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Tiger - Version 4.10 - 11 November 1994 Shareware (c) Graham Crow 1992,'93,'94 CONTENTS PAGE 1. What is Tiger? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. Background and status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3. Important note for users of earlier versions of Tiger . . 2 4. Installing and loading Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5. The Tiger window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6. Object names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7. Object descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 8. Main menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 9. Display modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 10. Copy/Delete object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 11. Open filer (F1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 12. Goto parent (F2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 13. Save data (F3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 14. Save text (Shift F3) (NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO VERSION) . . . 6 15. Tiger buffer (F5) (NOT AVAILABLE IN DEMO VERSION) . . . 6 16. PtrCopy (F7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 17. Undo/Redo changes (F8/F9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 18. Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 19. Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 20. Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Registration form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Page 1 1. What is Tiger? ----------------- Tiger is a multi-tasking desktop utility for the Acorn Archimedes and RISC PC range of computers running under RISC OS. It requires RISC OS 3.1 or later, and at least 1mb of RAM. It will run from a floppy disc. Under RISC OS, an object name (file or directory) is restricted to 10 characters. Tiger (big CATalogue!) overcomes this limitation by providing a window in which you can enter a description of up to 110 characters for each object. The descriptions are stored in a datafile within the relevant directory. In fact, Tiger looks and behaves very much like the Filer - and is intended to complement it. You simply drag the contents of a Filer window onto Tiger, whereupon the object descriptions are automatically read and displayed. Once in Tiger, you can traverse the directory hierarchy by clicking. Any executable object is run by double clicking on it in the normal way. You may add or edit descriptions at any time and save them as data or text. If you drag an object from Tiger to a different Filer window, the description is automatically transferred too. The full features of Tiger are described in this Help file. You will find Tiger invaluable for examining the contents of directories on screen and also for indexing both hard and floppy discs. By using the Text File options you can create a printed reference manual for all or part of your media, complete with object descriptions. 2. Background and status ------------------------ Tiger was originally published in RISC User (Vol 3 Issue 10 - October 1990) and subsequently updated (Vol 5 Issue 9, and Vol 6 Issue 8). Copyright is now vested in the author by agreement with BEEBUG Limited. It is now classified as Shareware, and anyone who continues to use the program must by law register with the author. To register it, send a cheque for fifteen pounds payable to Graham Crow to the address given at the end of this document. Please state the name under which you wish Tiger to be registered (e.g. your name or your company's name). Registration entitles you to a full version of the program, and also support and upgrades. No warranty, express or implied, is made about the suitability of Tiger for any purpose. The author cannot be held responsible for any damage to or loss of data which may occur whilst using this program. The demonstration version is complete except for saving as text (section 14) and use of the buffer (section 15). Page 2 3. Important note for users of earlier versions of Tiger -------------------------------------------------------- From version 2.00 (9/4/92) Tiger stored its data in the Data subdirectory of the directory !TigerData. Whilst this approach had some attractions, the overheads in terms of disc space were a major disadvantage. The current version has therefore reverted to storing the data in a single file (type &B8D) within the relevant directory. There is a menu option available whenever you click menu on !TigerData to convert to the file TigerData, thus saving disc space. From version 4.10 (11/11/94) the filetype for TigerData files changed from &4FF (TigDat4) to &B8D (Tig) following an official allocation from Acorn Computers Limited. Two simple methods are provided for changing filetypes: - drag the old TigerData file from the Filer onto the Tiger's icon bar icon and that single file will have its type changed, or - press Ctrl+F to open a dialogue window from which you can change the filetype of ALL TigerData files starting from the displayed directory. If this is the root directory then all the TigerData files on the current disc will be changed in one go. 4. Installing and loading Tiger ------------------------------- Install Tiger in the usual way by double clicking on the application !Tiger to place the Tiger icon on the left-hand side of the icon bar. To load the Tiger window, drag any object from a Filer window onto the Tiger icon on the icon bar. Alternatively, double click on any TigerData icon. Note, however, that as with other applications which use data files, if the Filer has not 'seen' the application (ie. the directory containing !Tiger has not been opened) then the data file icons appear as white squares and double-clicking on them produces the message 'No run action specified for this file type'. Once !Tiger has been seen by the Filer, however, the data file icons have the Tiger stripes and double-clicking on them (or dragging them to the icon bar) loads Tiger with the contents of the directory, launching the application if necessary. It is recommended that you include Tiger in your Boot sequence so that it loads automatically each time you switch on. You can choose the start-up conditions from the Choices option, available from the icon bar menu, and described in section 18. Once the Tiger window is present, you may drag any object from a Filer window onto the Tiger main window or the icon bar icon to load the relevant directory. Note that if you drag a directory with Shift held down, then the contents of the dragged directory are loaded into Tiger. Page 3 5. The Tiger window ------------------- At the top left is a slabbed icon. Provided Tiger is not already displaying the root directory, this icon contains an up arrow and the name of the parent directory. Clicking on it with select or adjust loads the parent directory. Shift-clicking loads the root directory. To the right is a status line giving the name of the directory currently displayed. This may also show a description of the directory (which you add/edit in the parent directory). If the current display mode is other than Descriptions (see section 9) then relevant information is provided on this status line. Underneath are two columns - object name and object data. 6. Object names --------------- Object names may be clicked or dragged in much the same way as with the Filer. A single click with select selects an object. Clicking with adjust allows you to select more than one object. Alternatively, use drag with select or adjust on the background (left/right edge of filename) to select/deselect a group of objects. Double-clicking on an object has the following effects: - if the object is executable (a file or application) then it is run; - if the object is a directory, then its contents are loaded into Tiger, replacing the original contents. The contents of an Application are loaded by double clicking with the Shift key depressed. A single object or a selection of objects may be dragged: - to a Filer window (contents are copied between directories, or moved if Shift is held down) - to a compatible Application (window or icon bar icon) (eg. a Sprite file could be loaded into Paint) - to the Pinboard (objects stick to the background) - to the Icon bar (objects are executed) If an object with a description is dragged to another Filer window, then the description is copied too. Dragging with Shift held down deletes the source after copying. Dragging with adjust closes the Tiger window when the operation is complete. Page 4 Note that copying/moving is interactive if this is configured (use !Configure), and that the options (Confirm etc.) will be according to your settings. Also note that solid sprite dragging applies if your CMOS is appropriately configured (ie. bit 1 of byte 28 is set); otherwise 'rotating boxes' apply. A separate utility SolidDrag is included in the !Tiger directory to simplify the setting/unsetting of solid sprite dragging. Pressing Tab when Tiger has the input focus sizes the window so that only the object names are showing. 7. Object descriptions ---------------------- Clicking select or adjust in the description column moves the caret to the pointer position. The cursor keys, Return, and Home are all functional. As you type, text is inserted at the caret position, with left and right scrolling if necessary. A descriptions may be copied by dragging with select or adjust and dropping it in the destination slot. It is possible to turn off draggable descriptions in the Choices dialogue box available from the icon bar menu (see section 18). Normally, dragging a description replaces the contents of the destination slot. However, it is possible to change this effect in the Tiger buffer window to insert the dragged description at the position of the pointer on completion of the drag (see section 15). 8. Main menu ------------ Display File '' Select all Clear selection Options New directory ---------------- Open filer F1 Goto parent F2 Save data F3 Save text F3 +Shift Open buffer F5 PtrCopy F7 Undo changes F8 The six options above the dotted line replicate those in the Filer, and are described in the RISC OS 3 User Guide, except that Display governs the Tiger display modes. In addition, if you click menu over a Directory name, there is an extra item on the submeu - 'Open Filer'. If the directory is !TigerData (created by an earlier version of Tiger) there is an extra submenu item 'Convert' which provides automatic conversion to the new data file, TigerData (see also section 2). Page 5 The seven options below the dotted line are all specific to Tiger and each has an F key short-cut. Short-cut keys only work if Tiger has the input focus: this may be gained by clicking select on the icon bar icon. The functions available from the menu are described below. 9. Display modes ---------------- There are three display modes: (1) Descriptions (see section 7). (2) Object Info - shows the type, length, access and datestamp of each object. Similar to 'Full info' in Filer. (4) Nested size - calculates and displays the size of each object recursively. Thus, if the object is a directory, then the length of its contents and that of all its subdirectories is accumulated. The result is presented numerically and graphically. Very useful for finding out what is consuming all that precious disc space, and not available in Filer. Note that Escape is enabled to allow you to abort this process if you become impatient! Clicking on 'Display' in the main menu redraws the Tiger window. This is useful if you have renamed objects in the Filer window. (Note that if you increase or decrease the number of objects in the Filer window, Tiger detects this and automatically adjusts its display). 10. Copy/Delete object ---------------------- The second menu choice relates to an individual object (which must either be selected or clicked upon with the menu button) or a group of selected objects. If, by means of this option, an object with a description is copied or deleted, then the description is copied/deleted too. An additional item at the end of the menu allows you to open the Filer if the object is an application or a directory. 11. Open filer (F1) ------------------- This opens the Filer window for the displayed directory. 12. Goto parent (F2) -------------------- This loads Tiger with the parent of the displayed directory. It has the same effect as clicking on the slabbed icon. Page 6 13. Save data (F3) ------------------ This saves the current descriptions in the relevant directory. Descriptions are saved in a file called TigerData (type &B8D). 14. Save text (Shift F3) (NOT AVAILABLE IN THE DEMO VERSION) ------------------------ This saves data for the current display mode as a text file. If the display mode is Descriptions or Nested Size you can choose which data items you wish to include (filetype, length, etc,). With all display modes you can decide whether or not to save the data recursively. If this option is set then every object in every subdirectory is included, working downwards from the current directory. With Recurse set, you can choose whether to exclude particular directories by setting the Prompt options - either for all directories or for top-level directories only (ie. those in the current directory). At each prompt you can elect to save, abort the whole operation, cancel future prompts, or skip to the next directory. Save text by dragging the text file icon, clicking on Save or pressing Return in the normal way. Drags may be to a Filer window, Application or Printer Driver. To create a disc catalogue complete with descriptions, for a hard or floppy disc, simply do a recursive save of the root directory. Note that Escape is enabled to allow you to end this process prematurely if you wish. To create a catalogue of several floppy discs, just combine all the text files into one, and then you can use the facilities of a text editor to search for the item(s) you require. Clicking on 'Save text' in the main menu allows the dialogue box to remain open. 15. Tiger buffer (F5) (NOT AVAILABLE IN THE DEMO VERSION) --------------------- This opens the Tiger buffer - a separate window for data transfer. The main purpose is to allow you to grab text from outside Tiger in order to use it as descriptions. To do so, click on Input so that a tick appears. Now click with adjust on any writable icon or window title bar. If successful, a beep sounds, the text appears in the buffer window, and the tick changes to a cross. Alternatively, drag a description from the Tiger window to the buffer. To transfer the text from the buffer to a description slot simply drag and drop. The text will be either replace the existing description or be inserted, according to the setting of the relevant buttons in the buffer. Insertions occur at the position of the pointer when the drop occurs. Alternatively, you can set the caret at the point of insertion and click on 'Output' in the buffer. If the resulting description would be longer than 110 characters an error message is given. Page 7 There are two other ways you can input text to the buffer. Drag a file from a Filer window (Text, Obey, Command types only) or save to the buffer from an editor or word processor, using its 'Save selection' feature. In these cases, the first 100 characters are entered into the buffer. For example, you might use this method to grab the start of an application's Help file and use this as a description. The buffer may be emptied by clicking on 'Clear'. 16. PtrCopy (F7) ---------------- Ran Mokardy's excellent PD utility - PtrCopy - is bundled with Tiger, and provides the means of copying any characters in the system font from the screen to the cursor. It makes it very easy to transfer text direct to Tiger's description icons. This is achieved by placing the pointer on the first character to be copied, then pressing Ctrl and Alt simultaneously. By dragging the pointer you can copy a whole string of text, and the pointer is confined horizontally to simplify this operation. Choosing this menu option or pressing F7 toggles the utility on and off. When it is loaded a beep sounds and the menu item is ticked. You can use the Choices window to configure PtrCopy to be automatically loaded on start-up. 17. Undo/Redo changes (F8/F9) ----------------------------- Initially, the Undo changes option is greyed out. As soon as a change has been made to a description, the option becomes available and clicking on it restores the descriptions to their state immediately after the last save. The menu changes to Redo changes (F9) to allow you to reinstate the changes made since the last save. After a save, the option is again greyed out. 18. Choices ----------- Several features of Tiger may be configured to suit your preference. The Choices option on the icon bar menu gives rise to a dialogue box in which these options are set. Note that this item is greyed-out if Tiger has not been loaded with data. The upper part of the window affects the start-up configuration. The directory may be either the Root (default), User (ie. the directory currently displayed), or None (ie. you will have to drag a directory onto Tiger to create a display). The initial display mode (whose default is Descriptions) may also be chosen. The Tiger window may be opened automatically on start-up (default) and if so the Buffer window may also be opened (default is closed). Finally you can specify that the PtrCopy utility should be auto-loaded. These settings need to be saved, and only take effect on installing Tiger. Page 8 The remaining three options may be put into effect at any time by clicking on Set. They are: Prompt to save changes. If you have added or edited a description, and then attempt any operation which would replace the contents of the Tiger window without having first saved the data, a prompt is issued allowing you to save or discard the changes. This is the default. If the option is turned off, any changes are automatically saved before such an operation. Auto-run IconSprites. If you load Tiger with a directory which has not been 'seen' by the Filer, this option (which is the default) causes the Boot files of applications to be run, thus displaying the correct icon. The alternative is to deselect this option which allows directories to be scanned rather more quickly, but at the expense of displaying the default application icon. Draggable descriptions. The default is to allow descriptions to be dragged. However you may find that a wayward movement of the mouse causes you unintentionally to copy descriptions, in which case you may prefer to keep this option disabled until you require it. Note that clicking on 'Choices' in the menu allows the dialogue box to remain open. 19. Miscellaneous ----------------- If you change mode, Tiger will automatically adjust its window extent, if necessary, to fill the screen width whilst allowing you to view the full 110 characters of the description. Clicking adjust on the icon bar icon loses the input focus. This is useful if you want to use some default 'hot keys' and Tiger (or any other application) is claiming them. The error/message window may be dragged with select or adjust when the pointer is on the body of the window. This is sometimes necessary to see the error which is frequently obscured beneath the window! Tiger only polls the 'null event' when its window is open. Therefore, if you find that the Desktop has slowed down, try closing Tiger's window. Should you for some reason have a forced exit from Tiger it is possible that you may get a 'Tiger is already running' message when you try to re-launch Tiger. If this occurs, open the !Tiger directiory, click on the Obey file 'Unset' and try again. Page 9 20. Changes ----------- Version 4.02 (19 July 1994) Set Tiger$Running in !RunImage instead of in !Run to prevent 'already running' error if no room to launch Tiger. Version 4.03 (10 August 1994) Provided access to Ran Mokardy's PtrCopy utility. Issued error message if run with OS below 3.1. Ensured that descriptions are copied when an object is dragged or copied from Tiger to Filer in other than Descriptions mode. Version 4.04 (5 October 1994) Corrected object dragging when solid sprites not set in CMOS RAM Prevented hanging if saved to copy-protected floppy. Version 4.10 (11 November 1994) (This version put on general release to PD libraries). Changed filetye of TigerData files from &4FF (TigerDat) to &B8D (Tig) on official allocation from Acorn (JC/CS/19035 - 29/9/94). Provided routines to simplify re-typing of TigerData files. -------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope you find Tiger useful and satisfying, and shall be pleased to receive any comments, criticisms or suggestions. Graham Crow Crow Associates, Manor Lodge, Llangattock, Monmouth, Gwent NP5 4NG Telephone and Fax: Monmouth (01600) 772532 Page 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------- TIGER REGISTRATION DOCUMENT Name: Address: Postcode: Telephone: Register as: (e.g. your name or your company's name) I enclose fifteen pounds (No credit cards: cheques payable to Graham Crow) Signed: Date: --------------------------------------------------------------------