Beta Version 7.1b8a -- 23 Aug 1993 -- DRAFT documentation
This document describes what MenuDropper is, and how to use it.
• The MenuDropper distribution •
Included in the MenuDropper package are the following files:
License Agreement (Please read)
MenuDropper Instructions (this document)
MenuDropper Version History (document describing MenuDropper releases)
MenuDropper (the control panel file)
BeHierarchic 1.0.5 patcher (a utility to modify BeHierarchic 1.0.5)
About the BeHierarchic patcher (describes the above utility, PLEASE READ
before using the patcher program)
ANY redistribution of the MenuDropper product MUST be in the form of the complete package, as per the license conditions stated below.
The latest version of MenuDropper can be found via anonymous FTP from
world.std.com in the directory /pub/MenuDropper
and from other fine Internet sites and bulletin board systems (eg. Compuserve).
• What is Menu Dropper •
Menu Dropper is a System 7 utility that allows the you drag Icons from the Finder and ‘drop’ them onto items inside various system menus. It is supplied as a control panel, drop it into the Extensions or Control Panels subfolder of your System Folder and restart your Macintosh. If it cannot load, Menu Dropper will alert you and allow your system to continue unaffected. Currently Menu Dropper is compatible with Finder 7.0, 7.1 and the AppleScript Finder version 7.1.1. As new versions of the Finder appear I shall publish new versions of Menu Dropper to support them.
MenuDropper allows you to:
• Copy files between folders on separate volumes
• Move files within a volume and optionally copy them
• Create aliases of any item, destined for any folder, easily in one operation
• Drop any item onto an application listed in the Apple menu or sub menu
• Drop any item onto a running application in the Application menu
• Drop any item onto menus created by AliasMenus or OtherMenus
• Drop items onto sub menus created by NowMenus and other Apple menu utilities
• Create new folders while dropping objects
• Adjust MenuDropper settings and preferences via a control panel
• Move windows in real mode instead of outline.
-> How to copy a file.
To copy files normally in the Finder you would select one or more items and drag them to a different folder on the desktop. Using MenuDropper select the items in the same way, but drag them up to the menu bar. As soon as you touch the menu bar any menus that MenuDropper cannot use will be automatically disabled, therefore any menus left enabled are usable.
Still keeping the mouse button held down, continue dragging to the Apple Menu. As soon as you drag to it the Apple Menu will open below the cursor, now you can drag down the list of items presented in the Apple Menu. When you have reached the folder you wish to copy the item(s) into, release the mouse button and the item(s) will be automatically copied. You will also notice that the cursor changes from the standard arrow to the MenuDropper cursor whenever you have the mouse over a menu item that MenuDropper can use, whenever the mouse is over a non usable area the cursor changes back to the standard arrow.
Say, for example, you have just received a new control panel ‘MacFrobolizer’ on a floppy disk that you wish to install. Insert the floppy and open the floppy disk icon. Next click and drag the MacFrobolizer file up to the Apple Menu icon and drag down the menu item list. When you are over the control panel item (i.e. it is highlighted), release the mouse button, and the file will be copied to that folder. If the file was already on the same disk as the control panel folder (from the above example), it would be moved instead of copied.
You can drag any number of Icons onto Apple Menu items, they can include files, folders, floppies, hard disks and AppleShare volumes. If you option drag the Icons (hold down the option key while dragging), the items will always be copied even if they reside on the same volume as the destination.
It is also possible to drop items directly into the Apple Menu folder. For instance if you wanted to have an alias of ResEdit appear in the Apple Menu, locate the original ResEdit application and make an alias of it. Next drag the alias to the Apple Menu and release over the Apple Menu icon itself (i.e. in the menu bar), the alias will be moved/copied into the Apple menu folder. Now open the Apple Menu and the new ResEdit alias will be there.
-> How to create aliases with MenuDropper.
The normal System 7 method for creating aliases is a little cumbersome, in the previous example, you now have an alias file of ResEdit in 2 places (if you have multiple disks), and the alias file was named "ResEdit Alias", which you would now have to fix. MenuDropper provides a clean simple way to create alias files. To reproduce the prior example, select the ICON of the ResEdit application, press (and hold) the command key and drag to the Apple menu icon and release the mouse (and the command key). A new alias file named "ResEdit" will be placed in the Apple Menu folder, that's it !. This works with all the same items as copying, and the alias files can be placed anywhere within the Apple Menu hierarchy.
-> How to open files in applications
It is also possible to drop Icons onto applications in the Apple Menu with MenuDropper. Continuing the previous example, you now wish to examine the MacFrobolizer control panel with ResEdit, assuming that you have a copy of ResEdit (or an alias) in the Apple menu folder. Drag the MacFrobolizer icon up to the Apple Menu drag to the ResEdit icon and release. ResEdit will be launched, and will open the file you dropped on it.
-> Other features
MenuDropper is extremely useful when combined with a hierarchical Apple menu utility, by placing aliases of your hard drives and server volumes in the Apple Menu you can navigate and perform operations throughout your file system.
MenuDropper currently works with NowMenus versions 3 and 4, BeHierarchic version 1.0.6 (this is version 1.0.5 modified by the special updater provided in the MenuDropper package), and BeHierarchic version 2.
Any collection of items from the Finder can be operated on together by MenuDropper, you can select files from multiple folders at multiple levels of the file system at the same time. You can mix folders and files in the same operation. If operating directly on the desktop you can select folders and files from multiple disks, and can even include disk volumes at the same time. You can easily copy a floppy disk into a folder on your hard disk, select the floppy ICON on the desktop and drag to a folder within the Apple menu and release, the complete contents of the floppy will be copied there.
All of the same applies to creating aliases, if an alias file exists in the destination folder with the same name as the one you are trying to create, it will be updated to point to the new object. You cannot, however, replace regular files or folders with alias files. If you want to create aliases of all of your desktop objects in one go, select all of the desktop items and command-drag them to the Apple menu, an alias for each object will be created.
If an error occurs while processing more than item, MenuDropper will notify the user of the error, and continue processing the other items dropped.
If you have dragged Icons to the Apple Menu and decide not to place them in there, drop the icons on the separator line below the ‘About MenuDropper...’ menu item, or release the mouse button outside of the Menu region (i.e. with NO menu item highlighted), and the drag operation will be ignored.
To display the Menu Dropper about box, drop an icon on the ‘About MenuDropper...’ item, and the About Box will be displayed. This drag operation will also be ignored.
It is possible to drop stuff onto items in the application menu, MenuDropper also remembers the last folder and application you dropped onto (but not across restarts). These last used items are available in the application menu as well.
The above diagram shows a drop onto the last application MenuDropper was used for. In this case it is ResEdit. The previous folder dropped onto is also available. It is possible to drop any item onto a launched application in the application menu, these items do not have to be ones that the application knows about. So for instance it is possible to open any file with a word processor using MenuDropper, instead of just the file types the Finder will permit.
It is possible to use MenuDropper with a disk of folder that is not available in the Apple menu, if you drop items onto the Application menu item 'Save…' you will be presented with a standard save file dialog box. Use this dialog to navigate your file system and press 'Save' when you reach the desired location. You can use this method to create a new folder to copy files into (or create aliases), just press the 'New Folder' button whereever you wish to have a new folder created. The File menu item 'New Folder' is an alternative way to access the 'Save' facility.
MenuDropper now works with the menu utilities AliasMenus and OtherMenu. If you use AlisMenus with ICON as menu names it is required that MenuDropper be configured with the name of the folders concerned. This feature will be available in the control panel in release 7.1b9, for this release you will have to configure the ‘AMpr’ resource in the MenuDropper preferences file using the template supplied in the MenuDropper extension file. (If you have no idea what that meant, then you are better of waiting for the next release :-)
-> MenuDropper Control Panel
MenuDropper has a control panel which allows you to configure all MenuDropper options. The active controls are described in detail below, other controls may (or may not) appear to do something but there effect is currently ignored. These features will be added in future releases.
This control panel allows you to set options immediately, these options can be tested without having to close the control panel first. When the control panel is closed the current preferences are written to the MenuDropper preferences file.
• MenuDropper Graphic
Clicking on this graphic will display the MenuDropper about box.
• Master On/Off switch
Clicking on this slider switch will completely disable MenuDropper or re-enable it to its previous state. If MenuDropper is loaded at startup in the Off state a special Icon is displayed to tell the user of this situation.
• Apple Menu check box
Clicking on this will either enable or disable the Apple menu when dragging items with MenuDropper. It has no effect on the operation of other applications, and does not prevent you from using the Apple menu in normal operation.
• File Menu check box
Clicking on this will either enable or disable the File menu when dragging items with MenuDropper. It has no effect on the operation of other applications, and does not prevent you from using the File menu in normal operation.
• Application Menu check box
Clicking on this will either enable or disable the Application menu when dragging items with MenuDropper. It has no effect on the operation of other applications, and does not prevent you from using the Application menu in normal operation.
• AliasMenus check box
Clicking on this will either enable or disable the menus created by the utility AliasMenus when dragging items with MenuDropper. It has no effect on the operation of other applications, and does not prevent you from using the menus created by AliasMenus in normal operation.
• OtherMenu check box
Clicking on this will either enable or disable the menu created by the utility OtherMenu when dragging items with MenuDropper. It has no effect on the operation of other applications, and does not prevent you from using the menu created by OtherMenu in normal operation.
• Resolve Alias chains check box
Clicking on this control affects the creation of alias files with MenuDropper. If unchecked then MenuDropper will create an alias of an alias file, if the box is checked then MenuDropper will always resolve the dropped items to thier original files before creating the alias.
• Open folder on drop check box
Clicking on this controls whether a folder should be opened when an item is dropped onto it. This applies to drops on submenus of hierarchical utilities such as NowMenus.
• Window dragging popup menu
This control effects the operation of real time window dragging support by MenuDropper. You can chose:
Dont Load -- which will cause MenuDropper not to even load the window dragging code
Disable -- which causes MenuDropper to deactivate the window dragging feature
Enable -- which causes MenuDropper to enable the window dragging feature
• Startup Icon popup menu
This control effects the appearance of the startup icon shown by MenuDropper. You can chose:
Hide -- MenuDropper will not show a startup icon
Show -- MenuDropper will show a startup icon
Animate -- MenuDropper will show an animated icon at startup
• Important note regarding Virus detection utilities •
MenuDropper requests the Finder to perform item moves or copies, but performs some operations on alias files itself. Therefore certain virus detection utilities, such as GateKeeper will complain about MenuDropper. It will be necessary to 'teach' these utilities about MenuDropper, in the case of GateKeeper MenuDropper only requires 'File (Other)' permission, no other permissions should be granted.
As of release 1.2.8 GateKeeper is published with the correct privileges for MenuDropper.
Other virus detection utilities will be different, refer to your documentation supplied with the product for more details.
• That sounds like ‘Dropple Menu’ •
It does. Fred Monroe of Apple wrote a utility called Dropple Menu in 1991, but due to lack of support (i.e. too few people sent in their registrations), he stopped supporting it. Unfortunately it only worked with System 7.0.x, but I found the utility so useful that I didn’t upgrade my personal systems to System 7.1 because Dropple Menu didn’t work. I eventually contacted the author and gained his agreement to use some of the Finder technology in Dropple Menu and MenuDropper is the result. I intend to continue the development of MenuDropper in additional directions to do more than just drop onto menus.
• About The Author •
I would welcome any questions, suggestions or comments you may have about MenuDropper or, in the unlikely event, about any bugs you may find.
Please send mail to:
E-mail (Preferred): David Winterburn <dbw@world.std.com>
E-mail (otherwise): David Winterburn <72531.3332@compuserve.com>
MenuDropper was written using MPW Assembler for everthing except the resources, which were created using Adobe Photoshop and ResEdit (now that ResEdit is so cool, who needs Rez ?).
Although MenuDropper is provided free of charge and free of warranties, it is not public domain. This software is currently still under development and this release is considered a beta, you must apply all normal caveats for using such software.
No charge may be levied for this program, nor may it be included as part of any package sold for profit without express authorization from the author. It may be distributed freely via BBS's and other electronic data services that do not explicitly charge for file downloads, that is, do not charge a per file rate as opposed to a per hour rate. This includes, but is not limited, to services such as Compuserve, America Online, Genie, and the public access Internet sites such as sumex-aim@Stanford. Further, no service or distributor may attach additional restrictions to this program or to its distribution. This program must be distributed unmodified, complete with documentation and with the other components distributed in the original package.
MenuDropper is provided “as-is” without warranty of any kind, including the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Although all reasonable efforts have been made to remove, or document all bugs, the author does not warrant, guarantee, or make any representations regarding the use, or the results of the use, of the software or accompanying instructions in terms of correctness, accuracy, reliability, or otherwise. The entire risk as to the results and performance of the software is assumed by you. If the software or instructions are defective, you, and not the author, assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair or correction. The author shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of your use or inability to use this product, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
You, the end user, are permitted to use multiple copies of this software on as many Macintosh computers as you wish. I do request that you register the software with me, at the address listed above. Registered users will be advised of updates (via Email), and gain preferential treatment when dealing with bugs reports and suggestions, and will additionally provide an incentive for me to continue development of MenuDropper.
Use of this software constitutes acceptance of these license terms, if you do not accept the terms of this license then all copies of the software held by you must be destroyed and any remaining parts must be returned to the place of acquisition. In the case of an electronic download, the destruction and removal of the software contained in this package from all your disks is sufficient to terminate the license agreement.
All computer code, documentation and artwork is covered under the copyright terms, none of it may be used in any way other than for personal use on Macintosh computers. None of the copyrighted materials can be used to create derivative works or be published as part of a different package without written permission from the author.
• Thank you's •
I would like to thank the group of MenuDropper beta testers for their help and general good humor during the testing phase of MenuDropper, it is due to them that MenuDropper is stable and compatible with such strange combinations of system extensions and features.
I would like to thank Fred Monroe for inspiring me to make MenuDropper, and to my users for providing great feature feedback.
And finally I would like to thank Matt Neuburg, and Marc Bizer for their kind words and general encouragement.
• Known bugs / limitations •
-> When using MenuDropper with NowMenus version 4, I suggest that
you deactivate the "left-hand pull down menu", the 'hot spot' for
this menu is very close to the Apple Menu and can cause NowMenus to
grab any files you are trying to drop onto the Apple menu. This
can be done by removing all of the items in that menu in the
NowMenus control panel.
-> If you drop an item into a folder that contains a locked file with
the same name, the operation is ignored. I will fix this later so the
Finder displays the usual 'Cannot replace locked items' dialog.
-> MenuDropper appears to be incompatible with Alert Init on my
32 bit system with 20 mb of memory installed, I believe Alert
INIT has a 32 bit address problem but have not had enough time to
investigate this one. Alert INIT works fine on my 24 bits systems,
so I think it is something minor, to be resolved soon.
-> MenuDropper is not compatible with SuperBoomerang, it will not
actually do any harm but does not do any good either. I am trying to work
out what kind of support is appropriate.
-> MenuDropper is not compatible with the separate launch menus
provided by NowMenus (the popup menus in the left and right hand
top-corners of the menu bar). You can try dropping things there, but
MenuDropper will ignore you.
-> Although MenuDropper supports BeHierarchic 1.0.5 it is required
to run the patcher program to update it to version 1.0.6. This is
totally unofficial, and I hope to remove it from the MenuDropper
package in the future, if a new version of BeHierarchic is released.
-> When dropping aliases of files (instead of the originals) onto
applications, the aliases are not resolved and the application
opens the alias instead (to be fixed soon).
-> When creating aliases via the MenuDropper command key operation
the aliases of AppleShare volumes, hard disks, and special Finder
folders with unique Icons(such as the Control Panels, or Fonts,
or Extensions etc.); are created with a generic icon.
This can be easily fixed by either opening the alias file (from the
Apple Menu or the desktop), or doing a "Get Info" operation and
clicking "Find Original" (to be fixed soon).
The aliases of files, ordinary folders, and applications are correct
on creation, no fixing required.
-> Soft partitions of a hard disk, created by a software utility (such as
Norton Partition) will to confuse MenuDropper. The solution is use real
SCSI 'Hard' partitions.
-> MenuDropper does not work at all, if TearOffs (1.0b4) is installed.
-> There is an incompatibility with a system extension 'Desktop Extras',
MenuDropper will not load if desktop extras is active.
• What the future holds •
I plan to include the following support in the next release(s).
-> Allow Icons to be dropped on open windows belonging to
applications other than the Finder (if the Application is
registered to receive 'drop' appleevents then 'drop' or send
regular document open)
-> Resolve aliases of alias files before sending them to open
applications (launch document)
-> To allow drops onto Finder window menus
-> One day, to add an integrated hierarchical Apple menu
-> To add some special command key equivalents (e.g. cmd-delete)
-> Any other ideas I come up with, or suggestions received
