Copyright: (c) 1993 Jim Lynch, All Rights Reserved


Table Of Contents

Icon Manager

Version 1.1 (Unregistered)

Copyright (c) 1993

Jim Lynch

All Rights Reserved

Overview

Scanning For Duplicates

Comparing Two Icons

Establishing The Directory Structure

Maintaining Your Icon Directory Structure

Setting The Current Directory

Registering Your Copy Of Icon Manager


Overview

On a recent safari to BBS Land I bagged a couple of decent sized icon libraries (2000 icons!; a must for any serious collector!). So now I need an icon for an application I happen to be developing and go to my icon zoo looking for candidates. After looking at about 150 of the critters I decided that if I were an artist it would be quicker to draw the icon than it would be to find a suitable icon in my zoo. To make matters worse, I am not an artist, and am therefore, forced to deal with the problem.

Later that day...

On a recent safari to BBS land I bagged a few icon management tools (so simple anyone can use it!, a must for any serious programmer!). There are almost as many icon drawing tools as there are text editors (I said almost) but none appeared to really help get my icon jungle under control.

So I rewired it!

Being a software developer by trade, I felt that the only reasonable solution was to write a new program -- enter Icon Manager (insert TaDa wave form here).

Testimonials

Icon Manager helped me conquer my fear of icons. Now, whenever I need an icon I can quickly determine that a suitable icon is not in my library and that I need to call by brother Mike (an artist). Before using Icon Manager it would take hours not find what I was looking for. Icon Manager saved my life!

J.L. Lewisville TX

I witnessed by husband using Icon Manager and will testify that I haven't seen him happier since the day before our wedding. (At least I think he was using Icon Manager; or perhaps, was he counting those registration checks?).

Mrs J.L. Lewisville TX

The Pitch

An now, Icon Manager is being offered to the public for the ridiculously low introductory price of only $15.00! Checks or money orders accepted. Do not delay!. Act now while supplies last! Avoid bitter disappointment! Rush your check or money order to:

Jim Lynch

222 Bexar Ave.

Lewisville, TX 75067

Ataboy's may be left on Compuserve @ 71662,517

Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?

Icon Manager does not draw pictures; Icon Manager allows you to take a large directory of icons and organize it into a structure that fits your needs. In my case, I organized my icon library by type of image. For example, one might create the following structure:

\ICONS

\ICONS\POINTERS

\ICONS\PEOPLE

\ICONS\ANIMALS

\ICONS\MISC

Then, using Icon Manager, one would set the "current" directory structure to the POINTERS directory and begin paging through the icons (45 at a time) identifying those that are pointers. One clicks on an icon and then clicks on the OK button and the icon is moved into the POINTERS directory. After classifying all of the POINTERS one would repeat the above process with the PEOPLE, ANIMALS and MISC directories.

That's all there is to it! When Icon Manager starts up you should see a screen similar to the image displayed below. For information about a particular control, just click on the control.


The Pitch

Testimonials

Icon Manager helped me conquer my fear of icons. Now, whenever I need an icon I can quickly determine that a suitable icon is not in my library and that I need to call by brother Mike (an artist). Before using Icon Manager it would take hours not find what I was looking for. Icon Manager saved my life!

J.L. Lewisville TX

I witnessed by husband using Icon Manager and will testify that I haven't seen him happier since the day before our wedding. (At least I think he was using Icon Manager; or perhaps, was he counting those registration checks?).

Mrs J.L. Lewisville TX

The Pitch

An now, Icon Manager is being offered to the public for the ridiculously low introductory price of only $15.00! Checks or money orders accepted. Do not delay!. Act now while supplies last! Avoid bitter disappointment! Rush your check or money order to:

Jim Lynch

222 Bexar Ave.

Lewisville, TX 75067


Setting The Current Directory

 (CTL-O)

Icon Manager uses the concept of a "current" directory to indicate the directory containing the icons currently (or about to be) displayed on the main window. The current directory is set by selecting the File menu and then selecting the Open sub menu item. Alternatively, one may press the CTL-O keys to set the current directory. Icon Manager automatically initiates a CTL-O keypress when it starts up since it requires a current directory in order to do anything. Icon Manager then displays a screen similar to the image shown below. For information about any particular control, just click on the control.


Scanning For Duplicates

 CTL-F

Icon Manager can scan the current directory for duplicate icons. Often icon libraries downloaded from BBS services contain many icons that are identical. These duplicate icons probably serve no useful purpose except to balloon file sizes and thereby increase a contributor's BBS download allowance. Checking for duplicates is a time consuming activity and should be done only when truly necessary. Requesting a scan for duplicates is accomplished by pressing the scan button, pressing CTL-F keys or selecting the Manage menu and then selecting the Find Dups sub menu item. Icon Manager then displays a window similar to the image shown below. For information about a control, just click on the control.


Comparing Two Icons

 CTL-C

Icon Manager can compare two explicitly named icons. Comparing two icons is a very quick process and may be requested by pressing the compare button, pressing the CTL-C keys or selecting the Manage menu and then selecting the Compare sub menu item. Icon Manager will then display a window similar to the image shown below. For information about a particular control, just click on the control.


Establishing The Directory Structure

Icon Manager needs a directory structure in order to know where it may move or copy an icon. Each time you specify a directory name Icon Manager remembers the name and presents it to you the next time a directory structure name may be specified. Icon Manager automatically prompts for a directory structure if an action requiring a structure is requested and no structure exists. You may explicitly request that a new structure be set by clicking on the Manage menu and then clicking on the last sub menu item. Initially this item contains "Click Me!" but, after a structure has been established, it will contain the name of the current directory structure. Icon Manager displays a window similar to the image below. For more information about a particular control, just click on the control.


Maintaining Your Directory Structure

Icon Manager makes it easy to maintain your directory structure. Clicking on a particular icon and then clicking on the OK button is all it takes to move an icon from the current directory to the current directory structure. Icon Manager can also copy icons from one directory to another; rename an icon to a different name or simply delete an icon. Whenever you click on an icon image Icon Manager displays a window similar to the image shown below. For more information about a particular control, just click on the control.


Registering Your Copy

Icon Manager is a copyrighted work and is not in the public domain. You may freely distribute this product so long as the product is unmodified. You are granted rights to use this product for a reasonable period of time (lets say, 30 days) in order to determine whether it meets your particular needs. If you should desire to continue using the product after 30 days a registration fee of $15.00 (US) is in order. A check or money order should be sent to the following address:

Jim Lynch

222 Bexar Ave.

Lewisville, TX 75067

Registered uses will be notified of any subsequent enhancements and will be encouraged to submit requests for product improvements.

Support your local ShareWare authors -- Register your copy today!


The Status Bar

The status bar is divided into three sections. The leftmost section contains messages from Icon Manager which inform as to the current activity underway or the ending status of the last activity. The middle section contains the current page frame number while the rightmost section contains the total number of page frames in the current icon directory. When a directory is opened Icon Manager computes the number of page frames needed to display the directory. Each page frame contains, at most, 45 pictures. One may scroll through the page frames by clicking the PageUp [image] or PageDown [image] buttons or, by pressing the PgUp or PgDn keys.


The Page Down Button

 (PgDn)

The page down button advances the display to the next page frame. This button is disabled if there are no more page frames available for display. Pressing the PgDn key has the same effect as pressing the page down button.


The Page Up Button

(PgUp)

The page up button reverses the display to the previous page frame. This button is disabled if there are no previous page frames available for display. Pressing the PgUp key has the same effect as pressing the page up button.


Exiting Icon Manager

 (CTL-X)

Clicking on the Exit button or pressing the CTL-X keys terminates the Icon Manager application. The exit button is active only while Icon Manager's main window is active. In other words, it is inactive while scanning for duplicates, comparing icons, setting directories etc.


The Current Directory
The Current Directory This area contains the pathname of the "current" directory. The current directory identifies the location where Icon Manager looks for any icons needing to be moved, copied, renamed or deleted.


The Directory List
The Directory List This area contains the list of directories that may be selected as the "current" directory. The list of directories if rebuilt every time you change the contents of the drive list box.


The Drive List
The Drive List This area contains a list of all disk drives known to your system. If the directory you wish to make "current" is on a drive other than the one currently highlighted, simply open the drop down list and click on the desired drive line. Changing from one drive to another causes the directory list box to be refreshed.


Explicitly Named Path
Explicitly Named Path This area is used at your discretion if you decide that it would be quicker to type the name of the directory to be made "current" rather than to use the drive list box and/or directory list box controls. Typing a fully qualified path name here and clicking the OK button can get the job done.


The Exit Button
The Exit Button The exit button is used to tell Icon Manager to ignore the request to establish a new "current" directory and to resume execution as if the request had never occurred.


The Ok Button
The OK Button The OK button is used to instruct Icon Manager to accept the value displayed in the Selected control as the new "current" directory.


Current Path
Current Path This control contains the value of the "current" directory path. This value is not modifiable within the compare icons request. If the current path is not correct you must return to the main window and either type CTL-O or select the File menu and then the Open sub menu item and set a new current directory.


Icon Pictures
Icon Pictures Icon Manager displays the images of the two icons that are about to be compared side by side. This is done so you may be assured that the correct pair of icons has been chosen.


File List Box
File List Box This list box contains all of the icon files found in the current directory. If the current directory is not set properly, it may be reset by returning to the main window and either typing CTL-O or selecting the File menu and then the Open sub menu item and then setting a new current directory. You may select an icon by clicking on the appropriate row in the list box. Watch the status bar for messages indicating which icon is currently being selected.


Ok Button
OK Button Pressing the OK button instructs Icon Manager to perform the comparison using the two icons previously selected. There is not "Cancel" button since the comparison is performed so quickly, very little time is wasted by performing an unwanted comparison.


Picture Boxes
Picture Boxes Each page frame contains a maximum of 45 icon pictures. The number of page frames and the current page frame numbers may be found in the status bar. To perform an action against a given icon, just click on its picture.


Directory List
Directory List As each icon in the selected directory is processed, Icon Manager inserts an ending status indication into this list box. The compare status will either be the word "Unique" or words to the effect of "duplicated by:" followed by a list of icon names that were found to be duplicates. The list scrolls horizontally to allow you to view a string of duplicate names.


Begin Button
Begin Button Press this button to begin the scan process. Be sure to set the display option before pressing the begin button.


Show Option
Show Option Setting this option instructs Icon Manager to display each icon image as it is being accessed. Although interesting to watch, this will lengthen the already time consuming process by about 20%.


Picture Boxes
Picture Boxes If the show pictures option has been enabled, Icon Manager will display the primary icon image in the leftmost picture box and the images of the icons it is is being compared to in the rightmost picture box.


Current Path
Current Path The current directory path is shown in this area. This value may not be changed while within the scan procedure. If the current path is not correct you must return to the main window and either type CTL-O or select the File menu and then the Open sub menu item and set a new current directory.


Set Button
Set Button Press the Set button to indicate that the path displayed in the current path area is acceptable and is to be saved as the new current path.


Path Choices
Path Choices This drop down list box contains a list of all previous paths that had been the current path at one time or another. You may either enter a new path or select from a previously used path.


Drive List
Drive List This list box contains a listing of all disk drives defined to your system. Click on the appropriate list entry to select that drive and cause the directory list box to be refreshed.


Directory List
Directory List This list box contains a list of all directories found on the selected drive. This list is refreshed whenever the drive list box changes. Double clicking on a directory causes the directory to be "opened" and any sub directories to become visible. Clicking on a directory entry causes that directory to be displayed in the current path area.


Cancel Button
Cancel Button Clicking on the cancel button instructs Icon Manager to ignore any drive and directory selections that may have been made and to return to the main screen.


Ok Button
OK Button Pressing the OK button instructs Icon Manager to perform the action using the information provided by the radio button, target path and member name controls.


Cancel Button
Cancel Button Pressing the cancel button instructs Icon Manager to ignore the move, copy, rename or delete request and to return to the main screen as if the request had not been made.


Icon Image
Icon Image Icon Manager displays the image of the icon being accessed in this box so you may be assured that the proper icon is being accessed. If the picture is not of the expected icon, press the Cancel button to terminate the request.


Current Path
Current Path This area contains the name of the current directory. The current directory identifies the directory containing the selected icon. You may not change the current directory while this service is active. If the current path is not correct you must return to the main window and either type CTL-O or select the File menu and then the Open sub menu item and set a new current directory.


Action Label
Action Label The value of this box changes according to the particular action requested. If a Move action is indicated, "Move To:" will be displayed. If a Copy action is indicated, "Copy To:" will be displayed. If a Rename action is indicated, "Rename To:" will be displayed. If a Delete action is indicated this areas will be empty.


Paths List
Paths List This list box contains a list of all directories that have been set as the current directory structure. You may either select a directory from the list or enter a new directory path. The path selected will be used as the target directory to the indicated action. Note that a Rename action is really a Move action if the value of this area is different from that shown in the current path area.


Member Name
Member Name This area contains the member name that will be used along with the target path to form the actual target pathname. If a member name cannot be entered this area will be disabled.


Action Buttons
Action Buttons These radio button are used to indicate the action to be performed. The meaning of most of the buttons should be self-explanatory. remember that the source of the action is always the path indicated in the current path area  The compare radio button operates slightly different than the explicit compare command button in that compares the selected icon against every other icon in the current directory.