                              FINDER
                           Version 2.0a
                  Copyright (c) Tom Dolbilin 1994


Introduction
============

FINDER is an application written for a Psion Series 3a pocket
computer which allows the user to quickly start any application
and switch between any running applications (or open files) in
just two keystrokes. It may be used as an alternative to the
(somewhat slow) System Screen. It may also be useful in the
following cases:

1.   If you do not already have a touch button assigned to a
     particular application. There are only 14 touch button
     combinations that you can use and it is hardly enough for all
     applications you may have installed.

2.   If you do have a touch button assigned but to an application
     which uses multiple files (like Word, for example). Pressing
     the button does not differentiate between the open files and
     always brings you to the most recently used one.

FINDER is useful only if it is available at all times, i.e.,
running constantly.


System Requirements
===================

In order to run FINDER you need a Psion Series 3a pocket computer
with at least 20K of disk space. When running, FINDER is consuming
17K while in the background and 26K while in the foreground.


Installation/Removal
====================

Here are the files stored in FINDER.ZIP and where they should go:

     File (size)          Description          Target directory
     -------------------------------------------------------------
     FINDER.OPA (19463)   Main program file    \APP\
     FINDER.HLP (6239)    Help file (optional) \APP\FINDER\
     SYS$HELP.OPO (4157)  Help driver (optional)  \OPO\

The indicated directories can be created on any local drive
(Internal, A or B). Install the icon for FINDER on the System
Screen. When you first run FINDER, it creates a directory
\APP\FINDER\ on the Internal drive (if it does not already exist)
where it puts its initialization file FINDER.INI. The file is only
a few bytes long and used to store your preferences. If you use
the Run option, FINDER will create another file LIST.ODB in the
same directory. This file is used to store the list of most
recently run applications.

To remove FINDER from your system, delete all of the above files
including FINDER.INI and its directory \APP\FINDER\. Remove the
icon from the System Screen.

NOTE TO USERS OF PREVIOUS VSERIONS OF FINDER: It is recommended
that you delete the old FINDER.INI file before running this
version.


Operation
=========

When FINDER is running, it displays a list of all running
applications, or tasks. The list can show an applications name
and the file name of the used file (if there is one). Time and
Calc are examples of applications that do not use files. Data,
Word and Sheet are some of those that do. You can define the
format in which each entry is displayed. It can be set under 'List
options.'

Use the arrow keys to move the selector up or down. Most options
in FINDER will affect the currently selected task. For example,
selecting System and then pressing Enter will bring you to the
System Screen.

You can assign shortcuts to any of the running applications for
easier identification and switching. The shortcut is a case-
sensitive letter or a number. For example, if you want to assign
"a" to Agenda, first select it and then press "a." Now, whenever
you are in FINDER, pressing "a" will switch to Agenda. Agenda is
not a very good example because you could always press a system
button instead. However, if you use a lot of third-party
applications, this is the fastest way to switch between them. Note
that a shortcut setting for an application is lost whenever that
application quits. To remove a shortcut use Psion-M or Delete.
Shift-Psion-M removes all the shortcuts currently assigned. You
can assign shortcuts automatically using the AutoAssign option.
FINDER will then assign them based on the first letter of each
task. It first uses lowercase letter, then uppercase. If both are
already in use, no shortcut is assigned.

Memory graph displays the curve of free system memory and used
Internal disk space changing over time. Think of it as a sheet of
paper scrolling to the left with the drawing needle located on the
right edge. The area shaded with gray is the used memory. The
darker shaded area below is the space on the Internal disk taken
up by files.

The built-in Help facility provides the on-line Help on most
features. If you see a "?" in the upper-right corner of a dialog
box -- this means that you can press Help to get context-sensitive
help on this particular dialog. There are a few things in Help
that are not documented in this file so installing it at least
initially is recommended. The Help system consists of two files:
SYS$HELP.OPO and FINDER.HLP. These files are NOT required to run
FINDER. SYS$HELP.OPO is a run-time library that is called by
FINDER when you press the Help key. It displays the Help data
stored in FINDER.HLP. The library is not proprietary and may be
used by other programs. Updates to SYS$HELP.OPO may be available
separately.

Pressing the Menu button brings up FINDER menu. The arrangement
of the commands and their descriptions are listed in the
following table.

RUN menu

Run                 Used to run ANY application that is not in
                    ROM. The resulting dialog asks you to select
                    an application to run. It can be any of the
                    following types: APP, IMG, OPA, OPO, ALS or
                    GRP. You will be subsequently prompted for a
                    file name to open if the application requires
                    it. If you select a GRP (group) file, another
                    dialog box will list you the contents of the
                    group file from where you can also select
                    applications.

Run standard        Used to run the built-in applications stored
                    in ROM. Again, if an application requires a
                    file, you will have to enter a file name.

Select from list    This option lets you select from the list of 9
                    most recent applications that have been run
                    using the 2 options above.


TASK menu

Switch to           Switches to the currently selected task. You
                    can use the Enter key instead.

Rename              You can use this option to give a task a new
                    name. A task name, like a file name, can be up
                    to 8 characters long. It is not remembered
                    after a task exits. Renaming a task has no
                    relation to renaming a file stored on disk.

Close               Closing an application is equivalent to using
                    Psion-X from within the application. The open
                    file will be saved to disk before the
                    application closes. Some applications that
                    ignore this command can be killed using the
                    following option.

Kill                Kills the currently selected task. It is
                    potentially dangerous because the target
                    application does not get a chance to save
                    files.

Info                Displays information about the currently
                    selected task. The task's name, ID, priority,
                    lock status and memory consumption are shown.


LIST menu

Update              Updates the list of running tasks. If the
                    memory graph is on, the 'free memory' figure
                    is also updated.

Options             Displays a dialog box where you can specify
                    the way the task list looks and behaves.
                    
                    * QUICK ACCESS MODE is one of the following:
                    Shortcut (when pressing letter keys assigns
                    shortcuts to tasks to be used for switching
                    between them) and Query first letter (when
                    pressing a letter key jumps to the next line
                    which starts with that letter)
                    
                    * SHORTCUT Case-sensitive option set to on
                    makes FINDER to default all shortcuts to
                    uppercase. Otherwise, FINDER distinguishes
                    between upper and lower case.
                    
                    * SORT LIST sorts list alphabetically. The
                    left column is sorted first, then the right
                    column.
                    
                    * FORMAT lets you specify what should be
                    displayed in the list and where. The format
                    affects entries only for file-based
                    applications. See on-line help for definitions
                    of the used codes (you can get help directly
                    from the dialog box).
                    
                    * FONT option lets you select which font,
                    Swiss or Roman, to use for displaying the task
                    list.
                    
                    * AUTOZOOM automatically scales the font size
                    depending on the length of the list to fit as
                    much of it on the screen as possible.


SHORTCUT menu

Remove              Removes the shortcut if there is any from the
                    currently selected task. You can also use the
                    Delete key.

Remove all          Removes all the assigned shortcuts if there
                    are any.

AutoAssign          Automatically assigns shortcuts to all tasks
                    based on the first letter of the tasks name.


SPECIAL menu

About               Displays the information about FINDER.

Set preferences     Here is where you set you preferences. All
                    preferences are saved in FINDER.INI so that
                    they are kept even if you exit and restart
                    FINDER.
                    
                    * UPDATE LIST option sets whether the task
                    list should be kept continually updated. If
                    you turn this off, you still can update it
                    manually with Psion-U. The list is not updated
                    when FINDER is in the background. However, it
                    is updated as soon as it comes to front or
                    after you Kill or Rename a task.
                    
                    * UPDATE INTERVAL lets you set the amount of
                    time after which the task list and/or the
                    memory graph are updated
                    
                    * CTRL-SPACE ENABLED lets you set whether you
                    want to use Ctrl-Space as a shortcut to switch
                    to FINDER from another application (and thus
                    saving a touch button for something else).
                    There are a few notes to make about it. First,
                    it will not work if you switch from FINDER and
                    leave a menu, a dialog box or Help on screen.
                    Secondly, it may be very slow to respond from
                    the System Screen. Lastly, it is used in Sheet
                    to select a row of cells, so if you need that
                    feature you may consider disabling Ctrl-Space
                    in FINDER.
                    
                    * PRIORITY setting affects the responsiveness
                    of Ctrl-space from outside FINDER. While
                    higher priority improves the responsiveness,
                    it does NOT affect the performance of other
                    applications.
                    
                    * SHOW MEMORY GRAPH option turns the memory
                    graph on and off. If the memory graph is on,
                    it is always updated every time the Update
                    interval expires. When active, the graph uses
                    6K of memory.
                    
                    * RENAME TASKS tells FINDER to rename all task
                    names (as shown in Task Info) to the names of
                    the files they are using. This option is
                    provided for better compatibility with Macro
                    programs.
                    

Zoom in             Increases the font size

Zoom out            Decreases the font size

Exit                Exits FINDER


Version history
===============

1.0  Jan 12, 1994

 - The original public release


1.1  Jan 14, 1994

 - Application names have been replaced by names of open files
     (where possible)
 - Fixed bug in SYS$HELP.OPO which sometimes caused a scrolling
     window to redraw incorrectly when Psion-Ctrl-arrow key
     combination was pressed.


2.0  Mar 9, 1994  (Major upgrade)

 - Powerful Run feature
 - List format feature
 - Improved Memory graph
 - Context-sensitive help
 - Numerous other features


2.0a Mar 19, 1994

 - Bug fixed: an application launched from FINDER did not respond
     to its assigned application button (if any). Also, OPA
     applications did not get their proper icon in the status
     window.
 - Bug fixed: launching OPO's by using an alias for RunOPL caused
     a soft-reset.
 - SYS$SHLL is no longer renamed to SYSTEM if Rename Tasks option
     is turned on.
 - A few minor improvements


Registration
============

FINDER is non-crippled shareware. If you like it you should
consider registering it. The registration fee is US$15. It can be
sent to the address below:

     Tom Dolbilin
     3901 Farhills Drive
     Champaign, IL  61821-9305
     U.S.A.

Alternatively, you can register FINDER on CompuServe. GO SWREG,
the registration ID is 1882.

Thank you for your consideration.


Disclaimer
==========

The author of this software is not responsible for any damage due
to use of this program. This software is provided without warranty
of any kind.
