Replicants- Applications living in other applications

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Clock NetPositive SoundPlay

Deskbar Replicants
Mail Daemon ProcessController Storage Volumes Monitor Volume

Replicants - Applications living in other applications

Zeta allows applications to "host" other applications, which makes it unique among operating systems. Think of it as a host/guest relationship. In Zeta, we distinguish between two kinds of replicants, the ones that runs in other applications and the ones that runs in a shelf in the Deskbar.

Replicants that runs in other applications
Applications can optionally define themselves as either Containers (hosts) or Replicants (guests). The interesting thing about Replicants, is that they can spawn copies of themselves that stay alive even after the application that spawned them closes.

In fact, Replicants even continue to work after you reboot your machine. Here's how they work:

First you have to enable replicants, by selecting Show Replicants from the menu in the Deskbar. Launch the Clock from the Applications folder. A thiny hand-shaped widget will now appear in the Clock application's bottom-right corner. With your mouse, grab the handle and drag it to the desktop. A copy of the Clock application has now become embedded into the desktop, but it has no window borders or title tab.

The user can drag and drop any replicant into a host application, or container. The desktop is one such container.

What are the practical applications of this? Here's a good one. NetPositive can become a Replicant. Since the desktop is a container, a copy of the browser can be embedded in the desktop. Make the Replicant browser's homepage your favorite news site, and you've got the easiest access to the most important news right on the desktop!

Container is a demo application that you can add replicants to.

The Replicant Shelf in the Deskbar
In the Deskbar there is a shelf for status view of different running applications. The first three replicants you will notice in this shelf are the digital clock, the BeMail mailbox, and the volume control. If you are using a modem to connect to the Internet, an icon for the Dial-Up Networking will appear as well. The Replicant Shelf won't accept any kind of replicants, only specifically designed replicants will work in this space.

The replicants running in the Deskbar, often contains menus for fast accessing parts of their main applications. The BeMail mailbox icon will for instance let you Create New Message..., read unread messages from a live query (new messages), and Check For Mail Now.

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