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From: keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: workbench
Message-ID: <1318@cadovax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Jan-87 14:57:05 EST
Article-I.D.: cadovax.1318
Posted: Mon Jan 12 14:57:05 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 13-Jan-87 05:12:08 EST
References: <1111@spice.cs.cmu.edu> <1394@umd5> <5394@ukma.ms.uky.csnet> <1986Dec24.191136.2866@utcs.uucp>
Reply-To: keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle)
Organization: Contel Business Systems, Torrance, CA
Lines: 38

In article <1986Dec24.191136.2866@utcs.uucp> wagner@utcs.UUCP (Michael Wagner) writes:
>>In article <1394@umd5> louie@sayshell.umd.edu (Louis A. Mamakos) writes:
>>Why not just store the icon information in the original file?  Having two
>>files is awfully messy.
>
>Ah, but putting it in the same file is also messy.  I think, in general,
>one wants the icon (and other) information in the .info file to persist
>even when an executable is replaced by the compiler, or a table is changed
>by an editor.  Stupid programs should be allowed to ignore .info files and
>not break things.  That's what's wrong with FILENOTE...no programs preserve
>it, because none know it's there.

There's an interesting idea, I wonder if you can append your file data
to the end of a *.info file without confusing the system, i.e. will the
workbench not try to read an entire 100k *.info file before displaying
the icon etc.  You could then write a word processor, or paint program
or whatever, that saved all of its files with the .info portion as a
header, while always keeping the .info at the end of the name.  Would
cut your directory list in half.  Probably wouldn't speed up the workbench
much though.

While I'm here, I'd like to reiterate my position on this stuff: I don't spend
much time in the workbench, I don't CARE much how fast icons appear.  What I 
DO care about is how fast directory lists within applications appear, and how 
fast the CLI 'dir' command displays.

The single 'icon' file approach would work only if all applications, such as
DPaint, DMCS, Scribble, etc. etc. etc. read the single 'icon' file to get
their directory lists, and kept the file updated.  Well big news: they DON'T.
I don't spend that much time on a workbench compared to how much time I spend
in an application.  If you can't either: 1) provide a fix that is transparent
to the application, or 2) get all the applications writers to update their
code to use a new scheme, then I think all this discussion about icon files
is moot.

Keith Doyle
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