This Old Workbench Episode Nineteen

Copyright © 1998,2000 Dave S. Matthews

Building the Perfect Workbench, Part Two



Last episode, I began laying the groundwork to build a perfectly tuned and tweaked Workbench. In the real world of course, there is no such thing as perfection, but the idea is to strive to create a comfortable, productive, and dare I say it, fun environment that's a pleasure use. This entails customizing it to work the way you do, and also making sure it is stable and doesn't conflict with your other applications.

So, the "perfect" Workbench for me probably will be somewhat different than for you. To that end, I will usually suggest a number of options, techniques and configurations so that you can choose the one best suited for your needs.


A Better path to Enlightenment?


In the last episode, I suggested creating secondary directories for the main Amiga system directories. This makes keep the Amiga's system less cluttered, and easier to maintain. I've been informed, from several sources, that there is a better way than the one I showed. First, some people prefer to name these new directories personal or user or such, in order to make clear their purpose, i.e. not part of the original system. Another tip involves overriding the old assignment, rather than simply adding a new assignment. Some examples should make this clear:

The original Amiga system has an Assign C: pointing to the C drawer of your boot drive. If we use the following statement:

Assign >NIL: C: Sys:C-User ADD

the C: assign will point to Sys:C first, and then to Sys:C-User.

However, if we use the following syntax:

Assign >NIL: C: Sys:C-User
Assign >NIL: C: Sys:C ADD

Our new C-User drawer will be searched first when launching programs, and any files copied to C: will be copied to Sys:C-User. The original Sys:c will still be available, it will just be moved down the chain of command, so to speak. This can be extended to all the major Amiga system directories- LIBS:, DEVS:, L: etc.

The advantage of this new method is you don't need to rely quite so much on the kindness of developers. When installing, the new directories will be used by default, keeping the original system directories for Amiga system files only. The disadvantage is the slight possibility of incompatibilities, which might result from the original system directories being demoted. I don't see this as a major problem. On the other hand, if you were to install a new Amiga OS update, if you forgot to change the assigns back, you would end up with the new OS in the new directories, mixed with all the 3rd party stuff, which complete derails the whole plan to keep the 3rd party files separate!

Is any Reward Worth This!


Sometimes, as I wreak all these Machiavellian schemes on my poor Amiga, I have to stop and wonder if I am losing sight of the forest for the trees. Is all this effort worth it? Well, only you can answer that question. Of course, if you use Windows 95 regularly, you are probably aware of the absolute chaos that can run amok as programs are installed. Important files get replaced with older versions, settings get changed, file associations get hijacked, without permission or even letting you know. Uninstalling software can result in needed files being deleted, and orphan files and settings clogging up the system like so much plaque on artery walls. Windows 95 has numerous programs dedicated to cleaning up this mess. Personally, I find the above actions, in concert with the Amiga's simpler, more robust nature, quite helpful in avoiding this kind of chaos.

First, there was the Installer


If you've read this far, you've either implemented the user reassignments, or decided they are the mad ramblings of an obsessive OS junkie, or both. In any case, our next step is to upgrade a few critical components.

First, you should make sure you have the latest Installer program. Many programs require this in order to install. This is available on Aminet:

http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/~aminet/dirs/aminet/util/misc/Installer-43_3.lha

This is the official Amiga installer upgrade as released by Amiga Technologies (remember them?) Since this is an official Amiga OS component, it should be placed in the original Sys:C directory, not the new C-User directory. Unpack the Installer-43_3.lha file, and copy the installer file to your SYS:C directory.

If you don't have the necessary LHA program to unpack this, get it from:

http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/~aminet/dirs/aminet/util/arc/LhA_e138.run

Also, for those of you running OS 3.1, Amiga International web page has some new Beta system updates, including a new Setpatch and updated FFS for better multi-GB hard drive support. NOTE: these are BETA products, which means they are not fully tested, and may contain bugs. Be sure and read all the documentation.

http://www.amiga.de/files/index.html


Window Treatment


Figure 1:Clicktofront Tooltypes
Figure 1:Clicktofront Tooltypes


O.K., our next step is to start configuring the Workbench. First of all, we need a click to front utility. Often when working with the Workbench, you'll end up with many windows open, and inevitably, the front 2 back gadgets get obscured. Rather than shuffle windows around till you can find the gadget, Clicktofront, found in your SYS:Tools/Commodities drawer, will let you bring a window to the front with a double click anywhere in the window. First we need to configure Clicktofront. This is done by selecting the icon (single clicking), and selecting Information from the Workbench Icon menu. See Figure 1. Notice the text items in the window in the center? These are the tooltypes. You can select these and edit them. You can also make comments by enclosing text in parenthesis. The first of the tooltypes is DONOTWAIT. This tells the Amiga not to wait for the program to finish running. This is needed when booting, since the commodities are intended to stay running in the background. The next line reads CX_Priority=0. This tells the Amiga which programs are more important in the scheme of things, for now we can ignore this. The next line allows us to configure clicktofront to behave as we desire. the QUALIFIER line lets us set a key combination that must be pressed before clicktofront will pop the window to the front. In my case I selected none. I like my clicks unfettered.

Exchange for the Machine


Figure 2:Commodities Exchange
Figure 2:Commodities Exchange


With only one commodity running, things are pretty simple. But eventually, as you install more, you will need some way to organize and control these programs. The Commodities Exchange program list all you running commodities, and allows you to enable, disable, shut them down, and open their interface. See Figure 2.

Preferences and Desires


There are many programs in your prefs drawer. I'm not going to cover all of them, but there are a couple you might not have used yet.


Icontrol, can you?


Figure 3:The Icontrol Preferences
Figure 3:The Icontrol Preferences


This unassuming program has a number of interesting features. For the moment, look at the box labeled Text Gadget Filter. The controls whether or not the Amiga will filter out non alpha-numeric characters from text gadgets. Turning this option off is useful when using a text editor. You can search for special control characters in the text. For instance, if you have a text file generated on an MSDOS/Windows machine, you can convert it to Amiga format by replacing the CTRL-M (what MSDOS considers proper for denoting the end of a line of text) characters with CTRL-J (what the Amiga likes). See Figure 3 and 4. The box character after the /rastport in the "Search for" gadget is actually a CTRL-J. Depending on the font you use, control characters may appear differently for you.

Figure 4:Cygnus Ed, searching for CTRL-J
Figure 4:Cygnus Ed, searching for CTRL-J


Insufficient Input to comply


Figure 5:The Input Preferences
Figure 5:The Input Preferences


The Input preferences program let you control several aspects of the keyboard and mouse. You can set the keyboard type, the key repeat etc. You can also set the mouse speed, acceleration and double click delay. Play with these settings until you get results that are comfortable. Considering how much time we spend either typing or mousing, configuring these options is time well spent.

Well, that should do it for this episode. Stay tuned for even more excitement next time.

 


This Old Workbench, Episode 19

Navigation  Bar
Contents First Previous Next Last Top
Table of Contents First Episode Previous Episode Next Episode Last Episode
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1