1. Added a “Preferences…” command to the “Edit” menu.
2. Enhanced the “Get Info…” window.
3. Added a custom GetFile dialog for the “Add…” command which allows the user to interactively add multiple files and folders to the current Stapler document.
4. Added Frontier menu-sharing support.
5. Minor bug fixes.
WHAT IS STAPLER?
Do you often find yourself opening the same set of documents, applications, and folders over and over again? If so, then Stapler is the application you've been looking for.
Stapler is a Macintosh application which creates documents similar to System 7's aliases, except that each Stapler document can contain references to multiple files, folders, and applications. Thus, opening a Stapler document opens all the files “stapled together” in that document. The files can be located in separate folders, on separate disks, and even on separate floppy disks and AppleShare servers!
Because Stapler makes heavy use of System 7 features such as aliases, AppleEvents, and balloon help, it requires System 7.0 or greater to run. If you are not running the correct System Software version, Stapler will inform you and quit.
HOW TO USE STAPLER
Creating Stapler Documents
=========================
There are two ways you can “staple” files together.
First, you can select a group of files in the Finder (by shift-clicking, dragging a selection rectangle, etc.), and then drag-and-drop the selected files onto the Stapler icon. A standard Save File dialog box appears asking you what you want to call the “stapled” document and where you want to put it. When you click the “Save” button, you hear the files “stapled” together and the Stapler document appears in the folder you specified.
Second, you can double-click the Stapler icon, which launches Stapler. A new, untitled Stapler document window appears. Using the “Add…” command under the “Staple” menu, you can specify the files you want “stapled” together in the new document. As the files are added, Stapler displays the file names, file types, and creator signatures in the document window. You can then save the Stapler document using the “Save…” command under the “File” menu, just like any other Macintosh application.
Using Stapler Documents
======================
To automatically open all the files, applications, and folders “stapled” together in a Stapler document, merely double-click the document icon. Stapler will launch briefly, instruct the Finder (via Finder AppleEvents) to open the “stapled” files, and then quit.
To open a Stapler document without launching the “stapled” files (so that it behaves like a normal Mac application), hold down the option key as you double-click on the document. Keep the option key down until the Stapler document's window appears.
(Using the “Preferences…” command, you can change Stapler's default behavior when opening Stapler documents. See the section on the “Preferences” command, below.)
Files in the window can be selected by clicking on them in the list. Shift-clicking selects a contiguous group of files. Command-clicking selects multiple non-contiguous files from the list.
Using Stapler's Menus
===================
The “File” menu in Stapler works exactly like any other Mac application.
The “Edit” menu contains the following commands:
“Undo”
“Cut”
“Copy”
“Paste”
“Clear”
“Select All”
“Show/Hide Clipboard”
These commands work exactly like any other Mac application, except that the Cut, Copy, and Paste, and Clear commands only work in Desk Accessory windows.
“Preferences…”
Allows you to change Stapler's behavior in three ways:
1. How Stapler sorts items in new Stapler windows,
2. Which keys to look for when opening a Stapler document,
3. What to do when Stapler sees those keys held down.
By default, Stapler sorts files in its windows by the order they were added to the document. It looks for the option key when opening documents, and when it sees that key held down, it opens a Stapler window instead of launching the “stapled together” files.
The “Staple” menu contains the following commands:
“Add…”
Adds individual files to the current Stapler document. An Open File dialog box appears, allowing you to add multiple files and folders to the document until the “Done” button is clicked.
“Remove”
Deletes the selected file(s) from the Stapler document.
“Get Info…”
Opens a window for each selected file showing:
1. The file's icon,
2. The file's name,
3. the application that created the file,
4. the last known location of the file. This ‘file path’ displays the names of all the folders enclosing the file, separated by colons (:), starting with the name of the disk it is on.
“Launch”
Sends an AppleEvent to the Finder, telling it to open the selected file(s), just as if you had double-clicked its icon.
The “View” menu lets you sort the list of files displayed in the Stapler document's window by name, by file type, by creator signature, or by the order they were added to the document.
MISCELLANEOUS STAPLER TIPS, TRICKS & TRAPS
• You can press Command-period or the esc key to abort lengthy operations, such as launching a long list of files or opening a lot of “Get Info…” windows.
• Try stapling together all the sound documents on your Mac.
• Stapler documents can contain other Stapler documents!
• Put a Stapler document containing your most frequently used applications into the Startup Items folder.
• Infrequently, Stapler can't launch a file that's been moved to a different folder from the one it was in when it was “stapled”. When this happens, you need to remove the file from the document and re-add it. A future release will let you tell Stapler where the lost file is.
• FRONTIER and QUICKEYS owners: I don't own these utilities, but I added hooks to support Frontier menusharing. Stapler is also AppleEvent-aware, so you should be able to write scripts or macros that staple files together by sending the 'odoc' event to Stapler with a list of files you want stapled together. If
you try these features out, please write or e-mail and tell me what happened.
• Currently, you can't add volumes (disks) to Stapler documents. I hope to fix this in the near future.
STAPLER DISTRIBUTION POLICY
Stapler is distributed as Shareware. It is NOT free. You are permitted to use the product on a trial basis for up to two weeks (14 days). If you wish to continue using the product beyond that period, you are required to pay a registration fee of $10. Send your name, address, and a check for $10 to:
Patterson Software Works
925 Buccaneer Drive #6
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Stapler may be distributed freely through BBSs, nonprofit users’ groups which hold regular open meetings, communications networks, etc., provided there is no charge except for normal duplication/usage fees. In so doing this document must always accompany the software. Commercial redistribution of Stapler is strictly prohibited without written permission from Patterson Software Works.
THANKS, KUDOS, GRACIAS, DANKE, ARIGATO...
To all of you who sent in your shareware payment for previous versions of Stapler. It's been really rewarding to see how far around the world my work has traveled. I hope you like the enhancements in this new version.
BUG REPORTS & CORRESPONDENCE
Besides the above snail-mail address, I can be reached through the following electronic mail addresses. I welcome all comments, bug reports, & suggestions about Stapler. However, bug reports from registered users will receive the highest priority when it comes time to fix 'em.
Internet: patterson@sgi.siemens.com OR chrisp21@aol.com
America Online: ChrisP21
NOTE: I listed my Internet address incorrectly as "patterson@siemens.sgi.com" in the ReadMe file accompanying Stapler 1.0. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
