Drilldown Version 1.0 - 22nd May 1997 Copyright 1997 - This program is Freeware. Written by Andrew Roughan What is it? Drilldown is an Apple IIgs Finder Extension which tries to take some of the drudgery out of Finder navigation. Have you ever known exactly which folder or files you want to open, but have forgotten the tunneling keys? Or havent forgotten the tunneling keys, but wish opening and closing the windows could be avoided? Or have you got all these neat folders and files setup in Kangaroo� and SuperDataPath� but can't get to them quickly from Finder? If you answered yes, then you need Drilldown! Where does it go? The Drilldown Finder Extension can be placed in either the *:System:FinderExtras or the *:System:System.Setup directory. As Drilldown has no use outside of the Finder, I recommend placing it in the FinderExtras directory. This means that when Finder is not active, Drilldown will not take up memory. Drilldown requires System 6.0.1 and Finder 6.0. How do I use it? Drilldown allows you to navigate folders using the familiar 'Standard File' dialog that you use when you want to open or save a file inside an application. If you want to open a directory window, use the Disk, Open and Close buttons until you can see the directory that you wish to open. Highlight it by clicking once, and press the Accept button. Drilldown tells Finder to open that directory window. (Clicking Open instead will display the contents of the directory in the Standard File list box.) If you wish to launch a program, simply select it and press the Accept or Open Buttons. Drilldown tells Finder to launch the program. If you wish to open a file, simply select it and press the Accept or Open Buttons. Drilldown tells Finder to open the file. You are able to select multiple files by holding down the shift or open-apple keys as you click on the filenames in the list box. Drilldown will open multiple folders and files but will only launch the first program in the selection list. Why was it created? Bob Rivkin (rrivkin@umbc.edu) suggested the idea for this program. Send him your thanks! Want something more? If you find yourself thinking something like "Gee, I wish it did...." then please let me know. If I don't know about it then I can't add it. Technical Q&A Q: I selected multiple files but only a few of them opened, what's going on? A: You may encounter this problem if you are selecting multiple files in a deeply nested structure, particularly with an FST that supports extended pathnames (e.g. Appleshare, HFS). Drilldown must call ExpandPath on every file which is selected before passing this information back to Finder in a block. I chose 32k as a reasonable size limit on this block. Drilldown processes as many files as it can to fit into the block and ignores any others. If you find this particularly annoying, contact me and I'll change it for you. Who's responsible? The author can be reached via the following internet address: posty@triode.net.au Words of thanks: Bob Rivkin (rrivkin@umbc.edu) for the idea.