Appleworks Recent Items Remover
Important Notice
As of Saturday, March 26, 2005, ARIR has been superceded by Appleworks Accelerator.
Appleworks Recent Items Remover (ARIR) Version 1.05
Freeware from Seriously Lazy Software
If you find ARIR useful, pass it on to a friend and please consider providing a link to this page, www.groomsville.co.uk/sls/arir.htm, which is where you'll find the latest version.
Download Appleworks Recent Items Remover (ARIR) Version 1.05 Now Stuffit BinHex (hqx) file, 267k
Appleworks 6 is beset by a bug - it remembers EVERY item you ever open with it FOR EVER, regardless of how many recent items you've told it to remember in Appleworks' own preferences, and regardless of how long ago it was. Then it gets even dumber and lists things alphabetically instead of in date order. And it insists on keeping track of them all, so after a while you'll notice a serious slowdown in Appleworks' performance. Apple themselves have yet to offer a fix, so in the meantime here's my solution: ARIR, a customised, automated Appleworks Recent Items Remover for Appleworks 6 in Mac OS X.
More info about the problem can be found in the Apple User Discussions Forum and in Apple Knowledge Base
ARIR removes the excess aliases that Appleworks faithfully creates for you by identifying any that are older than your preferred time limit (I've set the default to 90 days because that works fine for me) and dumping them in the Trash. It doesn't empty the Trash, so if you want them back, just go get 'em... but hey, they're only aliases: ARIR does not touch your original files.
On ARIR's first run you'll enter a time limit for "recent" (anything from 0 to 365 days), then you can click the buttons or simply sit back and watch as ARIR gets on with its job. At the end your settings for "recent" will be saved unless you choose otherwise; next time around it will run with no further interaction from you. If you would prefer to supervise ARIR's activities in future, choose "Don't Save" when you reach that point. If you want to reset ARIR's settings, either (1) install a fresh copy or (2) open it in Script Editor, change something, change it back and save.
How you work after that is your decision, of course. Since I reboot at least once a week, I run it as a Start Up item on my Macs, but if you reboot less frequently you may be better off setting up an iCal repeat alarm to fire it up every week (or month - whatever). Either way, if you've allowed it to save your settings it will run, remove old Appleworks recent items, and quit.
To find your Appleworks Recent Items folder manually, go to:
Documents/AppleWorks User Data/Starting Points/Recent Items
in your Home folder.
Finally, if there's anyone out there who'd like to donate a custom icon for ARIR, please get in touch.
Here's to a smoother Appleworks experience!
Phil Groom
Updated Wednesday, March 23, 2005
System Requirements
Appleworks 6, Mac OS X. Tested on systems running Appleworks 6.2.4 - 6.2.9 under Mac OS X 10.3.8. It should run on earlier versions but no tests have been carried out. If you're running Appleworks 6 under Mac OS 9, check out Dale M Gillard's Applescripts for Appleworks; for a more sophisticated solution for Appleworks 6 under OS X or 9, check out his shareware app, Sidekick ($10).
Disclaimer
All the usual disclaimers apply: use of Appleworks Recent Items Remover is entirely at your own risk. No warranty is offered and no liability is accepted. Your life is in your own hands: handle it with care.
© 2005 Phil Groom, Seriously Lazy Software
Version History
1.05 Verifies existence of Appleworks Recent Items folder before running.
1.04 Allows user to specify any time limit for recent items up to 365 days (previous options were preset at 30, 60 or 90 days only).
1.03 "Decline or Accept" terms of use routine now only appears on first run. Now closes the Recent Items folder after completion.
1.02 Path to Appleworks Recent Items folder hardwired into the routine. "Decline or Accept" terms of use routine added.
1.01 First public release: user had to choose the Appleworks Recent Items folder.
