AmigaOS Manual: Workbench Other Programs

This chapter describes the programs found in the Tools and Utilities drawers.

Tools Drawer

The Tools drawer window, illustrated in Figure 10-1, contains numerous utility programs that, for example, expand your printing options, prepare memory cards for use, define new keys, and create new icons.

Tools Window

The following programs are found in the Utilities drawer:

GraphicDump	Allows you to print screen images.
IconEdit	Allows you to change and create icons.
InitPrinter	Initializes your printer.
Installation Utility	Executes installation scripts.
KeyShow	Displays the current keyboard layout.
Lacer	Turns video interlace on and off. (Classic Only)
MEmacs	A text editor, explained in the AmigaDOS User's Guide.
Multiview	Multiformat file viewer.
Notepad	Text editor.
PartitionWizard	Allows you to check, repair, salvage, and optimize partitions.
PlayCD	User interface for the audio CD playback functionality
PrefsObjectsEditor	Allows you to create and edit XML formatted preferences files.
PrepCard	Prepares PCMCIA memory cards for use on systems with a PCMCIA slot. (Classic Only)
PrintFiles	Sends files to the printer.
RawDisk	Allows you to read and write raw disk blocks.
ShowConfig	Shows configuration information.
UnArc	Unpacks archives.
USBInspector	Displays information on USB devices.
Commodities	A drawer containing programs that monitor your keyboard and mouse input.

HDBackup and HDToolbox are also included in the Tools drawer on hard disk systems only. For information on these programs, see the Amiga Hard Drive User's Guide .

GraphicDump

GraphicDump prints (or dumps) entire screens, including menus and icons, just as they appear on your monitor. Your printer must be capable of printing graphic images. (Most printers can print GraphicDump output.)

Before using GraphicDump, make sure the settings in the Printer, PrinterPS, and PrinterGfx Preferences editors are appropriate for your printer. You can specify the dimensions of the printout with the Limits setting in the PrinterGfx editor. Otherwise, the printout is the full width allowed by the printer.

To use GraphicDump, double-click on its icon. After a ten second delay the front-most screen image is sent to the printer. The mouse pointer is not printed.

Tool Types

GraphicDump supports a SIZE Tool Type. The acceptable arguments for SIZE and the resulting size of the printout are:

SIZE=tiny	1/4 the total width allowed by the printer.
SIZE=small	1/2 the total width allowed by the printer.
SIZE=medium	3/4 the total width allowed by the printer.
SIZE=large	Full width allowed by the printer (default).

The height of the printout maintains the perspective of the screen. The Limits Type gadget in the PrinterGfx editor must be set to Ignore for GraphicDump, or else the size of the printout is determined by the Limits setting.

To set specific dimensions in a Tool Type, use:

SIZE=<xdots>:<ydots>

Substitute the width, in number of printer dots, for the <xdots> argument and the height for the <ydots> argument.

IconEdit

IconEdit personalizes your Workbench by changing the appearance of existing icons and creating new ones.

The window shown in Figure 10-2 appears when you open the IconEdit icon.

IconEdit Window

Draw and edit icons in the magnified view box of the IconEdit window. The Normal and Selected view boxes show the icon images at actual size. Several gadgets in the window draw squares, circles, and straight lines, giving you more control over your drawing.

There are three subwindows in IconEdit: the Normal and Selected view boxes and the Magnified View Box, which fills most of the window. Each of these is an AppWindow into which you can drag an icon to load it, rather than using menus. (AppWindows are described in Chapter 3.) Clicking in the Normal view box displays the selected image of the icon as long as you hold down the selection button.

Color Selection Gadget

The Color Selection gadget lets you select a color for drawing. In addition to the standard method for selecting a color by pointing to it and clicking the selection button, this gadget allows you to choose two-color patterns. The patterns are used with the Fill, filled Circle, and filled Box gadgets.

In order to use fill patterns you need to select the first color by left-clicking on it. After that keep the Shift key depressed and select the second color. The gadget bar with the different fill patterns will change its appearance accordingly, giving a simple preview on the two-color patterns.

Below the color selection gadget there is the Transparent gadget. Selecting a color from the palette and clicking on Transparent" afterward will make this color invisible" when the icon is saved to disk. Clicking on the Transparent gadget a second time using the same color will deactivate transparency.

Magnified View Box

Use the mouse to draw your icon in this box. Click the selection button to display a pixel of the selected color. Hold down the selection button to draw while moving the mouse.

The pointer turns into cross hairs when it is in the magnified view box. The new pixels appear a the center of the cross hairs. Pixel coordinates (relative to the upper left corner) appear in the middle of the IconEdit window below the title bar to show the position of the crosshair.

To load an existing icon into IconEdit, drag the icon into the magnified view box.

Fill pattern Gadgets

These gadgets allow you to select the fill pattern to be used with filled rectangles, filled circles and the flood fill tool.

Freehand Gadget

The Freehand gadget lets you quickly draw unstructured shapes. If you select this gadget and then draw in the magnified view box, the pixels fill in as the mouse passes over them. However, you may not get a continuous line and some pixels may not be filled in. Use this gadget to sketch an icon that you intend to fill in the details on later.

Continuous Freehand Gadget

The Continuous Freehand gadget is similar to the freehand gadget, except that it produces a continuous line. When drawing continuous lines, there is a delay before the display catches up with your movement.

Circle Gadget

To draw a circle or oval:

1. Select the circle gadget.
2. Point inside the magnified box at the point where you want the center of the circle, hold down the selection button, and move the mouse.
3. Release the selection button when you reach the correct size and shape.

If you keep the Shift key depressed while drawing the circle, a true circle, rather than an ellipse, will be drawn.

Filled Circle Gadget

Follow the steps for drawing normal circles to draw a filled circle or ellipse, using the current fill pattern.

Box Gadget

To draw a box:

1. Select the box gadget.
2. Point inside the magnified boy at the point where you want a corner of the box, hold down the selection button, and move the mouse.
3. Release the selection button when the box is the correct size and shape.

If you keep the Shift key depressed while drawing the box, a true square will be drawn instead.

To draw a three-dimensional box, similar in appearance to the Workbench gadgets, hold down an Alt key while drawing a box outline. The left and top border of the box will then be drawn using the current color while the right and bottom borders will be drawn using the color currently selected as the second color for fill patterns.

Filled Box Gadget

Follow the steps for drawing a normal box in order to draw a filled box or square using the current fill pattern.

Line Gadget

To draw a straight line:

1. Select the line gadget.
2. Position the mouse where you want the line to start.
3. Hold down the selection button.
4. Move the mouse to the line ending position.
5. Release the selection button.

Fill Gadget

Use the fill gadget to fill an area of the magnified view box with the selected color. Select the fill gadget, then click within the area you want to change to the same color as the dot under the crosshair.

Note
The fill gadget does not fill a patterned area. However, solid areas can be filled with one of the fill patterns, if selected.

Undo

Select Undo to cancel the last mouse action performed in the magnified view box. Undo acts as a toggle switch; selecting it again undoes the Undo.

Redo

Select Redo to cancel the last undo action, effectively restoring the state the magnified view box was in before calling undo.

Clear

Select the Clear gadget to erase the contents of the magnified view box. The magnified view box fills with the currently selected color.

Normal/Selected Radio Buttons

The Normal and Selected radio buttons switch between unselected and selected images for an icon. The normal image is how an unselected icon looks. The selected image is how a dual-image icon looks after you have clicked on it.

When the Normal radio button is selected, any image drawn in the magnified view box appears in the normal view box at the top of the window.

When the Selected radio button is used, you can create the image that appears when the icon is selected. You can only use this radio button when the Image menu item is chosen from the Highlight menu. Any image created appears in the selected view box.

Arrows

The arrows let you shift your image. Clicking on an arrow moves the image in the magnified view in the direction of the arrow. Use these arrows to control the placement of your image within the box surrounding the finished icon.

Note
Any part of the image that is moved off the edge of the magnified view box is lost.

Keyboard shortcut: Press the corresponding arrow key to move the image.

Project Menu

The items in the Project menu let you open and save icon files.

New	Loads the default icon for the currently chosen type of icon. (The type of icon is determined by the Type menu.) Any changes in the window that have not been saved produce a requester asking if you want to save them.
Open	Opens an existing icon file. A requester appears for entering the name of the file. Only the names of drawers and .info files appear in the IconEdit Open file requester.
Revert	Restores the icon to the state it was in when it was last saved to disk, removing all changes that had been made since then. If the icon has not been previously saved, this menu item will be ghosted.
Save	Saves an existing icon file, overwriting any file with the same name. In this case the previous icon is lost.
Save As	Allows you to specify a file name for saving the current image. A requester lets you enter the destination for the edited icon. Use Save As to prevent overwriting an existing icon file.
Save As Default Icon	Saves the current image as the default icon for the currently selected icon type. This image is used for any new icon or pseudo-icon of that type created, including those made with the New menu item in the IconEdit Project menu. For example, if you create a drawer icon and then choose Save As Default Icon, that icon is used to represent drawers when you choose the Show All Files menu item.
Quit	Exits the IconEdit program. If you have not saved the current image, a requester asks if you want to save the image before exiting IconEdit.

Edit Menu

The items in the Edit menu allow you to use the Amiga`s Clipboard to import IFF ILBM clips that were created with other programs.

Cut	Deletes the image in the magnified view box and copies it to the Clipboard.
Copy	Copies the image in the magnified view box to the Clipboard.
Paste	Copies any image in the Clipboard to the magnified view box, replacing the current contents.
Erase	Erases any image in the magnified view box. You can erase everything or save before erasing.
Undo	Has the same function as the corresponding gadget.
Redo	Has the same function as the corresponding gadget.
Open Clip	Copies an existing IFF file into the Clipboard. A requester asks for the name of the file to open. You can then Paste the file into IconEdit.
Save Clip As	Saves the current contents in the Clipboard to a specified file.
Show Clip	Displays the current contents in the Clipboard using the MultiView program. If the MultiView program is unavailable, Show Clip cannot work.

Type Menu

The items in the Type menu let you specify the type of icon changed or created.

Disk	Represents the disk icons appearing in the Workbench window.
Drawer	Represents the drawer icons appearing in a disk window, such as the Utilities or Tools drawer.
Tool	Represents a tool, such as the Calculator, Clock, or IconEdit program.
Project	Represents a project, a file that has been created by a tool, such as any of the icons in the drawers of the Storage directory.
Garbage	Represents the Trashcan drawer.

Highlight Menu

The items in the Highlight menu let you determine how an icon appears when it is selected.

Complement	Highlights the entire icon, including the background of the box surrounding the icon. For example, if you are using the default Workbench colors and the icon is surrounding by a field of grey, the grey becomes blue when the icon is selected. This option is only available in old icons" mode.
Backfill	Highlights the icon, but not the background of the box. For example, if you are using the default Workbench colors and the icon is surrounded by a field of grey, the grey remains the same when the icon is selected. This option is also only available in old icon" mode.
Image	Allows an entirely different image for the selected icon (a dual image icon). For example, the drawer icons on the Workbench are dual image. When you select a drawer, a new image of an open drawer appears.

Images Menu

The items in the Images menu let you manipulate the images in the normal and selected view boxes and import IFF images created with other graphics programs.

Exchange	Swaps the images that appear in the normal view and the selected view.
Copy	Copy is dependent on the selected radio button. If Normal is used, the image in the normal view is copied to the selected view. If Selected is used, the image in the selected view is copied to the normal view.
Use Template	Loads a template icon into the magnified view box on which you can use as the foundation for creating a new icon.
Darken	The icon's colors will be darkened.
Load	Loads previously saved images, without changing the name of the icon being edited. When you point to the Load menu item, a submenu (described below) appears.
Save Image	Saves an image as a standard IFF ILBM brush, rather than an icon.
Restore	Returns the IconEdit window to its state prior to opening the window or selecting New or Open.

The available Load submenu items are:

Image	Allows you to load an image data type file created by another program as either the normal or selected view, depending on which radio button is selected. When you choose an item from the submenu, a requester asks you to specify the file to be loaded. You must specify the correct drawer and file name.
Normal Image	Loads the unselected image of the specified icon into the normal or selected view box, depending on which radio button is selected. (This is equivalent to dragging an icon into one of the boxes.)
Selected Image	Loads the selected image of the specified icon into the normal or selected view box, depending on which radio button is selected.
Both Images	Loads both the normal and selected images of the specified icon into the appropriate view boxes.

Extras Menu

The items in the Extras menu control additional convenience features of IconEdit.

Larger Sketchboard	Increases the drawing area IconEdit provides. Any existing elemens will retain their distance to the top and left edges of the sketchboard.
Smaller Sketchboard	Decreases the drawing area IconEdit provides, removing space from the bottom and the left of the sketchboard. If this would result in the image being truncated, IconEdit will ask for confirmation before cropping the image.
Minimal Sketchboard	Decreases the drawing area IconEdit provides, to the effect that all blank space to the right and bottom of the current image will be removed.
Auto TopLeft	Moves the image to the upper left corner of the magnified view box.
Add Glow	Automatically adds a glow effect to the icons, just like the standard OS3.5 icons have.
Borderless	If this menu item is active, the icon will be saved and displayed without a border, regardless of the global border settings from the Workbench preferences.

Settings Menu

The items in the Settings menu allow you to save various IconEdit options.

Use Grid?	Use Grid? Displays each pixel in the magnified view box distinctly, with the background color surrounding it. When Use Grid? Is not chosen, the pixels blend together smoothly. The default is for the grid to be on.
Save Optimized?	Choosing this option will cause the transparency color to be assigned the color number zero (if possible) and remove all colors from the icon`s palette that are not actually used.
Create Icons?	Create Icons? Saves an icon for the IFF brush file created by the Save Image menu option. If Create Icons? Is not chosen, no icon is saved. The default is for icons to be saved.
Slider Color Model	This submenu controls whether the RGB or HSB color model will be used for the color sliders.
Save Settings	Save Settings saves all of the current IconEdit settings, including the size and position of the IconEdit window, the file requesters, and all of the menu item settings.

Tool Types

IconEdit supports the following Tool Types:

PUBSCREEN	Names the public screen on which IconEdit is supposed to open its window.
TEMPLATE	Path to the icons to be loaded when calling the Use Template" menu item.
HSB	Use the HSB color model for the color sliders.
OPTIMIZE	Optimize the icon palette when saving icons.
CLIPUNIT=<n>	Specifies the Clipboard unit to use. The default is 0.
XMAG=<n>	Enlarges the width of the magnified view box. XMAG accepts a number from 4 to 16. The default is 4.
YMAG=<n>	Enlarges the height of the magnified view box. YMAG accepts a number from 4 to 16. The default is 4.
LEFTEDGE=<n>	Specifies where to place the left edge of the editor window.
TOPEDGE=<n>	Specifies where to place the top edge of the editor window.
SHOWCLIP=<path>	Specifies the complete path to the utility used to display the Clipboard. The default is SYS:Utilities/MultiView.
NOICONS	Disable the ability to create icons when saving support files, such as when saving a file as an IFF brush.
NOGRID	Disables the use of the grid in the magnified view box.
ICONDRAWER=<path>	Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Open and Save As menu items in the Project menu are chosen.
ILBMDRAWER=<path>	Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Load and Save menu items in the Images menu are chosen.
CLIPDRAWER=<path>	Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Open Clip and Save As Clip menu items in the Edit menu are chosen.
ALTDRAWER=<path>	Specifies the default drawer used by the file requesters that appear when the Load menu item in the Images menu is chosen.

IntiPrinter

IntiPrinter sends the printer options specified in the Printer and PrinterGfx Preferences editors to the printer. It initializes your printer and loads it with the new or changed specifications when you turn on the printer and double-click on the InitPrinter icon.

Your printer resets automatically when it receives and processes initialization information on first access during a session. If you turn the printer off, you might need to use InitPrinter to reinitialize it.

Lacer (Classic Only)

The Lacer program only works when a genlock device is attached to your Amiga. It toggles the display between interlaced and non-interlaced mode. This is used primarily for video recording and genlocking by allowing the Amiga to provide the interlaced input required by video devices.

MEmacs

MEmacs (MicroEmacs) is a screen-oriented text editor. A text editor works the same as a word processor, but it does not support style formatting options. MEmacs is described in detail in the AmigaDOS User's Guide .

PlayCD

PlayCD acts as a user interface for the audio CD playback functionality offered by a CD-ROM drive. The CD-ROM drive in question must comply to the SCSI-2 standard and thus support at least a subset of the audio control commands defined for CD-ROM drives.

Starting the program

When the program is launched, it will attempt to configure itself. This involves figuring out which device driver and which device unit to use for audio playback. This information is usually stored in the program's icon, but it can also provided on the command line. The names of the command line options and the tool types are the same. The following options are supported:

DOSDEV

If there already is a filing system mounted on the CD-ROM drive to use for audio playback, the easiest way to tell PlayCD which device it should use is to provide that filing system's name. PlayCD will try to figure out which device and unit that filing system is bound to and use the resulting information.

Example:

PlayCD CD0:
PlayCD dosdev CD2:

Note
That this type of configuration may not work with all CD-ROM filing systems.

DEVICE

Use this option to provide the name of the device driver the CD-ROM drive to use for playback responds to.

Example:

PlayCD device=scsi.device

Default for this option is "scsi.device" .

UNIT

This option works in conjunction with the "DEVICE" parameter. Both the device name and the unit number specified define the interface the PlayCD program should use to address the CD-ROM drive.

Example:

PlayCD unit=5

Default for this option is "2".

SKIP

The PlayCD user interface sports a slider which controls and displays the current play index. Attached to this slider are two buttons which perform fast forward" and rewind" functionality. Pressign any of these two buttons will cause playback to skip a few seconds. The SKIP" option is for configuring the number of seconds to skip.

Example:

PlayCD skip=2

Default for this option is 1", i.e. clicking on the buttons will skip one second each.

PEEKTIME

PlayCD queries the CD-ROM drive in regular intervals to find out whether the CD was changed or how far playback has progressed. The length of these intervals is configured with the PEEKTIME" option. The peek time is specified in microseconds, i.e. one millionth part of a second.

Example:

PlayCD peektime=500000

Default for this option is 200000", i.e. one fifth of a second.

PUBSCREEN

PlayCD can be made to open its display on a named public screen. If the named screen does not exist, it will fall back to opening its display on the default public screen, such as the Workbench screen.

Example:

PlayCD pubscreen=my.public.screen

There is no default for this option. Default behaviour for PlayCD is to open its display on the default public screen which in most cases will be the Workbench screen.

BUFMEMTYPE

PlayCD depends upon the controller hardware the CD-ROM drive is attached to to deliver its commands properly. This may sometimes require that the command data structures are passed in a particular type of memory which the controller hardware has easy access to. In most cases you will not need to change this option, but if the CD-ROM drive is correctly configured, does support the SCSI-2 command set and still does not react to PlayCD`s commands, then it might be necessary to specify a different buffer memory type.

Example:

PlayCD bufmemtype=2
PlayCD bufmemtype=512

Default for this option is 0", which specifies no particular type of memory to use for interacting with the controller hardware.

The user interface

If properly configured, PlayCD will open a window which contains the following controls (left to right):

Track display	Here you will find information about the current audio track and the playback status. The first line displays the track information, the second line indicates how much time has passed with regard to length of the current track and the entire CD.
Track position (below the track display)	This slider displays the current track position. It can also be used to change the current track position.	[Shift]+[Cursor left] and [Shift]+[Cursor right] keys
Track selection	This is a set of 32 buttons, each one corresponding to one of the tracks of the audio CD. Click a button to make the corresponding audio track the current track. If playback is currently in progress, playback will proceed with the selected track.	Any number entered, e.g. entering the two digits 1 and 2 in quick succession will pick track 12.
Volume	This is a vertical slider whose current setting corresponds to the sound playback volume. At the top position, playback volume is loudest.	+ and - keys
Eject (below the Track position slider)	Press this button to eject/load the CD in the drive. For technical reasons, you may need to press this button more than once to load a CD.	[F1] and [Backspace] keys
Stop	Press this button to stop playback.	[F2] and [Cursor up] keys.
Pause	Press this button to suspend/resume playback.	[F3] and [Space] keys
Previous track	Press this button to skip back to the beginning of the previous track.	[F4] and [Cursor left] keys
Play	Press this button to begin playback.	[F5] and [Cursor down] keys
Next track	Press this button to skip forward to the beginning of the next track.	[F6] and [Cursor right] keys
Shuffle	Press this button to set up a play list which contains all CD titles in random order. Playback will step through this list, playing each title once. To return to the regular play list which plays each title in the order the tracks were recorded in, press the Stop" button.	[F7] key
Playback mode	This button selects a playback mode; it can be one of the following: Continue This is the default playback mode. If you pick a track to play, it will be played along with all tracks to follow it until the last track on the CD is played. Clicking one of the track buttons in the track selection table will make the respective track the current track". Program In this mode every track number entered or clicked on will cause a new entry to be added to the play list. To play back the list, click the Play" button. Track In this mode playback will be restricted to the currently selected track. This means, for example, that if a track has been played to the end, playback will stop instead of proceeding to the next track. [F8] key Repeat This switch controls whether playback will stop when the end of the play list has been reached or whether playback will restart with the first list entry. [F9] key
Message list (below the Eject button)	This is where helpful progress reports and error messages are displayed. For example, if you picked a track by entering its number, you will see a notice confirming your input.

Stopping the program

Once the PlayCD program is running, you can stop it by clicking on the window close gadget or by one of the keyboard equivalents [Esc] or [Ctrl]+\.

PrepCard (Classic Only)

The PrepCard utility is used for preparing PCMCIA credit card-size memory cards. It runs only on Amiga models equipped with a PCMCIA card slot. PCMCIA is the organization that sets the standards for memory card slot devices.

PrepCard prepares static RAM cards either as a disk device or as system RAM according to PCMCIA standards. A card prepared as a disk can be used like a floppy disk: you can read from and write to the card just as you normally do from applications, the Workbench, or the Shell. Because the card's memory is battery-backed, the contents of the card remain when you remove the card or turn off the Amiga. Read and write operations using memory cards are very fast.

When prepared as system RAM, the card memory is added to the other memory in the Amiga, as if additional memory were installed internally. Cards are available in many sizes: from 64 KB to over a megabyte.

Open the PrepCard window by double-clicking its icon. If a card is inserted, its size and other information are displayed. The message FAILED in the Battery display box indicates that the card's battery has run down and must be replaced before the card can be used.

You can use PrepCard to prepare cards that are new (unformatted) or that have been previously prepared as disk or RAM.

1. Select the appropriate gadget, either Prepare as DISK or Prepare as System RAM. A warning requester appears, reminding you that any information currently on the card will be erased if you continue.
2. Select Continue to prepare the card or Cancel to return to the PrepCard window. Preparation takes only a few seconds.
3. Select Quit to exit when you are finished with PrepCard. An icon for a card you have prepared as a disk immediately appears, labeled Empty.

Note
Preparation does not continue if the card is write-protected. You can flip the write-protect switch to make it write-enabled without removing the card from the card slot.

You can work with the card disk as a normal disk, rename it, and reformat it with the Workbench Format program. A card disk is device CC0:

To use the memory on a card prepared as system RAM, you must reboot. (The card must be write-enabled and inserted when you boot or reboot for its memory to be added to the Amiga's RAM.) Card memory is added to Fast (other) memory.

PrepCard has an Advanced Settings window listed on the menu. This window allows a variety of low level card configuration parameters to be altered from the default settings for diagnostic purposes.

Note
Only those with sufficient technical knowledge should change the default settings in the Advanced Settings window. Improper settings do not harm the card or the Amiga, but it can keep the card from functioning properly.

When using PCMCIA cards, note the following:

• PrepCard does not run if a card is currently in use as RAM. To run PrepCard again on a card prepared as RAM, insert the card after booting.
• Removing a card that is currently in use as RAM immediately reboots the Amiga.
• Do not write-protect a card while it is in use as RAM; this causes the Amiga to lock up, requiring you to reboot.
• The PCMCIA card slot is disabled when Fast RAM is configured to more than 4MB.

PrintFiles

PrintFiles sends text files to your printer. It can accept multiple files selected with drag selection or extended selection. If PrintFiles cannot find or open one of the files, it skips it and goes to the next one. The files are printed using the settings specified in the Printer or PrinterPS Preferences editor.

To use PrintFiles:

1. Select the icon of the first file to be printed, hold down Shift and select the icons of any additional files to print. You can also use drag selection to select the icons.
2. Hold down Shift and double-click on the PrintFiles icon.

When printing multiple files, adding a form feed between each file puts it on a new page. Without a form feed, the next file starts printing on the same page on which the previous file ends. Add a form feed with the FORMFEED=true Tool Type in the PrintFiles Information window.

ShowConfig

ShowConfig, illustrated in Figure 10-5, displays system configuration information, including processor information, custom chips, software versions, RAM information, and any plug-in boards. Double-click on the ShowConfig icon to display the information for your system. use this information when requesting hardware/software technical support.

ShowConfig Window

Commodities Drawer

The Commodities drawer, illustrated in Figure 10-6, is in the Tools drawer and contains the Commodities Exchange programs. These programs monitor your keyboard and mouse input to the Amiga.

Commodities Window

AutoPoint	Automatically activates the window under the pointer.
Blanker	Causes the screen to go blank if there has been no keyboard or mouse activity for a specified period of time.
ClickToFront	Lets you bring a window to the front of the screen by double-clicking in it.
CrossDOS	Controls text options for CrossDOS drives. See Chapter 11 for more information.
Exchange	Monitors and controls all the other Commodities programs.
FKey	Assigns special functions to keys.
MouseBlanker	Causes the mouse pointer to go blank when you are typing.
NoCapsLock	Temporarily disables the Caps Lock key.

Using Commodities Tool Types

All of the Commodities programs share a common Tool Type:

CX_PRIORITY=<n>

Assigns priorities to the Commodities Exchange programs.

All the programs are set to a default priority of 0. If you enter a Tool Type that changes the priority to a higher value, that program has priority over any other Commodities Exchange program of lower priority.

For example, you can have two commodities that allow you to assign operations to functions keys. If both programs have an operation assigned to F1, the program with the higher priority intercepts the key, making it unavailable to any other Commodities programs.

There are two Tool Types that apply only to programs that open a window:

CX_POPUP

When set to NO, prevents the program window from opening when the icon is opened. The program activates when you double-click on its icon, but its window remains closed. The default is CX_POPUP=YES.

CX_POPKEY

Determines the hot key for a commodity. When the hot key or key combination is pressed, the program's window is automatically brought to the front of the screen. If the window is hidden, it is opened. Hot keys do not start commodities that are not already running. The syntax for specifying hot keys is CX_POPUP=<key>.

When specifying key combinations, leave a space between the two keys. For example:

CX_POPKEY=F9
CX_POPKEY=Shift F4
CX_POPKEY=LShift LAlt LAmiga X

Acceptable Key Combinations

When specifying key combinations for a Commodities Exchange program, you can use any of the function keys (F1 through F10) and any of the keys in the typewriter area of the keyboard (numbers, letter, symbols, and so forth). Keys from the typewriter area must be preceded by a qualifier. The allowable qualifiers are:

Qualifier	Key
Alt	Either Alt key
Ralt	Right Alt only
LAlt	Left Alt only
Shift	Either Shift key
Rshift	Right Shift only
LShift	Left Shift only
LAmiga	Left Amiga
RAmiga	Right Amiga
CTRL	Ctrl
Numericpad	Specifies a key on the numeric keypad
Rightbutton	Hold down the menu button
Leftbutton	Hold down the selection button
Middlebutton	Hold down the middle button of a three-button mouse

Qualifiers can also be used before function keys, but are not mandatory. You can use any combination of qualifiers; however, they must be followed by a standard key or function key. A qualifier is only recognized once in a combination:

LAlt RAmiga LAlt F10

is the same as

LAlt RAmiga F10

The following are acceptable combinations:

Alt F6
LAmiga 8
Ctrl LShift Y
Leftbutton Ctrl CapsLock*
Numericpad 8**

* Hold down the selection button, then press Ctrl+Caps Lock

** Use the 8 in the numeric keypad. The 8 in the normal area does not satisfy the combination.

AutoPoint

AutoPoint lets you select windows without clocking the selection button. To start AutoPoint, double-click on ist icon. AutoPoint does not open a window.

AutoPoint automatically activates the window that is underneath the pointer, eliminating the need to click the selection button.

To disable AutoPoint, double-click on its icon a second time or open the Exchange window, select AutoPoint from the scroll gadget, and the select the Remove gadget.

Blanker

When the Blanker program is running, the screen automatically goes blank if no input has been received during a specified period of time.

The Blanker window allows you to specify the amount of time (in seconds) before the screen goes blank. The default time is 60 seconds. If you do not press a key or move the mouse during a 60 second period, the screen goes blank. To change this value, enter an alternative in the text gadget after Seconds.

Blanker can also cycle through a series of colors if you check the Cycle Colors gadget box. Checking the Animation gadget displays a random spline display.

To disable Blanker, open the Exchange window, then select Blanker, select Remove, or pick the Quit item from the Blanker window's Project menu. The hot key for Blanker is Ctrl+Alt+B.

Tool Types

Blanker has the following Tool Types:

SECONDS=60	The number of seconds of keyboard/mouse activity before the screen is blanked. Default is 60.
ANIMATION=YES	Whether Blanker screen displays animation. Default is yes.
CYCLECOLORS=YES	Whether colors on the blanker screen are cycled. Default is yes.

ClickToFront

ClickToFront lets you bring a window to the front of the screen without selecting the window's depth gadget. To bring a window to the front with ClickToFront, hold down left Alt and double-click anywhere in the window. (The use of left Alt can be changed with Tool Types.)

To start ClickToFront, double-click on its icon. ClickToFront does not open a window.

To disable ClickToFront, open the Exchange window, select ClickToFront from the scroll gadget, then select Remove or double-click on its icon again.

Tool Types

ClickToFront supports a QUALIFIER Tool Type, allowing you to specify a qualifier key that must be pressed while double-clicking in the window you want to bring to the front of the screen. The four acceptable key arguments are:

Lalt	Left Alt (Default)
Left_Alt	Left Alt
Ralt	Right Alt
Right_Alt	Right Alt
CTRL	Ctrl
CONTROL	Ctrl
None	No qualifier necessary

For example, if you have specified QUALIFIER=CTRL and ClickToFront is activated, hold down Crtl and double-click in the window you want frontmost.

CrossDOS

The CrossDOS commodity controls text options for active CrossDOS drives. The CrossDOS commodity window shows the available drives and allows you to set Text Filtering or Text Translation separately for each Hot key: Ctrl+Alt+C. For more information on the CrossDOS commodity, see Chapter 11.

Exchange

Exchange manages the background utilities contained in the Commodities drawer. The hot key for Exchange is Ctrl+Alt+Help.

Exchange Window

The Exchange window, illustrated in Figure 10-7, lists the commodities that are running and displays information about each one as it is selected.

Remove	Turns off commodities.
Show Interface	Displays the commodity window, allowing you to interact with it as if you pressed the commodity's hot key.
Hide Interface	Closes the commodity window without turning the commodity off.

FKey

FKey allows you to assign functions to keys, eliminating the need for repetitive typing.

When you double-click on the FKey icon, the window illustrated in Figure 10-8 appears:

FKey Window

FKey lets you assign any of eight commands to any key sequence that you can enter.

The Defined Keys scrolling list shows all the currently defined key sequences.

The New Key and Delete Key gadgets let you add and remove key sequences.

The Command cycle gadget lets you pick a command for the current key sequence. The possible commands are:

Cycle Windows	Brings the rearmost application window on the Workbench screen to the front of the display and selects it.
Cycle Screens	Brings the rearmost screen to the front of the display.
Enlarge Window	Enlarges the selected window to its maximum size, taking into account the edges of the screen.
Shrink Window	Shrinks the selected window to its minimum size.
Toggle Window Size	Zooms the selected window as if you had selected its zoom gadget. It also works on windows that only have a zoom gadget and no sizing gadgets.
Insert Text	When the key sequence is entered, the specified string is inserted in a console window or text gadget. It has no effect if something that accepts keyboard input is not selected. The string to insert is specified in the Command Parameters gadget.
Run Program	Lets you run a program by entering any key sequence. The program name and its arguments are specified in the Command Parameters gadget.
Run ARexx Script	Lets you run an ARexx script by entering any key sequence. The script name and its arguments are specified in the Command Parameters gadget. Putting quotes around the script name turns it into an ARexx string file.

The Command Parameters text gadget lets you specify arguments for three of the commands.

For example, to designate Alt F1 as the key sequence to start MultiView, follow these steps:

1. Select the New Key gadget.
2. Enter the key sequence in the string gadget as Alt F1 (be sure to enter a space between Alt and F1).
3. Select the Run Program option in the Command cycle gadget.
4. Enter the path for MultiView (SYS:Utilities/MultiView) in the Command Parameters text gadget.

MouseBlanker

MouseBlanker blanks the mouse pointer from the display when you are typing at the keyboard. The mouse pointer returns to the screen when you move the mouse again.

To enable MouseBlanker, double-click on its icon. To disable MouseBlanker, double-click on its icon again or open the Exchange window, select MouseBlanker from the scroll gadget, and select the Remove gadget.

NoCapsLock

NoCapsLock disables the Caps Lock key. The Shift keys still function normally, but Chaps Lock has no effect if pressed accidentally.

To start NoCapsLock, double-click on its icon. It does not open a window. To disable NoCapsLock, open the Exchange window, select NoCapsLock from the scroll gadget, and select the Remove gadget or double-click on its icon again.