---------------------------------------------- ResLin d0.02 - Resource Manipulation Utility Written by Richard Bennett Copyright (c) 1989-1990 by Oz Data FREEWARE except for user group charges! This file last updated: 22nd March 1990 Write to: P.O. Box 271, Turramurra, 2074, NSW, Australia. Or at any Apple II meeting of the AUG, Sydney, Australia. ---------------------------------------------- WARNING: ResLin has no undo function, and unless you know what you're doing with resources, you can damage the resource forks of programs you should not be fiddling with. If this renders the program inoperable, or changed in any way, this can in no way be the responsibility of myself (Richard Bennett), or the ResLin program. If any bugs are found in ResLin that then cause damage to programs, then once again I can in no way be held responsible. ResLin is a utility that does what resource editors don't. That is, conversions and general resource manipulations, as opposed to editing the actual resources. ResLin started out as a way to convert code files to code resources in October 1989, and has ended up as much much more... ResLin consists of the following files; ResLinrequiredthe actual program ResLin.doxnot requiredthis doc file ResLin.iconnot requiredthe ResLin icon file for */ICONS/ ResLin requires at least System 5, and resource map format version 1. --------- Startup --------- When ResLin starts up, the user warning dialog is displayed to warn the user of how dangerous ResLin can be. This can be skipped by holding down the SHIFT key whilst the program is loading. ResLin will then display the four menus; Apple, File, Options, and Special. ------- Apple ------- About... Simply shows the ResLin logo, and the address you can write to. ------ File ------ | Convert data fork OA-O | Opens a file dialog and asks you to select the file to convert. Once selected, the data fork is copied into the resource fork, leaving the data fork still intact. To be able to select the file in the first place, it must have no resource fork. The resource fork can be deleting using 'Delete resource fork' from the 'File' menu. The resource is created as ID $00000001, and a resource type specified by 'Change type from' in the 'Options' menu. If 'Create rResName resource' is checked in the 'Options' menu, then you will also be prompted for a resource name, and an rResName resource will also be added to the resource fork. | Delete data fork OA-D | Opens a file dialog and asks you to select a resource fork to delete. All files without resource forks are dimmed, so you can't select them. This option does not affect the data fork in any way. | Quit OA-Q | Quits the program. --------- Options --------- | Create rResName resource | With this option checked, all conversions will also create an rResName resource. | Change type from $8001 OA-T | This changes the resource type used for the conversion of the data fork. | Copy options | When copying resources between different resource forks (in 'Maintenance'), resource ID errors may occur. eg. If a resource ID of $00000001 is copied into a file already containing $00000001, then only one resource will remain. Selecting 'Copy options' tells the program which method to handle ID errors by. Unique ID generates a unique resource ID for the resource whenever an ID error occurs. Prompt will ask you for a unique resource ID before assigning it to the new resource. If the resource ID you supply also generates an error, you will be prompted once again. --------- Special --------- | Maintenance OA-M | This is the core of the ResLin program. It will prompt you for a resource fork to manipulate, and display a list of it's resources. A complete description of 'Maintenance' can be found later in this doc. | Un Duper | The Un Duper will scan a resource fork, and delete all duplicates. Duplicates are defined as being two unique resources which are the same length, and contain exactly the same bit image. If the resource types are different, they are still considered duplicates. --------------------- Maintenance section --------------------- You will be presented with an open file dialog, and asked to select a resource fork. Once loaded, a list of all the resources is displayed, as are the various options ResLin can perform on them. Selecting a resource, by clicking on it, will display it's type at the bottom of the dialog. Multiple resources can be selected by using the standard list box SHIFT/click combination. | Show | Displays each of the selected resources. Only displayable known resource types are displayed, such as icons and strings. | Info | Displays the resource information and allows it to be edited. This includes the resource name, the memory attributes, the type, and the ID. | Disk | Closes the current fork, and prompts you for a new one. This is the same as clicking on 'Close' and then re-entering 'Maintenance'. | Delete | Deletes the selected resources from the resource fork. | Load | Loads the selected resources into memory, presenting a dialog for each to display where in memory it was loaded to. If you currently have Pixie active, ResLin sets variable 1 to the start address of the loaded resource. When the resource fork is finally closed, all the loaded resources are purged from memory by the system. | Copy | Copies the selected resource to another resource fork. You will be asked which resource fork to copy to by an open file dialog. The 'Copy options' menu item in the 'Options' menu refers to this copy process. | Type.. | Allows you to restrict the resource list to a particular resource type. A list of currently recognised resource types, and an edit box are both displayed to help you choose. Clicking on 'Ok' will accept the currently displayed resource type. Clicking on 'All' will show all the resources in the fork. This is the default when a resource fork is initially openned. | Select | Allows you to select all the resources of a particular type, instead of having to click on each one individually. | Close | Closes off the resource fork, and exits back to the main menu bar. All the maintenance options take affect immediately. Because of this, and the absence of an undo option, care must be taken with resource forks you are not familiar with. I recommend keeping backups of programs whose resources you are about to change. ---------- Feedback ---------- I welcome any feedback on the program, and how it can be improved. Considering it's freeware, please keep in mind that any money, disks, or like tokens will be gladly accepted, and will help keep my interest up enough to enhance the program further. As ResLin also uses Pixie if it is available, I should also remind you that Pixie is available from me as freeware as well. Please send a disk, and something else to help cover mail charges etc. In return, I will send all my latest freeware stuff. ---|---|--- For the record, 'Res' stands for 'resource', and 'Lin' stands for 'Merlin', 'link', and 'goblin'.