Alias allows you to create new main menu icons on the Psion Series 3. Instead of having a long list of files under the Data or Word icons, you can subdivide your files up into groups each with a user-drawn icon*.
Operation
Each new icon and menu is defined in an alias file with the extension '.ALS'. Contained in ALS file are the following definitions;
Default File
The name of the file name to be used if no other is given. e.g. The Word default filename is set to WORD.WRD.
Path to use
The directory path where files associated with this application will be entered. e.g. \TEL\. The Series 3 checks the internal drive and any SSD or RAM drives for files.
Application to Use
The name of the application to be used to process the files. e.g. WORD,AGENDA,DATA.
"Alias Information"
This field should normally be set to null values indicated by the string "null" to Alias. "SCDBF" for data files.
All the built-in applications ignore any alias-info passed to them, except for Word. If there is any non-null alias-info, Word automatically switches into a Prog-like mode, in which there are no styles, and the Word menu is replaced by the Prog menu. The first letter of the Word alias-info also determines the name of any translator program used when the Translate menu option is chosen. The generic name of the translator program is SYS$PRG? where ? is the first letter of the alias-info. The second letter should be 'R' if the translator program also understands how to "run" the programs it has created. The final three letters of Word alias-info give the extension and directory that Word should look for to find the translated program, in order to run it.
In conclusion - it's usually best to leave all the eight alias-info bytes as nulls, although (for non-Word aliasers) it actually doesn't matter what you put there. (But there must be at least one null.)
Type Information
The allowed values are the same as for OPA opl applications, as discussed in the Programming Manual. Unless you know what you're doing, leave this word as 3.
Picture/Icon Detail
The picture definition of the applications icon. I suggest that you use a program such as BEITMEIST to create a picture file.
Load up Alias, pressing Enter to remove the 'copyright' message. Start by defining a new file (option Psion-N) or open an existing file (option Psion-O). Amend the parameters by using the Psion-M option. Add a picture using Psion-P and then save the file using Save (Psion-S) or Save-As (Psion-A).
Distribution Information
The program may be freely distributed without payment to the author.
Updates
Version 1.01: Cured problem with error message when reading picture files. Null alias info string no longer shows as heiroglyphics after a save. SCDBF string now called "Alias Info".
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