101 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
101 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
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Disk Covers and T.I.M. Version 1.1
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Disk Covers - A New Kind of Icon
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I have a large collection of Graphics, I call them Pics, which I have
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downloaded, scanned, digitized, or on rare occasion created.
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They are stored on disks by catagory such as cartoons, space, etc. The
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disks are named by catagory and I wrote slide show to view them.
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I thought it would be fun to take one Pic from each disk and make a large
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Icon from it that would pop up on the desktop when the disk was inserted
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and run slide show when it was double clicked.
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This would be a kind of album cover like my cd's have, to help better
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remind me of the contents of the disk.
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Alas when I ran T.I.M. to make my first one it died. The code overwrote
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itself and the variables when ever it got over 80 lines high. This can't be
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(I sez to me) I wrote this piece of slop to handle 100 lines, a 50 line
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icon plus a 50 line mask, but such was not the case.
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So back to pounding the keys, hacking away at my own already sloppy code,
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T.I.M. Version 1.1 came into being. And my disk collection is starting to
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get some covers.
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First: How I use them.
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1. Make a folder named ICONS on each disk.
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2. Name the Disk Cover Icon the same name as the disk and put it in the
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icons folder.
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3. I already have the icon attached to the name of the disk, for a basic
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program ($FC) and launching */BASIC.LAUNCHER.
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4. Write and save a basic program by that name which will run the program
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of your choice, Slide.Show, Windows, Etc. (See the Example)
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5. Drag the disk to the trash and then pop it back in, you should now be
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able to see your Icon Picture.
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6. Turn on (an X in the block) Save Finder Info To Disk. This should be off
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unless you are rearranging your desktop as it will speed up all window
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closes and launches.
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7. Drag the Icon Picture onto the desktop and close the disk's window.
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8. Now Drag the Disk into the Trash, I also write-protect it then.
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9. Turn off (no X in the block) Save Finder Info To Disk.
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An alternate to step 7 is to move the icon pic and size the window so that
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the window border surrounds the pic, this way you can close the window
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but it will still pop up when you double-click the disk.
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Next: How to make them.
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1. The easiest way I have found is to use SHR Convert to load a Pic, then
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reduce 50% by height and width and save as a $C1 (Screen) file.
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2. Next load it into PaintWorks Gold or DeluxePaint II - Make a mask or
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template to protect all but one color, then wash that color with the
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color from the finder's pallette that most approximates the original.
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3. To repeat, make sure you are using the finders colors to view the pic as
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you work. I use DeluxePaint II and go from Restore Pallette on the spare
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page to Use Brush Pallette on the Page I am converting.
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4. When I have finished converting I save it to my T.I.M. disk as ESP.GIRLS
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as an example then run T.I.M. to make the icon.
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5. Be sure to save or convert it into a $C1 file with the image in the
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absolute upper left hand corner of the screen.
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You could also grab or load a Pic as a Brush and reduce or resize it to a
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size you would like but then you have to go thru the boaring process of
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counting pixels. Bah, Humbug. A single 50 x 50 percent reduction is 180
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wide bu 100 high, do it twice and its 90 wide by 50 high, nice and easy.
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Now for a few thousand words about T.I.M. Version 1.1
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1. It will now let you define the program it launches.
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2. Handles Icons up to 50 lines high with a custom mask.
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3. Over 50 lines high it makes it's own mask.
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4. Writes and reads back parts of the file to disk and then assembles them
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into an Icon named TEST.ICON - You have NO CHOICE and any existing
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TEST.ICON will be deleted.
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5. Maximum height - 100 lines
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6. Maximum width - Don't know, largest I have done is 160 pixels.
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7. Minimum size - Again don't know, must be over $F squared (16 x 16).
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That's All Folks - Have Fun
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Fred
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T.I.M. and DiskCovers copyright 1988 by E.S.P.Graphics
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GrassHopper Software (TM)
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The program, T.I.M., the DiskCovers included herewith, any Icons or
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DiskCovers made by T.I.M. are FreeWare but remain the commercial property
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of the creator.
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E.S.P. Graphics will not bear or share any liability thru the use of
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copyrighted material being reproduced without proper permission.
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P.S. That means watch what you scan, convert, or digitize folks if you then
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distribute it, be it in printed or electronically readable form.
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