E.A.S.E.

[Andrew]

Dilwyn,

I think it makes a lot of sense to convince people that they want to use FileInfo II .

This is such an essential tool to me that I often consider it part of the Extended Environment (which it isn't). And once you have it installed, you tend to simply forget it, because it works nicely in the background, easing you of a lot of typing.

@Andrew: Try to extend your setup with FI2 if you have enough memory, it's really worth it, then go Dilwyn's way and "EX" SuperBASIC programs. There is no need to re-implement what's already present in an existing superb piece of software.

I use QL Commander as my main file browser/manager, and it covers (most of) my needs.
But I'll install FI2 - maybe I'll find time to create a SMSQ/E version of QL Commander that uses Fi2
Which version should I install? W. Lenerz's or Thierry Godefroy's Fi2 v3.50? It looks like there is a great difference in size.
Memory should not be a problem - QPC has plenty and the QL has 4Mb SGC

[tofro]

Dilwyn,

I think it makes a lot of sense to convince people that they want to use FileInfo II .

This is such an essential tool to me that I often consider it part of the Extended Environment (which it isn't). And once you have it installed, you tend to simply forget it, because it works nicely in the background, easing you of a lot of typing.

@Andrew: Try to extend your setup with FI2 if you have enough memory, it's really worth it, then go Dilwyn's way and "EX" SuperBASIC programs. There is no need to re-implement what's already present in an existing superb piece of software.

I use QL Commander as my main file browser/manager, and it covers (most of) my needs.
But I'll install FI2 - maybe I'll find time to create a SMSQ/E version of QL Commander that uses Fi2
Which version should I install? W. Lenerz's or Thierry Godefroy's Fi2 v3.50? It looks like there is a great difference in size.
Memory should not be a problem - QPC has plenty and the QL has 4Mb SGC

Thierry's version greatly extended Wolfgang's original by being able to configure a (practically) unlimited number of possible actions to "EX"ecute per file type. You want Thierry's version - I don't really think anyone still uses the original.

[Derek_Stewart]

Hi,

I use Fileinfo2 v3.50, which fixes a few bugs. Fileinfo2 is one the best software packages for the QL, I always foget it is running, just execute the file and load up the specified executable , display list options, just like all the Windos, Macos, Linix, in less than 640K.

[bwinkel67]

There are a few things I like about ICE as just a simple file manager. The fact that it shows all icons and gives types to them (some based on suffix, but some based on header content) is pretty useful. Being able to copy files in any order by selecting them (that fed my OCD back in the 90's ) helped me organize my disks and microdrives. Plus, if you're without TK2, being able to rename and get file size...and, it's in ROM and takes up less than a K of RAM.

I remember, back in the early 1990's, when using it, the file-type stuff was so much better than what Windows was doing at the time, and also early Amiga, both of which would have this idea of hidden files, which I hated. The Mac OS back then showed all the files but it had additional complexities of having a resource fork and a data fork, which meant you sort of had hidden information in the file system that you need a special program (RegEdit) to get to.

I wish Eidersoft would have added moveable and growable windows instead of the static display but with only 16K in ROM and virtually no impact on RAM, I can understand the compromise. It's a good GUI for an unexpanded QL but doesn't compare to the PE for modern systems. Retro Recipes just released a video on OS64, which is a new GUI environment for the Commodore 64. It's file-based though, so that wouldn't have worked in the 80's and only works now with an SD card reader that can load stuff in quickly into memory, so it's kind of cheating I suppose.

Eidersoft did write software for the Atari ST and the Amiga. Did ICE ever end up on any other platform? Also, what does the ICE Toolkit do, give you code to integrate into your programs to use the mouse?

[dilwyn]

But it would be really nice if Launchpad's author would fix that bug that prevents it launching basic programs

Good news, Easyptr toolkit v4.10 seems to fix the problem - I've compiled a test version which works.

Now trying to fix another bug which prevents dragging an icon from one desktop tab to another. More difficult to fix than I expected.

Will email you a copy of Launchpad v2.12 to test on your system before release on my website once I've finished updating it, just in case it only works on my QPC2 system, as it's the only system I have set up at the moment. (I'm assuming you're using Launchpad 2?)

Sadly, all the other facilities you requested may take much longer...

[RalfR]

BTW: The windows in Launchpad, where I can select applications or other things always let me highlight items, which are not there, just empty places. Is there no way to just let the user select items or is this more easier for you to program, i.e. you make an array with the maximum of items?

[Andrew]

BTW: The windows in Launchpad, where I can select applications or other things always let me highlight items, which are not there, just empty places. Is there no way to just let the user select items or is this more easier for you to program, i.e. you make an array with the maximum of items?

I'm not sure if I understood correctly your questin. Hoe to add icons and applications to Launchpad?
Just go to menu File -> Add new program
The program will be added in the top left corner of the page, so make sure to have that slot empty.
Then you can right click on the icon and select Move - and move it were is convenient for you.

[dilwyn]

BTW: The windows in Launchpad, where I can select applications or other things always let me highlight items, which are not there, just empty places. Is there no way to just let the user select items or is this more easier for you to program, i.e. you make an array with the maximum of items?

I'm not sure if I understood correctly your questin. Hoe to add icons and applications to Launchpad?
Just go to menu File -> Add new program
The program will be added in the top left corner of the page, so make sure to have that slot empty.
Then you can right click on the icon and select Move - and move it were is convenient for you.

I *think* that what Ralf means is that as you move the pointer arrow around the screen, you see rectangles where there are empty icon slots as the pointer moves across them.

It's because these are application window menu items. Although slots with no icons are set to 'unavailable', the PE still draws the highlight border as the pointer passes over them. Using the application window menu like this seemed like a good idea at the time (I think it was back in 2003!), but looks dated now. If ever I do get around to doing a full rewrite of Launchpad, I won't use the menu in that way, that will make it easier to have "freeform" icons (mix of sizes, colour depth of sprites and icon locations).

[RalfR]

Yes, you have understand it. Ok, Application window, I understand. Though I do not really understand, why PE draws a border, if the item is unavailable. Makes no sense (for me). And it does not do this on loose menu items (I think).