Index
TIP for AppBar v1.51 Help Index

In Short

About TIP for AppBar

Installation

Installing TIP for AppBar

Operation

Deleting files

Other operations

Author and such...

Who wrote this program


AppBar is a NeXT-inspired application launcher written by Geert van Kempen, the Netherlands.  Without this, TIP would never have existed.  Thanks to Geert for writing AppBar.


TIP.EXE

Version 1.51, January 1993

Bernt Ribbum

b.ribbum@uow.edu.au

Index


TIP in short

TIP for AppBar is "another wastebasket for Windows".  You drop files from the File Manager onto the TIP icon to delete them.  The differences between TIP and other wastebaskets are:

TIP for AppBar will only work properly when tied to AppBar (by NEVERnever Software); this gives the advantage that TIP will only occupy memory when it is actually in use.

TIP for AppBar will (optionally, of course) save both "deleted" files, filenames and directory position.  This means you can restore a file to its original directory by selecting Recover, one of the buttons in the main (dialogue) window, or you can decide which directory a file can be restored to by using the Set Dir button.

TIP for AppBar and AppBar co-operate, and AppBar will update the icon for TIP, according to the mode of operation, and the number of recoverable files at any moment.

See also:

Installing TIP for AppBar

Deleting files

Other operations


The Maquarie Thesaurus, "The book of words", 1986:

Wastebasket: junk-heap, junkyard, midden, slagheap, TIP, rubbish bin, ash can, dustbin,...  Hence the name.


Installing TIP for AppBar

TIP for AppBAr now comes as two different executables, TIP_A.EXE and TIP_B.EXE.  The latter of the two uses Borland Dialogue Boxes, and needs BWCC.DLL installed in your Windows SYSTEM directory to show those onscreen; otherwise, they are identical.

Apart from copying one of the executables onto your hard disk and configuring AppBar to use it [see the AppBar instuctions], the only installation you have to do is nominate a directory TIP for AppBar can use as a storage area.  You are forced to do this before TIP will operate, and in the given dialogue window you simply navigate through your existing directory structure, selecting (or possibly creating) a directory for TIP (called the TIP directory), and finally clicking the OK button.  This directory will contain all the files you delete through TIP, and is in all aspects a completely normal DOS directory.

Uninstalling

Just in case you don't want to use TIP, the files you have to remove are:

TIP_A.EXE and/or TIP_B.EXE (located where you copied them);

TIP.HLP and TIP.WRI (also your responsibility);

TIP.INI (in your Windows directory);

... and of course the TIP directory.

Back to Index


Those are the nifty boxes that Borland has developed and luckily given us all access to.


BWCC.DLL should be available on the same site you found TIP for AppBar.


Deleting Files

With your mouse, grab as many files as you like in the File Manager and drop them on the TIP icon you have installed in AppBar to delete them.  You cannot delete directories or read-only files.  See also Options.

If TIP finds your file(s) to be on the same logical volume as your TIP directory (works well also with JOIN'ed and SUBST'ed drives), a simple RENAME is performed; this is quick.  If the logical drives are not the same, a copy/delete sequence is initiated, and things slow down a bit.  Diskettes in particular are notoriously slow, and I do not recommend the use of TIP for diskette operations unless you enjoy looking at the hourglass icon.  Network drives are fine, though.

If you drop lots of files at once, expect things to take some time, since each file dropped starts one new TIP instance.

Back to Index


The main TIP dialogue box

The main TIP window

When you just click on the TIP icon (instead of dropping files onto it), you bring up the main dialogue window shown below.  Click on the various parts if you need instructions.

(Note to VGA users: if you think the bitmap below looks objectionable, you're right.  It looks good on a 1024 by 768 screen, though, and it is a so called "Device Independent Bitmap" that is auto-scaled by Windows.)


This window shows where TIP stores the recoverable files.  You can change the directory by choosing the Options. button.


This window shows the recoverable files, with accompanying directories.  You can select one or more files and press Recover, or optionally double-click on a filename to restore the file to where it came from.


You guessed it.


This button is grayed out until you select one or more filenames in the file window.  Clicking the button sends all the selected files back home.


This button is grayed out until you select one or more filenames in the file window.  When you have selected some files, you can redirect them to any existing directory on your disk(s) for subsequent recovery.  Pressing this button will not undelete any files, merely update the settings in TIP.INI.


Unless you have Norton Utilities or similar, the previously recoverable files are not recoverable anymore when this button is pressed.  You can get a warning before the files are deleted, though. (See Options.)


This button leads you to the Options screen.


Setting Options

Options

In the Options dialogue box, you can set five things:

Directory:	This is where your recoverably "deleted" files are stored.  The first time you start TIP, you are forced to set a directory.  No default.

Delete Options:	Select whether TIP should just delete the files you drop, or if they should indeed be saved.  Default: Safe Delete.

Warn - Delete:	If you try to delete a file, and a recoverable file with the same name (not necessarily the same path) exists in the TIP directory, you can choose to get a warning about this.  Default: On.

Warn - Recover:	This is for file restore.  If you try to restore a file that for some reason already exists, you can opt to be warned before the restore is carried through.  Default: On.

Warn - Empty:	If you find it just too easy to press the Empty TIP button and regret later, this is for you.  Default: On.

You can also create a new directory (under the one currently selected in the directory listing) by pressing the Make Dir button.  About gives a blurb about me.


Author

Who wrote this program

TIP for AppBar is written by

Bernt Ribbum

Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of Wollongong

P.O. Box 1144

Wollongong NSW 2500

Australia

Email:	b.ribbum@uow.edu.au

Note: I'll be leaving Australia in March 1993, and will thus not be available on the above address after this.  Look for an updated TIP where you found this, to see my new address.

Thanks to Borland C++ (Version 3.1) writing the program has been fun, and I am happy to share it with anyone who will use it (well, not the source code...).

So don't send me any money, send email instead, and tell me that you like the program!  I would appreciate any constructive feedback (or shout me a beer the next time you visit Wollongong).

See also

Known Bugs


Known bugs

Bugs

Bugger if I know why, but TIP seems to eat memory!  Every time the program is called a little chunk of this RAM seems to disappear.  I thought I had used all the tricks in the book to clean up after me, but maybe there is something I have overlooked with respect to having a Dialogue Box as the main window...  One day, maybe..!

Well, there is also a little quirk with the program: if you try to Set Dir, or Recover more than 512 files, only the first 512 files on the list will be handled; the rest will be ignored.  If you think this can be a problem, let me know - I can certainly fix it...  Also, when you handle that many files (either deleting or recovering), nothing seems to happen for a while (at least if you have SmartDrive installed).  Don't worry - things will happen, albeit slowly.


Initial setup
Setting up a TIP directory

Before TIP for AppBar can operate, a directory must be nominated for exclusive use by TIP.  You have not yet done this, and will now be forced to do it before you can proceed.  You will be taken to the Options screen in TIP.

See also

Index