5441 xPad is claimed to be the ultimate notepad, a TextEdit and Stickies replacement for Apple's OS X., with its. simple, user-friendly Cocoa interface and multi-document features. While that claim is a bit extravagant, xPad is still worth checking out. It has only minimal text editing functions, so you will not likely want to use it for composing, but it's a handy place to store and retrieve stuff.

With xPad you can create as many documents as you like, all of which are managed in one window via a Cocoa drawer containing a list of all documents created. Any document can be selected and loaded instantly allowing you to easily create and manage hundreds of documents without cluttering your desktop. The downside of this is that it can get to be a long scroll if you have a lot of documents saved, however, you can create color-coded categories (see below).

You can also import documents. When you import a document into xPad, you are making a copy of it, and making changes to the document in xPad will not change the original document, so you don't have to worry about overwriting the original.

To import documents to xPad, either use the keyboard shortcut CMD+O or click the "Documents" menu at the top of your screen, then the "Import" item.

An open sheet will appear, and you will be able to choose which document(s) you would like to import. xPad is capable of importing files with the following formats:
• Plain text
• Rich text
• Rich text with attachments (images)

Unfortunately, xPad's Open dialog only recognizes documents with filename suffixes (eg: .txt, rtf, html, etc.), and very few of the tens of thousands of text files I have archived on my hard drive have these suffixes, so the import function is not very useful to me.

To export one or multiple documents, select the document(s) you would like to export and either use the keyboard shortcut CMD+E or click the "Documents" menu at the top of your screen, then the "Export" item.
To export all documents, either use the keyboard shortcut Shift+CMD+E or click the "Documents" menu at the top of your screen, then the "Export All" item.

If you're exporting one document, an export sheet will appear. Choose the location you wish to export your document to, and select the format you wish to export as. If you select Plain text, your document will be exported without attributes or images. If you select Rich text, your document will be exported exactly how it appears (including all font, justification and color settings) with any images if necessary. Click the Export button or hit the Enter key.

If you're exporting multiple or all documents, a choose location sheet will appear, and you will be able to choose where you would like to export your documents to. Choose a folder or location and click the Choose Location button or hit the Enter key. Depending on which file format you have chosen in preferences (default is Rich text format), your selected documents will be exported in the proper format complete with filename suffixes.

You can also export documents to your iPod provided it is 2nd generation or newer. To export documents to your iPod, you must first enable FireWire Disk Mode. To do this, connect your iPod to your Mac, then open iTunes. Click on the iPod Options icon on the bottom of the iTunes window:

Then check "Enable Firewire disk use."

From this point on, xPad will automatically discover your iPod when it's attached to your Mac and you'll be able to send documents to it.

To send a document to your iPod, select the document(s) you wish to send and click the "Documents" menu at the top of your screen, then the "Send to [your iPod's name]" item.

You can also use the document drawer's context menu to send documents to your iPod by control- or right-clicking on a document or a selection of several documents and clicking the "Send to [your iPod's name]" item.

The documents will be sent to your iPod's notes section (in plain text). If documents already exist in the notes section with identical filenames, xPad will overwrite those files. You can view these documents on your iPod by ejecting your iPod, and selecting the Extras » Notes section.

To remove a document from your iPod, you'll need to manually trash it .

With the category editor you can create and color-code categories, then quickly assign documents in the drawer. Documents can be sorted by name, date or category.

You can quickly rename documents, delete one or many, and export a single, multiple, or all your documents in both Rich and Plain Text formats using both drag and drop or conventional panels.

xPad automatically saves your work, so you never have to worry about manually saving what you're working on or accidentally closing something without saving—and losing all your information.

It summary, xPad is a nice little minimalist note pad application. It doesn't have the power of desktop database notepads like DEVONnote or NotePad Deluxe, but they may be overkill for your needs and xPad is free.

xPad is written in Cocoa.

System requirements:
• Mac OS X Version 10.2 or higher, additional features in Panther, even more features in Tiger.

xPad is now freeware

Here's a code for free use:
Name: xPad User
Email:
Code: X6893-2055-5686-9378

For more information, visit:
http://getxpad.com/


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Charles W. Moore

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