PowerSnap 1.1 User Manual
Aug 19, 1991
›1mPreface›0m
›1m=======›0m
The programs and files in this distribution are freely distributable,
but are also Copyright (c) Nico François. They may be freely distributed as
long as no more than a nominal fee is charged to cover time and copying costs.
No commercial usage is permitted without written permission from the
author. Everything in this distribution must be kept together, in original
unmodified form.
The above is generally known as freeware.
If you have suggestions or remarks about this program, or if you find
any bugs, please let me know.
Write to the following address:
Nico François
Corbielaan 13
B-3060 Bertem
BELGIUM
›1mContents›0m
›1m========›0m
1. An introduction
2. Installation
3. CLI usage
4. Workbench usage
5. Features
›1m1. An introduction›0m
›1m==================›0m
Snap, snap, snap, snap, eggs and snap :-) Ahem...
PowerSnap is a utility that allows you to use the mouse to mark
characters anywhere on the screen and paste them somewhere else, like in the
CLI or in a string gadget. PowerSnap will check what font is used in the
window you snap from and will look for the position of the characters
automatically. It recognizes all non proportional fonts of up to 24 pixels
wide and of any height so this should cover most fonts used. Snapping and
pasting text is done using the mouse, making PowerSnap fast and easy to use.
To try PowerSnap out, double-click its icon to install the handler, move
the mouse over a character on the screen, press the left ALT key and while
keeping this pressed press the left mouse button. After a short delay
(depends on how big the font is) PowerSnap will either flash the screen,
indicating it hasn't found a character at this position (it is possible
PowerSnap didn't look for the correct font), or the character you are pointing
at will be selected. Move the mouse while keeping the left ALT key and the
mouse button down to select more characters. Once you are satisfied with what
you have selected release the left ALT key. You can now insert the text you
have just snapped by pressing either left ALT + V or left ALT + right mouse
button.
Both the left ALT and the 'V' keys mentioned in this short explanation
are user-definable (see below). Also, don't start snapping on a space because
PowerSnap will almost certainly get the character positions wrong. You CAN
start snapping on a space if you have already snapped in the window.
›1m2. Installation›0m
›1m===============›0m
To install PowerSnap automatically run the installation script. Install
manually by copying 'PowerSnap' and 'PowerSnap.info' to your C: directory and
'powersnap-handler' to your L: directory. 'powersnap-handler' does not have
to be in L: but it is best if you put it there, PowerSnap will also find it
if it is in the current directory.
If you want PowerSnap to be part of your initial startup (so you always
have the comfort of snapping anything anywhere :-) you should put a simple
line saying 'PowerSnap' before the 'EndCLI >NIL:' in your startup-sequence.
If you wish to specify options include these on the same line, like e.g.
'PowerSnap COLOR 2'. To disable the copyright message redirect output to NIL:
like in 'PowerSnap >NIL:'.
Workbench 2.0 users have the following extra possibility: drag the
PowerSnap icon into the WbStartup drawer of your boot disk/partition. And
that's all there is to it. Specify options in the icon's tooltypes. If you
do it this way you don't have to change your startup-sequence.
›1m3. CLI usage›0m
›1m============›0m
Enter 'PowerSnap ?' for a CLI usage template:
›1mPowerSnap 1.1›0;32m © Nico François›0m
Usage: PowerSnap [QUAL qual] [SLQUAL qual] [PASTEKEY char] [PRIORITY n]
[COLOR 1-3] [PAQUAL qual] [PREPEND str] [APPEND str]
[SNAPCHARS] [SNAPFRAME] [[NO]JOIN] [[NO]XEROX]
or PowerSnap LIST
or PowerSnap QUIT
Explanation of the options:
QUAL qual : Set snap qualifier (qual, default: LALT).
This is the qualifier that must be down when you press
the left mouse button to start snapping. This is also the
qualifier for inserting the snapped text. There are two
ways to insert snapped text: using the pastekey or using
the right mouse button.
SLQUAL qual : Set single line qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
When this qualifier is down and you insert snapped text
everything will be put on one single line. All whitespace
(spaces and newlines) between words will be changed to a
single space. Very useful for inserting a lot of filenames
from a directory for example.
PASTEKEY c : Set pastekey (character, default: V).
This key is used to insert the snapped text. Insertion
will follow when it is pressed with on of the three
possible qualifiers down (QUAL, SLQUAL, PAQUAL).
PRIORITY n : Set priority of inputhandler (dec, default: 55).
Priority of input handler (should always be > 50).
SNAPCHARS : Start with character snap (default).
SNAPFRAME : Start with frame snap.
PowerSnap has two snap modes: character and frame. The
easiest to explain is frame snap, you just draw a rectangle
and everything inside it will be snapped. Character snap
will interpret the screen as lines of text (like an editor)
and will snap accordingly.
[NO]JOIN : Join mode on/off (default: on).
Tells PowerSnap if it's ok to join two lines to a single
long line when the first line has a non blank character
as its last character. This only works when you are using
character or word snap. Default is JOIN.
[NO]XEROX : Xerox insert mode on/off (default: off).
When xerox mode is on snapped text will be inserted
immediately when you stop snapping. Default is NOXEROX.
COLOR 1-3 : Set color of select box (1-3, default: 1).
This sets the color of the complemented characters.
Try all three and see what you like best.
PAQUAL qual : Set pre-/append qualifier (qual, default: LALT+CONTROL).
When using this qualifier to insert snapped text a string
will be prepended to each line and one will be appended.
PREPEND str : Set prepend string (default: "> ").
Use this to set the string that will be prepended when you
paste with the PAQUAL down. This string can be up to 15
characters long. To enter a '"' in the string escape it
with a '*'. E.g. 'PowerSnap PREPEND " *" "'.
APPEND str : Set append string (default: empty).
Use this to set the string that will be appended when you
paste with the PAQUAL down. Can be up to 15 characters.
Following qualifiers are recognized:
LSHIFT Left shift key
RSHIFT Right shift key
CONTROL Control key
LALT Left alt key
RALT Right alt key
LCOMMAND Left Amiga key
RCOMMAND Right Amiga key
MIDBUTTON Middle mouse button (if you have one :-)
Or any combination of these (separate the qualifiers by a non-alpha
character like a '+', '-' or '|'), e.g. 'LALT+LSHIFT' or 'LALT-LSHIFT'.
You may run PowerSnap again once it has been installed to change the
settings. Enter 'PowerSnap LIST' for a list of current settings.
'PowerSnap QUIT' will remove the handler from memory.
Examples:
o PowerSnap PREPEND "Type " APPEND " OPT N"
When you paste some text 'Type ' will be inserted before each line
and ' OPT N' after. If you e.g. snap 'PowerSnap.c' and press
LALT-CTRL-V the following will be inserted: 'Type PowerSnap.c OPT N'
o PowerSnap QUAL LSHIFT+RSHIFT+CONTROL
This sets the snap qualifier to both shift keys plus the control
key. This is a rather silly example because unless your name is
Zaphod Beeblebrox or you are very good at doing things with your
feet it is quite impossible to snap anything with this qualifier :^)
o PowerSnap PASTEKEY i
Sets the insert key to 'I' instead of 'V'. So pressing LALT-I
will feed the text in the clipboard to the keyboard.
NOTE: - You can toggle between character/frame snap once you have started
snapping. Just keep the left mouse pressed down while you click the
right one. Be careful, if you don't keep the left button pressed
you will insert the text you have marked.
- PowerSnap has the ability to do word oriented snapping. To activate
this double-click the left mouse button when you start snapping. Note
that word snapping forces character snapping and frame snapping is no
longer possible.
- Press the left mouse button while PowerSnap is inserting to abort.
›1m4. Workbench usage›0m
›1m==================›0m
PowerSnap recognizes the following tooltypes (see CLI options for a more
complete explanation):
QUAL=qual : Set snap qualifier (qual, default: LALT).
SLQUAL=qual : Set single line qualifier (qual, default: LALT+LSHIFT).
PASTEKEY=c : Set pastekey (character, default: V).
PRIORITY=n : Set priority of inputhandler (dec, default: 55).
SNAPCHARS : Start with character snap (default).
SNAPFRAME : Start with frame snap.
COLOR=1-3 : Set color of select box (1-3, default: 1).
JOIN : Join mode on (default).
NOJOIN : Join mode off.
XEROX : Xerox insert mode on.
NOXEROX : Xerox insert mode off (default).
PAQUAL=qual : Set pre-/append qualifier (qual, default: LALT+CONTROL).
PREPEND=str : Set prepend string (default: "> ").
APPEND=str : Set append string (default: empty).
Do NOT put quotes around the pre-/append string.
QUIET : Don't open window informing PowerSnap has been installed
or removed. Useful for people who wish to put PowerSnap
in their WbStartup drawer (Workbench 2.0 only).
Select PowerSnap's icon and choose 'Information' from the 'Icons' menu
(Workbench 2.0) or 'Info' from the 'Workbench' menu (Workbench 1.3). You can
now edit PowerSnap's tooltypes, check your manual for more information.
Run PowerSnap twice to remove it from memory.
NOTE: - Workbench 1.2/1.3 users MUST always include an '=' in a tooltype.
So instead of entering "XEROX" to switch on xerox insert mode, you
must insert "XEROX=". Workbench 2.0 no longer has this limitation.
›1m5. Features›0m
›1m===========›0m
o Fully supports the clipboard.device. You can use snapped text in all
other programs that supports the clipboard.device.
o Snaps all printable characters, from ' ' (32) to 'ÿ' (255).
o Supports all keymaps.
o Uses a relatively small handler that is about 7.4K long. PowerSnap
uses less than 12K of memory once it is installed (excluding memory
used by the clipboard.device).
o Recognizes all non-proportional fonts to up to 24 pixels wide and of
any height. Also recognizes scaled fonts (Workbench 2.0).
o Recognizes plain, underlined, bold, inverse, bold underlined, inverse
underlined, inverse bold and inverse bold underlined characters :-)
o Works with fonts with kerning data (like the courier.font supplied
with Workbench 2.0).
o Will remember character positions in up to 8 windows. Once you have
snapped in a window the initial character position will be found
immediately and you may also start snapping on spaces.
o Joins long lines.
o Pre-/appends strings and has a neat single-line insert mode :-)
o Supports a middle mouse button if one exists. Using the middle button
as qualifier gives the possibility to snap/paste without touching the
keyboard!
o Inputhandler is written in assembly for lowest possible overhead.
o AmigaDOS Release 2 compatible (Kickstart & Workbench 2.0).
As always, enjoy !
PROGRAM HISTORY:
******************************************************************************
VERSION 1.0
First release.
******************************************************************************
VERSION 1.1
Fixed bug in reading from clipboard. Strange things could happen if the
clipboard did not contain text. Unknown clips are properly ignored now.
Incompatibility with 'ConClip' (Workbench 2.0, V37) resolved.
Default COLOR changed to 1.
Version string embedded for Workbench 2.0 'Version' command.
To put the record straight: PowerSnap is not a modified version of
Snap (by Mikael Karlsson). It is a completely different program
that does most of the things Snap does. A lot of the features and
ideas in PowerSnap were influenced by (read stolen from :-) Snap
though. I just thought I'd mention this because some German magazine
almost convicted me for plagiarism, oh boy :^D
The Amiga would hang if you tried to snap something just when a window
was about to close. Now all the Intuition functions that open, close
or modify windows are patched so they will wait until snapping has
finished. If you are running Kickstart 2.0, the new Intuition
functions are also patched. This should fix all deadlocks.
New tooltype 'QUIET' added for startup from Workbench without window.
Tested with Enforcer and Mungwall debugging tools.
******************************************************************************
PowerSnap 1.1 written by Nico François (Yes, Nico is my first name :-)
thanks to Jorrit Tyberghein, Ives Aerts & Philip Marivoet for
beta testing.
(c) 1991 Nico François
//
Thanks to \X/ Amiga for being the best computer ever !
