IconChomper

1.0 Alpha 4, released 08/16/99

About IconChomper | Release Notes | License | Feedback | Copyright

About IconChomper

IconChomper chomps Windows icons into supported BeOS formats. Windows icons come in a number of different flavors; IconChomper currently likes to chomp ICO and ICL files, as well as icons out of EXE and DLL files. (IconChomper doesn't touch any other information in these files; Windows executable code makes IconChomper sick.)

IconChomper also exhibits control over your BeOS files. You can view and change the icon associated with a file on a BFS partition, and see how your file will look in Tracker.

NEW! IconChomper has a Chomper window that makes converting large quantities of Windows icons a snap. Just drag and drop and convert hundreds of icons at a time!

IconChomper is a new Chomper (and the only Chomper identified by scientists to date). Because of this, IconChomper is irritable and not totally dependable, much like most higher life forms in their adolescent stages. You may find IconChomper occasionally burping, gurgling, slobbering, or outright quitting on you when you least expect it. Researchers are working this very moment to further refine and control IconChomper; stay tuned for further developments.

Name:	IconChomper
Scientific Classification:	chompus iconus
Habitat:	state-of-the-art operating systems
Diet:	icons from worn-down operating systems, an occasional blueberry muffin
Distinguishing Features:	primate-like hands and feet, yet no discernable skeleton or backbone; two-dimensional; frequently changing odor

Basic usage of IconChomper is as follows:

Run IconChomper
Open an icon file
Click on different Icon Groups to see the icons in them
drag an icon you like to the Tracker with the left mouse button; or right-click, drag, and hold the Ctrl key when releasing to choose from a list of supported file formats

Release Notes

Version 1.0 Alpha 4 (08/16/99)

What's New

There is a new window called the Chomper Window. The Chomper Window is built for serious chomping. Just drag a folder to the Target box to set it up. Then grab any Windows icon files and drop them on the Source box... they will be chomped one-by-one. (I would have a screenshot of this working but it happens so fast you can barely see it! Honest!) The speed at which icons are converted is pretty amazing (if I do say so myself)... I was able to convert the AllIcons pack in about 30 minutes time... that's about 4,000 icons too. Look for even more features with this window in the future...
You can now drag icons from any window! Just open up any BeOS file (like an icon file) and you can drag the icons to other IconChomper windows. This is by far the quickest and easiest way to change your icons right now in the BeOS. (Even easier ways are coming... :)

As of this release, IconChomper isn't totally feature-complete; I have a couple of other things to incorporate until I call it good for v1.0. If you have a feature you would like to see in IconChomper, contact me (see Feedback below).

Also, this release is an alpha release, so be aware of the Known Bugs below. I normally wouldn't release a beast as wild as IconChomper is until it was a little more tame. Some daring people, however, have eagerly requested an IconChomper for their very own, so here it is.

Features

Chomps Windows Icons
- Reads icons from ICO files
- Reads icons from icon resources out of Windows binary format files (EXE, DLL, ICL, etc)
- Converts Windows icons to BeOS format
- Reads 24 bit icons
Chomps BeOS Icons
- Opens any BeOS file to view the icons
- Shows what the Tracker shows for the file's icon
- Allows changing of file icons on BFS partitions
Takes Advantage of BeOS
- Supports Drag & Drop (within IconChomper, with Tracker, FileTypes, etc.)
- Uses the Translation Kit to save icons into supported image formats
- Also works as a Tracker addon
- Works as the preferred app for Windows icon files (just double-click 'em from Tracker!)
- Thumbnails icons so you can see them in Tracker
Silly Chomper Metaphor

Below is a screenshot of my bash history file about to be changed from a piece of paper to a stone tablet (now that's more like it!).

Known Bugs

Dragging icons from non-Windows windows (hehe) doesn't save to disk; you can currently only drag to other windows. With a window of Windows icons, you can drag them to the Tracker to save them to disk (like before)... you can't do this yet with other windows. Look for this in the next release.
IconChomper sometimes gets lost when looking through lots of icons; you may notice after a certain point in an ICL that the icons show up as 0 height, 0 width, etc.. this is IconChomper chomping off more than it can chew.
IconChomper does not support certain EXE files (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Photoshop, etc.). This is due to differences in Windows resource tables. Support for these "different-flavored" EXEs will be coming shortly...
People have reported problems opening certain Windows files and every time it has turned out to be a file typing problem. If you can't open a Windows icon file, open the file in FileTypes (right-click and select the FileTypes addon) and see what the file type is. If it is application/octet-stream, it's wrong. Below is a list of Windows file types; change the file type to the corresponding BeOS file type to fix the problem.

Windows File Type	BeOS File Type
ICO	image/x-vnd.Windows-ICO
ICL	image/x-vnd.Windows-ICL
EXE	application/x-vnd.Windows-EXE
DLL	application/x-vnd.Windows-DLL

IconChomper doesn't have the greatest in error handling; if IconChomper encounters a problem you may encounter a nasty error from IconChomper. At this time, just restart IconChomper and avoid the file that made IconChomper sick. IconChomper does not modify your Windows files, so don't worry if IconChomper crashes in the middle of a file operation.
IconChomper is a memory slob and does not clean up properly after itself all the time. Don't use IconChomper for super-long extended periods of time.. it will chomp your memory too. (IconChomper doesn't use a whole lot of memory to perform the icon conversions, but it theoretically could add up over time... just don't push it right now.)

License

IconChomper is Freeware. You are free to use and redistribute this software at no charge. If you redistribute this software, include this documentation, unmodified, that came with it originally.

As usual with Freeware, the author does not take any responsibility for any damage caused by using this program. If you erase your hard disk, spill coffee into your lap and burn yourself, etc., don't blame me.

Feedback

IconChomper is online at miamiBUG, the new homepage for a new BeOS Users Group in Miami, Florida (where else?). As a side note, if you live in the Miami area and are interested in BeOS, we want you! See the web page (once it is up) for details.

I have received a couple of suggestions for IconChomper (one of them was the icon thumbnailing you see in this release!), but I want more! IconChomper should be more usable now, but let me know how I can further improve IconChomper to handle all of your icon chores. Or, just let me know what you think!