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434 lines
21 KiB
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<html>
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<head><title>
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Executor FAQ - Section 3
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</title>
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<link rev="made" href="mailto:questions@ardi.com">
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</head><body><h1>
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Executor FAQ - Section 3 <br>
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Using Executor
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</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#wherecmd" rel=subdocument>Q3.1. Where are the Cmd (Clover) and Option keys?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_2" rel=subdocument>Q3.2. What is an image file?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_3" rel=subdocument>Q3.3. Can I launch applications directly from the command
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line?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#ghostfonts" rel=subdocument>Q3.4. I installed a font in Executor, but I still can't print in it. What's
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the deal?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_5" rel=subdocument>Q3.5. Can I have Executor use more than 8 MB for the application
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zone?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_6" rel=subdocument>Q3.6. An application I'm trying crashes. What should I
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do?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_7" rel=subdocument>Q3.7. Why do some applications claim I don't have an
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FPU?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#compact" rel=subdocument>Q3.8. Why does Compact Pro have trouble with multi-volume
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archives?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#internet" rel=subdocument>Q3.9. How can I use Mac software from the internet?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_10" rel=subdocument>Q3.10. How can I use Mac software from Bulletin
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Boards?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_11" rel=subdocument>Q3.11. How can I use Mac software from AOL?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#textfiles" rel=subdocument>Q3.12. Why do files which aren't text files look like text
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files?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_13" rel=subdocument>Q3.13. What does "You may open a 32000 character selection"
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mean?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_14" rel=subdocument>Q3.14. What is Speedometer?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_15" rel=subdocument>Q3.15. How can I get a screen dump of Executor?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_16" rel=subdocument>Q3.16. How does your Browser show file size?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_17" rel=subdocument>Q3.17. How does your Browser show free space?</a></li>
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<li><a href="#q_3_18" rel=subdocument>Q3.18. Why does Browser display question marks for some
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documents?</a></li>
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</ul><hr>
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<A name="wherecmd"><h2>
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Question 3.1. Where are the Cmd (Clover) and Option
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keys?
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</h2></A>
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On a PC keyboard, Executor uses the left "Alt" key as a Cmd
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key and the right "Alt" key as the Option key.
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<A name="q_3_2"><h2>
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Question 3.2. What is an image file?
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</h2></A>
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Some Macintosh sites contain image files that are exact copies of a
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Macintosh Hierarchical FileSystem (HFS) volume with a few bytes of
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header information prepended. Executor allows you to use image
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files just like HFVs, although they should have the suffix
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"<code>.ima</code>" instead of "<code>.hfv</code>".
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<A name="q_3_3"><h2>
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Question 3.3. Can I launch applications directly from the command
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line?
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</h2></A>
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Yes. If an application resides within a UNIX or DOS filesystem, you
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can specify the name of the application, and documents that you would
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like the application to open when it starts up, on the command line.
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Applications that reside in HFV files are specified using colons to
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delimit the pathname, e.g. "<code>executor MyVolume:directory:application</code>".
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<A name="ghostfonts"><h2>
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Question 3.4. I installed a font in Executor, but I still can't print
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in it. What's the deal?
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</h2></A>
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You have to install the same font in Ghostscript. Otherwise,
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Ghostscript will use the default Helvetica font since it can't find
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the one you want. Don't forget to add the paths to the fonts into
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your fonts pfb file.
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<A name="q_3_5"><h2>
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Question 3.5. Can I have Executor use more than 8 MB for the
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application zone?
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</h2></A>
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You can use up to 64 MB for the applzone.
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<A name="q_3_6"><h2>
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Question 3.6. An application I'm trying crashes. What should I
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do?
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</h2></A>
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Perhaps the most common avoidable cause of crashes is insufficient
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memory for the emulated application. You can fix this by increasing
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the "applzone" parameter. For example, many programs which
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normally die quickly will work with "executor -applzone 4m" (which
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allocates 4 MB of space for the emulated application; see the list of command line
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switches and their meanings elsewhere in this document).
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<p>
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DOS NOTE: If you run "executor -info", it will tell you how
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much DPMI memory is available and how much memory is being used by the applzone,
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syszone and stack. If there is less DPMI memory available than the
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sum of the applzone, syszone and stack memory requirements, then
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Executor will page between DPMI memory and a special
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"paging" disk file. This paging slows you down and also consumes disk space. It is
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possible to manually override the applzone, syszone and stack defaults
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with smaller values, but when you do so, you run the risk of not
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having enough memory for an application to run. Unfortunately,
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Macintosh programs are often not polite at all when they do not have
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enough memory. The Lemmings demo is an example of such a program; if
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you run that program on a real Mac and only give it 1200k of memory,
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weird errors will occur. Doing the same under Executor will also
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yield weird errors.
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<p>
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If Executor needs to make a paging file, and there is not enough disk
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space to create one, you will get an error message during Executor's
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startup. If you have the environment variable "TEMP" set,
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then Executor will try to place its paging file there, so if TEMP is set to
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point to a small RAM disk, or a disk that is nearly filled, Executor
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may run out of memory too easily.
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<p>
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Some programs are unhappy with Executor's limited sound support, and
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crash. You can turn on the "pretend sound" option before
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running the application in question and see if this helps. In addition, some
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programs have menu items, or preference check boxes that can be used
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to disable sound. It is always recommended that you disable sound
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from within a program in addition to using the Executor sound
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preferences, if you have to disable sound.
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<p>
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One example of a program that will have problems with sound is
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"Ultimate Solitaire". If you do not disable sound from
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within Ultimate Solitaire, the game will play fine, until you win. At that
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point it will tell Executor to start playing a sound and request that
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Executor notify it when the sound is done playing. If sound is off,
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this will result in Ultimate Solitaire hanging after you win a game.
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<p>
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Some programs also save preferences in a file, and if something bad
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happens to that file, the program can then get confused and will not
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run properly. Occasionally this happens to Microsoft Word, and you
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need to use the browser to delete the file "Word
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Preferences" from your "System Folder".
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<p>
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Although it should not happen, even our file browser keeps a file
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around that can cause trouble if it becomes corrupt. That file is
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"godata.sav". It stores which folders you have open and the
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contents of your "hot-band". If that file gets corrupt, the file
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browser may not run. In the rare case that the browser won't run, you can use the
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"-nobrowser" switch when you start Executor to bypass the
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browser, but to get the browser back you'll need to either delete
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"godata.sav" somehow or replace exsystem.hfv with one from the original
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distribution.
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<A name="q_3_7"><h2>
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Question 3.7. Why do some applications claim I don't have an
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FPU?
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</h2></A>
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The problem is probably that the applications you are trying to use
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try to directly manipulate the FPU unit that some Macintoshes have.
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<p>
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The key words are "directly manipulate". Apple warned
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software makers to not directly manipulate the FPU, but to instead use their numerics
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library ("SANE" Standard Apple Numerics Environment).
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Programs that don't use SANE, but directly manipulate the FPU run faster on Macs
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that have FPUs, but don't run at all on Macs that don't have FPUs. If
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that is actually the source of your problems, then such programs also
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wouldn't run on Apple machines like the Quadra 605. This limitation
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is also present on Apple's PowerPC based Macs.
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<p>
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One workaround for this problem is an "INIT" called
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"SoftFPU". SoftFPU will make a Mac without a co-processor work as though there is
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one there, however the floating point computation will be done very
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slowly. However, SoftFPU can't be used with Executor until Executor
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supports INITs.
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<A name="compact"><h2>
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Question 3.8. Why does Compact Pro have trouble with multi-volume
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archives?
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</h2></A>
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Executor takes a short cut that causes trouble for some programs;
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Compact Pro is one of them. The problem is that a real Macintosh can
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keep track of volumes that are not physically in the drive. That is
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why Macintoshes sometimes tell you to put one disk in their floppy
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drive, then they eject it and ask for another one, then eject it and
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ask for the first one. Executor currently isn't so clever. When a
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disk is ejected, Executor forgets about it. Few programs count on the
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behavior of a real Mac, but those that do currently won't work with
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Executor.
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<p>
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In Compact Pro's case you can just copy all of the pieces of the
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archive to your hard disk, then open the last piece from the hard disk
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and everything will work properly. This workaround requires more hard
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disk space than you'd need if you could just read the pieces off a
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succession of floppies.
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<p>
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Since this difference affects very few programs, it's not as high
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priority as adding other new features.
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<A name="internet"><h2>
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Question 3.9. How can I use Mac software from the
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internet?
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</h2></A>
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Find a site that legitimately has Mac software for use. There is a
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Macintosh FAQ that lists many sites -- here are some of them:
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<ul>
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<li><code>www.ardi.com</code> : <A href="ftp://www.ardi.com/pub/samples"><code>/pub/samples</code></A> (USA) </li>
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<li><code>liquify.isca.uiowa.edu</code> : <A href="ftp://liquify.isca.uiowa.edu/mac/infomac"><code>/mac/infomac</code></A> (USA) </li>
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<li><code>wuarchive.wustl.edu</code> : <A href="ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/mac/info-mac"><code>/systems/mac/info-mac</code></A> (USA) </li>
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<li><code>ftp.technion.ac.il</code> : <A href="ftp://ftp.technion.ac.il/pub/unsupported/mac"><code>/pub/unsupported/mac</code></A> (Israel) </li>
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<li><code>ftp.sunset.se</code> : <A href="ftp://ftp.sunset.se/pub/mac"><code>/pub/mac</code></A> (Sweden) </li>
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<li><code>src.doc.ic.ac.uk</code> : <A href="ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/packages/info-mac"><code>/packages/info-mac</code></A> (UK) </li>
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<li><code>ftp.is.co.za</code> : <A href="ftp://ftp.is.co.za/info-mac"><code>/info-mac</code></A> (South Africa) </li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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Our <A href="ftp://ftp.ardi.com/pub/samples">samples directory</A> is there to give you a few files in a variety of different formats that are known to work with Executor. If
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you have trouble downloading Mac software from the internet, you may
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want to practice these instructions using the files in our
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<A href="ftp://ftp.ardi.com/pub/samples">samples directory</A> first, so you'll know you're not attempting something impossible.
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<p>
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Before transferring a large application, you might want to see what
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the requirements of that application are, most sites have a collection
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of small notes about applications that you can look at first.
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<p>
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Use BINARY mode to transfer the files that you want to use. Files
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whose names end in ".hqx" are usually the easiest to handle.
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<p>
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In general, StuffIt Expander will do well with many different types of
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files. However, some of the Web Browsers out there interfere with
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StuffIt Expander by trying to expand the files as you're downloading
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them from the net. The browser sees that you're not running on a
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Macintosh, so the non-Macintosh information (like the type and
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creator) is thrown away! One way to avoid this problem with some of
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the web browsers is to hold the shift key down when you click on a
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link that contains a Macintosh file. There are other ways that
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specific browsers can be configured to tell them to
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<em>not</em> expand Macintosh files as they're picking them up.
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<p>
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Under DOS, you need to make an HFV file [see
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<A href="section6.html#makehfv">Q6.2 `What is makehfv?'</A>] that will be large enough to hold the files as you've downloaded them and also
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hold the files after they've been expanded. Once you've made the HFV
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file, copy all the files you've downloaded into it, then follow the
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remaining directions.
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<p>
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Under all operating systems, your next step is to run StuffIt Expander
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and use the "Expand..." menu item from the "File"
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menu to open each of the files you've downloaded. In general, especially when dealing
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with files whose names end in ".hqx", StuffIt Expander will
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do the right thing. However, some sites do not store files in
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".hqx" format, and StuffIt Expander may fail. Remember, under DOS, you must do the
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StuffIt Expansion inside an HFV file.
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<p>
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If StuffIt Expander fails, you can try using the Get Info option of
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Executor's browser to change the creator and type information of the
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file. If you believe the downloaded file in question is a StuffIt
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Archive, you can change the type and creator each to "SIT!"
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and then try StuffIt Expander again. If you believe the downloaded file is a
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Compact Pro archive, you can change the creator to "CPCT"
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and the type to "PACT" and then try StuffIt Expander again. Similarly,
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you can use creator "BnHq" and type "TEXT" if you think that
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the file is a MacBinary file. StuffIt Expander 4.0 should be much better at
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automatically determining what format an archive is in.
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<A name="q_3_10"><h2>
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Question 3.10. How can I use Mac software from Bulletin
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Boards?
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</h2></A>
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In general, follow the procedure in <A href="#internet">Q3.9 `How can I use Mac software from the internet?'</A> -- know the limitations of what Executor can run, transfer in binary mode and use
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StuffIt Expander to unpack the files you download. Just like with
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files downloaded from the internet, sometimes you'll need to change
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the file type and creator, first.
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<A name="q_3_11"><h2>
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Question 3.11. How can I use Mac software from
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AOL?
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</h2></A>
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AOL sometimes (about half the time) uses a format that StuffIt
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Expander under Executor has trouble with. For DOS/Windows users, use
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this workaround. Get a copy of unstuff.exe (available on AOL
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compressed as unsitins.exe) and use the -mb tag to convert your
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downloaded files to MacBinary format before ever moving them into
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Executor. E.g.: <pre>
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unstuff -mb somefile.sit
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</pre>
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<br>
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And you'll get somefile with a different extension.
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<p>
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Then start up Executor and use BinHex's Download --> Application
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function to convert the file to an application and move it into
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an Executor volume simultaneously.
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<p>
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Note that if the file can be unstuffed in the usual manner, then
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trying to use this workaround will break it. It's usually best,
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therefore, to try normal unstuffing first.
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<A name="textfiles"><h2>
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Question 3.12. Why do files which aren't text files look like text
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files?
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</h2></A>
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Macintosh files have File Type and File Creator information stored in
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their directory entries on a Macintosh filesystem. These two pieces
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of information are often lost when the file is put onto a PC.
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Executor's default is to assume that a file is a text file, because
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text is the most universal of file types. If the file is not a text
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file you'll probably want to use StuffIt Expander (see
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<A href="#internet">Q3.9 `How can I use Mac software from the internet?'</A>) to expand the archive, or in rare cases you'll have to change the File
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Creator and File Type.
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<p>
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To change a file's Creator and Type information, run Browser, select
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the file's icon, and choose Get Info from Browser's File menu. Then
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change File Creator and File Type to the appropriate codes from the
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filetype.txt list in the docs directory of your Executor CD.
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<p>
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NOTE: in addition to having Type and Creator information, Macintosh
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files also often have information in the "Resource Fork"
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portion of the file. That information is also often lost when a file is
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transferred to a PC, so it's possible that changing the Type and
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Creator information will not be sufficient to allow you to use a Mac
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file on a PC under Executor unless you use some sort of archiving
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program (e.g. StuffIt, Compact Pro) to make sure all the Mac
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information is stored in the "Data Fork" of the file.
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<A name="q_3_13"><h2>
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Question 3.13. What does "You may open a 32000 character
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selection" mean?
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</h2></A>
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As mentioned in <A href="#textfiles">Q3.12 `Why do files which aren't text files look like text
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files?'</A>, files that don't have a file type are assumed to be text files. That means that if you double-click on
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them, Tex-Edit will try to open up the file, even if the file is in
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some other representation. Executor does not use filename extensions
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to determine a file's types, so if you download a file named
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"testfile.bin" and then let Executor see the file, it will
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still appear to be a text file, even though the name strongly suggests that
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it's a BinHex file.
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<p>
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You can use StuffIt Expander (see <A href="#internet">Q3.9 `How can I use Mac software from the internet?'</A>) to expand a variety of different file types, but you'll have to start StuffIt Expander up
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directly, by double-clicking on it and then use the
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"Expand..." item in the "File" menu to select the file you want to expand
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(e.g. "testfile.bin").
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<A name="q_3_14"><h2>
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Question 3.14. What is Speedometer?
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</h2></A>
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Speedometer is a shareware application that we have included with
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Executor for demonstrational purposes. We have done so with
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permission of Speedometer's author, Scott Berfield. It benchmarks
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Macintoshes (and PCs running Executor) to find out how quickly their
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CPU, graphics, floating point and disk subsystems work. The current
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version of Speedometer is Speedometer 4.x, but that uses a timing
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mechanism that Executor currently doesn't support. Speedometer 3.23
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can give you a rough approximation of how quickly your PC is emulating
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a Mac. Remember, Speedometer is shareware, and ARDI has not paid the
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shareware fee for you. If you repeatedly use Speedometer, please
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register it with Scott.
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<p>
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Speedometer will show you that Executor is a very efficient emulator.
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Please note, ARDI has not put special hooks into Executor to recognize
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Speedometer's code and bypass it; Speedometer is treated just like any
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other application when run under Executor. Yes, it would be possible
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for us to cheat and make Speedometer return values that are higher
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than you could expect to see in real life, but we don't do that sort
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of thing.
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<A name="q_3_15"><h2>
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Question 3.15. How can I get a screen dump of
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Executor?
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</h2></A>
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Just type Cmd-Shift-3, just like on a Mac. The difference is that the
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screen shot will be in TIFF format (uncompressed, for now) and will be
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written in the directory that contains <code>executor.exe</code> under DOS, or in <code>/tmp</code> under Linux.
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<A name="q_3_16"><h2>
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Question 3.16. How does your Browser show file
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size?
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</h2></A>
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Listing mode will show you the combined size of a file's resource and
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data fork. There is currently no way to determine the size of a
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folder.
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<A name="q_3_17"><h2>
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|
Question 3.17. How does your Browser show free
|
|
space?
|
|
</h2></A>
|
|
|
|
Select the volume, then choose "Get Info" from the File
|
|
menu.
|
|
<A name="q_3_18"><h2>
|
|
Question 3.18. Why does Browser display question marks for some
|
|
documents?
|
|
</h2></A>
|
|
|
|
Browser uses the question-mark icon for documents for which it doesn't
|
|
recognize the file type and creator. Furthermore, Browser isn't good
|
|
about remembering type and creator information.
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Here's how Browser works: when Browser starts, it examines each
|
|
application that is either on the hot-band or is in a folder that is
|
|
open on Browser's desktop. Then, as it is drawing the icons for
|
|
documents, it only uses icons for those applications that it saw upon
|
|
startup.
|
|
<p>
|
|
So, if the application that creates a document isn't either on the
|
|
hot-band or in an open folder, browser will present a question-mark
|
|
icon. A real Mac remembers any icons that it has ever seen (until you
|
|
rebuild the desktop).
|
|
<p>
|
|
If you have the application that corresponds to the document that has
|
|
a question mark, you can get rid of the question mark by dragging the
|
|
application onto the hot-band and then quitting Executor and
|
|
restarting (or by running an application and then quitting the
|
|
application). When Browser restarts it will see the application in
|
|
the hot-band and then remember the icon that should be used for
|
|
documents of that type. <hr>
|
|
Next: <a href="section4.html" rel=precedes>Executor/Win32</a>.<br>
|
|
Back: <a href="section2.html" rev=precedes>Executor's Limitations</a>.<br>
|
|
<a href="index.html" rev=subdocument>Return to contents</a>.<p>
|
|
<address>
|
|
|
|
- 28 February 2002
|
|
</address><br>
|
|
Extracted from Executor Frequently Asked Questions with Answers,
|
|
<A href="section7.html#faqcopyright">Copyright ARDI 2002.</A>
|
|
</body></html>
|