________Block_Party________ Version 1.1 September 26, 1991 Program Instructions and Notes ================================================ Please read Update Notes at the end of this file There are important notes essential to the game. ==================================================== Suggestions and messages may be sent by the Internet system to lecates@chopin.udel.edu. Please feel free to offer advice, recommendations, or adulations. ======================================================== I am a member of the Delmarva Apple User's Group and I'd like to congratulate them and other user groups on their efforts toward computer literacy. Please continue to contribute to the general understanding of computers and their uses. ============================================================ General Overview: ----------------- Block Party is a utility which displays the structure of any ProDOS (GS/OS) disk. The disk can be analyzed. The number of different file storage types and the number of blocks occupied by each type are displayed. Individual files can be searched and mapped. The file's block structure and information are displayed. The owner of individual blocks on the disk can be found. A new feature allows groups of files to be activated/deactivated easily. This allows the user to only load those NDAs, CDAs, INITs, CDevs, and Drivers which are needed currently. ============================================================ The Menus: ---------- Apple Menu: About... displays the shareware message Credits... displays copyright messages Help... displays a brief help dialog (not all that helpful) File Menu: Select Volume... (OA-S) see below Activate Files... (OA-A) see "Activate Files" section below Close (OA-W) present for desk accessory compatibility Shutdown... prompts whether to shutdown the system Quit (OA-Q) exits to program launcher Edit Menu: Undo (OA-Z), Cut (OA-X), Copy (OA-C), Paste (OA-V), Clear present for desk accessory compatibility (does nothing to program) Volume Menu: Analyze Volume see below Map File... (OA-M) see below Find Owner (OA-F) see below View Contents see below Select Volume... This function prompts the user to select a new volume to map. At least one file (other than a directory) must be present on a volume in order to select that volume. Just select any file on the volume. The volume's bit map is be read and analyzed. The block structure is displayed in the "Block Data" window. Other information is displayed in the "Volume Data" window. No windows are visible and the "Volume" menu is disabled until this function has been selected. Analyze Volume This function reads the entire directory structure of the current volume. The analysis results are displayed in the "Storage" window. The current directory depth and file count is displayed to entertain while the analysis is completed (it can take some time on a large hard disk). Map File... This function prompts the user to select a file on the current volume. Directory files cannot be selected. When a file is selected, its information is read and displayed in the "Mapped File Name" window. The "Mapped File Data" window displays the file's blocks on the disk. Find Owner This function searches the entire disk for the file which owns the block number displayed in the "Block" window. The user selects the block to search for with the crosshairs in either the "Block Data" or "Mapped File Data" windows. (However, the owner of the "Mapped File" is already known, so it is a waste to find its owner again.) If the selected block is "Free" or "None" then an error dialog will appear telling you that no file owns that block. If the block is "Used" then the search will begin. Please be patient, especially if you have a large hard disk. The program searches files and directories sequentially as they are encountered. So, for example, if the file which owns the block is in a subdirectory near to end of the disk, it will be searched almost last. However, if the owner is near the beginning of the disk, the search may take no time at all. The current block number being searched is displayed in the "Mapped File Name" window to keep you entertained. It also lets you know that the program is not hung, cycling, etc. When the block owner is found, that file is automatically mapped, and the results are displayed (as if mapped with the "Map File" option above). View Contents This function displays the data contained in a block. The current block number displayed in the "Block" window is used as the default. The data is displayed in hexadecimal format. Individual bytes are identified by adding the number at its far left to the number at the top. The data is displayed in ASCII format after the " - " near the end of each line (non-printable characters are displayed as spaces). The user may use the scroll bar to view the entire block of data. Another block may be displayed by typing the block number and pressing or clicking on . If the requested block number is out of range, the closest block number is used. The next block following the current one may be displayed by pressing <+> or clicking on the button. The previous block may be displayed by pressing <-> or clicking on the button. The block values "wrap around" so that the "Next" block after the maximum block number returns to 0 and vice-versa. The dialog is exited by pressing or clicking on the button. Activate Files -------------- This is a new feature to v1.1 of Block Party. I found that it was inconvenient to use the Finder to enable/disable individual files which I did not want to load. (For example, the AE Fax setup requires a CDev, Driver, INIT, and NDA.) All of these files greatly slow boot times, but they are used infrequently. This inspired the "Activate Files" utility. All four of these files can now be enabled/disable in one fell swoop! The following paragraph explains how you can use this utility too! When the "Activate Files..." item is selected, a modal window is opened (i.e. no more windows can be opened/activated until this one is closed). The list control on the left shows the group names currently available. The list control on the right shows the files which are associated with the selected group name. There are several buttons across the bottom. When a button is not valid, it is disabled. - Prompts user to select an Activation File saved by this program. If the selected file is invalid, an error dialog is displayed. - Prompts user for a file name under which to save the current group and file data. The file is an Activation File that is loaded with . - Prompts user for the name of the new group. The group name can be up to 20 characters long. Warning! Do not use the backslash (\) character is any name. - Prompts user whether to remove the group. If "Yes" is chosen, the selected group (and its associated files) are removed (but not deleted). - Prompts user for a file to add to the selected group. Only files of type CDev, TIF, PIF, CDA, NDA, and Driver are available. - Prompts user whether to remove the selected file from the selected group. If "Yes" is chosen, the file is removed from the group (but not deleted). - Displays a dialog containing information about the selected file (pathname, filetype name, filetype, auxiliary type, and file size). - Activates all of the files in the selected group. (Uses Set_File_Info do set bit 15 in the AuxType field of each file.) - Deactivates all of the files in the selected group. (Works similar to , but clears bit 15 in the AuxType field of each file.) - Rather obvious. If any of the groups have been modified without saving the changes, the user is prompted whether to save the new group and file data. Key Shortcuts (press indicated key to select button): A = D = O = S = I = Q = Typically, is selected to create an empty group. Then is used to select specific files to associate with the group. When the groups are setup, stores the groups in a file for quick retrieval. When the files in a group are needed, enables them; conversely, disables them. For the changes to take effect, quit to the Finder and follow proper Shutdown procedures. Next time certain files need to be activated/deactivated, is used to get the group and file data stored previously. Note: The system must be re-boot to load/unload the affected files. It is HIGHLY recommended that you use the proper Shutdown procedure (either from the Finder or the Shutdown... item in the File menu. Due to increasing complexity of the System Software, errors can result by ignoring this. ============================================================ The Windows (visible after "Select Volume..."): ------------ Block Data: This window displays the block structure of the disk. If the disk is <=800K in size, the blocks in the window will be large (8x5 pixels), otherwise the blocks will be small (1x1 pixel). Try both sizes to determine the differences. See "Block" window description for more information on using this window. Volume Data: This window displays miscellaneous information about the selected volume. This data includes the volume name and the volume's total and used blocks. Block: This window contains a block number in decimal and hex. The coordinates of the last selected block in the "Block Data" window are also displayed. If the block is in use by the volume, the message "Used" is shown. Likewise, if it is not in use, the message "Free" is shown. If the block number displayed does not exist on the disk, the message "None" is shown. If the pointer is placed in the "Block Data" window and is clicked and held, the pointer will change to crosshairs. The "Block" window shows the block number which is under the crosshairs. Any block in the window can be selected, and its information will be shown. Storage: This window contains a breakdown of the different storage types on the selected disk. The total number of files on the volume is displayed first. The breakdown of those files in directories, seedlings, saplings, trees, and resources is also shown. Each of these entries contains the total number of files of that type and the total number of blocks occupied by those files. (Note: The total of all the blocks will be slightly smaller than the "Used" count in the "Volume Data" window because some blocks are used by the ProDOS system.) This window is only visible after the "Analyze Volume" item has been selected. Mapped File Data: This window is very similar to the "Block Data" window. However, it only displays the structure of the current mapped file. Blocks in this window can be selected like those in the "Block Data" window. This window is only visible when necessary. Mapped File Name: This window displays information about the current mapped file. It includes the file's pathname, type, length, first block, and total blocks. This window is only visible when necessary. ============================================================ Bugs and Other Notes: --------------------- Block Party should perform all of the stated functions properly. Since I have not invested many $$$ in Apple's reference books (namely the GS/OS Reference), most of the calls used by this program are ProDOS16 calls. Since P16 did not recognize different file systems, only ProDOS volumes can be used with this program (i.e. NOT HFS, Pascal, etc). If a non-ProDOS volume is selected, a dialog should appear notifying you of this condition. One small "feature"... In the "View Contents" window, the data is displayed in a proportional fashion in a Control Manager List Control item. However, this causes alignment problems when letters are included. I would like to use a mono-spaced Shaston 8 instead of the default proportional one. The rest of the dialog (i.e. buttons) should be the default proportional text. If anyone can suggest a way to incorporate these features into a List Control, please let me know. If any bugs are found, PLEASE report them to me! I am always anxious to improve my existing programs. If you have any ideas for games/utilities/misc programs, let me know. We might be able to construct and release another application. ============================================================ <<<---*-*=*I* M O S T I M P O R T A N T *I*=*-*-->>> ============================================================ If you actually use this program more than 2-3 times, please send me the measly 5-10 bucks! I am a supporter of Shareware, and I would like to be supported by it in return (that's fair, isn't it?). If you think 5 bucks is too much, make it $4 or $3 or $2 or $1 or even 10 cents -- whatever you think is fair (I even accept a nice letter). I urge you to support the Shareware efforts of others also. Many other programs request $10 or more, and some even deserve it! If you actually use the work of others, you should pay them for their efforts in making your life more easy, convenient or fun. ============================================================ Version 1.1 Update Notes : A small programming error caused the file and block counts in the "Storage" window to be cumulative. They are now reset to zero before each "Analyze Volume" is done. : All of the volume analysis functions are grouped under the "Volume" menu. The "Select Volume..." item must be selected to enable this menu. : The user is no longer prompted for a volume when the program is first started. This provides a "cleaner" desktop if volume analysis is not used. : The new "Activate Files" utility allows groups of files to be activated or deactivated quickly and easily. : Only Prodos volumes are accepted. An error message appears if a selected volume is not Prodos. : The "Shutdown..." option allows the user to reboot or shutdown directly from this program.