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PowerSnap 2.0 User Manual
Jun 14, 1992
1mPreface0m
1m=======0m
The programs and files in this distribution are freely distributable,
but are also Copyright (c) Nico François. They may be freely distributed as
long as no more than a nominal fee is charged to cover time and copying costs.
No commercial usage is permitted without written permission from the
author. Everything in this distribution must be kept together, in original
unmodified form.
The above is generally known as freeware.
This program requires Kickstart/Workbench 2.0 or higher to run!
If you have suggestions or remarks about this program, or if you find
any bugs, please let me know.
Contacting the author:
FidoNet: 2:292/603.10 (Nico Francois)
UUCP : Nico.Francois@p10.f603.n292.z2.FidoNet.Org
Address: Nico François
Corbielaan 13
B-3060 Bertem
BELGIUM
If you can please use e-mail. That way you'll stand a much better chance
of getting a reply quickly.
1mContents0m
1m========0m
1. An introduction
2. Installation
3. CLI usage
4. Workbench usage
5. Features
1m1. An introduction0m
1m==================0m
Snap, snap, snap, snap, eggs and snap :-) Ahem... (If you don't get this
don't let it bother you if you think I've gone completely bananas :-)
PowerSnap is a utility that allows you to use the mouse to mark characters
anywhere on the screen and paste them somewhere else, like in the CLI or in a
string gadget. PowerSnap will check what font is used in the window you snap
from and will look for the position of the characters automatically. It
recognizes all non proportional fonts of up to 24 pixels wide and of any
height so this should cover most fonts used. Snapping and pasting text is
done using the mouse, making PowerSnap fast and easy to use.
To try PowerSnap out, double-click its icon to install the handler, move
the mouse over a character on the screen, press the left ALT key and while
keeping this pressed press the left mouse button. After a short delay
(depends on how big the font is) PowerSnap will either flash the screen,
indicating it hasn't found a character at this position (it is possible
PowerSnap didn't look for the correct font), or the character you are pointing
at will be selected. Move the mouse while keeping the left ALT key and the
mouse button down to select more characters. Once you are satisfied with what
you have selected release the left ALT key. You can now insert the text you
have just snapped by pressing either left ALT + V or left ALT + right mouse
button.
Both the left ALT and the 'V' keys mentioned in this short explanation are
user-definable (see below). Also, don't start snapping on a space because
PowerSnap will almost certainly get the character positions wrong. You CAN
start snapping on a space if you have already snapped in the window.
1m2. Installation0m
1m===============0m
To install PowerSnap automatically run the installation script. Install
manually by copying 'PowerSnap' and 'PowerSnap.info' to your C: directory and
'powersnap-handler' to your L: directory. 'powersnap-handler' does not have
to be in L: but it is best if you put it there, PowerSnap will also find it
if it is in the current directory.
If you want PowerSnap to be part of your initial startup (so you always
have the comfort of snapping anything anywhere :-) you should put a simple
line saying 'PowerSnap' before the 'EndCLI >NIL:' in your startup-sequence.
If you wish to specify options include these on the same line, like e.g.
'PowerSnap COLOR 2'. To disable the copyright message redirect output to NIL:
like in 'PowerSnap >NIL:'.
Workbench 2.0 users have the following extra possibility: drag the
PowerSnap icon into the WbStartup drawer of your boot disk/partition. And
that's all there is to it. Specify options in the icon's tooltypes. If you
do it this way you don't have to change your startup-sequence.
1m3. CLI usage0m
1m============0m
Enter 'PowerSnap ?' for a CLI usage template, 'PowerSnap ??' for a more
detailed usage report:
1mPowerSnap 2.00m (DATE)
33mCopyright 1992 © Nico François0m
Usage: PowerSnap [CX_PRIORITY n] [QUAL qual] [SLQUAL qual] [PASTEKEY char]
[COLOR 1-3] [PAQUAL qual] [PREPEND str] [APPEND str]
[SNAPCHARS] [SNAPFRAME] [[NO]JOIN] [[NO]XEROX]
or PowerSnap LIST
or PowerSnap QUIT
Explanation of the options:
CX_PRIORITY n : Set priority of commodity (default: 0).
QUAL qual : Set snap qualifier (qual, default: LALT).
This is the qualifier that must be down when you press
the left mouse button to start snapping. This is also the
qualifier for inserting the snapped text. There are two
ways to insert snapped text: using the pastekey or using
the right mouse button.
SLQUAL qual : Set single line qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
When this qualifier is down and you insert snapped text
everything will be put on one single line. All whitespace
(spaces and newlines) between words will be changed to a
single space. Very useful for inserting a lot of
filenames from a directory for example.
MULTIQUAL qual: Set MultiSnap qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
When you start snapping with this qualifier the snapped
text will be appended after what you snapped before.
A newline will be placed in between the snapped texts,
so they are all on their own line. Paste snapped text
using the single line qualifier to get everything on one
line. Note that the default single line qualifier and
the multisnap qualifier are the same. You can still
toggle MultiSnap on or off when you are already snapping.
Just change the qualifier, so in the default setup let go
or press down the shift key. There is a small delay of
1/8 sec before toggling the snap mode. This was done so
it is less likely that you accidently snap in the wrong
mode when you release all qualifiers to stop snapping.
PASTEKEY c : Set pastekey (character, default: V).
This key is used to insert the snapped text. Insertion
will follow when it is pressed with on of the three
possible qualifiers down (QUAL, SLQUAL, PAQUAL).
SNAPCHARS : Start with character snap (default).
SNAPFRAME : Start with frame snap.
PowerSnap has two snap modes: character and frame. The
easiest to explain is frame snap, you just draw a
rectangle and everything inside it will be snapped.
Character snap will interpret the screen as lines of text
(like an editor) and will snap accordingly.
[NO]JOIN : Join mode on/off (default: on).
Tells PowerSnap if it's ok to join two lines to a single
long line when the first line has a non blank character
as its last character. This only works when you are using
character or word snap. Default is JOIN.
[NO]XEROX : Xerox insert mode on/off (default: off).
When xerox mode is on snapped text will be inserted
immediately when you stop snapping. Default is NOXEROX.
COLOR 1-3 : Set color of select box (1-3, default: 1).
This sets the color of the complemented characters.
Try all three and see what you like best.
MULTICOLOR 1-3: Set color of MultiSnap select box (1-3, default: 2).
This sets the color of the complemented characters when
doing a MultiSnap. It is best to set this to a different
color than the normal snap color. This way you'll have an
easy way to see when you are using MultiSnap.
PAQUAL qual : Set pre-/append qualifier (qual, default: LALT+CONTROL).
When using this qualifier to insert snapped text a string
will be prepended to each line and one will be appended.
PREPEND str : Set prepend string (default: "> ").
Use this to set the string that will be prepended when you
paste with the PAQUAL down. This string can be up to 15
characters long. To enter a '"' in the string escape it
with a '*'. E.g. 'PowerSnap PREPEND " *" "'.
APPEND str : Set append string (default: empty).
Use this to set the string that will be appended when you
paste with the PAQUAL down. Can be up to 15 characters.
[NO]SMARTSPACE: If you do a word snap PowerSnap will normally guess at the
boundaries of the word by simply looking for empty chars.
If you switch SMARTSPACE on however PowerSnap will really
try to recognize the characters and stop at spaces as well
as unknown characters. This way you will no longer snap
part of the 'scenery' when doing a word snap. Only
drawback is that it is a bit slower, so it is disabled by
default. If you have a faster Amiga (like the A3000) it
is strongly recommended to switch this option on.
If you don't exactly understand what I mean try snapping
the contents of a 2.0 string gadget (like the one in the
'Execute Command...' feature of WB2.0) with SMARTSPACE
switched on or off.
Following qualifiers are recognized:
LSHIFT Left shift key
RSHIFT Right shift key
CONTROL Control key
CTRL Control key
LALT Left alt key
RALT Right alt key
LCOMMAND Left Amiga key
LAMIGA Left Amiga key
RCOMMAND Right Amiga key
RAMIGA Right Amiga key
MIDBUTTON Middle mouse button (if you have one :-)
Or any combination of these (separate the qualifiers by a non-alpha
character like a '+', '-' or '|'), e.g. 'LALT+LSHIFT' or 'LALT-LSHIFT'.
You may run PowerSnap again once it has been installed to change the
settings. Enter 'PowerSnap LIST' for a list of current settings.
'PowerSnap QUIT' will remove the handler from memory.
Examples:
o PowerSnap PREPEND "Type " APPEND " OPT N"
When you paste some text 'Type ' will be inserted before each line
and ' OPT N' after. If you e.g. snap 'PowerSnap.c' and press
LALT-CTRL-V the following will be inserted: 'Type PowerSnap.c OPT N'
o PowerSnap QUAL LSHIFT+RSHIFT+CONTROL
This sets the snap qualifier to both shift keys plus the control
key. This is a rather silly example because unless your name is
Zaphod Beeblebrox or you are very good at doing things with your
feet it is quite impossible to snap anything with this qualifier :^)
o PowerSnap PASTEKEY i
Sets the insert key to 'I' instead of 'V'. So pressing LALT-I
will feed the text in the clipboard to the keyboard.
NOTE: - You can toggle between character/frame snap once you have started
snapping. Just keep the left mouse pressed down while you click the
right one. Be careful, if you don't keep the left button pressed
you will insert the text you have marked.
- PowerSnap has the ability to do word oriented snapping. To activate
this double-click the left mouse button when you start snapping. Note
that word snapping forces character snapping and frame snapping is no
longer possible. See SMARTSPACE on how to improve word snapping.
- Press the left mouse button while PowerSnap is inserting to abort.
1m4. Workbench usage0m
1m==================0m
PowerSnap recognizes the following tooltypes (see CLI options for a more
complete explanation):
CX_PRIORITY=n : Priority of commodity (default is 0).
QUAL=qual : Snap qualifier (qual, default: LALT).
SLQUAL=qual : Single line qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
MULTIQUAL=qual: MultiSnap qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
PASTEKEY=c : Pastekey (character, default: V).
SNAPCHARS : Start with character snap (default).
SNAPFRAME : Start with frame snap.
COLOR=1-3 : Color of select box (1-3, default: 1).
MULTICOLOR=1-3: Color of MultiSnap select box (1-3, default: 2).
JOIN : Join mode on (default).
NOJOIN : Join mode off.
XEROX : Xerox insert mode on.
NOXEROX : Xerox insert mode off (default).
PAQUAL=qual : Pre-/append qualifier (qual, default: LALT+CONTROL).
PREPEND=str : Prepend string (default: "> ").
APPEND=str : Append string (default: empty).
Do *NOT* put quotes around the pre-/append string.
SMARTSPACE : Switch SMARTSPACE on for improved word snapping.
QUIET : Don't open window informing PowerSnap has been installed
or removed. Useful for people who wish to put PowerSnap
in their WbStartup drawer.
Select PowerSnap's icon and choose 'Information' from the 'Icons' menu.
You can now edit PowerSnap's tooltypes, check your manual for more
information.
Run PowerSnap twice to remove it from memory.
1m5. Features0m
1m===========0m
o Fully supports the clipboard.device. You can use snapped text in all
other programs that supports the clipboard.device.
o Snaps all printable characters, from ' ' (32) to 'ÿ' (255).
o Supports all keymaps.
o Uses a relatively small handler that is about 8K long. PowerSnap
uses about 15K of memory once it is installed (excluding memory used
by the clipboard.device and commodities.library).
o Recognizes all non-proportional fonts to up to 24 pixels wide and of
any height. Also recognizes scaled fonts (bitmap and CompuGraphic).
o Recognizes plain, underlined, bold, inverse, bold underlined, inverse
underlined, inverse bold and inverse bold underlined characters :-)
o Works with fonts with kerning data (like the courier.font supplied
with Workbench 2.0).
o Will remember character positions in up to 8 windows. Once you have
snapped in a window the initial character position will be found
immediately and you may also start snapping on spaces.
o Joins long lines.
o Pre-/appends strings to pasted text.
o Has a neat single-line mode to paste all you snapped onto one single
line. All whitespace and newlines will be changed to spaces.
o Supports a middle mouse button if one exists. Using the middle button
as qualifier gives the possibility to snap/paste without touching the
keyboard!
o Inputhandler is written in assembly for lowest possible overhead.
New features for PowerSnap 2.0:
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
o PowerSnap is a standard commodity. Use the standard commodities
Exchange program to enable/disable or kill it.
o MultiSnap feature. Allows you to snap something and add it to what you
snapped before. This append-snapping is very useful to pick up several
words that you might want to join into one long snap. The snapped
items are put in the clipboard, each on its own line (with a linefeed
between them). You can use the single-line paste to paste them all onto
one line.
o Recognizes text in all colors. Text in any color on a background of
any color will be recognized.
o SMARTSPACE argument to make PowerSnap consider unknown stuff as a space.
This way you can do _much_ better word snapping in non-shell windows.
As always, enjoy !
PROGRAM HISTORY:
******************************************************************************
VERSION 1.0
First release.
******************************************************************************
VERSION 1.1
Fixed bug in reading from clipboard. Strange things could happen if the
clipboard did not contain text. Unknown clips are properly ignored now.
Incompatibility with 'ConClip' (Workbench 2.0, V37) resolved.
Default COLOR changed to 1.
Version string embedded for Workbench 2.0 'Version' command.
To put the record straight: PowerSnap is not a modified version of
Snap (by Mikael Karlsson). It is a completely different program
that does most of the things Snap does. A lot of the features and
ideas in PowerSnap were influenced by (read stolen from :-) Snap
though. I just thought I'd mention this because some German magazine
almost convicted me for plagiarism, oh boy :^D
The Amiga would hang if you tried to snap something just when a window
was about to close. Now all the Intuition functions that open, close
or modify windows are patched so they will wait until snapping has
finished. If you are running Kickstart 2.0, the new Intuition
functions are also patched. This should fix all deadlocks.
New tooltype 'QUIET' added for startup from Workbench without window.
Tested with Enforcer and Mungwall debugging tools.
******************************************************************************
VERSION 2.0
Only runs on Kickstart 2.0 or higher!
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
PowerSnap is a commodity now, so it can be disabled/enabled and killed
using the Commodities Exchange program. Note the replacement of the
'PRIORITY' argument by 'CX_PRIORITY' to set the commodity's priority
rather than that of the input handler (default is 0).
PowerSnap's character recognition has been improved. Before you could
only snap black or blue text, now you may also snap white text. In
fact PowerSnap now recognizes text in any color on a background of
any color. How could you ever manage without this! :-)
New SMARTSPACE and NOSMARTSPACE arguments. Allow you to switch on much
better, but slower, word-snap detection. Once you get used to this
I think you won't mind it's a bit slower. It is no problem on faster
Amigas of course, like the A3000.
New MultiSnap feature: allows you to add what you snap now to what you
snapped before. That way you can e.g. snap several files from a
directory without having to snap them all at once.
Now also recognizes LAMIGA, RAMIGA and CTRL as qualifiers.
******************************************************************************
PowerSnap 2.0 written by Nico François (Yes, Nico is my first name :-)
thanks to Jorrit Tyberghein, Ives Aerts & Philip Marivoet for
beta testing.
(c) 1991/1992 Nico François
//
Thanks to \X/ Amiga for being the best computer ever !