1/29/99
The large number of emails I receive on the topic lead me to believe that 32 bit icons are misunderstood. Many readers are asking for a hack to make the current ResEdit icon editor work with 32 bit icons. Sorry gang, but that just ain't gonna happen.
While we all call them icons, this new 32 bit icns format is actually more like a PICT file than an icon. To create the graphic, you need a true graphics program like Photoshop, PhotoDeluxe, or the shareware Painting.
Once you have a program to create your icon, you have to convert it to the icns format. There are two programs (that I know of) to do this: clip2icns and IconBuilder.
clip2icns:
- NOT a graphics editing program. It converts your saved clipboard picture to a 32 bit icon.
- includes a Photoshop Action which takes a layer and its mask and copies them to the clipboard.
- extracts 32 bit icons from applications onto the clipboard.
- generates old style icon families from the 32 bit picture (varying degrees of success do to dithering)
IconBuilder:
- A Photoshop filter
- Supports transparent/translucent masking of icons
- QuickBuild™ feature creates all icon resources in a single click
- Extract any icon (including its mask) into Photoshop for editing
- IconBuilder does it all - no need for additional icon editors
While both of these programs satisfy an important need, neither is as easy to use as the 8 bit editor built into ResEdit. This is why we're so slow to see 32 bit icon families appearing on the icon sites - the darn things are hard to make, and doesn't seem likely that a 32 bit graphic editor will ever be added to ResEdit.
Other than pasting an icns into the "Get Info" window, there doen't appear to be a way to add 32 bit document icons to existing applications. Simply adding icns resources with the approriate ID numbers doesn't seem to work.
For example, in Tex-Edit Plus, the normal saved document icon is ID# 1001. If you add an icns resource with the same ID number, it doesn't get used. Other than the application's Finder icon (resource ID#-16455), 32 bit icons are not recognized.
Bummer.
To summarize: realistically, ResEdit will never be able to graphically edit 32 bit icon resources. Other than pasting a 32 bit icon into the Get Info window, there doesn't appear to be a way to add 32 bit icons to an application.
 While we're on the topic of icons, Joanne Hogan writes,
"I would like to permanently modify the icon definition of my RAM Disk to present a view of Kenny from South Park. It seems entirely suitable as the contents of the RAM Disk (like Kenny) are disposed of regularly!"
The RAM Disk icon is stored it two locations. The 32 bit icon is in the System Resources file and can be changed using the tools outlined above. If you don't want to bother with the 32 bit version, delete icns ID#-3998 from the System Resources, and the Finder will use the 8 bit version.
The older 8 bit RAM disk icon is in the System suitcase as ID#-3988. This can be easily changed with ResEdit.
This weekend, why not install some new User Contributions!
1/27/99
 My recent hard drive crash not only took down the MacOS, but also my Linux partitions.
I have added a new screen snapshot and some addition comments to the Linux Report.
If you were interested in additional scripting additions for controlling resources, Eric Grant recommends these freebies:
Instead of hacking Finder resources, Richard Morton lets OSA Menu do all the work:
Like a lot of other people, I've long wanted a keyboard command for emptying the trash. I knew there was an edit here for it, and after looking at it and considering the pros and cons of hacking the Finder, I came up with this _very_ simple way to do it with AppleScript and Leonard Rosenthal's OSA Menu. It's a bit more 'gentle' than editing Finder resources and is almost as fast.
Make a new script in Script Editor and write the following:
tell application "Finder" to empty trash
Save As a compiled script to the "Finder Scripts" folder of the OSA Menu with whatever name you want and with the following (without quotes) appended to the name: "\t". For example: "Empty Trash\t"
This invokes a standard feature of the OSA Menu which allows you to add keyboard commands to scripts. The backslash is the escape character & this example empties the trash when Command-T is pressed.
ResExcellence contributor Akeem Williams has moved and updated his web site with desktop pictures, MOSS, icons, and "About this Mac" replacements.
Michael Schuerig has released a new version of CMScript.
It's a Contextual Menu plugin that allows you to run AppleScripts on the "context". These could be files and folders selected in the Finder or maybe text in some word processor that supports the Contextual Menu. Back by popular, demand this version allows for a nested sub-folder inside the Scripts folder. This way it's easier to avoid conflicts with other software that uses the Scripts folder.
Michael has also written a nifty little extension called MyKeys that adds the following command keys to the Application Menu:
- Control-H: Hide other applications
- Control-option-H: Hide current application
- Control-A: Show all applications
- Control-Help: Toggle Balloon Help
Jonathan Albers generously submitted his Platinum styled replacement icons for the Apple CD Player edit.
Other User Contributions include:
Stop the PPP status window from monopolizing your computer. If you use Apple's 0T/PPP to dial into the internet, your computer is useless until the connection is complete. Use this simple edit to make make the PPP Status window non-modal. (Continued...)
1/24/99
Whew! I hate days like this! I managed to crash my hard drive - again! Unfortunately, my most recent backup is two weeks old, so I've lost a few ResExcellence User Submissions.
If you haven't seen your submission posted, please send it again - with the exception of these which I received over the weekend:
- Bill Maxwell Imperial OS
- MOSS_miles.sit
- Y2KStartupScreen Folder.sit
While I've kept up with the email, if you haven't received a response to a recent email, you may want to send it again. If you one of several readers who submitted Folder Actions, please send them again.
You know, the most painful loss is my saved game of Unreal. :(
You can read a partial posting of the recent SmartMoney article on Apple and their Demo Days. This abbreviated version leaves my quote on the cutting room floor . Thanks MacMadness.
Half of you have cancelled print subscriptions because you're getting the same info faster online. The same is true for me. I've cancelled half a dozen trade magazines because by the time the printed version arrives, the news is often outdated!
This week's topical Polling Place asks, "How often do you backup your files?"
The 8Tuner Icon Page has received four new sets of icon packs!
1/22/99
See Mom, I did amount to something! This February’s issue of SmartMoney Magazine (on sale now) has a great article on Macintosh Evangelism and how it relates to Mac Demo Days. I can't find a URL for the article, but your illustrious webmaster is quoted on why he volunteered for Demo Days:
"I probably have $10,000 in Mac equipment," agrees Michael Coyle, a Chicago-based sound engineer. "I've got a lot of money wrapped up. I don't want to see the platform fail because then I'd lose that investment."
Pretty pithy, huh! Seriously, the article is very good and I'm sure you'll recognize many of the names and sites mentioned.
If you haven't stopped by Apple's AppleScript site, now's the time. They've posted an update to the HTML System Help and a beginners tutorial for AppleScript. The tutorial has several examples on how to make folder actions.
Weedhopper Press has released a new AppleScript scripting tool called Weedhopper Commands. The scripting addition allows resource editing and an easy way to manage preferences from AppleScript. I can see this as being useful for creating System edit patches. I dread reinstalling my system because it means I have to redo all me ResEdit edits!
Jonathan Signor submitted this AppleScript to change the creator codes of any file dropped onto the applet:
on open theSelectedItems
with timeout of 9000 seconds
tell application "Finder"
activate
set lastItem to the last item of theSelectedItems as text
repeat with thisItem in theSelectedItems
set file type of thisItem to "XXXX" ----- Use ResEdit to get
set creator type b thisItem to "XXXX" -- the 4 character codes
end repeat
end tell
end timeout
end open
Just when you thought that the Apple CD Player had been hacked to death, two addition ideas have been submitted. Jake Tenenbaum adds:
First off, the changing of the window type makes the app Kaleidoscope aware. COOLNESS.
In the same vein as that window frame addition, there is one other finishing touch that should be attended to: the volume indicator above the volume slider on the right side of the window. If you look closely at it when the Platinum scheme is on, the little sound wave graphics are almost impossble to see. I'd be willing to bet that on some people's systems, the color is washed out enough that you can't see them at all.
I just went ahead and edited cicn resources 301 thru 303, making the lines black. You know what? It works well. They aren't so dark that you can't see them in the dark grey theme. I suggest everyone who uses the edit do this, too. It makes a difference.
...and Jonathan Albers contributes:
 I just saw the edit for giving the AppleCD Audio Player a platinum-style window title bar, and it looks pretty cool. I thought it would be neat to also put in the platinum-style MacOS push buttons instead of the default ones the player uses.
I took a screen capture of the buttons found throughout the MacOS, then used Snapz Pro to take screenshots of what the buttons look like when they're depressed. I used these when as a reference when creating the new ones to import into the player. (cicn 500-502, 600-602)
And here are a couple of MOSS screens to brighten your weekend:
"This is word-of-mouth advice that we cannot replace with any amount of advertising" - Apple's Grace Kvamme on Demo Day's volunteers.
1/20/99
Nu Sans 8.5.2 (the true type Espi replacement) has been updated by Scooter Graphics.
Proving once again that ResExcellence readers are the smartest people on Earth, Patrick Kelleher wrote in with this additional tip for the previous Apple CD Player edit:
To make the player truly Platinum, you have to change the title bar with the WIND resource. Just open it up and pick from the 10 upfront selections. The finishing touch!
If you need detailed instructions, the original edit has been updated.
So you put a new iMac on your desk, and suddenly, the ol' desk lamp with the fish-tank light bulb doesn't look so cool. Take a look at Curious John's Handmade Lamps for a nifty replacement.
Several overseas readers have written to complain of problems unstuffing User Contributions. Assuming you have Stuffit 5.0, the problem may be due to having a non-US system. Klaas Dijkhuizen solved his problem by downloading an extension called "Fool Stuffit Deluxe".
If you have used some previous edits on Explorer to change the default search engine, or edit the toolbar, you may like this Yahoo icon created by Danny Semaya.
Howzabout some MOSS User Contributions!
What good is having your own web page if you can't periodically use it for your own selfish needs? I'm selling my Powerbook 3400 200/48 for $1500 (I'll pay shipping). Here's what you get: 2 gig internal disk, 12X internal CD ROM, 1.2 gig VST expansion bay drive, an expansion bay Zip drive, and two power supplies.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot - includes one very hacked up System folder!
Interested? Let me know.
After performing the Apple CD Player edit, Diane Jennings said:
The CD player hack idea gave me the suggestion of hacking some of the desk accessories to make them look at home with the new Macs.
How 'bout giving that ol' calculator a new look? Perhaps a Platinum look, or a futuristic look that will fit in with today's G3s. This guy sure has an old dated feel to it.
Any suggestions/ideas?
Mmm... Using Patrick Kelleher's window tip from above, we can at least update the window style from System 6 to MacOS 8! (Continued...)
One of my New Year's resolutions is to promptly reply to reader's email. Some days, I get swamped, so if your reply feels a little abrupt, I apologise.
1/18/99
Only 5% of ResExcellence readers have 68k processors on their primary computer. A much smaller number than I would have thought.
43% of you have G3's and that's a larger number than I had expected. ResExcellence readers like to keep their computers fast and their gas tanks full!
I also suspect that readers of this site are hardcore web surfers. So this week, the Polling Place asks, "Have you cancelled any print subscriptions because you get information faster on the web?"
Are you using Java 2.1ea3 and getting a little tired of the nag screen? John Wolf submitted this little trick to remove it (you'll need to download Forker).
Open the MRJlib file in Sytem Folder:Extensions:MRJ Libraries: Edit the data fork of the file, replace the $07CF (decimal 1999) at offset $EC402 with $07D0 (decimal 2000)
Several generous readers have added to the User Contributions:
Eric Johns stumbled upon this:
While pasting the new buttons in QuarkXpress provided from your site, I noticed an Easter Egg that I've never heard discussed (I'm aware of the alien-delete and the alien-delete-mega alien). There are two cats in PICT resource 390. What is up with that?
Any ideas readers? Let me know.
Remove the 2 minute delay from the startup disk check. If you crash, and have the General Controls Shutdown Warning turned on, MountCheck checks your drive on the next restart. If you're not there to hit OK when it's finished, the dialog box stays there for 2 minutes! Thanks to Steven Bytnar, you can now remove the delay. (Continued...)
"It would help me immensely to have a survey showing that 90% of developers believe that putting the browser into the (operating system) makes sense." - Bill Gates before commissioning a survey. He only got 85%.
1/15/99
I've never run across this, but Jean Sebastien says you can adapt a previous edit to remove Stuffit's Nag screen to also stop complaining about the wrong version of the Stuffit Engine. Just delete ALRT ID# 666!
If you want to get rid of ICQ's floating window forever, this tip from Chip Floyd is perfect!
Open up the settings folder in the ICQ folder and open the file called "ICQ.reg" go to where it says "Floater"=rect:233,12,68,90 (or whatever numbers happen to be there) and change it to "Floater"=rect:-30,-30,-30,-30. This should put the floater permenantly offscreen.
They're not 32-bit, but they look it! Toren Valimir submitted some beautiful SimpleText replacement document icons.
 "I'm sorry Steve. It wasn't my fault".
In addition to a Quicktime movie of HAL pleading his case on Y2K, Michael Lamoureaux submitted a full sized StartupScreen featuring the computer for the next millennium.
Change the colors in Apple's CD Player. They gave us six colors from which to choose, but that's never enough! Thanks to this tip posted by Don Tipton in the Users Forum, you can now change the colors on the face of Apple's CD Player. (Continued...)
1/13/99
Almost all of ResExcellence's screenshots feature the Espy Sans font family. In order to give my computer a consistent appearance, I have had to use three different versions of the font: Chisel, Espy Sans Bold, and Espi Sans.
That's why I got all tingley inside when I downloaded the demo of Marty Pfeiffer's Nu Sans TrueType font. Even though I have hundreds of fonts on CD ROM, I gladly paid the $10 online registration fee for this good lookin' Espy styled font .
The full download contains 3 truetype suitcases and 25 on-screen bitmaps. While the archive contains the appropriate System resources to add Nu Sans to the Large and Small Appearance font lists, I found it easier to use AppearanceHopper from WeedHopper press.
 Microsoft made some serious changes to the Search feature in Explorer 4.5. If you liked the old way better - when clicking the search icon loaded the default search page - download this patcher that Guinevere Orvis submitted to ResExcellence.
Ravi Pokala sent in this AppleScript to launch ICQ and close the floating window. It requires the "Menu Events" Scripting Addition, which is included in the archive.
Apple has posted a page with lots of info and screenshots of MacOS X.
Folder Actions. Cool! Did you hear MacOS 8.5 has Folder Actions. Ummm... so, just what can you do with folder actions?
Folder Actions are AppleScripts that are triggered when a folder opens. Here's how you can create a simple one. 
When I open my hard disk, I like the window to be in the upper left corner and resized to show the main 9 icons.
After hitting the Record button in the Script Editor, I opened the hard disk, moved the folder, and resized it. This is what the was the script looked like:
tell application "Finder"
activate
select startup disk
open selection
set position of container window of startup disk to {10, 45}
set size of container window of startup disk to {215, 195}
end tell
To turn it into a Folder Action, it needs a couple of more lines:
on opening folder startup disk
tell application "Finder"
activate
select startup disk
open selection
set position of container window of startup disk to {10, 45}
set size of container window of startup disk to {215, 195}
end tell
end opening folder
After saving the script with the Compiled option, I attached it to my hard disk using the Folder Action contextual menu. Now when I open the drive, the window snaps to the corner, and is just the right size, regardless of of where I last left it!
If you're using Folder Actions, drop ResExcellence a line describing the scipts and I'll post your ideas.
1/11/99
By the small margin of 56% to 44%, ResExcellence readers stated their preference for HTML Help files over AppleGuide. My personal preference is HTML. I believe it will allow the smaller shareware/freeware author to more easily create documentation. Ironically, Apple's Help Viewer has an AppleGuide file!
It was June of '95 when Apple discontinued the Quadra family of 040 processors - ending the transition to PPC computers. Still, many programs are released as FAT binaries, and the accelerator business is booming. This week, the Polling Place asks, "Which processor is on your primary Mac?"
KeyQuencer has been updated to 2.5.5. This version fixes the inability to launch scripts saves as icons. Unfortunately, it doesn't recognize the fn key on G3 Powerbooks.
Russell Mirabelli was the first to send in the correct answer to the question, "What's wrong with the ResExcellence logo?", so I'll be sending him a sheet of Apple "Think Different" stickers.
And what is wrong with the logo? The icons beneath the word "ResExcellence" are in the wrong order. I moved the most colorful ones to the front so it would look better (IMHO).
From those who submit User Contributions, to those who send in the edits that they've created, what makes ResExcellence work is the input of all its readers.
While I'd like to do something for each contributor, I don't have the resources (no pun!). In a small attempt to show my appreciation, each month ResExcellence will randomly select a contributor and send them some Apple related gift.
At the end of the month, I'll make a list of people who have provided contributions and assign each a numbers. My unbiased daughter will draw a number out of my old Chicago White Sox hat to make the selection. This is not a contest - just my feeble attempt to show my appreciation!
For the previous month of December 1998, the "Contributor's Drawing" has selected Guillaume Gete!
Guillaume, send me your address and I'll send you a "Jim Henson & Kermit the Frog, Think Different" poster.
Thank's to everyone for their contributions.
Chris Lawson has moved his collection of ResEdit hacks to a new page and posted an update on changing Netscape's Search and Guide URL's.
Scott Fannen sent this trick to make Internet Explorer select "Open link in new window" from the contextual menu:
With IE 4.x, the application uses standard OS contextual menus. Because of this, if you use FinderPop, you can get "Open link in new window" from the second time you use it, onwards because FinderPop has an "intelligent menu item positioning" option. This means the menu will always pop-up on the last item selected if it's available. As a frequent user of the "Open link in new window" function, I couldn't do without this.
Remove Icons from the menus in ICQ.
Does making a menu selection ICQ make you feel like you're running ClarisWorks for Kids? Here's how to remove them. (Continued...)
[ ICQ is scriptible. Does anyone have a script to close the floating window at startup? ]
1/8/99
I've received several requests for more information on installing Linux on Macintosh computer. If you're not planning on doing any development work, download the 70 meg install of Linux-Lite. Grab everything in the RedHat directory and then see the web page for instructions. You can even install it on a SCSI Zip drive!
Several sections of the site have received updates:
The ResExcellence site map has been overhauled. If you're fairly new to ResExcellence, you may want to take a look for links to some past articles.
There are even links to Chicago Recording where I work, and the Coyle Family web page (btw, stalking is illegal in Illinois). :)
There have even been a few updates to the Resource/Template Achive.
Want to look into the future? Oyakata sent this link to some nice screen shots of MacOS-Rhapsody-OS X.
This handy tip for Netscape 4.5 was submitted by David Yeh:
Someone pointed out that in IE 4.5, the Search button in the toolbar now opens up the Search pane from the Explorer Bar, versus just opening the search page designated in the Preferences. I looked at the Tlbr resources, and discovered the command for search had been changed from SRCH to SRCP in IE 4.5; changing it back to SRCH will restore it to the way it was before.
Good work!
Eric Barzeski, Chief Editor at AppleWizards, asks if it's possible edit the Internet Explorer contextual menu to default to "Open Link in New Window" like we can with Netscape.
Sorry, but unlike Netscape, IE doesn't have a mechanism in place to even edit! We'll have to stick with the old fallback of Command-clicking a link to open it in a new window.
There is something wrong with the ResExcellence Logo. Be the first to send me an email describing it, and I'll send you a sheet of "Think Different" stickers. (WOW!)
1/6/99
I used my time off last week to (once again) install Linux on my Powerbook 3400. My goal was to configure the free web server Apache to serve ResExcellence, complete with CGI scripts and server side includes. Curious? Read more about installation, window managers, and see a screen snapshot.
Eric Grant has updated his excellent Sleep Commands scripting additions for AppleScript. With Sleep Commands, you can put a script to sleep -- that is, cause it to suspend execution and to yield the processor to other applications --
for a specified time
until a specified date
while or until a specified application is running
while a specified file is open and being used
until items are added to a specified *CLOSED* folder
Sleep Commands does not interfering with your ability to use the mouse and keyboard, and a sleeping script can be interrupted manually or programmatically
Modify the icons in ICQ 1.5.5. Flower Power was great for the 60's, but the icons used in ICQ's floating palette are a little too groovey for me. Here's how to change them. (Continued...)
"This next part is really cool." - uttered several times by Steve Jobs during MacWorld keynote.
1/4/99
Santa squeaked by with 54% of the vote in the most recent poll. I trust that those of you who voted "No" did not find a new Powerbook G3 under the tree!
With MacOS 8, Apple has moved away from AppleGuide to an HTML based help system . This week's Polling Place asks, "Which Help format do you like better - AppleGuide or the HTML based Help Center?"
Last update, I asked why so few of you had upgraded to StuffIt 5.0. Your feelings were best summed up by John Johnson:
1. Backward incompatibility. Stuffit 5.0 requires the Stuffit Engine 5.0 to decode anything not BinHex or .sit. Where is Engine 5.0? To be released sometime next year. In the meantime, Expander 5.0 crawls along on its task of the moment, and with a many-megabyte file of the type I tend to download, I can't afford the wait.
2. Aladdin really goofed when they changed the format of their .sit files. I understand the need for cross-platform compatibility, but, as an extension to #1, they don't provide within-platform compatibility.
3. Their little graphic. Yes, I know your site provides a hack for the little splash-screen that comes up after decoding a file, but I don't want it there at all. I already know about Stuffit Deluxe 5.0, I don't care, and I don't want to have to look at an ad for it everytime I decode a file.
4. Aladdin's default settings for expanding/decoding will screw up many files. Try decoding a binhexed pdf file with the 'cross-platform compatibility' setting set incorrectly, and you will have to enter a password that doesn't exist in the file. The wisdom that went into that design continued into 5.0.
In short, Aladdin really flubbed up on 5.0. The only reason I'll ever use it is when I have to decode .sit5.0 files. I suppose I'll have to upgrade sometime, and then you can be sure I'll visit your site to get the hack that loses the little ad screen.
Chris Lawson has a nice edit that changes the default search engines used by the AOL Instant Messager. You can modify both "People Search" and "Search the Web"!
Using Norton Utilities 2.0? David Lawson has this great tip:
Unfortunately (or not?), some of us are still using Norton Utilities 2.0, and we're therefore still susceptible to its infamous date bug that would warn you of an incorrect clock setting EVERY SINGLE TIME, regardless of how correct or incorrect it was. Someone created a hack for it called NU Fixer that fooled Norton into thinking the date was correct, but this hack stopped working on January 1, 1999. (This is in the abstract/readme of the file.) Uh oh.
Anyway, I'm not very experienced in ResEdit, but I was able to change the expiration date to something else (which date, I have no idea) by changing the "New Date" in the nDat resource. The second column has the string "B2B1 CE90", which I changed to "C2B1 CE90". I'm not sure what date it changed to, but Norton doesn't give me the error anymore.
It's time to vote for your favorite Kaleidoscope Schemes at MacPlaza. This "Best of December" was hand picked by Arlo Rose, co-author of Kaleidoscope!
Now that the hectic Holidays have passed, I have started to receive some User Contributions:
IconsPLUS has released Avengers Icons Vol. 2, icons depicting heroes and villains from the Marvel Comic's preeminent super hero team. My personal favorite: Thor. I'd pay good money to read those old stories again! :)
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