Using EZViewer

Version b0.7 (02/11/01)

Jean-Louis Villecroze Kirilla
What is EZViewer ?


beMegaphone is a simple image viewer for BeOS. Its main features are:
  • Keep a list of your favorites images
  • Possibility to write a comment on the images.

The application is written in Squirrel (5.3 or higher) (you may download it on BeBits if you don't have it allready).

Contents of this document

The user interface


The user interface of EZviewer is composed of:
  • A menu bar
  • An area that display the image
  • A status/comment display area

The File menu allow you to load and export an image.

The Display menu allow to change the way images should be displayed.

The Comment menu allow you to edit or delete the comment on the currently

displayed image.

The Favorites menu allow you to display one of your favorites images and/or to add the currently displayed image (or remove it) to the list.

To quit the application, use the Quit item of the File menu or hit the COMMAND-Q keyboard shortcut.

The application will remember next time you run it it size and position on the screen, as well as the last folder explored.

Displaying an image


To display an image, simply use the File menu item Load to select the file you want to load. You may want to select the best way of displaying the image before loading it, by selecting one of the possible style from the menu Display. You can actualy do that anytime you want, EzViewer will always redisplay the image whenever the display style is loaded.

The next table explain the various display style:

Adapt The window ajust it size to fit the complete image
Center The image is displayed centered, the size of the window is not changed
Scale The image is scaled to the size of the window, or to another size
Scroll The image is displayed full size, the window size is not adjusted but scrollbar allow to scroll the image
Image's comment


To add or change the comment on an image, use the item Edit of the menu Comment. A window will be displayed for you to enter a comment. Pressing the Ok button will store the comment in the image file attributes.

As you can see in the previous screenshot, the comment of an image is displayed in the status area. If a comment is present for an image, it will be automaticaly displayed.

List of Favorites


Adding an image to your list of favorites images is very easy. Once you have displayed the image, just select the item Add of the Favorites menu to add this image in your list. You can always remove it later by using the Remove item. Be aware than this item remove the currently displayed image from the list.

To display an image from your favorites list, you just have to select the item that have for label the name of the image.

Once you have loaded an image from your favorites list, the item Load From of the File menu is enabled. This item allow you to load another image from the same folder than the favorites images.

Hacking EZViewer


One of the advantages of using a scripting language such as Squirrel is the way you can modify (hack) easily the script to better fit your needs or to extend it by adding new features.

All the source code of the application is fully readable and it can be found in the Scripts directory. The main script is called EzViewer and that's the file that Squirrel executes first.

To debug your hack, you will have to start the application from a Terminal in order to get any error message printed.

The application use the following scripts that contains various function and global variables:

  • Comment.sqi

    All the functions for the image's comment

  • Favorites.sqi

    All the functions for the favorites list

  • Functions.sqi

    Menu callbacks and other functions

  • Preferences.sqi

    Retrieve and store the application preferences

The main script performs :
  • load all thoses scripts and the needed Add-Ons
  • load the preference
  • creates the application window
If you want to contribute to EzViewer, please send me the changes you made to the various scripts files, and I will update and redistribute the new version (of course you will be credited for your help).

Support & Feedback


If you encounter troubles with this application, or if you have ideas on how to improve it, feel free to contact me.

Version History


Release date Version Comments
03/11/01 b0.7 Initial public release