TextDock is a text drag-and-drop utility for Power Macintosh computers. It provides a palette window of frequently used text clippings which can be dragged to any drag-and-drop aware application. Use it to store your frequently used text, such as names, addresses, URLs, email addresses, email signatures, form letters, code snippets, smileys, phrases for chat sessions, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Unlike regular text clippings, TextDock clippings are consolidated into TextDock clipping files, which you can create and edit in SimpleText or the text editor application of your choice. You can have different clipping files for different tasks. For example, you could have one clipping file for email related items, and another for URLs. You can also assign one of ten colors to each clipping.
TextDock requires Mac OS 8.0 (or higher) to operate. You must have the “Contextual Menu Extension” enabled.
TextDock is shareware. Please support shareware by registering your copy if you decide to use it after 15 days. You can use the included Register application to register by email, fax or postal mail. You can also register online with a major credit card via the YUV422 Software website at http://users.aol.com/yuv422. Your support is appreciated!
Using the TextDock Application
When TextDock is launched, it searches for a file called “TextDock Startup”. This file must be located in the same folder as the TextDock application. If you have created your own clipping files, these can be opened using the Open menu command, dragging them directly to the TextDock window, or dragging them to the TextDock application’s icon. To learn how to write your own TextDock clipping files, read the section titled "How to Write Your Own TextDock Clipping Files" at the end of this user guide.
There can be only one clipping file open at any time. If you have modified the current file in any way, you will be asked if you want to save the changes to the file before opening a new window or another clipping file. The position of the window on the desktop is saved in the clipping file itself. If the current clipping file is modified in another application, TextDock will automatically reload the clipping file to reflect the changes.
Performing common tasks in the TextDock window:
• To drag an item another application, simply grab the item and drag it. If “Show Text While Dragging” is checked in the Options menu, a preview of the text is shown while dragging, otherwise only the title is shown. If the Command key is held down when you start to drag an item, the current setting of “Show Text While Dragging” is reversed for that drag only.
• To create an item, drag text from any other drag-and-drop capable application into the TextDock window. You can also drag Mac OS text clippings from the Finder into the TextDock window to store them in the current TextDock clipping file. Small arrows will appear indicating where the items will be inserted. If the entire list is not visible in the TextDock window, dragging the item towards the top or bottom of the list will scroll the list up or down. Inserted items automatically inherit their label color from the previous item in the list.
• To create an item with only a title and no draggable text, hold down the Option key when dropping text into the TextDock window.
• To move a text clipping within the TextDock window, hold down the Option key and drag the item up or down. Small arrows will appear indicating where the item will be moved to. If the entire list is not visible in the TextDock window, dragging the item towards the top or bottom of the list will scroll the list up or down.
• To delete an item, drag the item to the Trash. Alternatively, you can hold down the Control key and click on the item you want to delete, then choose "Delete Item" from the popup menu.
• To change an item's label color, hold down the Control key and click on the item you want to change, then choose a new color from the popup menu. Choosing “Inherit” will cause the item to inherit its color from the previous item in the list. If the item is the first item in the list, choosing “Inherit” will result in color 0.
• To quickly scroll the list of items up or down, hold down the Shift key and grab the list of items, then drag up or down to scroll the list in that direction.
• To merge the entire contents of another TextDock clipping file with the currently open file, drag the TextDock clipping file to the TextDock window. All items in the file will be inserted into the current clipping file. Small arrows will appear indicating where the items will be inserted. If the entire list is not visible in the TextDock window, dragging the item towards the top or bottom of the list will scroll the list up or down.
The following menu commands are available in TextDock:
File Menu
New
Opens a new empty window.
Open…
Displays a dialog allowing you to choose a clipping file to open. TextDock recognizes all files of type ‘TEXT’.
Merge…
Displays a dialog allowing you to choose a clipping file to be merged into the current clipping file.
Close
Closes the current clipping file.
Save
Saves any changes to the current clipping file.
Save As…
Saves the current clipping file to another clipping file, leaving the original clipping file untouched.
Reveal in Finder > TextDock Application
Reveals the TextDock application in the Finder.
Reveal in Finder > “Clipping File”
Reveals the currently open clipping file (if applicable) in the Finder.
Quit
Quits the TextDock application.
Options Menu
Snap Window to Desktop Edges
If checked, the TextDock window will ‘snap’ to the edges of your desktop when dragged.
Window Style > Title Bar on Top
If checked, the TextDock window’s title bar is shown along the top of the window.
Window Style > Title Bar on Side
If checked, the TextDock window’s title bar is shown along the left side of the window.
Show Text While Dragging
If checked, the text of the clipping is shown while being dragged (press Command to reverse current setting).
Drag Style > Opaque
If checked, items are not translucent while being dragged.
Drag Style > Translucent
If checked, items are translucent while being dragged.
How to Write Your Own TextDock Clipping Files
Clipping files are ordinary text files that can contain multiple text clippings. To create or edit TextDock clipping files you’ll need either SimpleText or a similar text editor application. You might want to create an alias to your desired text editor application so that you can drop TextDock clipping files onto the alias to edit them. Put this alias on the desktop or in the TextDock folder so you can access it easily.
TextDock uses special characters to mark the start and end of each clipping. Each text clipping is contained inside “•” characters (to type this character press Option-8). Text clippings have a title, an optional label color, and optional draggable text. Here are the four possible ways to define text clippings in your clipping files:
•Title• <- title “Title”, no draggable text
•Title,4• <- title “Title” with label color 4, no draggable text
•Title:Text• <- title “Title”, draggable text “Text”
•Title,4:Text• <- title “Title” with label color 4, draggable text “Text”
Replace the words “Title” and “Text” with the desired title and draggable text of your clipping. Note: You can’t use commas, colons, or the special “•” character in titles or text unless they are preceded by the “°” character (to type this character press Option-Shift-8).
Clippings with only a title and no text are useful to separate clippings of different types. For example, the “Addresses” clipping file (included) has two title-only clippings, “email” and “web”, used as separators:
Label colors are specified as a number from 0 to 9. If no color is specified, the item inherits its color from the previous item in the list. The “Color Samples” clipping file (also included) shows the ten possible label colors:
That's all there is to it. You should now be able to write your own TextDock clipping files!
If You Have Problems Using TextDock
We hope you enjoy TextDock and find it useful. If you have any problems using TextDock, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at yuv422@aol.com. We welcome all comments, suggestions and criticisms.
