Clipart Selector

by Alex Hayward


The RISC User Clipart Selector is a powerful application designed to help you manage large collections of Draw file clip art. It provides a Filer-like window in which miniature versions of your Draw files are displayed. Double-clicking on any of the miniatures, or dragging either a single image or a group of images into a Draw, Ovation or Impression window, or any other program which displays Draw files, will load the original Draw file into the respective application.

You can also use Clipart Selector to add textual descriptions to each of the miniatures, and these descriptions can then be saved, together with the miniatures, in a special Clipart Selection file. Clipart Selector can display a maximum of 127 Draw files at a time. You can, however, run more than one copy of Clipart Selector at the same time, each displaying a different selection of miniatures.

USING THE PROGRAM
Clipart Selector is very simple to use. To install it, click on its icon in the RISC User Menu System, or double-click on its icon in a Filer window. As this application is stored in a compressed file on this disc, a Filer window will now open containing the actual Clipart Selector application. Double-click on this icon to run the program. Clicking Select on the icon bar icon will open the Clipart Selector window. You can now drag your Draw files into this window.

THE MENU
Clicking Menu over the Clipart Selector window will open a menu similar to the Filer menu. 

Display
The Display menu allows you to display Large icons, Small icons, or Full info. The Full info display shows the pathname, size and date stamp for each Draw file, as well as any textual descriptions that you have entered via the Text menu in the File/Selection menu.

File/Selection
The File/Selection menu provides the following functions. Delete will remove the selected image(s) from the Clipart Selector window. It does not delete the originals. The Count option tells you the total size of the selected image(s). The Text menu allows you to enter a textual description for every selected image. These descriptions are displayed in the Full info mode. The Info option provides information on the selected image. The Save box allows you to save either a single item as a Draw file, or a group of items as a Clipart Selection file, complete with any descriptions you have entered. This file can be reloaded into Clipart Selector by double-clicking on it, or dragging its icon to the Clipart Selector window or icon. The Find menu allows you to search for an image out of a selection of images, by filename only. The Update option should be used if you edit or delete any Draw file that is displayed in the Clipart Selector window. It will recreate the selected miniatures, reflecting any changes that you have made.

Select all
This option selects all the images in the Clipart Selector window.

Clear selection
This option deselects all the images in the Clipart Selector window.

SAVING IMAGES
The Save option works in the following manner. If you have a single item selected, the Save box will contain a Draw file icon, allowing you to save the Draw file to disc or an application window. Any textual information that you have entered will not be saved when using this option.

If you select several items, the Save box will contain a Clipart Selection icon. The Clipart Selection file can only be saved to a Filer window, and contains the actual miniature images, any descriptions, and the full pathnames of the original files. If you delete or move the original images, when you load the Clipart Selector file, the miniature of the deleted image will still be displayed, but attempting to double-click on it or drag it to another window will cause an error to occur.

 Copyright RISC User 1994
