Topic       : Documentation for Thing
Author      : Arno Welzel/Thomas Binder/TransAction
Version     : thing.hyp 1.27E (23/8/1998)
Subject     : Documentation/Shells
Nodes       : 269
Index Size  : 6336
HCP-Version : 4
Compiled on : Atari
@charset    : atarist
@lang       : 
@default    : %I
@help       : %Hilfe
@options    : +g -i -s +y +zz -t4 -d10
@width      : 75
@hostname   : THING   
View Ref-FileWhat are symbolic links?
File - Show Info... (Files/Folders)                                   Thing

This dialog has been revised extensively, and brings together the functions
of four 'Show Info' dialogs from Thing V1.00. Depending on the type of 
object selected (and where it is positioned -- desktop or directory) an 
appropriately modified dialog will appear. Icons on the desktop can at 
present only have their label and/or optional Function key shortcut 
combination altered.


      Holding down the  Alternate  key and double-clicking a file on the 
      desktop opens the directory containing the object and selects the 
      file automatically. 


Label: This is only available for icons on the desktop, where one can 
  enter a description up to 32 characters long. This may be edited; mixed
  upper and lower case can be used.
  Some users prefer to have no icon text which saves some desktop space 
  -- to do this just clear the icon 'Label' editable text field with  Esc .

Name: Name of the file or folder. The input will be adapted to the 
  requirements of the file system (e.g. lower/upper case, maximum length 
  of the name and extender etc.).
 
Dest.: This entry only appears if the object is a symbolic link, and in 
  that case it shows which destination object it is pointing to. This entry
  cannot be altered at present.
 
Size, Date, Time: Creation or date of editing for files/folders. 
  With folders the size of all files in sub-directories is calculated. 
  Thing can only take paths up to 255 characters into account.
 
  If the file system in use also supports a time stamp for the last access 
  or the last status change besides the time of last alteration, one can 
  cycle through these by clicking on the descriptive text in small type 
  below the time display.
 
F-key: In this popup menu a Function key combination can be assigned 
  to the file or folder as a keyboard shortcut to open the object (also
  available for desktop icons).
 

Now to the specific information for files in directories...

Attributes: Depending on the operating system in use, one can alter
  here either just the normal GEMDOS file attributes or optionally also 
  the extended attributes of MiNT (including file-owners and file-group 
  membership, such as 'setuid', 'setgid' and 'sticky'). The latter are 
  only available if the file system reports that it supports them. If 
  Thing cannot obtain this information, it assumes under MiNT that the 
  attributes are present; under MagiC, on the other hand, they will be 
  ignored in this case. For clarity, the MiNT attributes have been placed 
  on their own tabbed 'page' of the dialog.
 
  The input of user- and group-IDs can be either as text (e.g. 'root') or 
  numeric. If a text-ID is input that does not exist, then this will bring 
  up a corresponding alert. Numeric inputs, on the other hand, are only 
  checked to ensure they do not exceed the permitted limits.
 
Program 'tab': With executable programs (i.e. files that Thing regards 
  as a program and that have a valid program header) one can alter the 
  'Fastload', 'Load alt', memory allocation ('Malloc') and 'Memory protect' 
  flags. Naturally the memory protection changes are only effective if the 
  operating system and hardware in use supports this feature.
 

      Note about MagiC memory limit

      The 'MagiC! memory limit' option is logically only available 
      under the MagiC operating system. If no memory limit is set the 
      entry field remains empty. To clear an existing limit simply 
      clear the input field or enter 0.
 
      Don't be surprised if a program file grows or shrinks in size by 
      8 bytes when adding or removing a limit. The change is caused by 
      adding 8 bytes of data at the end of the program file (the text 
      'MAGX' followed by a 32 bit integer) which serve as a signal for 
      MagiC to undertake memory limitation.

      From Thing 1.25 onwards there is also a better possibility to set 
      memory requirement limits for a program, which works with MagiC 5 
      onwards and also with MultiTOS, N.AES etc. For this one has to 
      install the corresponding program as an application and the maximum 
      amount of memory it can use can then be set under 'Options'.


 OK : The current data is updated and, if multiple objects were selected,
  the details for the next object is displayed.

 Next : This button is only available if several objects were selected. 
  Select this button to display the details for the next object without 
  updating the details for the current object.

 Cancel : Exits the dialog without updating any details.