You can start Kilometre Browser from the Finder either double clicking its icon or dragging a file or folder to its icon. If you have installed the accompanying contextual menu plugin, you can also control-click any file in the Finder and select one of the options "Show In Kilometre Browser" or "Get Info With Kilometre Browser".
If you double click the Kilometre icon, Kilometre Browser will start with the Desktop window.
The Desktop window shows the volume list and the desktop folder of your startup disk (or the user desktop folder in multiuser environments). The desktop folders of other disks are not shown in this window. If you close the Desktop window, you can open it again choosing the command "Desktop Window" in the File menu.
If you drag a folder to the Kilometre icon, Kilometre Browser will show its contents.
If you drag a regular file to the Kilometre icon, Kilometre Browser will show information about the file.
A folder window shows file names and 16x16 icons. If you select one file, you can do a number of operations using menus. You can duplicate the file, make an alias to it, copy its name and reference, etc. The options menu allows to show or hide Mac invisible files (those with the invisible attribute) and Unix invisible files (those starting with ".")
To move/copy a file you must drag it from one folder window to another in the same/another volume. If the file to be copied already exists in the destination, you will have the option to replace it or cancel the operation. If both the conflicting files are folders, you can choose between replacing (deleting the replaced folder and all its contents) or merging (keeping those files in the destination that do not conflict with the ones being copied). If the destination volume does not support long file names, the file name will be truncated if neccessary and the complete file name will be stored in the comments field of the destination file.
If you want to see more information about an item, select it with the mouse and choose the option Get Info from the file menu. A new window will open with two tab panes. The first one ("General") shows a 32x32 icon, the long filename in an edition box, the classic filename, the creation, modification and backup dates, the volume where the file is and wether this volume claims to support long filenames, a checkbox to make the file visible/invisible and a box to edit comments for the file (in MacOS X, both classic and modern comments are edited). If the file is not a folder, you will also see its logical size in bytes, and a checkbox to lock/unlock the file. If the file is a document you will also be able to change its stationery attribute.
The second pane ("Privileges") will show the file owner, group and access permissions. In MacOS X you may type either a number or a name in the owner and group fields. In MacOS 9 you must use a number.
If you want to rename the file, you can change the contents of the edition box in the info window, using the keyboard or pasting from the clipboard. The name, as well as the comments and attributes, will be changed once you close the info window, or deactivate it or quit Kilometre.
If you select more than one file before choosing "Get Info", a similar window will appear, but now you can't edit the file names and comments, and you must press the "Change" button before changes take place. If not all the files have the same attributes, or if there are folders selected, the corresponding attributes will appear in an ambiguous state, and they will not be changed.
If you are in classic MacOS, the comments are retrieved using Desktop Manager calls.
If you are in MacOS X, the comments are retrieved from the Finder. The classic comments are also retrieved in another edition box.
Copyright © Alejandro Castro 2001-2002