You can download the latest version of the software at <http://www.poboxes.com/abeyeler/>.
You can find WinD, the Windows 9x version of MacD, at <http://www.obertini.cjb.com/>.
Index
- What is MacD?
- Features
- System requirements
- Registration
- How to use MacD
- Credits
- The future of MacD
- Version history
- Disclaimer
What is MacD?
MacD is a new way to access your folders. Press a shortcut key and type any folder's first letters in the displayed dialog box, and the chosen folder's window will appear. In case of ambiguity, MacD shows you a list where you can choose the folder you want to open.
All is done to provide a quick, mouseless access to any of your folders without preliminary manual configuration. It is the perfect complement to the Apple Menu, contextual menus (FinderPop) or any toolbar application. Use one of them to open your Documents or Applications folder, and MacD to open that hidden folder you never thought you would have to look at.
Features
MacD features:
- tremendously fast index based search engine
- availability from any application you are currently working in
- three types of search to fit your preference
- many configuration possibilities
- many shortcut keys to navigate in dialog boxes
And I would add:
- a young and motivated author whose only wish is to make MacD evolve to your needs
System requirements
There is no 68k version of MacD at this time, but if there is enough demand for it, I will consider the porting. MacD will run on any Power Mac under System 7.5 or higher. See below How to use MacD for information on RAM requirements.
Registration
This program is shareware. This means that if you want to use it you must pay the 15$ shareware fee per license. You can also buy a Site License for 160$ that will cover all your organization's sites within a 100-mile (160 km) radius of your location.
The World-Wide license costs 1000$ and covers all your organization's sites on the planet.
The registration process is handled by Kagi:
Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street PMB #392-S1K3
Berkley, California 94709-1405
USA
Fax: +1 510 652-6589
E-mail: sales@kagi.com
There are two ways of registering.
You can use the online registration page, which exists in both secured and unsecured version. The registration process is easy and won't take more than 5 minutes of your time.
These links are listed on the MacD home page: <http://www.poboxes.com/abeyeler/>
If you don't have web access or if you don't want to pay with a credit card, you can use the provided Register program. In the program, enter your name and e-mail and the number of licenses you want to buy. Save, Copy or Print the data and send it and your payment to Kagi.
You can pay with credit card, First Virtual, cash (USD or foreign currencies) or USD check. Please don't send checks drawn in any other currency than USD.
You will receive an e-mail to confirm the payment and then another e-mail (within about ten days) containing your registration code. Enter your name along with the code in the Registration panel of the preference dialog box.
How to use MacD
Building index
The first time you launch MacD, you must build the index. To do that, choose Build index from the File menu. You can choose in the preferences dialog which volumes to index (see below Configuring MacD). By default, the startup volume is selected. See below Configuring MacD to see how to configure automatic index building.
The index file contains a list of every folder in the indexed volumes. If you create or delete a folder, the index will no longer be valid, strictly speaking, but you don't need to rebuild it. If you choose some folder that no longer exists, MacD will just report a (non-fatal) error that can be disabled (see below Configuring MacD). And MacD will fail to find newly created folders. Of course these problems are fixed upon next index rebuilding. Note that moving a folder (and its content) within the same volume does not invalidate the index.
Note that if the content of the currently indexed volume is modified, the index building process can either fail or result in an invalid (i.e. not up-to-date) index.
Opening folders
Press the MacD activation shortcut key. In the displayed dialog box, enter a few letters from the desired folder's name. You can also choose the way your query string will be interpreted. If you choose Name contains, MacD will search for folders whose name contains the query string. With Name begins, MacD will search for folders whose name begins with the query string. And with Name matches, MacD will search for folders whose name exactly matches the query string. If there is an ambiguity, that is more than one folder whose name satisfies your request, a list is displayed. You can navigate through the list with the keyboard. Arrow, page up, page down, home and end keys have the expected behavior. Press enter to validate your choice. You can also use function keys or the command-number shortcut to directly open the folder displayed on each line.
Configuring MacD
You can configure MacD by choosing the Preferences item from the Edit menu.
- The General panel offers various settings. You can choose an activation shortcut by clicking on the Set button. You can choose the default search mode proposed in the folder search dialog box. If you check Switch to background on launch, MacD will automatically go to background when launched. This is very handy when MacD is launched at startup. If you uncheck Report non-existent folders, MacD won't issue alerts any more when a folder in its database no longer exists.
- The Volumes panel offers a list of mounted volumes. You can choose which volumes you want to index. Avoid choosing volumes that are not always available. If an indexed volume is no more available, MacD will still find the folders it contains and report an error if you choose one of them. Removable volumes can cause problem if ejected and reinserted when MacD is launched (Volume not found error - if it happens, quit and relaunch MacD).
- The Autobuild panel offers a way to configure MacD to automatically build the index. MacD can build the index on application startup or quit, or after a configurable period of computer inactivity. The options are self-explanatory. Note: some games may give MacD the impression that the computer is inactive. As building the index can interfere with the game execution, you should disable this feature during game playing.
About RAM requirements
As the MacD application is intended to be running all the time, its memory partition has be set to a minimum. The default memory partition is enough for about 1500 to 2000 folders. If you have more of them, you should allocate about 50KB more for every additional 1000 folders.
I have plenty of ideas to improve MacD. But the fact remains that MacD is a very original application, and thus I really need feedback in order to know what is your vision of MacD, and how you would like it to evolve. Please tell me about your ideas, and there are chances that they will be implemented in some future version of MacD. You can reach me at abeyeler@kagi.com or through the online form at <http://www.poboxes.com/abeyeler/feedback.html>.
Version history
Version 1.1
- added automatic index building feature
- improved the folder selection dialog (design and shortcut keys)
- improved index building errors handling
- corrected bug with query dialog (OK button was disabled)
- corrected bug with preference dialog (tabs name not shown under AM 1.0.x)
Version 1.0.1
- corrected some minor bugs
- now the last query string is proposed by default in the query dialog
- now the list font is set to application font for more compatibility for non-roman systems
- added shortcut for preferences dialog
Version 1.0
First public release
Disclaimer
This software is released as is and without warranty of any kind. The author does not warrant, guarantee, or make any representations regarding the use, or the results of use, of the software or written materials in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability or relevancy. Additionally, the author is not responsible directly or indirectly of any damage of any kind to your hardware or data.
