Update is a resource installer designed to make it easy to update FirstClass applications and settings files with resources such as cicns, FICNs, dialogs and sounds.
With Update, you can distribute the newest versions of your icons without having to replace the full FirstClass user application or setting file.
The Admin/Sysop uses ResEdit to paste appropriate resources into a copy of Update. SInce Update is small — less than 4K in total — it is a low-overhead carrier for sets of resources.
As an added convenience, Update can translate ICON resources directly into the FICN resources used by FirstClass.
The user launches Update and selects the target file, either a FirstClass application or a FirstClass settings file. Update copies appropriate resources into the target file, replacing any resources of the same type and number. Update will loop through its standard file dialog offering the user a chance to update multiple files until the user hits the Quit button.
What are “appropriate resources”? If you examine Update with ResEdit, look at STR# 32000. This indexed string holds the four-letter resource types of all resources Update will try to move. As it is shipped from the Glassell Park factory, STR# 32000 holds the following:
cicn
FICN
ICON
snd
DLOG
DITL
PICT
Modm
TMPL
STR#
You can alter this list with ResEdit 2.0 or later. To eliminate a type, select the five asterisks (*****) above a type and hit the backspace key. To add a type, select the five asterisks above a type and select “Insert New Field(s)” from the Resource menu, then fill in the text filed with a valid four-letter type. To change a type, just select the text in the text filed and enter a new four-letter type. There is no limit to how many types you can enter.
Many resources in your factory-fresh copy of Update are named “don’t install” (no quotes, all lower case and the apostrophe in “don’t” is curled — you can make it with a shift-option-], or just copy the name from another resource and paste it). This allows Update to separate its own resources from those it should move. It will not move any resource named “don’t install”. If you find a conflict between the number of an Update resource and one you want to install, please let me know — I’ve tried to make sure there will be no such conflict. Whenever possible, Update resources are numbered 32000 or higher.
As a convenience, Update will automatically change ICON resources into FICN resources (the format used by FirstClass). If you don’t want an ICON resource to be converted, name it “don’t convert” (no quotes). If you want to disable this feature, open STR# 32002 and change the first letter of string 1 from Y to N.
Notes
STR# 32001 contains the four-letter file types of files Update will show in its standard file dialog. You can alter this list, too, though you can use no more than four distinct file types. If you want to show all files, delete all but the first file type, and leave it empty.
If you want to add new icons, create a pair of identically-numbered resources for each icon you want to display: cicn and FICN. The cicn is a color icon which has been around since Apple introduced color Macintoshes and is easily created and edited with ResEdit 2.0 or later. FICN is a resource unique to FirstClass.
Since Update will automatically convert ICONs into FICNs, you will probably find it easier to work with them as ICON resources and let Update do the translation. But if you want to roll your own, read on…
To make a FICN, create an ICON and select it, then use ResEdit’s Open Using Hex Editor command from the Resource menu. When the hex display appears, use the Select All command from the Edit menu and Copy the selection. Then use Create New Resource from the Resource menu and type in “FICN” (no quotes). When the FICN window opens, Paste the contents of the Clipboard (the hex code you copied from the ICON resource) into it and close the window. You can renumber and rename the FICN resource by selecting the resource then using ResEdit’s Get Info command.
SoftArc suggests that you number any icons you create sequentially beginning at 28000.
Update does not check to see that there is enough free disk space to update a file -- please make sure you have room before running Update. This lack of error checking is a consequence of my attempt to keep Update small.
Included in this compressed archive is a text file called “About Update/User” -- this is provided for your convenience so you can include it in the Update archive you distribute to your users.
Update is a free program. If you find it useful or have suggestions to enhance it, call the Glassell Park BBS and leave me a message.
Version 1.0.5 of Update adds Modm, TMPL and STR# resources to its STR# 32000 list.
