop icons or a launcher exposed at the bottom, set this value to about 380. Decrease this value to increase the exposure at the bottom of your screen. Increase this value if you have a large screen. (This value cannot be set less than 200.)
The Height… dialog also has a List Max/List Min button. Clicking this button switches between these two preferences. If List Min is set, all windows will be zoomed to their smallest height; If List Max is set, list view windows are set to their maximum possible height.
Note: Deeply nested folder windows will be placed off-screen. When you later open such a folder manually, the Finder will open the folder's window at its default, on screen, location, so this isn't a problem.
Width…
You will be asked to "Set the minimum width (in pixels) for a window to …". Enter a value by typing it in the field, then clicking the Enter button. All windows will have a width no smaller than this value. This allows the full title to show in the title bar. All List View windows have their width set to exactly this value and you may want to increase this value to show more columns. The default value is 302 and it cannot be set less than 64.
Drag & Drop without Option Key
Make a selection of disk or folder icons, then Drag & Drop the selection onto the Window Align icon. (Icons other than disk and folder icons are simply ignored and Pop-up windows are also ignored.)
Windows of desktop icons (which includes all disks) are positioned at the upper left corner of the main screen, just below the Menu bar; all other folder windows are positioned so that its left edge is aligned with that of its parent and its title bar is just below the title bar of its parent. The width and height of the window is corrected, if necessary, to conform with the Width… and Height… preferences.
In a window with a list view, all folders are set to unexpanded (... so that the arrow next to the folder icon points to the right, not down).
If a single folder or disk icon is dropped onto Window Align, then its window will be left open when Window Align is finished; otherwise all windows are closed when Window Align finishes.
Drag & Drop with Option Key
If you Drag & Drop a selection of icons onto Window Align while pressing the Option Key, Window Align will continue the operation on all sub-folders, sub-sub-folders, etc. (This feature is available only if you have installed "Jon’s Commands".) All of these windows are closed when Window Align finishes.
Windows of folders whose name ends with "(Disabled)" (in the language of your system) are always positioned so that their left edge is moved to the right by the Width… preference plus 6 pixels. In most cases this allows you, for example, to see both windows of the "Control Panels" and "Control Panels (disabled)" folders at the same time. Important Note: If "(Disabled)" folders do not open this way, launch Window Align by double-clicking, then click OK. This should correct the problem in most cases.
Window Align never moves icons contained in any folder or disk window.
Icon Align
For best results, first set the Font for Views to Geneva 9 in the Edit/Preferences menu. Before using Icon Align, you should set its preferences. Double Click Icon Align — you will be presented with a display having Grid… and Column… buttons. Click these buttons to set:
Grid…
When you click this button, you will see a dialog that allows you to choose Tight or Wide Grid Spacing. The current setting is the right-most button. Tight is recommended for use with Icon Align. (You can also change this setting by selecting Preferences… from the Finder's Edit menu.)
Column…
When you click this button, you will see a dialog that allows you to increase or decrease the Large Icon Column Spacing in steps of 30 pixels. When you are finished, click Done. (This setting is applicable only for Large Icon windows and if you have the Grid Spacing set to Tight in the Finder's Preferences.) The default value is 120. Using a smaller value may cause titles to overlap and is not recommended. Using a larger value is recommended only if you have a large monitor.
Drag & Drop without Option Key
To use Icon Align, make a selection of disk or folder icons, then Drag & Drop the selection onto Icon Align. (Icons other than disk and folder icons are simply ignored.)
• Each of their windows will be opened, in turn ...
• A window with Keep Arranged… selected in its View Options… will be ignored.
• A Pop-up Window will be ignored.
• If the window has a List View, you are asked if you want to "Set Name Only List View ...".
If you click "OK", then all sub-folders are set to unexpanded, the Icon Size is set to small,
Calculate Folder Sizes is set to false and all columns except Name are hidden.
• If the window has an icon or button view, you are asked to choose 2, 3 or 4 columns for that window.
The window's View Options is set to 'Always snap to grid' and its icons or buttons are aligned in a
grid having that number of columns. Large Icons and all Buttons are arranged alphabetically by rows,
while Small Icons are arranged alphabetically by columns.
• After the alignment is completed, the window is zoomed to fit its contents.
• If a single folder was dropped onto Icon Align, its window is left open;
If multiple disks and folders were dropped onto Icon Align or the Option Key
was pressed, all their windows are closed.
Icons and buttons are aligned so that they conform to the Finder's icon grid described in this table:
Small Icon Large Icon Small Button Large Button
Tight Wide Tight Wide Tight Wide Tight Wide
Grid V Step = 17 22 53 63 52 62 71 85
Grid H Step = 136 182 30 122 30 122 30 122
(This table is valid only if the "Font for views:" is set
to Geneva 9 in the Edit/Preferences… menu.)
Drag & Drop with Option Key
If you press the Option Key while dragging disk and folder icons onto Icon Align: , the attributes of each these windows is copied and applied to the windows of all its sub-folders, sub-sub-folders, etc.
(This feature is available only if you have installed "Jon’s Commands".)
This software is distributed as Freeware. (You can give your friends a copy!) Distribution via physical media libraries or online libraries is prohibited without the expressed written permission of the author. This document must be included with any distribution.
Communicate comments, suggestions and bug reports to <lfuller@mindspring.com>
