135 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
135 lines
6.9 KiB
HTML
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<title>Install New Icons in Caldera's Looking Glass Desktop LG #30</title>
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<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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<META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.04C-Caldera [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.0.29 i586) [Netscape]">
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<BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" VLINK="#A000A0"
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ALINK="#FF0000">
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<center>
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<H1><font color="maroon">Install New Icons in Caldera's Looking Glass Desktop</font></H1>
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<H4>By <A HREF="mailto:nelson@er.doe.gov">David Nelson</A></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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Looking Glass, or <TT>lg</TT>, is a pleasant GUI desktop included in
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Caldera's commercial Linux releases (not the lite versions.) However, its
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setup procedures and documentation can be very unpleasant. Deciphering
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how to add or change icons makes cracking the Enigma code machine look
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easy. If you enjoy puzzles and have plenty of time, read <TT>/usr/doc/html/Caldera_Info</TT>,
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specifically the Desktop User's Guide, Chapters 9 and 11. If you prefer
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some help, read on.
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<P>I wanted to place an icon on the <TT>lg</TT> desktop to launch Applixware,
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an office suite available from RedHat. To do this I had to create an icon
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with a paint program, import it into the <TT>lg</TT> icon gallery, edit
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the "source file for file type definitions," create a new "LG_rulebase
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file," and update the <TT>lg</TT> data directory. Makes a certain commercial
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desktop look pretty friendly, what?
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<P>Actually, it wasn't as bad as it sounds, and the new icon looks good
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and works well. This article will guide you through the process. Here is
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your very own free Applixware <A HREF="./gx/nelson/applix.gif">icon</A> ready to install
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in <TT>lg;</TT> please don't complain about my artistry. You can use the
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same process to install any program's icon.
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<P>The first step is to create the icon. I tried to use the <TT>lg</TT>
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icon editor but found it crude and prone to crash. Xpaint works well and
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is probably already on your system; to be sure, execute the command
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<PRE>locate xpaint</PRE>
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I used Applix Graphics, in part to learn more about Applixware, with final
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touch-up in the <TT>lg</TT> icon editor. Whatever program you use, the
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resulting icon should be about 40x40 pixels, stored in either GIF or PPM
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format.
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<P>The next step is to import the icon. At the top of the <TT>lg</TT> desktop,
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click on Run, then Icon Editor. When the editor opens, click on Galleries,
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then System Icon Gallery. When the gallery window opens, click on Icon,
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then New. You will see an emphasized (black) area with a blank icon picture,
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probably labeled icon1. At the top of the gallery window, click on Icon,
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then Import. A file window opens. Navigate to where your GIF or PPM file
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is. Click on the file, then click on load in the file window. If the icon
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is just the right size, it will import directly into the emphasized area
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in the system gallery. If not, a window will appear that contains your
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icon. If part is cut off, drag on the lower right corner to enlarge the
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window and show your whole icon. (I'm assuming your icon ended up somewhat
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bigger that 40x40.) Click the radio button "Scale," then "Filter on Scale."
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This latter button smooths the image as you resize it. You should see a
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little box at the upper left of your icon picture. Drag the corners to
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cover your icon. Your final icon now appears in a smaller box at the upper
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right of the window. Click Apply; the gallery window puts your icon into
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the blank icon picture and changes the name to that of your icon file.
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<P>To give the icon the right name, click on Icon in the gallery window,
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then Rename. In the New Name box, type APPLIX_PRG and click on OK. If you
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want to do some final "fat bits" touch-up, click Icon, Edit, and have at
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it. I suggest that you save your work frequently, because the editor crashed
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on me. Don't bother editing the mask. It gives a 3D appearance to a selected
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icon, and the default mask is good enough. When done with the editor, click
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File, Close, and your final icon appears in the gallery. In the gallery
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window, click File, Close, and say yes to save your work. One last warning.
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Even though the icon editor lets you export the completed icon for other
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purposes, this feature seemed broken. All graphics programs I tried complained
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that the exported icon file was unreadable. (Did I mention that the
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<TT>lg</TT> editor seems to have problems?)
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<P>Now you have to tell <TT>lg</TT> how to use the icon. Change directory
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to <TT>/usr/visix/lg/default/lg_ftc</TT>. Open <TT>prog.loc.ftc</TT> in
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your favorite editor. This source file defines local file types and their
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associated icons. Insert the following text at the beginning, after the
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two "include" lines:
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<PRE>DEFINE TYPE Applix
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ICON APPLIX_PRG
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FILE_DESCRIPTION "Applix desktop suite program"
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BINARY_EXECUTABLE
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AND NAME "applix"
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INHERIT_COMMANDS BinExNativeClass
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END</PRE>
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No, I don't know what it all means. I adapted it from other program entries.
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But, hey, it works, and most of it is obvious. If your icon is for a different
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program, edit accordingly. Save the file. At the command line in the same
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directory, type<TT> make all </TT>and<TT> make install</TT>. Quit and restart
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the <TT>lg</TT> desktop.
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<P>We're almost done. In the <TT>lg</TT> window click on Windows, then
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Open Directory. Navigate to <TT>opt/applix</TT> (or wherever <TT>applix</TT>
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is stored) and you should see your beautiful icon designating your program.
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Drag the icon out of the directory window and onto the desktop window.
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Park it in an aesthetically pleasing place. Launch your program by doubleclicking
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your new icon. Congratulations. Doesn't this make you want to read the
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rest of the <TT>lg</TT> documentation? Actually, you might want to learn
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about file associations and other wonders of <TT>lg.</TT> Then you can
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write an article for lg (that's Linux Gazette here) telling the rest of
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us how you did it.
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1998, David Nelson <BR>
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Published in Issue 30 of <i>Linux Gazette</i>, July 1998</H5></center>
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