FolderPICT is one of those little applications that does something fun, but makes no claims about increasing your productivity, because it won't. What it will do is let you display a picture of arbitrary size in any folder by converting the picture to a collection of custom icons. The icons can be placed on any disk and viewed by anyone using system 7.0 or later. Now, that doesn't sound very productive, does it? However, it _is_ fun, and after some obligatory verbage, I'll tell you how to do it. It could also be of use to developers who wish to put a logo on disks they distribute.
Obligatory Verbage 1: FolderPICT requires System 7.0 or later.
•• Obligatory Verbage 2: Users are notorious for not reading these boring Read Me files. Unfortunately, that means they are often unaware of features and other useful information. To accomodate those users that can't stand to read all of the stuff contained herein, information new to the current version, as well as a few other items that I especially want users to read are marked with double bullets that start this paragraph.
To create a set of custom icons from a picture, copy the picture to the clipboard. Either launch FolderPICT, or if already running, select New Folder Picture… from the file menu. You'll get a dialog box containing the following:
Center Picture in Icons
If the picture on the clipboard has dimensions which are not exact multiples of 32 (the width and height of a finder icon), the picture will be centered in the icons if this box is checked, or postioned at the top left of them if it is not.
8-bit Icons/4-bit Icons
Use these checkboxes to control which kind icons will be made. 1-bit (black and white) icons are always created sinced they are used by the finder at all bit depths. This option is available to give you some control over the amount of disk space the items will use. Note that the actual disk space needed for the items FolderPICT creates depends on the size of the allocation blocks for the disk that will contain them, but never be greater the the Space Needed figure, as it is a worst-case figure arrived at after scanning all currently mounted drives drives.
Put the icons on:
A set of new:
The adjacent popup menu has 3 items:
FolderPICT files
Use this to put the icons on FolderPICT files. They just give FolderPICT files on which to place the icons, but they won't show up in most Get File directory boxes.
TeachText files
Use this to put the icons on TeachText files created by FolderPICT. They just give FolderPICT files on which to place the icons. You can then use them as ordinary TeachText files, but they will all show up in any Get File directory box that displays TEXT files.
folders
Same as above, except using folders.
Aliases to an existing item:
Use this to have FolderPICT create a set of aliases on which to place the icons. All of the aliases will point to the same target. When you click this radion button, you will get a File Directory box for choosing the target.
An existing item and aliases to it:
Use this to have FolderPICT place the top left icon onto one existing item and create aliases for the rest. When you click this radio button, you will get a File Directory box for choosing the existing item.
Once you click OK, a file directory box will let you specify a location for the folder picture and a base name to use when creating the icons. It works like this: if the base name you specify is "z", then the icons will be named "z r,c" where r is the row and c is the column. So the bottom right icon in a picture that requires 2 rows and 3 columns would be named "z 2,3".
The only exception to this is when putting the icons on an existing item and aliases to it. In that case, the aliases are placed in the same folder as the existing item, and the existing item's name is used for the base name.
When it creates the set of icons, FolderPICT automatically arranges them in the folder containing them so that they fit together as they should. Should you need to do this at some later time (should as after doing a Clean Up Window on their folder), it's easy. If none of the icons are on aliases, you can just select all the items with aliases on them and drop them on FolderPICT. All items except the topleft will be positioned in relationshiop to the topleft icon . Since the finder resolves aliases when they are dropped, there's another option. Just drop the folder containing the items to arrange onto FolderPICT, and it will arrange them for you. This works with any kind of files or folders on which FolderPICT has put an icon.
•• Version 1.0 9 August 1993
First release.
Limitations:
Keep in mind that the finder will draw your folder pictures 1 icon at a time. The names of the items carrying the icons will determine the order in which they are drawn. This is most significant when there are 2 or more rows of icons in a folder picture. The default names should get them to draw from the top down, but if you rename any, be aware that it draws them in alphabetical order, and if a higher icon draws after a lower icon, its name will hide part of the lower icon. If you have a problem with that, try renaming the items. This problem doesn't surface if the PICT on the clipboard is no more than 32 pixels high, as there will only be one row of icons.
If an existing item does not display its new icon, it may be necessary to close and reopen its folder, or, in an extreme case it may be necessary to restart the finder or your computer.
•• If FolderPICT won't hilite when you try to drop things on it, try rebuilding the desktop file. The finder does the hiliting, not File Buddy.
Please contact me if you find any bugs, other unexpected behavior, or have a suggestion for a new feature.
Well, that's all for now folks. FolderPICT works without a hitch for me, but that doesn't preclude the possibility that it may have a fit on a differently configured system. PLEASE let me know if you find any bugs, so I can fix them asap. A few people have already helped me track down bugs that never showed up for me, and I appreciate that.
Hope you like it.
FolderPICT is shareware. Shareware is try-before-you-buy-software. (It is not use-it-as-long-as-you-like-for-free software. That kind of software is called freeware.) If you like it and use it, please send the $8 shareware fee. Feel free to send $10 if it's easier. As little as $8 seems, it really makes a difference--at least in my case--when people send it in. It takes a lot of time to design, write, and debug software like this. It then takes even more time and a little money to send out registration codes and provide technical support.
•• As with any other piece of shareware, feel free to try FolderPICT out before deciding if you want to pay. However, if you may not put any FolderPICT folder picture on a disk of any kind for distribution unless you pay the $8 fee.
I do not take Visa. I'm just a guy writing software and getting a few checks.
When you register, PLEASE let me know where you got it, (••) and MORE important, that you are registering FolderPICT, as I have more than one piece of software out there, and they use different registration codes. If you send me a check and all you say is "for shareware", I'll take your name down, cash your check, and when you write me and say "Why didn't you send my FolderPICT registration code?", I'll send it.
•• If you have an Email address, PLEASE include it. I'll Email your registration code to you, and it will generally get there much faster. Written replies are done on a batch basis, so it may take a few weeks to get a response if I don't have an Email address.
FolderPICT may not be included in any collection of shareware or public domain software without my express knowledge and permission. This is principally to insure that only the most recent version is used, reducing the possibility that an older, possibly less stable version is distributed unnecessarily. You may, however, distribute it to your friends and local BBS's as long as it has not been modified and you include this FolderPICT 1.0 Read Me document in its original form.
