Re: HardPressed

[ltchean@iss.nus.sg (Lim Thye Chean)]

Andy McFadden (fadden@uts.amdahl.com) wrote:
: In article <25d4l5$7i2@nuscc.nus.sg> isc26330@leonis.nus.sg (ONG TAT-WEE) writes:
: >	I wonder if it is possible to add delayed compression to Hard
: >Pressed.  The user will select the files to compress but Hard Pressed
: >won't do anything yet (or on the spot).  The user can then work on other
: >things with the IIgs.  Later, when the user wants to take a break (go
: >toilet, get some chips to munch, etc), he/she can then move the mouse
: >cursor to say the upper right hand corner of the screen before leaving. 
: >Now, when the user is gone, Hard Pressed will then compress the files.

This is what most (if not all) Macintosh disk compressers do at the moment.
I must said that I think HardPressed is better than them in certain cases,
but this feature is important.

: It'd be possible to do this without adding it to HP.  Just write an INIT
: that does all of the fancy stuff, then does an open/read/write/close on the
: file.  You have to do some annoying tricks to FORCE it to compress, but
: that'll be fixed with the next version of HP when I add IPC "compress now"
: messages.

How do we know what files to compress? For example, when we drag a group of
files to a compressed folder, if delayed compression is used, HP should not
compress immediately. Instead, it waits still certain event occurs (like
David Ong goes to toilet for half an hour), then it starts compressing.
And when the user moves the mouse or press a key, HP can return the control
back to the user, after the current file is compressed. Those files that
are not compressed wait till the next event (like Davig Ong goes to toilet for
half an hour again).

: So, there's no reason why it needs to be an integral part of HP.  The only
: advantage to doing so is that otherwise it's not possible to interrupt HP if
: you come back from the bathroom and want to go back to work.

I hope it is there for the next version. I think I will be the HP owner then.
Now I am stuck with the inferior AutoArk, waiting for the better reason to
upgrade. Yes, I need the profile editor too, or a new profile (Slower +
ProDOS 8) will suit my need.

: -- 
: fadden@uts.amdahl.com (Andy McFadden)
: [ Above opinions are mine, Amdahl has nothing to do with them, etc, etc. ]

BTW, Andy, you did a very very good job on HP, keep up the good work! It is
definitely 10 times better than AutoArk, IMHO. 

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