Minimizer v1.05

by Avi Drissman, drissman@acm.org
http://www.drissman.com/avi/newton/

Requirements

A Newton device with Newton OS 2.0 or greater.

About 20K free on your internal store.

Purpose

Minimizer allows you to move old 1.x applications around the screen, and it allows you to minimize applications to the notification star.

Installation

Ensure that packages are installed on the internal store. Use the Newton Connection Utilities program that came with your Newton device to download the included package.

Use

There are two things that Minimizer does. First, it allows the dragging of applications from OS 1.x days. With Minimizer installed, you can drag all applications by their titles.

And, if you have a NewtApp-based application that cannot be dragged, now it can by the big black area at the top.

The other feature of Minimizer (the feature after which it is named) is the ability to minimize applications. To minimize an application, simply double-tap the draggable area of the window. In a normal window, double-tap on the "picture hanger" at the top of the slip (the red shaded area in the illustration below).

In an old OS 1.x app, double-tap on the title.

In a NewtApp-based app, double-tap on the black area at the top of the screen.

The application will then be hidden, and will show up in the blinking notification star (). If you then pick the application from the star, it will be shown again.

Configuration

In the Prefs app, there is an entry for Minimizer. Tap it to bring up Minimizer's prefs slip.

There are three or four items in the slip. The first item is how fast a double-tap needs to be in order to minimize the app. The "Slow" end is two seconds, and the "Fast" end is a third of a second. The default is two-thirds of a second.

The second item is a checkbox named "Sounds". If this checkbox is checked, there will be whooshing sounds made during minimization and maximization of apps.

The third item is a checkbox named "Prefix with dot (·)". If this checkbox is checked, apps that are minimized appear in the star menu with a dot (·) prefix. If it is not checked, no dot prefixes entries.

If you have not registered Minimizer, there will be a "Register" button at the bottom of the slip. When you register, you receive a registration code. Tap the Register button to enter the registration code.

Registration

Minimizer has the following pricing:

If you plan on buying a license for Minimizer that covers its use on other planets in the solar system or other star systems, please contact Avi Drissman for pricing information.

Paying for Minimizer is fairly simple. Open the Register program that accompanies Minimizer. Enter your name, your email address, and the number of single user licenses you desire for each program you wish to purchase (or Site or Word-Wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi. More specifics on the Register program to follow. Kagi handles my payment processing.

If you want to pay online, go to http://order.kagi.com/?QCW and fill out the form.

If paying with Credit Card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi. Their email address is sales@kagi.com and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either Copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an email message or you can Save the data to a file and you can attach that file to an email message. There is no need to compress the data file, it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just Print the data to the Kagi fax number.

Payments sent via email are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an email acknowledgement when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days and if you provide a correct internet email address you will receive an email acknowledgement.

If you are paying with Cash or USD Check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:

Kagi
1442-A Walnut Street #392-QCW
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA

You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US Dollars. Kagi cannot accept checks in other currencies, the conversion rate for non-USD checks is around USD 15 per check and that is just not practical.

If you have a purchasing department, you can enter all the data into the Register program and then select Invoice as your payment method. Print three copies of the form and send it to your accounts payable people. You might want to highlight the line that mentions that they must include a copy of the form with their payment.

Kagi can not invoice your company, you need to act on my behalf and generate the invoice and handle all the paperwork on your end.

Please do not fax or email payment forms that indicate Cash, Check or Invoice as the payment method. As far as we know, there is still no technology to transfer physical objects via fax or email and without the payment, the form cannot be processed.

Payments send via postal mail take time to reach Kagi and then up to 10 days for processing. Again, if you include a correct email address, you will hear from Kagi when the form is processed.

Protection

Minimizer has a protection scheme and when you pay, we give you a registration number that will make Minimizer stop annoying you. If you do not have an email address, please enter your complete postal address and please remember, we do not know what country you live in so please enter that into the postal address also.

Newton ID is required to enter the registration number. If you do not have Newton ID, go to the Foundation Systems website and download it. It is free.

Version History

Version 1.05 (18 August 1999)
Allow disabling of prefix dot in minimized items

Version 1.04 (4 December 1998)
Fixed bug which interrupted proper closing of programs

Version 1.03 (23 November 1998)
Fixed bug which would cause the Newton to hang, under certain circumstances, when opening an app
Fixed bug which caused errors on minimization attempts on MP1x0 models

Version 1.02 (20 September 1998)
Fixed bug causing subtle conflict with Newt's Cape

Version 1.01 (6 September 1998)
Fixed bug so that it will actually run (creates nameCache:AviD if not present)

Version 1.0 (4 September 1998)
Initial release

Legal stuff

Avi Drissman grants you the right to use the package "Minimizer" for a thirty (30) day evaluation period to determine whether it is suitable for you. After the evaluation period has expired, you must either remove the Minimizer package from your Newton device or purchase a license to use it.

The package and this documentation are copyright © 1998 Avi Drissman. All rights reserved.

You may use Minimizer for thirty (30) days to determine its suitability for your use. If at the end of the thirty (30) days you find it unsuitable for further use you must remove it from your Newton device. If you find it suitable for continued use, you must purchase a license for its continuing use.

Disassembly and/or reverse-engineering of the Minimizer package is strictly prohibited without purchase of a license.

Avi Drissman disclaims all responsibility for any damage caused by the Minimizer package. The maximum liability is the license price paid.

The purchase of an "single license" for the use of Minimizer past thirty (30) days allows you to install and use the Minimizer package on all Newton devices you own if you are an individual, or on a single Newton device if you are a company. A "site license" allows you to install and use the Minimizer package on all Newton devices owned by you that are used within a 100-mile radius. A "world-wide license" allows you to install and use the Minimizer package on all Newton devices you own throughout the world. A "site license" or "world-wide license" may only be purchased by a company.

The purchase of a license allows you to disassemble and/or reverse-engineer the Minimizer package provided that the knowledge gained by doing so is not used to create a program that is similar in functionality to Minimizer.