Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I just make a copy of another icon, in CLI, then change the name of it to
    the name of the program I want to activate.  Then in Workbench,
    use info to change any other "tools".  You can then use IconEd to
    modify the appearance of the icon.                            
                                                                  
    You can do the same thing by bringing a working icon into IconEd,
    changing it, then saving it under a new name (the same name as the
    program you want to use.)                                     
                                                                  
    I'm sure there are other ways.  With practice you can get icons
    to do wonderful things.  I just found a way to click on a textcraft
    file icon and have it start up textcraft, with the file loaded.
    By using INFO you can get files to do things like this.  this is
    nice.  Say you have a file called README (like all the ones that
    came with 1.2).  All you have to do is click on them, and they
    automatically start up NotePad, and load the file into it, and display
    it.
    
    

    There are some purely wonderful utilities (PD) for playing with
    Icons.  One is 'ZAPICON', which allows you to save any IFF brush
    and load it into the IconEdit program in the System draw. 
    
    Another swell utility is 'ALTICON' which allows your Icon to mutate
    into another Icon when it is clicked.  An example of this is the
    Drawers and Trashcan on the Scribble! update disk.  If you click
    on a draw, the draw actually slides open.  Or the Trashcan lid pops
    up!
    
    Still another pair of nice tools are 'XICON' and 'TICON', which
    will allow you to execute batch files and read ASCII files at a
    click, respectively.
    

    Are ZAPICON and ALTICON on any of the Fish disks or other
    readily available PD disk?
    
    -Jeff

    ALTICON is included with WorkBench V1.2!

    Two ways.
    Simple one. Copy an existing one with a shape you like. Suppose
    you have a program named 
    				MYPROG
    you can do :
    COPY CLI.info MYPROG.info
    It's important then the name of the new file is equal to your rpogram
    name with .info extension. Now click it twice, and elas! it works.
    
    Second one.
    Prepare your own ICON using ICONEDITOR ( there are two ICON editors,
    at least. The standard one which you can find in some drawer of
    your WORKBENCH ( Utilities ???) and ICON ANIMATOR which let you
    create ICON animated ( the image changes when you click once)).
    
    Once you have this ICON created a problem my arise in LOCATING in
    the right place the new ICON. If you copy it, you'll have two icon
    on the same spot. To do some housekeeping do as follow:
    Open you disak image ( At the right drawer level)
    Press SHIT and KEEP IT DOWN.
    Select the different ICONes and place them wherever you like after
         having resisez the window at your pleasure.... Notice that
    	 all the objects are selected at the same time.
    Select SNAPSHOT in your workbech menu.
    Done!
   

    I have a whole disk full of animated icons if anyone is interested.
    
    Paul

    RE: .6
    
    Where did you get your disk full of icons?  Is it something in the
    Fish set that I haven't noticed?  Is it otherwise publicly available?
    
    Mike

    I collect them ... some real nice animated ones from PD.

    Thanks for the avalanche of replies. I didn't know it was so easy!
    

    What's an *animated* icon?
    
    len.
    

Re .10:

>    What's an *animated* icon?

An icon that changes shape when you select it (as opposed to changing
color).

For example, the icons for the graphic version of hack are animated.
The icon for playing a fighter is a sword in a scabbard.  If you
select the icon, the sword pops out of the scabbard, ready to do
battle.

The icons aren't really animated in the sense of moving around: they
just have two separate images.

Scribble! has some nice animated icons.  Of general interest are file drawers 
that open when selected, and a very pretty trashcan that also opens.  I have 
rebuilt my workbench disks with them.  Is an interesting way to waste time.

Re .1:
	I found ALTICON, but it only does half of the job.  If you already 
have a nice animated icon which you want to alter, there doesn't seem to be 
any easy way to break out the separate images.  Also, I believe it could be 
very tedious to get two separately constructed images aligned correctly using 
ICONED. EA could gain even more friends if they added an option to directly
read/write icon files from DPAINT. 

	Can someone explain how the info in icons is conveyed to programs?  I 
gather the program must be designed to specifically to fetch data from the 
icon if it needs parameters?  Or do they act as some sort of command file?  
The documentation on this seems sketchy at best, or perhaps I am looking in 
the wrong place.

	Paul

Re .12:

Since using icons to pass information to programs seems like a different
topic that creating and editing icons, I have started a new note (211)
on that subject.