Through Object Desktop, you can use a simple double-click to view the contents of virtually any file. Object Desktop has added file filters to the OS/2 operating system so you can open files without having (or even knowing) the application that was used to create the files. Hundreds of file formats are recognized automatically! You no longer need to have a particular word processing or spreadsheet program when someone sends you a disk full of documents. When handed a presentation on disk, you no longer need to worry whether the presentation was created using Microsoft PowerPoint or Lotus Freelance because you can open either type of file in the Object Desktop Viewer.

The following figure shows an Excel spreadsheet displayed in the Object Desktop Viewer.

Introduction

Object Desktop 2.0 supports hundreds of file types, including databases, word processors, spreadsheets, HTML (which is used to create Internet documents), graphics presentation packages, and more.

You can even view archived files with a double-click. The Object Archiver treats archived files as standard OS/2 folders. Double-click a ZIP file to view the list of files stored in the ZIP file. Then double-click any of these files to open them in the Viewer. For example, if a zipped Microsoft Word document contains embedded graphics and charts, you can view the document, using the original fonts and formatting, with all the graphics and charts in the right place, just by double-clicking the Word filename.

In addition to viewing the contents of files, you can copy information from the Viewer. For example, you can copy cells from an Excel spreadsheet displayed in the Viewer and paste them in other applications, such as Lotus 1-2-3 or Lotus WordPro, and preserve the original formatting (currency, decimal places, etc.).

You can also print a file directly from the Viewer or drag and drop the file to a printer object.

A unique Object Desktop feature is the HTML filter. While browsing the Internet, you can copy a website to disk, double-click it, and copy the contents of the view to a target application. The web page's formatting is preserved in the target application.

In summary, Object Viewer enables corporations and end-users to choose the applications that work best for them, and also work with files created by other applications which are not installed on their systems.

The ability to view files in the Object Desktop Viewer is available when Object Desktop is installed. To open a file in the Viewer, just double-click a file icon.

Alternatively, you can right-click an object, and choose View as [Application Name]; For example, View as Word for Windows. The file is opened in the Object Desktop Viewer.

Using the Viewer

To view a file in its original application, right-click the file object and choose Open, Application Name. For example, Open, Word for Windows. The file is opened in Microsoft Word. The application must be accessible on your hard drive or a network drive.

You can customize Viewer options in the Master Setup Object. Open the Data File Defaults page. The following settings apply to the Viewer:

Automatically Load Viewers.

Mark this checkbox to preload all the supported file viewers upon system bootup. Note that this can increase boot-up time. Unmark the checkbox to load each viewer the first time it is used. There will be a slight delay the first time a file is opened in each viewer.

Read Default Icon from View Type.

Mark this checkbox to use file icons based on the application associated with the Viewer. For example, all Word documents (DOC files) are represented by the Word application icon. Unmark the checkbox to use the default system icon.

Automatically View when Identified.

Mark this checkbox to automatically open files in the Object Desktop Viewer when an association can be made between the file and an application. For example, all DOC files are considered Microsoft Word documents. If the checkbox is unmarked, when you double-click a file object, the file is displayed in the associated application, if available, or in the Object Desktop text editor. In this situation, to open the files in the Viewer, you must right-click the file object and choose View as [Application Name] from the context menu.

The Viewer menu bar contains the following commands: File, Edit, and Options. Short-cut keys exist for some commands and appear on the submenu.

The following commands appear on the File menu:

New. Opens a new file in the Object Desktop enhanced text editor.

Print. Prints the file currently displayed in the Viewer. You can also print a file by dragging and dropping the file icon to a printer object.

Close. Closes the Viewer.

The following commands appear on the Edit menu:

Copy. Copies the highlighted area of the file.

Find. Finds the text that you specify.

Select All. Selects the entire contents of the file, for copying.

Using Viewer Commands

The following commands appear on the Options menu:

Settings. Opens the Settings notebook for the file.

Save Default Window Position. To always open the Viewer in the current location on your screen, choose this command. A checkmark indicates the feature is enabled.

Save Window Position Upon Close. To save the window position for the current file only, choose this command. A checkmark indicates the feature is enabled.

When you close the Viewer, the window location for the current file is saved. The next time you open this file in the Viewer, it is opened in the same location. By saving different positions for multiple files, you can view several files simultaneously.

Saving window positions by file requires some extra memory, so you should use this feature judiciously.

Show Menu Bar. By default, the options is checkmarked and the menu bar is displayed. To hide the menu bar, choose the option and remove the checkmark.

Presentation Mode. Displays the contents of the file using the entire screen. The window frame and menu bar are removed. To access the menu bar, right-click any location. When you close the file, Presentation Mode is disabled automatically.

A convenient way to browse documents using the Object Desktop Viewer is to open the Data pane in the Object Navigator.

To open the Data pane:

1. Open the Object Navigator.

2. Click the Data Pane button.

Using the Data Pane

The Data pane is opened at the bottom of the Navigator.

When you double-click a file in the Navigator, its contents is displayed in the Data pane. You can scroll vertically and horizontally across the Data pane to view the entire file. You can adjust the height of the Data pane by dragging the horizontal bar that runs across the top of the Data pane.

Data pane
To close the Data pane, click the Data Pane button.

Note: While the Data pane is open, double-clicking any file will open it in the Data pane. To run an executable from the Navigator, you must choose Open, Program from the executable object's context menu.