
QuickCaret...

Written by Richard Millican, Febrary 1993

A tiny program hacked-up in minutes - literally.
Do whatever you like with it, if you improve it,
let me know...
        
Ever found it annoying to have to keep clicking
windows to get the caret ? Well, load this little
program and the caret will move from window
to window automatically when you move the pointer.

There are a few problems with editors and
positioning, but you can still click to the required
position if needs be.

To quit from it you'll need to use the task manager,
no snazzy front ends here :-)

Hope someone finds it useful, if you're using a
task window based language that needs text importing
all the time then it's a must !

If you need to contact me:

  Richard Millican <millinr@cs.man.ac.uk>
  10 Stokesay,
  Bidston,
  Birkenhead,
  Merseyside,
  L43 7PU.   
  ENGLAND
  
  

===

Version 1.01a (by Ernie Ong ernie@cs.uwa.edu.au) 


Summary:

      o Updated Wed 04th September 1996.

      o Minor modifications to Thomas Hawtin's assembly code.
      
      o Deals with certain situations better than before. (See "Changes".)


Changes:

      o QuickCaret now works correctly when a new window is opened but
	isn't below the mouse pointer. The new window will have the
	caret in such cases (eg interactive search in Zap now works
	properly). Otherwise, the operation is identical as before.
	
      o	Sleeps for 15cs between polls - less CPU intensive again.
      
      o	No help string supplied - reduces module's footprint further.
        Not really helpful in any case.
        
      o Changes to the source code are marked with "Ernie" to indicate
        the changes I made. The original source code is still available
        in the same directory under the name "QuikC/orig". 
        
        Similarly, the original module is still available as "QuikC/orig"
        in the top-level of the application directory.

        
Problems: 

	In addition to the ones listed below for the original Version 1.01,
	I have discovered new/more problems with QuickCaret in general.
	I don't believe these are due to the changes I made but merely 
	the way in which the WIMP and QuickCaret interact un-cooperatively.
	  
	o      If a menu option is opened to a text-entry field 
	  AND  the pointer leaves the text-entry field's menu 'window'
	  THEN the caret canNOT be regained in the text-entry field.
	  
	  SOLUTION: You have to re-open the menu option again.
	  
	o When performing an interactive search in StrongED (F4),
	  do NOT move the mouse pointer to a different window 
	  (ie one other than the current text window). Otherwise, 
	  the interactive search window will close by itself.
	  
	  SOLUTION: Perform another interactive search by pressing F4 again.

	o The Special "Chars" window of StrongED closes immediately
	  IF the mouse pointer isn't over the "Chars" window when opened.
	  
 	o Still doesn't work with !Chars-like programs for obvious reasons.
 	  This includes StrongED's "Chars" utility too.

	o For those who prefer the ORIGINAL QuickCaret Version 1.01,
	  it's still available at Hensa:
	  
	  	a256 12/06/93 ---- QUICKCARET 1.01 - 
	  		     	   Move caret into windows automatically


===

Version 1.01 (by Thomas Hawtin)
        

Changes:

        o Rewritten in assembler.
        o Now loads as a Module.
        o Sleeps for 10cs between polls.
        o QuitQCaret Obey file to kill the module (quitting from the
                task manager still works, of course).

Problems:

        o DBox's may not know where to put caret or get confuzzed by
                the caret's position.
        o Some apps interpret gain and loss of caret specially
                (e.g. Mads Meisner-Jensen's Hextris).
        o Some apps do not pass on hot keys (e.g. the DDE FrontEnd).

If you need to contact me:

Term time (provided I pass my exams...)     Otherwise
  Thomas Hawtin                               Thomas Hawtin
  Hiatt Baker Hall                            Woodcourt Farm
  Parry's Lane                                Harbertonford
  Stoke Bishop                                Totnes
  Bristol                                     Devon
  BS9 1AD                                     TQ9 7TY
  ENGLAND                                     ENGLAND

Tackline (aka Thomas Hawtin)
