Copyright: Copyright 1993 Herby Derby Productions


Table of Contents
 Icon Vacuum Help Contents

The Contents lists Help topics available for Icon Vacuum.  Use the scroll bar to see entries not currently visible in the Help window.

To learn how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu

How To...

View Icon Files (*.ICO)

View Imbedded Icons

Change the Icon Filter

View Icon Names

Select Icons

Perform File Operations on Icons

"Vacuum" Imbedded Icons

Change the Destination Directory

Choose and Run an Icon Editor

Register

Commands

File Menu Commands

Options Menu Commands

Help Menu Commands

The Icon Vacuum Window

The Icon Vacuum INI file

Revision History


 The Icon Vacuum Window

Click the part of the Icon Vacuum window you want to know more about.


Registration
 How to Register

To register this copy of Icon Vacuum, send US$15 to:

Chris Nokleberg

4315 Norris Rd.

Fremont, CA  94536

USA

You'll get the latest version, a registration number (for all future updates), and, upon request, all the Visual Basic forms and code used to create this program.


 Viewing Icon Files

One of the main uses for Icon Vacuum is to keep track of all the icon files you may have floating around. These files usually have an *.ICO extension, but Icon Vacuum can view any icon files.

To view icons stored in a certain directory, simply use the directory and drive boxes to change to that directory. If the Auto-Refresh menu item is checked, Icon Vacuum will automatically update the view window. Otherwise, hit F5 or select Refresh Directory from the File menu to manually update the view window.

See Also

Viewing Imbedded Icons

Changing the Icon Filter


 Viewing Icon Names

Simply move the mouse over any icon in the view window to display its name in the Directory/File Status Bar at the top of the screen.

Note: Because only icon files have names, if you are viewing icons within a file, that filename will appear in the Status Bar, not the name of the icon.

See Also

Changing the Icon Filter


 Changing the Icon Filter

To only display icons which match a certain filespec, or to view icon files with an extension other than *.ICO, you must change the icon filter.

First, either double-click the Directory/File Status Bar or choose Icon Filter... from the Options menu.

Input the new file specification. If you don't enter an extension, Icon Vacuum will assume a *.ICO extension.

If you enter an extension other than *.ICO, Icon Vacuum may take longer to update the view, window, because it must check each file to see if it is an icon. Also, Icon Vacuum may mistake some bitmap pictures less than 770 bytes for icons, if they match the icon filter.

After choosing a new icon filter, Icon Vacuum will automatically update the view window if the "Auto-Refresh" setting is checked, otherwise you must press F5 to cause the view window to reflect changes to the icon filter.

If the icon filter is something other than *.ICO, the new file specification will be displayed along with the directory in the Directory/File Status Bar.

See Also

Viewing Icon Names


 File Operations

Copying or Moving Icons

Select the Destination Directory

Select the icons you wish to copy or move and click the Copy or Move buttons or choose "Copy" or "Move" from the File menu.

Icon Vacuum will attempt to copy or move the selected icons. If an icon already exists, Icon Vacuum will ask you if you wish to overwrite it.

Icon Vacuum will automatically update the view window.

Deleting Icons

To delete an icon or icons, select the icons you wish to delete and click the Delete button or choose "Delete" from the File menu.

Icon Vacuum will automatically update the view window.

Renaming an Icon

After selecting the icon you wish to rename, click the Rename button or choose "Rename" from the file menu, and input the new filename (must conform to DOS naming conventions).

Note: Unlike previous versions of Icon Vacuum, you can have more than one icon when you rename an icon. Icon Vacuum will rename the last icon you selected, as long as it is still selected. To eliminate confusion as to which icon you are renaming, Icon Vacuum also now displays the icon in the Rename dialog box.

See Also

Changing the Destination Directory

Selecting Icons


 Viewing Imbedded Icons

To view icons imbedded in a certain file, first use the directory and drive boxes to change to the directory where the icon is stored and then double-click on the file in the file list. Icon Vacuum will search through the file for any icons. Searching will take longer for large files. Once it is done, all the icons found will be shown in the view window.

Note: The default file specification for the file box is *.EXE, but you may select *.DLL or *.* if you wish to look at non-.EXE file.

If, for some reason, you wish to refresh the view window while displaying a file's imbedded icons, choose "Refresh File" from the File menu or press F6.

See Also

Imbedded Icon Searching Methods

Changing the Icon Filter

Viewing Icon Files


Vacuuming Imbedded Icons
 "Vacuuming" Imbedded Icons

"Vacuuming" an imbedded icons will take the icon and write it to its own *.ICO file, which you can then manipulate as you wish.

Note: Vacuuming in no way affects the source file whatsoever.

To vacuum an icon:

Select the Destination Directory (see below).

Select the icons you wish to vacuum and click the Vacuum button.

Icon Vacuum will vacuum the selected icons. The names Icon Vacuum assigns will be the first five letters of the file the icons are in followed by a three-digit number (i.e. 001,019,234) and an .ICO extension. If an icon already has that number, Icon Vacuum will give the new icon the number immediately after.

See Also

Viewing Imbedded Icons

Selecting Icons


Searching for Imbedded Icons
 Imbedded Icon Searching Methods

With Windows 3.1, users of Icon Vacuum have a choice of searching methods - "Find Less Icons Faster" and "Find More Icons Slower" in the Options menu:

"Find Less Icons Faster" finds and displays icons as fast or faster than viewing *.ICO files. For most files it finds all the icons, but for some types of programs, such as Visual Basic programs, it may only find the main icons  ones that can be viewed in Program Manager's "Program Item Properties" icon dialog box.

"Find More Icons Slower" uses a much slower technique (about 3 times slower) in its search for icons, but finds all the icons. It extracts the icons almost twice as fast, however.

Windows 3.0 users can only use the "Find More Icons Slower" method.

See Also

Viewing Imbedded Icons


 Selecting Icons

Before you can do anything to an icon, whether it be deleting it, magnifying it, or copying it to the clipboard, you must first select it.

Selecting or Deselecting One Icon

To select or deselect one icon, simply click on the icon in the view window. The colors of the icon and its border will change to reflect the selection, as will the Icon Status Bar above the View Window.

Selecting or Deselecting Multiple Icons

To select or deselect a group of icons, selelct or deselect the first icon of the group by clicking it. Then, go to the last icon you want to select or deselect and click it while holding the SHIFT key. All icons in between will be selected or deselected, regardless of their previous state.

Selecting or Deselecting All Icons

If you wish to select or deselect all of the icons, simply click the appropriate button below the view window. All icons, even those which are off the view window, will be selected or deselected.


Revision History
 Icon Vacuum Revision History

Version 1.0	Released November, 1992

original version

written in Visual Basic 1.0, required VBRUN100.DLL

Version 1.5	Released January, 1993

recompiled for Visual Basic 2.0

loads and runs faster

online Windows help file

multiple magnification windows

deselection of multiple icons

Version 1.6	Released June, 1993

doesn't reload icons when resizing window

icon loading 28% faster than v1.5

fixes bugs with Help file

fixes bug with selecting multiple icons

fixes bug with Windows 3.0

minor interface changes

Version 1.7	Release July, 1993

current version, requires VBRUN200.DLL

doesn't reload icons after moving or deleting icons

fixes bug with vacuuming icon mask

"Refresh Icon" command

improvements in links to icon editors

automatic memory resizing -- unlimited # of icons!

minor interface changes


 Changing the Destination Directory

The destination directory is the directory where icons are moved or copied to and where the icons created as a result of "vacuuming" are stored.

There are two ways to change the destination directory:

Click the [image] button after the destination directory input box or choose "Destination Directory..." from the Options menu. This will open up a dialog box in which you can change the drive and directory of the destination directory.

or

Type in the new destination directory in the destination directory input box in the top left corner of the Icon Vacuum window. If you enter a bad directory, Icon Vacuum will alert you and change the directory back to the original.

Until you change the destination directory, it will be the same as the directory you are currently viewing. Once you change the directory, though, it will stay the same until you erase the contents of the destination directory input box.

Note: If you wish to keep the same destination directory every time you use Icon Vacuum, type Control-D while the cursor is in the destination directory input box, or add "DesDir =" and then the path to the ICONVAC.INI file in your WINDOWS directory.

See Also

File Operations

The Icon Vacuum INI File


 Choosing and Running an Icon Editor

Choosing the Default Icon Editor

To input the path for the default icon editor, either click the  [image]  button next to the Icon Editor button or choose "Default Icon Editor..." from the Options menu.

Running an Icon Editor

When you click the Icon Editor button or choose "Icon Editor..." from the File menu, Icon Vacuum first copies the last icon you selected to the clipboard and then runs the Icon Editor that you've specified.

If you are viewing ICO files, Icon Vacuum tries to load the icon into the editor by specifying it as a command line parameter. This works with only certain editors, such as IconMaster. If, for some reason, you get error messages from your editor, add the line "LoadIntoEditor = 0" to the ICONVAC.INI file located in your WINDOWS directory.

If you haven't specified an icon editor when you choose "Icon Editor...", or if the path or filename you've entered is incorrect, Icon Vacuum will ask you for the path of you icon editor before running it.

See Also

The Icon Vacuum INI File


 The Initialization File: ICONVAC.INI

ICONVAC.INI, located in your WINDOWS directory, contains all user specifications for Icon Vacuum.

Keyword	Description	Possible Settings
ViewWindowX	Width of view window (measured in icons)	Minimum 5
ViewWindowY	Height of view window	Minimum 5
IconEditor	Path of default icon editor	Full path and filename
AlphaSort	State of Alphabetical Sort menu item	-1 (on) or 0 (off)
AutoRefresh	State of Auto-Refresh menu item	-1 (on) or 0 (off)
SearchFast	Which search method Icon Vacuum uses	-1 (fast) or 0 (slow)
DesDir	Path of static destination directory	Full path
MaxIconNumber	# of icons displayable (resizes if needed)	100-1000 (default 300)
FileList	File Pattern Selector box default setting	0 (*.*), 1 (*.exe), 2 (*.dll); default 1
LoadIntoEditor	Whether IconVac uses icon name as param.	-1 (yes) or 0 (no)
IconFilter	IconFilter default setting	ex.: *.ico, *.*, vb*.ico
RegName	Registration name	Only for registered users
RegNum	Registration number	Only for registered users


Destination Directory Input Box

You can enter a new destination directory by typing in this box. If you delete the contents of the box, Icon Vacuum will change the destination directory to your current directory, and will update it when you change directories.

See Also

Changing the Destination Directory


Go To Destination Directory Button

Clicking this button will change the current directory to the destination directory. If Auto-Refresh is on, the view window will be automatically updated.

See Also

Changing the Destination Directory


Choose Destination Directory Button

Brings up the Destination Directory dialog box, which allows you to select a new destination directory graphically.

See Also

Changing the Destination Directory


Drive Selector

Lets you change the current drive. If Auto-Refresh is on, the view window will be automatically updated.


File Pattern Selector

This box has three choices  *.EXE, *.DLL, and *.*. Selecting one of these options will change the file list box to show only the files matching the pattern. Note: Does not affect the display of icon file (i.e. ICO files), which is handled by the Icon Filter... menu item.

See Also

Changing the Icon Filter


Directory/File Status Bar

This status bar displays information about the icons you are currently viewing.

If you are viewing icon files (i.e. ICO files) then the status bar can display one of two things:

If the mouse is over an icon in the view window then the Directory/File Status Bar shows the name of the icons.

If the mouse is not over an icon then the Directory/File Status Bar displays the directory the icons are located in (usually the current directory).

If you are viewing imbedded icons, the Directory/File Status Bar displays "Icons in" and the filename containing the icons.

Note: Double-clicking the Directory/File Status Bar brings up the Icon Filter dialog box.


Icon Status Bar

Displays the number of icons in the directory or file and the number currently selected.


Directory List Box

Lets you change the current directory. If Auto-Refresh is on, the view window will be automatically updated.


File List Box

Lists all the files in the current directory which match the pattern in the file pattern selector (above the file list box). Double-clicking on a file will cause Icon Vacuum to search the file for icons and display them in the view window.

See Also

Viewing Imbedded Icons


Icon View Window

Displays the icons in the current directory which match the icon filter, or displays a file's imbedded icons. If viewing imbedded icons, F6 will refresh the view window. Pressing F5 will update the view window to show icon files.

See Also

Viewing Icon Names

Selecting Icons

Viewing Icon Files

Viewing Imbedded Icons


Copy Button

Copies the currently selected icon(s) to the destination directory.

See Also

File Operations


Move Button

Moves the currently selected icon(s) to the destination directory.

See Also

File Operations


Delete Button

Deletes the currently selected icons.

See Also

File Operations


Rename Button

Prompts you to enter the new name for the last icon you selected.

See Also

File Operations


Copy to Clipboard Button

Copies the last icon you selected into the clipboard. You can then paste the icon into another program, such as Paintbrush.


Run Icon Editor Button

Copies the currently selected icon to the Windows clipboard and then runs the default icon editor.

See Also

Choosing and Running an Icon Editor


Choose Icon Editor Button

Promps you to enter a new path for the default icon editor.

See Also

Choosing and Running an Icon Editor


Vacuum Button

"Vacuums" the currently selected icons. New icons are created in the destination directory. This button is only available while viewing imbedded icons.

See Also

"Vacuuming" Imbedded Icons

Viewing Imbedded Icons


Select All Button

Selects all icons in the current directory or file matching the icon filter, regardless of whether they are currently visible in the view window. This button is disabled if all the icons are selected.

See Also

Selecting Icons


Deselect All Button

Deselects all icons in the current directory or file matching the icon filter, regardless of whether they are currently visible in the view window. This button is disabled if none of the icons are selected.

See Also

Selecting Icons


 File Menu Commands

Copy (F8)

Copies the currently selected icon(s) to the destination directory.

Move (F7)

Moves the currently selected icon(s) to the destination directory.

Delete

Deletes the currently selected icons.

Rename

Prompts you to enter a new name for the last icon you selected.

Copy to Clipboard (CTRL+C)

Copies the last icon you selected into the clipboard. You can then paste the icon into another program, such as Paintbrush.

Icon Editor... (CTRL+I)

Promps you to enter a new path for the default icon editor.

Magnify Icon... (CTRL+M)

Magnifies the last icon you selected in a magnification window. You can resize the window to any size, and clicking the window will restore it to its default dimensions.

Refresh Icon (F4)

Only available while viewing icon files. Causes the last icon you selected to be re-read from disk. Useful for updating an icon after editing it.

Refresh Directory (F5)

Causes the view window to refresh and display all icon files in the current directory which match the icon filter.

Refresh File (F6)

Only available while viewing imbedded icons. Causes the view window to refresh and display all imbedded icons. Presently is of no real use.

Exit (ALT+F4)

Quits Icon Vacuum. If user configuration has changed, Icon Vacuum will ask you if you want to save the new settings.

See Also

Options Menu Commands

Help Menu Commands


 Options Menu Commands

Default Icon Editor...

Prompts you to enter a new path for the default icon editor.

Destination Directory...

Brings up the Destination Directory dialog box, which allows you to select a new destination directory graphically.

Icon Filter...

Prompts you to enter a new file pattern, (i.e. H*.ICO or VB???.ICO) which will restrict the icon files displayed in the view window. Icon Vacuum assumes an ICO extension.

Alphabetical Sort

If this item is checked, icon files will be displayed in alphabetical order, according to filename and extention. If unchecked, icons are displayed by their order on disk. Alphabetical sorting requires slightly more time, but the difference is hardly noticable on most machines.

Auto-Refresh (CTRL+R)

When this item is selected, the view window will be automatically updated whenever the current directory is changed. Otherwise, the user has to select Refresh Directory in the File menu to get the view window to update.

Find Less Icons Faster

Icon Vacuum will quickly find most but not all icons (Windows 3.1 only).

Find More Icons Slower

Icon Vacuum will slowly find virtually every icon (and even some non-icon bitmaps).

Save Configuration (CTRL+S)

Saves the current dimensions of the Icon Vacuum window, the default icon editor, and the settings for Auto-Refresh, Alphabetical Sort, and, for Windows 3.1 users, the method of icon searching in ICONVAC.INI.

See Also

File Menu Commands

Help Menu Commands


 Help Menu Commands

Index (F1)

Opens this help file and displays the Table of Contents

Commands

Opens this help file and displays the Icon Vacuum window.

How To Use Help

Opens the Windows help file on How to Use Help.

Register...

Opens the registration input box, where registered users can enter their name and registration numbers.

About Icon Vacuum...

Open the About Icon Vacuum dialog box, which contains copyright and registration information.

See Also

File Menu Commands

Options Menu Commands