DA Key 2.00 is both an improvement over and a regression from the previous versions (up to version 1.7 at this writing) and from the desk accessory Other… (up to version 1.6b at this writing). All of these utilities have the same objective: to allow you to run desk accessories that haven't been installed in the System file, but instead reside in a file (created by Apple's Font/DA Mover or by Dreams of the Phoenix's DA Installer or DA Installer+), either on the disk you are using or on another disk. Other… and DA Key 1.x both took basically the same approach to this problem. As a result of that approach, they were clumsy to use; limited the user to running a single "additional" desk accessory at a time; and did not allow you to use that desk accessory simultaneously with the program you were running. DA Key 2.0 represents a new approach, which I hope will be easier to use and more functional. It is intended to replace both Other… and earlier versions of DA Key. (I may, however, at some point issue Other… 2.0 using the same approach.)
First, the bad news. Unlike earlier versions of DA Key (but like Other…), DA Key 2.00 will run only from within a program that itself supports desk accessories. So you can't use it to sneak a look at a DA from Font/DA Mover or anything else that won't let you run DA's from the Apple menu. In fact, the present version of DA Key 2.00 blindly assumes that, when it is called, the first menu is the standard Apple menu. If that assumption is wrong, it will generally crash. (In my experience that assumption is only very rarely wrong, however.) In addition, DA Key 2.00 requires that there be at least one vacant DRVR slot in the System file (ID 12 to 50) for each additional accessory that you intend to use.
Second, the good news. DA Key 2.00 is easy to operate: it installs the vagrant DA in the Apple menu (it will stay there until you close the program you are running, or remove it with DA Key 2.00), and you can operate it just like any other desk accessory in the menu. There is no finagling with "save screen" options, and none of the frustration of seeing your program's window on the screen and being unable to access it. Moreover, although DA Key 2.00 is not crash-proof, in my own testing it has proved far more resilient than earlier versions of DA Key or Other…. I have not come close to testing it with every available DA. However, in my own experience it seems to have problems only with (a) DA's (like SkipFinder or the Talking Moose) that expect to survive beyond a single application and (b) a few DA's that don't follow Apple's guidelines for desk accessories.
Installing DA Key
DA Key installs as an FKEY resource in the System file. It can be installed using the FKEY Installer from Dreams of the Phoenix (on Quick & Dirty Utilities™ vol. 2, or available on many bulletin boards in a fully-functional version licensed for noncommercial distribution), or Apple's ResEdit. It has no owned resources that need renumbering. Its native ID is 9 (so you'd press command-shift-9 to invoke it), but that can be freely changed to any number from 5 to 9, or zero. For a reason I don't understand, it seems to be safest to reboot the Mac after you have installed DA Key 2.00.
Running DA Key 2.00
Adding accessories to the menu
Assume you've installed it as FKEY number 9. DA Key 2.00 will appear, display my usual message asking for money, and show the SFGetFile box. (If you are running HFS, DAKey should set the SFGetFile box to open to the Blessed Folder, if one there be on the default disk.) From that box you can select any Font/DA Mover or DA Installer+ file to install -- but the file should contain only a single desk accessory. Select the file and click "Open", or just double-click the file name.
If all goes well, the desk accessory you chose will be opened and its name installed at the bottom of the Apple menu. You can then treat it just like any other DA, opening and closing it as you will. It will remain installed and available until you quit the application or remove it with DA Key 2.00 (see below for instructions how to remove the accessory).
Automatic Renumbering
If the desk accessory you chose has an ID that is already in use, DA Key 2.00 will tell you that the slot is in use and ask whether you would like it to be renumbered. Renumbering will take a while (usually about a minute with the old ROMs, less with the 128K ROMs), and (although I believe I have the renumbering routines working correctly now) potentially dangerous. Renumbering will modify the desk accessory file on your disk, so you should not agree to renumber unless you have a backup of that file.
Closing and Removing the Installed Desk Accessory
A desk accessory installed by DA Key 2.00 can be closed (and reopened) in the usual fashion. In addition, if you like you can both close the accessory and remove it from the Apple menu. (If you have the old ROMs, the accessory's name in the Apple menu will be replaced by the disabled word, "Gone".) There are two ways to do this without leaving the program you are running. First, if the desk accessory closes in the "normal" fashion -- by a click on its close box -- you can both close the accessory and remove it from the Apple menu (thus freeing up its slot) by holding down the option key when you click on the close box.
Not all desk accessories have a window and a close box. Some (like Bob Luce's Extras) close through a menu item. Others (like my own Toggle) just do something and close themselves. It may be possible to remove those accessories from the menu by holding down the option key when you choose "close". Depending on the accessory (specifically, whether it calls itself by calling _CloseDeskAcc) this may or may not work. If it doesn't work, you can usually remove the accessory from the menu by invoking DA Key version 2 in the following manner:
1. Press command-shift-9 (or whatever number it's been installed as)
2. Keep the command key pressed down and press down the option key
3. Release the command key while keeping the option key held down.
This sequence causes DA Key 2.00 to attempt to close and remove all desk accessories it added to the menu. In other words, if you have four additional DA's installed with DA Key 2.00, this sequence will close and remove all four. Unless another desk accessory has added its own routine to the CloseOrnHook pointer, the attempt should be successful.
Testing and Bug Reports
I have used DA Key 2.00 for some time on my system [512K Mac with new ROMs and a MacBottom hard disk drive]. In addition, I have attempted to test the old ROM routines by using those calls on my system. I have fixed all the bugs that I have found but there are certainly others I haven't found. Moreover, I haven't been able to test it at all on a Lisa running MacWorks. I'd appreciate receiving bug reports and suggestions for improvement.
Bug reports are most useful to me if you can tell me (a) your setup (version of the Mac and System you are using), (b) what program you were running, (c) what desk accessory you attempted to install, and (d) if possible, what DA's were already installed (and what if any were running) when the error occurred.
I would be particularly interested to know whether, DA Key 2.00 can be used with Q&D Terminal (or MockTerm) and BackDown (the background XModem downloader) so that you can start a download and then return to the application you are running, doing useful work in the meantime. This is a combination I can't test since (at the moment), BackDown won't work with a MacBottom. If you do test this, please let me know. Likewise, let me know other interesting combinations that work for you.
Notes for Developers
DA Key 2.00 will attempt to open files of type 'DFIL' or 'DAMN'. I gather that some development systems make it difficult to set the Type bits on a newly-created desk accessory. If you want, you can use FEDIT+ to search for 'DFIL' or 'DMOV' and replace the four characters of either one to whatever your development system sets as the Type bits. Alternatively, if you send me a blank disk, a mailer, and an extra $5 with your registration, I will provide you with a version of DA Key that will attempt to open all kinds of files.
Registration
DA Key 2.00 isn't public domain software: it's shareware, and it's copyrighted. Feel free to try it out; but if you continue to use it after a week or so, you should send me $5.00 for registration. The program has taken me a long time to write and will take me more time to support. In addition, just uploading it to various information services has cost me a fair amount of money. The price isn't high: you can easily spend more money for a big lunch at Burger King. Please, if you use it, register it. When you register, if you send a disk, a mailer, and an extra $5, I will return the disk with a copy of the most recent version.
Loftus E. Becker, Jr.
41 Whitney Street
Hartford, CT 06105
Compuserve 70206,67
Delphi LOFTUSBECKER
GENIE LBECKER
MCIMail LBECKER
Users' groups and others distributing disks may freely distribute DA Key 2.0 under two conditions: (1) you distribute this documentation file along with the FKEY; and (2) you aren't charging users significantly more than your costs of duplication and distribution for the disks you distribute.
