                                Place It
                                --------

This program allows files to be stuck onto the background and a sprite
displayed behind them.  When the files are stuck on the background they act
very much like being in filer windows. Files, and groups of files, may be
selected by clicking with select or adjust over the icons.  An icon or group
of selected icons may be dragged into a filer window or onto an application.
If the drag is carried out with adjust, or shift is held down, then the icons
will be removed from the background if the drag was successful (ie if dragged
into an application the application can actually load files of that filetype).
The icons may also be dragged about the background.  It is possible to drag
files off the edge of the screen by grouping the icons together.  You can get
the icons back by using the 'select all' menu entry, followed by unselecting
the icons you don't want to move.  Then start the drag from one of the visible
icons, thus moving the icons back onto the screen.

A similar problem may occur if changing to a smaller mode, (for instance if
you where using one of the NewModes supplied with Impression, and then
returning to mode 12).  In this case all the icons may be off the edge of the
screen.  If this occurs, you will not be able to move them back onto the
screen.  If you want them, then you will have to return to the larger mode and
move them before returning to the smaller mode.  This shouldn't be much of a
problem as most users tend to use one mode for most of the time.  If they
change mode it is usually to free memory; quitting Place It would also help!

Files can be double clicked on, whereas the appropriate run action is taken.
You can also shift double click on applications to open the directory instead
of running it.

To remove icons from the background, select the icons to be removed, (either
explicitly with select/adjust, or, if only one is required, by clicking menu
over it) and select it's menu entry.  Selection may also be performed by
dragging a box.  To do this, start the drag with select or adjust when not
over an icon.  If you use select to start the drag, all the currently
selected icons will be deselected, followed by all the icons within the
dragged area being selected.  If you use adjust the selected state of all the
icons within the dragged area will be toggled.

The text and it's background colour beneath icons can be any of the 16 desktop
colours.  These settings are saved with the backdrop when the backdrop/save
submenu entry is selected.

When the application is first run, the presence of a configuration file is
checked for, (it is in the !PlaceIt directory called !Config).  If one is not
found then a blank background with white icon text is used, (so if the
configuration file gets corrupted just delete it).  If you receive a copy of
this application which has been configured for someone else's set up then I
recommend that you delete the !Config file and set up your own configuration.
If a configuration file is found, then the all the flags stored are set and
the background recreated.  When applications are stored on the background they
are initialised in the same way as the filer does.  That is, first the wimp
sprite pool is checked to see if the sprite for the application already
exists. If it does then nothing is done.  If one is not found, then a !Boot
file is looked for in the directory.  If this is found it is run.  Where one
does not exist, then *IconSprites !Sprites is performed.  This means that, if
for example you put !Paint on the background, you may double click on sprites
and !Paint will automatically be loaded, if it isn't already of course.

You can open the parent(s) of the selected items on the background by
clicking on the open parent (becomes open parents if more than one item is
selected) menu entry.  This is on the application/file/directory/selection
submenu.

A fake file may be added which allows the directory to be changed.  To install
this icon, choose the directory changer menu entry from the options submenu.
This icon (which is a directory with 'CD' in the middle, and the word
'Changer' beneath it) will appear in the middle of the screen.  You can drag it
about like any other icon.  To change directory, simply drag it into the
relevant filer window.  Obviously you cannot run, open parent, or save to an
application this icon.  If you try to remove this icon by using the remove
menu option, an error box is produced asking if this is what you want to do.
It is better to delete this icon via its menu entry on the options submenu.
If a drag is performed with this icon that would result in it being removed,
(ie by using adjust or holding down shift) the icon is NOT deleted.  It may be
used during a multiple drag, although I fail to see why anyone would want to
do this.

The restore menu entry reloads the config file.  The resets all the sprites on
the background, the backdrop and all the flags (eg text colours).

The lock option makes it less easy to accidentally drag files around the
backdrop (I am continually doing this).  With this option selected, files will
only be moved around the background if you are holding shift down.  This
option is stored in the config file.

A sprite may be displayed on the backdrop behind the icons.  The sprite may be
tiled onto the background or positioned in the middle of the window.  To load
a sprite onto the background, select the load entry on the backdrop submenu.  A
window will appear into which a sprite file should be dragged (from the filer
only at present).  The sprite file must contain only ONE sprite.  This is not
because Place It could not handle sprite files with several sprites in and
just use the first (I would have to write no more code, just remove the check
for the number of sprites in a file), but this would be inefficient on memory
usage.  If a sprite file containing more than one sprite is dragged in then a
warning box is produced asking you to select the sprite you want using Paint
and then try again.  The display method can be set at any time (even when
there is no background sprite) by using the display submenu entries tiled
background and centred background.

You may study the appearance of several backdrops without having to reopen
the load backdrop window by selecting the stay open button.  When this is
selected the window becomes larger containing two new buttons 'Cancel' and
'Use new'. Cancel will reload the backdrop from the one stored on disc.  Where
the current backdrop is not the one stored on disc, then a warning is produced
informing you that selecting cancel will not reload the current backdrop.
Selecting Use new confirms the choice of a new backdrop.  Escape may be used
instead of cancel at any time and Return instead of Use new when the stay
open button is selected.  Clicking on the close button (the cross) has the
same affect as the new use button.

To remove a background, select the remove background entry from the backdrop
submenu.  Any changes made to the background are only saved when the backdrop
save submenu entry is selected.  If the sprite itself has been changed, then
the new one is saved out to disc in the Place It directory.  If the sprite has
been removed, then the sprite file within Place It (called Background) is
deleted.  The reason for only saving the changes then are to allow you to
experiment with backgrounds without changing the one you currently have, as
well as to make life easier for people who run Place It from floppy drives.

Refer to the file Docs.Extensions for how to install extension modules.


Possible improvements are :-

 o Allow small icons to be used (aka the filer)
 o Allow different configuration files to be stored for use at different times
 o Allow sprites to be loaded onto the background from applications instead of
   just the filer
 o Provide a submenu from the backdrop menu allowing the user the choice of
   several backgrounds, each having a flag to say whether to tile or centre it
 o A carousel facility to automatically display all the available backgrounds
   in turn

If you would like to see any of the above implemented, have any other ideas
for improvements or good clean jokes then send them to me using snail mail to
(no more email access)


                Ian Ashley,
                14 Whitelands Avenue,
                Chorleywood,
                HERTS.
                WD3 5RD
                England



Although I have tested this program fairly thoroughly I offer no guarantee
what so ever. But please report any bugs found to me at the above address.

This program is in the public domain and may be freely copied as long as no
charges are made for it, and all the files are included unaltered, (this
includes all the documentation files and the ReadMe and Files files). You may
use the source, or parts of it, in your own programs, provided I am credited
and no charges are made for them (a charge of up to one pound may be made by PD
libraries for a disc containing PlaceIt to cover costs).


Yours,
        Ian Ashley (Pop Mobility Freak)
