Reader is an application which allows you to read the contents of different types of documents without having the application that originally created the document. In some cases documents may contain text to be read, pictures to be viewed, or sounds to be heard. Reader is not a replacement for the application that originally created the document. You can not edit the documents that you open with Reader.
Reader can open these different types of documents by using special files which are called Format Drivers and are located in the System Folder. Each Format Driver knows how to open one type of document. In some cases, if the Format Driver supports it, a document can also be printed or part of its contents can be copied to the Clipboard.
Getting Started
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To install Reader, just copy Reader and the folder named Reader FD’s to your hard drive. Place the Reader FD’s folder inside of the System Folder. The Format Drivers can be placed directly in the System Folder or within another folder in the System Folder. You can also rename the folder if you wish. Reader will search the entire System Folder until it finds all of the Format Drivers.
Reader can be run from a floppy disk as well, however, the Format Drivers MUST be located in the System Folder of the disk the Macintosh starts up from.
Reader creates a temporary file called “Reader Temp XXX” while it is running, where XXX is a random number. Needless to say, don’t delete this file while Reader is running. Reader will delete the file before it quits. In the case that Reader crashes, you may have to delete the temporary file yourself. Reader will make an attempt to delete the file, but it may fail.
Reader works best if the Macintosh’s cache is on. The cache can be turned on using the General control device in the control panel. If you're running System 7, the cache is always enabled and is configured using the Memory control panel. See your Macintosh System Software manual for more information.
Reader comes set with a suggested memory size of 512K for running under MultiFinder or the System 7 Finder. This should allow you to open several small documents. Reader will warn you when a document cannot be opened because of insufficient memory. In this case, quit Reader and increase the amount of application memory size. See your Macintosh System Software manual on how to do this. The documentation for each Format Driver has more information about their memory requirements.
Format Drivers
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Every time that you launch Reader, there will be a delay while Reader searches the System Folder for all of the available Format Drivers. During this process each Format Driver will be asked if it can run on your Macintosh. Some may require certain functionality and will report this to you. These Format Drivers will show up in the list of available Format Drivers but their name and icon will be disabled and you will not be able to select them. When Reader finds all of the Format Drivers it will turn control of the program over to you.
There is also the case where a Format Driver requires additional hardware which your Macintosh might not have, such as a floating point co-processor or Color QuickDraw. If your Macintosh does not have this type of required functionality, then the Format Driver will not show up in the list of available Format Drivers. The documentation for each Format Driver will list any special requirements.
Opening Documents
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Below is what the open file dialog looks like. The pop-up menu located at the bottom of the dialog let’s you select what type of file to display. In this case, only text files would be displayed. You can also click on the icon to the left of the menu and get a list of icons which represent the different types. Be careful though since different Format Drivers may be able to open the same type of file. Make sure you have the right file type selected before opening a file.
