Download texte-se.hqx (35,952 KB)
From: jonrelay@napanet.net
Subject: TextE@se
Here is the latest version of TextE@se, the At Ease-like HyperCard stack
made by Gammasoft Incorporated, the not-really-a-software-company owned by
12-year-olds!
Instructions for TextE@se
TextE@se is a HyperCard stack. It functions similar to At Ease, but it
doesn't harm anything with boot blocks or extensions or "make sure it is
turned off before deleting it" lines.
To "turn it on," simply drag an alias of it into the startup items folder.
To "turn it off," simply drag the alias out of the startup items folder. If
you delete it without "turning it off," it won't harm anything like At Ease
would do. It would simply say "The alias could not be opened because the
original item could not be found." No bombs, sad Macs, blinking question
marks, boot block modification, or anything out of the ordinary.
Requirements:
* HyperCard 2.0 or later (or Player)
* AppleScript is needed for working with some files and using the Eject
Disk, Restart, and Shut Down functions.
Setup:
* After de-BinHexing and unstuffing the file, open up the TextE@se folder.
* Open up the SupportFiles folder, and move the FILEBROWSER font into the
Fonts folder.
* Close the SupportFiles folder.
* Open up the Matrixes folder, then one of the folders within the Matrixes
folder. The folder you open depends on if you want the Minimal, Normal, or
Extended file type lists.
* Drag the "TextE@se Filetype Matrix" file to the folder where HyperCard
(or HyperCard Player) is listed. If you have a new computer, HyperCard
Player should be in Apple Extras.
* Close the Matrixes folders.
* Double-click TextE@se. You're ready to go!
About the Filetype Matrix
The file titled "TextE@se Filetype Matrix" contains file type
definitions. The very first character in the file is called the "Unknown
Document Icon Character." It is the character in the FILEBROWSER font that
corresponds to the icon of a general document file. Everything except that
first character that is still on the first line is ignored.
Starting with line 2, we have the file type definitions. There are
four items on each line, which are seperated by commas. The first item is
the title. This is plain English, like Application and Desk Accessory and
Kaleidoscope Scheme. The second item is the file type. File types are four
characters that are used to identify files. Examples are APPL, dfil, and
Colr.
The third is that icon character thing again. It is the character
in the FILEBROWSER font that corresponds with the icon used with that type
of file. The fourth and final item is the application that is used to open
that type of file. If the file is not opened with a particular application,
then this item is either Executable or GeneralOpen. Executable should only
be used for file type definitions with a file type of APPL. GeneralOpen is
used for files that are handled by the system when you open them.
HyperCard's command for opening files is "open 'document' with
'application,'" so you can only open files with an application. If you use
Executable, it will use the syntax "open 'application,'" but that is only
used for opening application programs. This means you can't open fonts or
control panels, or something like that, because those are opened by the
system, and the system is not an application. You can try "open 'font or
control panel' with 'Finder,'" but I'm not sure that will work. These files
CAN be opened with GeneralOpen, since GeneralOpen is an AppleScript program
that will open ANY file, just like if it was double-clicked in the Finder.
So if you use GeneralOpen, the system opens it!
The beautiful thing about this is you can bypass the default
program used for opening files. For example, if you open a keyboard layout
with the system (or by double-clicking it), you get a message that tells
you what a keyboard layout is. That's not much help for finding out what's
in the file. But with the Filetype Matrix, you can open it up with ResEdit
(or a different program) instead, and you can actually open the file!
Keyboard layouts are already set up to open with ResEdit.