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The Amazing Alias

A link-enhanced excerpt from the

How to make an alias using the Finder
Other ways to make aliases
Styling and trashing aliases

Put items in your Apple menu
Access a frequently used folder
Access a file server volume
Access your hard disk from any Mac on your network
Access an extension or a control panel from somewhere else
Start programs and open documents
Quickly access all the programs on your hard disk
Automate access to archived files

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The Amazing Alias

One of System 7's biggest conveniences is the alias. An alias is a small file that acts as a remote control for another item, usually another file or a folder. When you double-click an alias, the Mac opens the item that the alias points to. This lets you keep programs and files within their folders but still have fast access to them from other places, such as the desktop.

How to make an alias using the Finder

1. Select the original file or folder by clicking it once.

2. Choose Make Alias from the Finder's File menu.

The Finder creates the alias. The alias's icon appears adjacent to the original and has the word alias tacked onto its name; you can rename the alias if you like.

3. Drag the alias to its final destination.

You may want to keep it on the desktop, or maybe in the Apple Menu Items folder.

Other ways to make aliases

After you've mastered aliases, you may want to experiment with an alias utility. One is an extension called FinderHack, by Donald Brown, the creator of CE Software's QuicKeys.

FinderHack adds a menu to the Finder called Futz (I said it was easy, not poetic). Select an icon and choose the FinderHack command called Make Alias in Apple Menu, and FinderHack creates an alias of the icon and puts the alias in the Apple Menu Items folder for you. FinderHack's Make Alias As command gives you a dialog box that lets you name the new alias and specify where you want to store it. FinderHack also provides commands that instantly delete selected icons or move them to the Trash.

If you'd like the Finder to append something other than alias to an alias name, use Adam Stein's shareware utility, Adam Stein's System 7 Pack (an 86K download), which can perform several other useful System 7 modifications. System 7 Pack is included on the CD-ROM that accompanies the Macworld New Complete Mac Handbook.

Another handy alias maker is AliasThis!, by Bruce Oberg and Gordon Sheridan. Drag an item to the AliasThis! icon, and AliasThis! creates an alias of that item in the Apple menu. Better still is Lawrence Harris's shareware Alias Director (a 77K download), which even lets you create aliases that don't have icons -- a nice way to avoid clutter if, like me, you like to keep aliases on the desktop. Alias Director is also included on the New Complete Mac Handbook CD-ROM.

Styling and trashing aliases

To show that an item is an alias, the Finder puts its name in italics. Bill Monk's Alias Stylist utility (an 8K download) lets you specify a different type style for alias names.

One problem with aliases is that they remain on your hard disk even if you delete the items you aliased. To fix that, try Maurice Volaski's free TrashAlias, a control panel that automatically deletes an alias when you delete the item it points to. Cliff McCollum's shareware AliasZoo utility helps you keep track of aliases and can also delete orphaned ones.

Cool Ways to Use Aliases

There are almost as many ways to use aliases as there are ways to use the Mac. Here's a collection of ideas to get you started.

Put items in your Apple menu

Don't move an original program, document, or folder to the Apple Menu Items folder. Create an alias of it, and put the alias in the Apple Menu Items folder. Remember you can rename the alias if you like.

By the way, if you use aliases in your Startup Items folder, you should know that they will open after any "real" programs located in the Startup Items folder.

Access a frequently used folder

Perhaps you always use a certain folder that you keep buried within other folders. For fast access to that folder, make an alias of it and move the alias to your desktop. You can then open or modify the contents of the folder by opening its alias -- not by opening folder after folder to get to the one you want. You can even copy items to the folder by dragging them to its alias.

Access a file server volume

An alias provides an easy way to mount an AppleShare file server volume or a disk or folder made available through System 7's file-sharing features. (See Chapter 32 for an introduction to AppleShare and file servers; System 7's file-sharing features are discussed in the section "File Sharing 101" in this chapter.)

First, mount the volume as you normally would, and then select it and choose Make Alias. Rename or move the alias as desired. Thereafter, to connect to the server, simply open its alias, and you'll receive the standard AppleShare log-on dialog box. (You won't even see the log-on dialog box if you access the server as a guest when making the alias.) You can even use this technique to copy a file to a server volume that you haven't yet mounted: Just drag the file to the alias icon and respond to the log-on dialog box as necessary. The Finder connects to the server and then copies the file.

Access your hard disk from any Mac on your network

First, use the Finder's Sharing command to make your hard disk available. Next, make an alias of your hard disk, and then copy that alias to a floppy disk. To connect to your hard disk from a different Mac in your network, simply insert the floppy disk and double-click the alias.

Access an extension or a control panel from
somewhere else

Normally, system extensions reside in the Extensions folder, which is in the System Folder. If you want to access an extension from the Control Panels window, make an alias of the extension and move the alias to the Control Panels folder (also within the System Folder). Similarly, if you want to access a certain Control Panel directly from the Apple menu, make an alias of it and move the alias to the Apple Menu Items folder.

Start programs and open documents

If you make an alias of a program, you can start the program and open a document by dragging the document icon to the alias icon. When you do, you'll see the alias icon become highlighted -- just as a folder or disk icon is highlighted when you copy an item to it. Release the mouse button, and the Mac starts the program and opens the document. If the application icon doesn't highlight when you drag the document icon to it, the application may not be able to open that type of document. See Chapter 28 for more details on drag-launching and on data exchange in general.

Quickly access all the programs on your
hard disk

First, create a folder to hold the aliases. Next, use the Finder's Find command to search for all applications at once. After the Mac has found and selected all the applications, choose Make Alias. The Mac makes an alias of every application it finds. You can then move those aliases into a single folder to have quick access to every program on your hard disk.

Automate access to archived files

Many people use file compression utilities such as StuffIt to compress and archive older files that they copy to floppy disks and then delete from their hard disks to free up space. If you're in this group, you can use aliases to easily locate your archives -- no more rooting through floppies trying to locate the disk that contains a certain archive.

First, make your archive file as you normally would and then copy it to a floppy disk. Next, make an alias of the archive on the floppy and then copy the alias from the floppy to your hard disk -- perhaps to a folder called Archive Aliases. Finally, delete the archive from your hard disk. When you need to access the archive, just double-click on its alias. The Mac will ask you to insert the appropriate floppy.