Which IIgs do you own? The ROM »», ROM »1 or the ROM »3? How much memory do you have? 1 megabyte? 2 megabytes? Which Tool Sets do you have installed? What kind of disk drives are you using? Are you printing with Apple's drivers?
All these questions, and more, can be answered by using The Analyst.
What's new with this version?
With this release of The Analyst, I attempted to add some features that subscribers have asked for. Probably the most significant enhancement is full support for the ZipGS accelerator! Other improvements in this release include:
Ñ The size of the CPU cache used by the TransWarp GS and ZipGS is now
reported in the General section.
Ñ Under System 6.0, inserting or removing a disk will automatically
update the Hardware section.
Ñ Minor enhancements to printing, including notifying the System of
the document name so that Extensions such as Express¬ can retrieve
the name of the document being printed.
Ñ A Special menu has been added which contains two menu items: Purge
Memory and Compact Memory. Purge Memory looks at all the memory
being used in the System and frees up any blocks of memory that
aren't being used anymore. Compact Memory tries to combine smaller
blocks of memory into larger chunks that can be used more
efficiently by the System.
Using The Analyst
The Analyst is an extremely simple program: launch it from Finder and that's it. After starting up, your system is analyzed and the results are displayed. Certain pieces of data are updated whenever a change occurs (for example, free memory and the current printer).
If you are using System 5.0.4, it will be necessary to close the main window and then select the Analyze menu item. (This is due to the nature of disk scanning under 5.0.4.). Once closed, the system is then re-analyzed and any hardware changes are reflected.
Under System 6.0, the hardware information is automatically updated anytime you insert or remove a disk.
What is all this information?
There are five sections to The Analyst's main window: General, Memory, Printer, Hardware and Tool Sets. Much of the information displayed is self-explanatory, however some items need a bit of explaining.
In most cases, an item will have a number next to it. For example, ╥ImageWriter (4.1).╙ (Note: it is unrealistic at the application level to differentiate between an ImageWriter I and an ImageWriter II -- they both are just an ╥ImageWriter╙ to The Analyst.) The ╥4.1╙ indicates the version number of the ImageWriter driver (a component of System Software that allows the computer to communicate with a hardware device.) Tool Sets also have version numbers which are displayed in the right-hand column of the Tool Set section.
The analysis of disk drives is a bit more in-depth. If there is not a disk in a drive, then the type of drive and its driver version number are displayed. If there is a disk in a drive, then the disk type and name are displayed on the second line. Usually the type is ProDOS, but with System 6.0, Macintosh HFS, DOS 3.3 and Apple Pascal are all possible. The size of the disk and free space are displayed on the third line.
What good is it?
If you ever need to call our technical support staff, The Analyst will become invaluable. Our tech support people have a standard checklist of questions that they ask everyone. Most of these questions can be answered by The Analyst. Since The Analyst can print, it might be wise to print out a copy of your system's analysis for future reference.
Likewise, if you purchase a new piece of software or hardware and it says, ╥Speech Tool Set v1.0 is required,╙ you can confirm the version number with The Analyst.
Finally, having trouble running AppleWorks GS or Platinum Paint? Do you have enough memory? The Analyst is trained to tell you.
Copying The Analyst
Select ╥Installer...╙ from the File Menu (or press apple-I) and the Installer will be launched. Then highlight ╥The Analyst╙ by clicking on it. Next, be sure the disk you want to copy the files to is inserted and click on the Disk button until that disk comes up. Click on the Install button and the copying will be done.
Remember: there is a paragraph on using the Installer in the Help article. Check it out if you are confused by the terminology.
