There are a few items to note about this release of PowerBar:
---------- General Information
1) At the present time, there is a limit to the number of files that can be moved or trashed using PowerBar tools (i.e. "Trash Selection" or dragging a group of files to a folder button to move or copy them). This limit is slightly variable depending on the files selected, but should average around 12-15 files. Sometimes as many as 20 files can be manipulated. Since most operations you might perform on selected files will be on a single or a few files this shouldn't present too much of an inconvenience. This will be addressed in future releases.
2) PowerBar can grow to use a large (400K or so) chunk of RAM. The more buttons you choose to use, the more RAM you will have to relinquish. This brings up the point that, although toolbars can be quite convenient creatures, there is a point of diminishing return. You end up using a lot of RAM and you have so many buttons that it takes you longer to find the one you want than it would to open the application or document or perform the Finder command the "normal" way. Moderation is the key to efficient use of PowerBar!
5) You cannot install AppleShare volumes on the toolbar. A workaround is to make an alias of the remote volume and install by dragging the alias to the toolbar for installation. Note that the *original* volume should have a custom icon otherwise the button will use the standard generic folder icon. Also note that the alias you dragged to the toolbar should be kept and stashed away somewhere.
--------- Notes for 1.1 (11/5/93)
• PowerBar is now compatible with Now Compress versions 1.0 and 1.0.1.
• PowerBar now checks for the presence of the “PBData” file in a folder named “PowerBar Folder” which must reside in the Preferences Folder. If this file or the PowerBar Folder is not in the correct location, PowerBar will not load. Along the same lines, you cannot open the control panel until you have moved those files to the locations as per the instructions and restarted your Macintosh.
• Old prefs files are deleted and replaced automatically. You lose preferences like toolbar position and colors, but not buttons that have been installed onto the toolbar.
• The drop-launch feature is working a little more reliably than it has in the past.
• Clicking on a folder button while pressing the COMMAND key causes a popup menu of that folder's contents to be displayed. Selecting an item from this popup opens it. Note that this menu is NOT hierarchical (for now?).
• There is now a hotspot. You use this to bring the Finder to the front when it is not. You can select which corner of the monitor (main screen only for those of you with more than one screen) you should move the mouse to in order to bring the Finder to the front (and hence get quick access to PowerBar). This is accessed through the General Preferences dialog (click the ‘Hot Spot’ button).
• When updating PowerLabels in the preferences, *both* PowerLabel menus are updated immediately. When I say both, I mean the Colors menu option available in the PowerBar menu as well as the popup menu available when you click the colorwheel icon on the toolbar.
• Disk pad volume menu no longer shows volumes once they’ve been removed (unmounted).
• If Desktop Database is missing (i.e. you used a utility like TechTools to remove it so that a complete desktop rebuild can occur), the toolbar will have to be built manually! Same is true if an alert is displayed immediately upon startup (as when someone puts up a shareware reminder dialog). Remember you can build the toolbar manually by selecting the first option in the PowerBar menu (which will read “Create Toolbar” when the toolbar has not been built).
• Drag & Drop now works if you have the new Drag & Drop Extension(s) installed. NOTE: If you don't have System 7 Pro, you *must* install the new Finder (1.1.3) and the Drag Enabler Extension for D&D to work with PowerBar and the Drag Manager. Note that this version has not actually been used with System 7 Pro itself (I don't have it yet, nor do any of my testers). I feel 99% certain Drag & Drop will now work with it, but I'm sure one of you "pro" users out there can verify.
• WindowBOSS (previously SUPERWindows) is (re)implemented. It provides a list of open windows per application as well as a stack-windows menu option. See docs for details.
• Fixed a bug where, if you cancelled out of a QuicKey naming dialog (from Special Commands), you crashed with a bang. Not any more!
• OOPS! Only the oldest of PowerBooks seemed to be recognized by PowerBar as being PowerBooks. This has been remedied. Sorry :-/
• Added keyboard navigation of the toolbar. Anything (almost) can be done using the keyboard instead of the mouse. See docs for details.
• Command key equivalents can be changed for most of the PowerBar menu options.
• Current version is always displayed in the control panel (lower right).
--------- Notes for 1.0 (10/9/93)
• First release to the public.
Enjoy!
Scott
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Here is a list of common Control Panels and Extensions (commercial and otherwise) with which PowerBar has been used successfully (read: without conflict):
