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296 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
296 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
A brief user's guide to the newer features of EmuDesk, the EmuTOS desktop
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=========================================================================
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The current version of EmuDesk is based on the TOS 1 desktop, but with
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many improvements inspired by the TOS 2/3/4 desktop, including:
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1) new menu items
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. set file mask
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. install icon
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. install application
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. install devices
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. remove desktop icon
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. desktop configuration
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. blitter
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Due to space limitations, the implementation of the above is somewhat
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restricted in the 192K ROMs (see the detailed descriptions below). If
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you make any changes to the desktop using the above features, you must
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save the desktop to preserve the changes.
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2) other new features
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. user-assignable icons
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. user-assignable mouse cursors
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. open disk window via keyboard shortcut
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. desktop shortcuts
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Due to space limitations, desktop shortcuts are not available in the
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192K ROMs. Desktop shortcuts are preserved when you save the desktop.
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Set file mask
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=============
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192K ROMs:
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This is not available.
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Other ROMs:
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This is used to change the file mask of the currently-topped window, to
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control which files are displayed within the window. Note that folders
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are always displayed; the mask affects the display of files only. The
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default file mask when a window is opened is "*.*"
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Install icon
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============
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192K ROMs:
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This may be used to associate a specific icon with a desktop item (disk
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or trash). You may select an existing desktop item and click on "Install
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icon...", or you may click on "Install icon..." with no item selected.
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If you click on a window icon (file or folder), it will be ignored.
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Other ROMs:
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This may be used to associate a specific icon with a desktop item (disk
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or trash), or a window item (file or folder). You may select an existing
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icon and click on "Install icon...", or you may click on "Install icon..."
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with no item selected. In the latter case, you'll get a dialog requesting
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you to select the type of icon (desktop or window).
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. Installing a desktop icon
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You may select the type (drive or trash), the label (displayed beneath
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it on the desktop), and the icon shape (use the up & down arrows to
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scroll through the available shapes). In addition, for drives you can
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select the drive letter.
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. Installing a window icon
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If you pre-selected an icon, you may only change the shape of the icon
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for that specific file or folder. If you did not pre-select an item,
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you can select the files that the icon will apply to (standard TOS
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wildcards may be used), the type of item (file or folder), and the icon
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shape. In either case, to change the icon shape, use the up & down
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arrows to scroll through the available shapes.
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Install application
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===================
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The basic purpose of "Install application..." is to link an application
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to data files with a specified extension. After you have done this, when
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you use the desktop to open a file with the specified extension, the
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corresponding application is launched. For example, you could associate
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all .TXT files with a text editor; then, double-clicking on a .TXT file
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would automatically launch the editor.
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In addition, you can assign a function key to an application; pressing
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the function key at the desktop will then launch the application.
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Finally, you can set "autoboot" for one application (only): this will
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launch that application during system initialisation, immediately before
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the desktop itself runs.
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To use "Install application...", highlight one or more applications and
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click on "Install application...". In the dialog box, the application
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name of the first application selected will be prefilled. The following
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fields and buttons specify in detail how the application is run:
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. Arguments
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If you need to pass information (in addition to the name of the data
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file) to the application when it starts, you may specify it here. This
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is typically only relevant to utility programs, and the information
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needed will be in the application documentation. In most cases, you
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should leave this blank.
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. Document type
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This specifies the extension to associate with this application, for
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example TXT or RSC, and is required. Wildcards are allowed.
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. Install as F__
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This specifies the function key that will launch the application;
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values from 1 to 20 are allowed (11-20 are shift-F1 through shift-F10).
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Leaving this blank is valid, and means that no function key will launch
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the application.
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. Boot status
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Select "Auto" to autoboot this application (see above). Since only one
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autoboot application is allowed, if you set "Auto" for an application,
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EmuTOS will automatically disable "Auto" for any existing autoboot
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application.
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. Application type
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Selecting TOS or TTP will launch the program in character mode; GEM or
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GTP will launch the application in graphics mode. The appropriate
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value will be prefilled according to the type of application selected,
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and should not normally be changed.
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. Default dir
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This specifies the default directory when the application is launched:
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either the directory of the application itself, or the top window (i.e.
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the directory of the data file). The one to choose depends on the
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specific application. If the application has supporting files (such as
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resource or help files), it typically will look for them in the default
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directory. For such an application, you will need to specify a default
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directory of "Application". Otherwise, specify "Window".
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. Parameter
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When a program is launched due to it being an installed application,
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the desktop provides the application with the name of the data file
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that caused the launch: this is known as a parameter. In most cases,
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the application expects that the full path of the data file will be
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provided. Some (usually older) programs may expect the filename only.
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Unless the application's documentation indicates otherwise, you should
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normally try "Full path" first; if that does not work, you can try
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"File name", although that may require you to modify the "Default dir"
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specified above.
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At the bottom of the dialog box are the following exit buttons:
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. Install
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Installs the application. You must save the desktop afterwards if you
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want the change to be saved across boots.
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. Remove
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Removes an existing installed application. You must save the desktop
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afterwards if you want the change to be saved across boots.
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. Skip
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Skips installing/removing the current application, and moves on to the
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next one you specified. If you only specified one application, this
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is the same as Cancel.
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. Cancel
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Skip installing/removing all remaining applications.
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Install devices
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===============
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This automatically installs icons for all devices that are currently
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known to GEMDOS (have an entry in _drvbits) and that do not currently
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have an icon. If the device is A: or B:, a floppy icon is installed;
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otherwise a hard disk icon is installed.
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Remove desktop icon
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===================
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This is used to remove a disk or trash icon. Highlight the icon you
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wish to remove, and click on "Remove desktop icon".
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Desktop configuration
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=====================
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192K ROMs:
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This is not available.
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Other ROMs:
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This is a simplified version of the corresponding Atari TOS menu item.
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It allows you to specify the default directory and input parameter for
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all applications that are not installed applications. See "Install
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application" above, under 'Default dir' and 'Parameter', for further
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information about these options.
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Blitter
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=======
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This item allows you to enable or disable the use of the blitter by the
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desktop. The item is greyed-out if the system does not have a blitter.
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User-assignable icons
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=====================
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When EmuDesk starts, it looks for a file called EMUICON.RSC in the root
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of the boot drive. This file should be a standard Atari resource file,
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with at least eight icons. All icons in the file must be 32x32-pixel
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monochrome icons. If the file is found, these icons are used for the
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desktop and window displays; if not found, a standard set of eight
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builtin icons is used instead. The builtin icons (or the first eight
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of the loaded icons, if EMUICON.RSC is in use) have the following usage:
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0 hard drive
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1 floppy drive
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2 folder
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3 trash
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4 printer
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5 removable disk
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6 generic application icon
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7 generic document icon
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Icons 8 and above can be used as you wish.
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Note that, for historical reasons, these assignments are different from
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those used by Atari TOS, so if you have an equivalent RSC file that works
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with Atari TOS, you will need to move the icons around to get the same
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desktop display.
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A default EMUICON.RSC file (currently containing 41 icons) is shipped
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with the release; the first 8 icons are the same as the builtin ones.
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Also shipped is the corresponding EMUICON.DEF file for use by a resource
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editor. You should be aware that each icon consumes about 300 bytes of
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RAM, so if you are short of memory, avoid putting too many icons in
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EMUICON.RSC.
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User-assignable mouse cursors
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=============================
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When the AES starts, it looks for a file called EMUCURS.RSC in the root
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of the boot drive. This file should be a standard Atari resource file,
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containing 8 ICONBLKs; each ICONBLK is a container for a mouse cursor.
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If the file is found, these cursors are used instead of the builtin
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cursors. The usage is as described for the AES graf_mouse() call:
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0 arrow
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1 text cursor / i-beam
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2 busy bee / hourglass
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3 pointing hand
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4 flat hand
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5 thin cross
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6 thick cross
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7 outline cross
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A default EMUCURS.RSC file is shipped with the release; the mouse cursors
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in it are the same as the builtin ones. Also shipped is the corresponding
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EMUCURS.DEF file for use by a resource editor.
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NOTE: Because the mouse cursors are not really ICONBLKs (though they are
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stored as such within the resource), editing them with a standard resource
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editor is difficult. Thorsten Otto's ORCS resource editor has special
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support for mouse cursors and is the recommended tool for modifying them.
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Open disk window via keyboard shortcut
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======================================
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You may now use a keyboard shortcut to display the root directory of a
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drive in a new window. To display drive X, hold the Alt key down and
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type X, e.g. Alt-C displays drive C, Alt-D displays drive D, and so on.
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As in TOS2/3/4, these shortcuts are permanently assigned and cannot be
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changed by the user.
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NOTE: unlike TOS2/3/4, shortcuts with the Ctrl modifier do NOT update
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the drive assigned to the currently topped window; instead, they are
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assigned to menu item shortcuts. At the moment, these assignments are
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also permanent.
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Desktop shortcuts
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=================
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You may now drag a file or folder to the desktop to create a desktop icon
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that is a shortcut to the original file/folder: manipulating the icon
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will have the same effect as manipulating the original file or folder.
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For example, it may be opened, copied, or moved or deleted; it may have
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an "Info/rename" performed on it. Currently, by design, the shortcut is
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NOT updated automatically if the original file or folder is moved or
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deleted.
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The name and shape of the shortcut icon itself may be modified by the
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"Install icon" menu item; this does not change the name of the file or
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folder that the icon points to. The shortcut icon may be deleted by the
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"Remove icon" menu item. To preserve shortcut information across boots,
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you must save the desktop.
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You may drag a file or folder to a desktop shortcut, with the following
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results:
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. dragging documents to a desktop shortcut for a folder will copy (or
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move, if the control key is held down) them to the folder
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. dragging documents to a desktop shortcut for a program will launch the
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program, passing the full pathname of the first document
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. dragging documents to a desktop shortcut for a non-executable file will
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do nothing
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If you open a desktop shortcut that points to a file or folder that no
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longer exists, an alert will be issued, giving you the choice of removing
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the shortcut, locating the desired file or folder, or cancelling the
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action. If you choose locate, a file selector will be displayed to
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allow you to choose the desired file or folder, and the shortcut will be
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updated with the new information.
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