=========================================================================== Atari Clipboard CPX Version 0.9 (c) 1991 Software Development Systems Released as Freeware Written by Scott Sanders =========================================================================== INTRODUCTION ------------ Ever since the first Atari computers rolled off the assembly line TOS was capable of information sharing between applications. An example of this would be to say, highlight a block of text in your word processor, select cut from the menu bar, quit the word processor, load a desktop publisher, select paste into a text box and lo and behold your text would appear. The sad truth is, however, that very few applications handle this well, if at all. To support the old saying, 'Better late than never', Atari recently firmly defined the protocal (method) for using the Atari clipboard. Great, right? Well, the problem is that most applications out there on the market don't utilize the new standard correctly. Basically, this means two things. First, hopefully, developers will see the benefits of inter-process communication and support the standard in new products and upgrades. Software Development Systems is including full clipboard support in our Newdesk Icon Editor and Printer Utilities Pak packages. Second, some developers are going to require your nagging to make this work. I know how it is when you spend hours making something work the way you like it. If it ain't broke, why fix it, right? Well, anyone who's seen the ease at which Macintosh computers exchange information between programs can tell you that making this standard uniform would be well worth the effort. OK, SO WHAT DOES IT DO? ----------------------- The Atari Clipboard system is built around two system calls scrp_read() and scrp_write(). They don't actually read or write information to the clipboard, they just let you access the pathname where the clipboard is located. Simply put, this CPX lets you better manage where your clipboard is located (what drive and path) and gives you some other options like clearing the directory on bootup and whenever else you choose. This version has one button greyed out. 'View' will show another screen which will let you examine the contents of the clip directory if it contains an image graphic, text, or an icon file. I've greyed this option for now because it's not quite completed and I wanted to get some inital reaction on this project before completing 1.0. I've also added an option which allows greater compatibility with those applications that haven't caught up to the standard yet. STalker and Aladdin, two wonderful programs, are both culprits of this. INSTALLATION ------------ Simply put the file CLIPBRD.CPX in your CPX directory and either reboot or reload your CPX's (consult the CPX documentation for details). A few promotional text files accompany this file as well as a .RSC file. The .RSC file DOES NOT have to be included in the same directory as the CPX. It is an unrelated file. It contains a icon to represent CPX's in .RSC format which can only be used by the Newdesk Icon Editor CPX. It is a benefit to those owners only. To start simply double-click on the CPX titled Atari Clipboard and you're ready to go. OPERATION --------- On the screen your current clipboard directory is displayed. When first run this should say C:\CLIPBRD (or A:\CLIPBRD on a floppy system) unless another application has already changed it. To change the location of your clipboard simply click in the text box between the two arrows and a file-selector will appear. Go to the path where you want your clipboard files stored and select OK. If the pathname is longer than the space provided you can use the arrow keys to scroll through it. To quickly jump to the root directory of any drive in your system use the popup bar, initially labeled 'Atari Clipboard'. Selecting a drive will set your clipboard to that location. Selecting 'Atari Clipboard' will set your clipboard to the default value. Selecting Clear will, after verifying it with you, delete all SCRAP.* files from your clipboard directory. Selecting Save will save your current default clipboard directory as well as the status of the 'Clear on boot?' button. If that button is checked your default clipboard directory will be cleared on bootup automatically. Exiting with OK sets the default clipboard directory. Cancel leaves it as before. WHAT'S COMING IN V1.0 --------------------- Essentially V1.0 will be released as Freeware when done (probably before Christmas) and included with all of our products on disk. I'm adding a second screen to display text, images, and icons. Future versions may include further support. If you have a product that uses the clipboard and uses an extender different from .TXT, .IMG, or .XIC, get in touch and I'll see about adding support. DISTRIBUTION ------------ Software Development Systems grants conditional permission to distribute this file as long as no charge (except for maximum $5.00 distribution fee) is placed on its distribution, the file includes this document, and is not altered in any way. Developers, please feel free to put this (or V1.0) on your distribution disk when your product supports the clipboard. Just drop me a line and let me know, that'll be all the pat in the back I'll need. DISCLAIMER ---------- Software Development Systems place no warranty whatsoever on this product. SDS will not be held responsible for any damages resulting from the use of this product either incidental or consequential. This includes loss of wages and data loss. BUG REPORTS & SUGGESTIONS ------------------------- If you have any suggestions you'd like to contibute to this project, or you think you've found a bug, contact me by BBS, phone, or USPS, and I'll try to look into it ASAP. Software Development Systems 996 Redondo Ave. #404 Long Beach, CA 90804 Orders: (800) 237-4SDS Tech Support: (310) 595-9799 GENIE: S.SANDERS2 Compuserve: 71760,2140 Thank you for supporting Atari Computers! -Scott Sanders Member IAAD