═══ 1. General Help ═══ Each FM main window (you can have more than one; see Misc->Toggles->New Window and Starting FM) presents you with a split view; on the left is a directory tree showing all the available drives and subdirectories, on the right is container showing the contents of a single directory. You might imagine that these windows are similar to a "multiple drive" object and a directory folder that are linked together, so that selecting a directory in the tree causes the directory view to switch to the selected directory rather than opening another folder (you can alternatively open a new window). By "select" I mean double-clicking a file (or arrowing the dotted-line cursor to it and pressing [Enter], but use the mouse, it's faster). Similarly, if you select a subdirectory in the directory view, the directory changes to that subdirectory. If you select a file, however, the action is different. First, FM checks to see if you've associated a matching file mask with a program and executes that program on the datafile. If it's not associated, FM checks to see if the file is an archive and views it as one if so. If it's not an archive, FM checks to see if the file itself is executable and, if so, runs it. If it's not, FM views the file using an internal viewer (or one you've configured with Misc->Program Setup). You can move files between directories by dragging them from the directory view to a directory in the tree (or wherever). You can drag them to WPS drives or folder objects, too, or to another FM window. To copy instead of move, hold down the CTRL key while dragging. In other words, drag and drop works pretty much as it does from a WPS object. You can also drag files to some of the Toolbox buttons (the Toolbox is a separate window that contains icon buttons for common tasks; see Misc->Toolbox), and their action will be performed on the files. For instance, you can drag a file to the trashcan and it'll be deleted. If you drop a file onto another file you'll get a dialog allowing you to select from a list of options (concatenate the dragged file(s) to the target, compare the files, etc.). All in all, you'll find that drag-and-drop can be used to perform most common file management tasks. Note: in a full details view, there's only one spot that's "white space:" just above the first record. For convenience, you may also drop on the two text lines above the container. Of course, drag and drop is not the only method of getting things done in FM, nor are moving and copying the only actions available. You can click the second button on your mouse inside the tree or directory container to get a context menu of options to select from (where you click is important, just as it is with WPS objects!), or use the pulldown menus, or use accelerator keys (they're listed in the menus by their functions). A Toolbox is also optionally available, as mentioned earlier. Aside from the obvious (drag and drop, menus) you can do a few other things. You can rename files by holding down the ALT key and clicking on their names in the window as well as by the methods described above (just like in the WPS). If you select Move or Copy from a menu or via an accelerator, you'll be presented with a dialog that lets you "walk" to the drive and directory where you want the files placed. The Parent and Root buttons can be used to quickly move the directory view to the previous or root directories. When you move around your drives, FM remembers where you've been so you can get back easily using the Misc->Pick Directory command. ═══ 1.1. Files Menu ═══ Most of the commands under the Files menu are extremely obvious, but a few might not be: Shadow Creates shadows of selected files and directories on the desktop. If one file or directory is selected, creates only one lone shadow object directly on the desktop. If several are selected, creates a folder to contain them on the desktop, then places the shadow objects in the folder. Settings Calls up the object's Settings Notebook. Use this sparingly; about 200 bytes are consumed (EAs, etc.) to "turn the file into an object" if it's not already one. Command Calls up the Command Edit dialog and lets you select a command from the listbox (you could even add one on the fly), then executes that command against the selected files. Archive Creates an archive containing the selected files. If a directory is selected, all the files in the directory go into the archive. Extract Extracts from selected archives. FM ignores any selected files that aren't archives. Collect Places the selected files into the Collector and brings up the Collector if it's not already on the screen. Save to clipboard Saves the selected files into the clipboard, one filename per line. Whatever text is in the clipboard, if any, is replaced. Select This submenu contains several ways to select files in the directory container. You should be able to quickly select a subset of the records in a container using these options. ═══ 1.2. Command Menu ═══ Edit Commands Calls up the Command Edit dialog where you can add and delete commands. Commands are programs that you can run on selected files, in most cases. The commands are placed at the bottom of this submenu so that you can select them directly here without going through the Command Edit dialog. For this reason the contents of this submenu can change as you use FM. The menu items under Edit Commands are dynamically built, as noted. FM tries to give you hints about how these commands behave. A command that is checked is one which will operate on one file at a time; if multiple files are selected, multiple windows will be opened. A command that is framed is one that will prompt you to complete the command line. ═══ 1.3. Views Menu ═══ This submenu allows you to customize the appearance of the containers in the main window. Tree You can elect to display a Tree Icon view (with icons, naturally) or a Tree Text view (no icons). You can also toggle the lines that connect subdirectories with parents on and off, and collapse or expand the entire tree. Directory You can select from Details, Icon, Name and Text views. Detail views can display titles above the various fields or not. You can also eliminate icon display from the Details view. Force uppercase Force lowercase Normally FM displays filenames as they're present in the directory. You can use these toggles to force the filenames to be uppercased or lowercased. Icons You can select between standard sized icons and mini-icons. Also, you can tell FM not to load the icons from disk; when icons are displayed, FM will use defaults for files and directories. This speeds up loading of directories a little but, of course, isn't as pretty. Fonts This calls up a dialog that lets you select a new font for the window. Set Filemask Displays the Filemask Dialog and lets you select or enter a filemask to use to filter the filenames displayed. This can be a powerful tool and should not be overlooked. Sort by Selects the sorting option for the directory container. There are several options available. First extension means to sort by the text following the first period in the filename, and Last Extension means to sort by the text following the last period in the filename. The other fields are those shown in the column of the Details view of the same title. Rescan Allows you to selectively or collectively rescan your disk to update FM's containers: Directory Rescans the current directory. Only the directory container is effected. Drive Rescans the subdirectories of the currently highlighted drive. Tree Rescans everything. Both the tree and the current directory containers are updated. All main windows Like selecting Tree for all main windows. ═══ 1.4. Misc Menu ═══ Toolbox The Toolbox is a separate window that contains icons that you can click to send commands to the main file window. The icon buttons in the toolbox are graphical "mnemonics" for some menu commands and will probably be helpful to novice users. You can make the title bar come and go by double-clicking mouse button 2 (usually the right button on two button mice) in the client area of the window. When the title bar is visible, the buttons are described on it as you pass the mouse over them. When you select Misc->Save Settings, the current location and size of the Toolbox window is saved if the Toolbox is up. The Toolbox will auto-start the next time you run FM in this case. Kill Processes If you have a renegade process that won't die, try Misc->Kill Process on it. You'll get a list of running processes; pick one and click Kill. This doesn't always work, but usually will. Be careful that you don't kill FM. It won't show in the list, but a parent process (like a CMD.EXE shell that started FM) may. It won't be fatal if you do, just inconvenient. Undelete Files If you have the OS/2 undelete command activated in CONFIG.SYS for the current drive you can use Misc->Undelete Files as a front end to the Undelete command. You'll be presented with a list of files that can be undeleted on the current drive; pick one or more and click Okay. Instant Cmd File Need a one-shot batch file? Click Misc->Instant Cmd File and type one into the MLE, then click Okay. Click Help if knowing the name of the batch file is important; it'll tell you what it will be. Program Setup Here you can set the name of a default viewer and a default editor that will be used where appropriate instead of the internal viewer/editor. It's recommended you do so as the internals are rather limited. You can also assign a program to be run when you request to compare files by dragging one file onto another; COMP.COM is the default. Save Settings When you've got your windows looking just the way you want them, select this. It'll save window positions and other miscellaneous defaults so they'll be there the next time you run FM. Associations When you double-click a file in a container FM first checks to see if you've associated a matching file mask with a program. If so, that program is started with the datafile as its argument. The Associations dialog lets you enter, delete and change these associations. Pick Directory FM keeps track of where you've been for quick recall via a dialog box that this menu option pops up. If you pick a directory from the listbox (double click it, or highlight and click Okay) it becomes the new current directory, or a new window is started depending on the setting of New Window above. Toggles This submenu contains toggles that you can check and uncheck to configure how FM will behave: Don't Confirm Delete, if checked, prevents FM from popping up the Delete Confirmation dialog (except in the case of entire directories being deleted). This should not be confused with the "And quit asking" checkbox in the Delete Confirmation dialog, which governs only the files deleted in one command. New Window on [Enter], if checked, causes FM to create a new main window when you select a directory. Keep Tree Tidy, if checked, causes FM to expand the current drive and collapse any others when you switch directories using the tree. No Expand on Load, if checked, prevents FM from expanding the default drive when you switch drives. Exit FM If you have several main windows open it can take a while to close them all manually. This does it (you could also select Close from the Window List). Shutdown If you've run FM as a Workplace Shell replacement, this additional menu item appears to allow you to shut down the operating system. To run FM as a Workplace Shell replacement (not recommended unless you are low on RAM, say, under 8MB), replace the SET RUNWORKPLACE=x:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE line in your CONFIG.SYS file with SET RUNWORKPLACE=x:\path\FM.EXE See also: Grep Collector ═══ 2. Associations ═══ An Association is invoked when you double-click a file that matches a certain file mask (like "*.DWG") or when you select Associate from the Files menu. You associate a program with a "class" of datafiles so that, when a matching datafile is selected, the program is run, usually with the datafile as part of its command arguments. For example, our "*.DWG" association might be with "CADD.EXE %a", resulting in a command line like "CADD.EXE E:\DRAWING\MYDRWG.DWG" (if the datafile E:\DRAWING\MYDRWG.DWG were selected). The file mask associated with a program can include wildcards or not. There's no requirement that the program that is run actually operate on the datafile selected. In fact, an association of "*.EXE" with "%a" will cause the selected file itself to be run! (However, this is a standard fallback if there's no association, so there's not much use for such) The Signature and Offset entry fields can be useful when it's possible that a file may have a given filename pattern but not the the appropriate type of file for the association and there is a unique signature to the correct file type in a consistent location within the file. See the default entry for *.INF for an example: Signature "HSP" @ Offset 0, filename pattern "*.INF" The check boxes and radio buttons in the Associations dialog allow you to specify how the associated command will be run. The Prompt checkbox will cause a dialog to appear at runtime in which you may edit the command line. The radio buttons determine the type of session in which the program will run (for instance, you can force a windowable program to run in full screen by setting the FullScreen radio button). To add an association, fill in the entry fields and set the check boxes and radio buttons as desired, then click the Add button. To delete an association, select it in the listbox (note the entry fields and buttons change to match the selection) and click the Del button. To edit an association, delete it, edit the entry fields and buttons, then add it back. To ensure that your changes to the association table are saved permanently, click Okay when you're done making changes. The following "metasymbols" can be used in the command line to insert the file as an argument: %a = entire pathname of file %f = file only, no path %e = extension only, no rootname or path %$ = drive only, no colon or pathname %p = path only, no filename %c = configured command interpreter (SET COMSPEC=), usually CMD.EXE %% = % sign Examples (useless and otherwise): Q.EXE %a CHKDSK.COM %$: CMD.EXE /C DEL *.%e Always include extensions of commands! If a batch (command) file or internal command is to be run, do so through CMD.EXE (or COMMAND.COM if it's a DOS batch file). Windows programs may be run directly (FM will run them through WINOS2.COM automatically). ═══ 3. Commands ═══ Commands are shortcuts to starting certain programs. These programs can use the names of any selected datafiles as arguments. The check boxes and radio buttons in the Commands dialog allow you to specify how the command (program) will be run. The Prompt checkbox will cause a dialog to appear at runtime in which you may edit the command line. The Each checkbox determines whether the command is run again for each file or only once for all files (checked it means run the command again for each file). The WPS checkbox means that the command line actually contains the name of a WPS object, not a program. The radio buttons determine the type of session in which the program will run (for instance, you can force a windowable program to run in full screen by setting the FullScreen radio button). Note that commands appear in the Commands pulldown menu for easy selection via their Title. If you select File->Command or Command from a popup menu, you select the command to run from the Command editting dialog. To add a command, fill in the entry fields and set the check boxes and radio buttons as desired, then click the Add button. To delete a command, select it in the listbox (note the entry fields and buttons change to match the selection) and click the Del button. To edit a command, delete it, edit the entry fields and buttons, then add it back. To ensure that your changes to the commands table are saved permanently, click Okay when you're done making changes. The following "metasymbols" can be used in the command line to insert the file(s) as (an) argument(s): %a = entire pathname of all selected files %f = files only, no paths %e = extensions only, no rootnames or paths %$ = drives only, no colons or pathnames %p = paths only, no filenames %c = configured command interpreter (SET COMSPEC=), usually CMD.EXE %% = % sign Examples (useless and otherwise): Q.EXE %a CHKDSK.COM %$: CMD.EXE /C DEL *.%e Always include extensions of commands! If a batch (command) file or internal command is to be run, do so through CMD.EXE (or COMMAND.COM if it's a DOS batch file). Windows programs may be run directly (FM will run them through WINOS2.COM automatically). ═══ 4. Collector ═══ The Collector is a temporary place to hold files that you want to do something to later. No physical (disk) storage is used; the Collector just holds the filenames until you're ready to do something with them. You'll notice that files in the Collector have their full names, including paths, showing, not just their root names. You can drag files and directories to the Collector from a main file window or from a Grep window. Be careful where you drop the files; directories already in the Collector are "targets." If you drop on a directory, the files are moved or copied to the directory, not into the Collector. Drop on an empty space if you just want to add to the Collector. Link-drop a directory onto the Collector to add all the files and subdirectories (and their files and subdirectories if the Collector's Misc->Collect All from Linked Dir toggle is checked) to the Collector. The Collector's position is saved when you select Misc->Save Settings at an FM main window, if the Collector is up. The Collector will be automatically started the next time you start FM in this case, too. ═══ 5. Grep ═══ The Grep window can be used to find files with a certain filename pattern and/or that contain a certain text string. Grep can work on more than one drive, directory and mask. This is useful for doing things like finding all .INF files and then using Shadow to make a desktop folder containing shadows of all the found files. You can drag files from the Grep window, but not to the Grep window (makes sense). Search submenu: Search begins a search. You should have filled in the Filemask entry field and any Search string you want used as search criterion before selecting this item. All Harddrives prompts you for a simple filemask, then constructs a string for the Filemask entry field that will search for that filemask in all directories of all drives. You can stop a search in progress by clicking the Stop menu item and waiting a second or two. Toggles submenu: Checking the Absolute search menu item disables regular expression pattern matching. Grep's simple supported regular expressions can be briefly summarized: '*' matches any string '?' matches any single character '['XYZ']' matches any of X, Y or Z ' ' matches 0 or more whitespace characters C matches C Checking the Case Sensitive menu item makes searches case sensitive, so that "s" won't match "S". Checking the Search Subdirectories menu item causes Grep to recurse into any subdirectories off of the specified directory. Specifying the root directory of a drive and checking this option causes the entire drive to be searched (all directories are subdirectories of the root directory). You can enter multiple filemasks into the File entryfield separated by semi-colons. Grep will process all of them (up to 24) sequentially. Standard OS/2 filemask matching techniques are used. Only one search string at a time may be entered. Using Grep without a search string results in a simple file find being performed. ═══ 6. Dropping files on files ═══ When you drop files onto a file, there are several things you might like to do. FM provides a dialog box where you can indicate which you intend. The radio buttons below the (display-only) listbox indicate the actions you may select. The options are: Compare Compare two or more files to see if they are the same. Concat Concatanate the dragged files to the target file. Pipe Pipe the output of the dragged file through the target file (ex. DRAGGED.EXE | TARGET.EXE). Redirect Redirect the dragged file into the target file (ex. TARGET.EXE < DRAGGED.EXE). This could be used for running scripts. Exec Execute the target file with the dragged files as arguments. SetIcon Set the icon of the target file to be the same as the icon of the dragged file. This doesn't always work with non-icon files; it depends on whether OS/2 has assigned the dragged file an EA for an icon. Click the Okay button to attempt the selected action, or click the Cancel button to abort and do nothing. ═══ 7. Confirming Deletion ═══ This dialog asks you to confirm that you really meant to delete the file or directory (the dialog indicates which the current item is). You can answer Yes (delete it, and optionally check the "And quit asking" box to stop further prompts about files on pending deletes started at the same time, although directories will always cause prompting), No (skip it) or Cancel (stop all pending deletes started at the same time, as from one drag/drop or menu selection). ═══ 8. Pick Directory ═══ This dialog allows you to pick from recently used directories. As you move between drives and directories, FM "remembers" where you've wandered and saves the last 100 paths in the listbox in this dialog. You can then recall a directory you use frequently with fewer picks. The Remove button takes the currently highlighted directory out of the listbox. It does not touch the directory on your hard drive. If the listbox gets too full for you taste you can prune seldom-used directories from it using this button. Highlight the directory you want, then click Okay (or double-click the directory in the listbox). Click Cancel if you change your mind. ═══ 9. Filemasks ═══ The File Mask Dialog lets you select a filemask from the listbox or enter a filemask in an entry field. Up to fifty filemasks can be saved for later recall with a double mouse click. Highlight the filemask you want to use, then click Okay (or double-click the filemask in the listbox). Click Cancel if you change your mind. To revert to having no filemask, just click Okay on entering the dialog. To use a filemask that's not listed, enter one into the entry field below the listbox, then click Okay (or press [Enter]). To remove a filemask from the listbox, highlight it, then click Delete. How filemask strings are used Wildcard matching is not case-sensitive. If a filename does not have a period, an implicit one is automatically appended to the end during matching operations. ? A question mark matches one character, unless what it would match is a period, slash or backslash, in which case it matches no characters. * An asterisk matches characters from the source to the target until it finds a filename character that matches the non-wild character following it in the filemask, or a period, slash, backslash or the end of the filename and/or filemask. Therefore, "*.f?o" matches "anything.foo" but not "anything.foe". Up to 24 masks may be "cascaded" by separation with semicolons. When specifying multiple filemasks, you can use '\' as the first character of a mask to mean _don't_ match this filespec. Exclusions should usually be listed before inclusions to attain the desired effect. ═══ 10. Archive Listings ═══ The archive listing window presents you with a list of the archive's contents. The menus available here present you with commands which you can perform on selected files and the archive as a whole, as well as the usual configuration of the window's appearance. Besides the container showing the archive contents and a couple of informational fields above that, there's an entry field at the bottom of the window that shows the current extract directory. This is the directory in which any extracted files will be placed. (Extraction refers to copying files form the archive onto your disk as normal files.) There are two buttons beside this entry field, one marked with 'Pick' and one marked 'Walk'. These represent the same two choices that are under the ExtractDir menu item; Pick Directory and Walk Directories. To change the extract directory, enter a new directory into the entry field (if it doesn't already exist you'll get an option to create it), drag a directory onto the entry field, or select one of the two buttons or menu items mentioned. It's a good idea to hit the [Tab] key after entering a new extract directory into the entry field, since FM doesn't know you're done typing until you vacate the field. You can drag files or directories onto the container control of this window (the major part of the screen showing the files in the archive) to include the files in the archive. You cannot drag files from the archive. OS/2's drag-and-drop "rendering" mechanism would make this painfully slow for more than one or two files, as each file is processed individually (imagine extracting each file in an archive by typing a separate command line for each to get an idea how slow it would be). The menu extract items allow optimizing extraction so that only one "pass" needs to be done (note that Files->Extract must also deal with the OS/2 command line length restriction of 1024 bytes, so if you want to extract all the files in a large archive, Archive->Extract All is a superior choice). As with most other windows, you can get a popup menu in the container by pressing button 2. Following is a discussion of the pull-down menus: Files Menu View causes FM to extract the file(s) to a temporary directory and display it/them. Extract causes FM to extract the selected file(s) to the extract directory. Extract w/ Dirs causes FM to extract the selected file(s) to the extract directory in such a way that, if directories have been included with the filenames, the directories are recreated. Delete causes FM to delete the selected file(s) from the archive. Exec causes FM to extract all selected files to a temporary directory and then runs the cursored file. If you pick this from a popup menu, that would be the file under the mouse pointer when you requested the popup. This allows you to select DLLs, help files, data files, etc. required to get the application to run correctly as well as the executable file. Find causes FM to scan the extract directory for any files matching the names of the selected files within the archive and Collect them if found. Virus Scan causes FM to run the virus scanning software you've configured (see Misc->Program Setup). If you haven't configured one, this defaults to "OS2SCAN.EXE %p /SUB /A" (%p is replaced with the path of the temporary directory to which the files are extracted for scanning). Select submenu provides you with a variety of tools for selecting files in the archive. Archive Menu Extract All extracts all files from the archive to the extract directory. Extract All w/ Dirs does the same thing including any enclosed directories. Test tests the archive's integrity. Info displays some information about the archive. Rescan rescans the archive; useful if files may have been added to it or removed from it while FM had it open. ═══ 11. Editor switch dialog ═══ This dialog lets you recall and close windows opened by the internal editor. I used this rather than the normal CTRL-ESC switch list to prevent cluttering the normal switch list up with a bunch of editor windows. Select the files you want to close or recall in the listbox. Then click the appropriate button. ═══ 12. Program Setup ═══ This dialog lets you set the names of four programs that FM uses. When you select View from a menu, the program named here by Viewer is executed with the filename(s) as the argument(s), and similarly when you select Edit from a menu the program named here by Editor is run. If you have nothing in one or both of these fields, a cheap internal editor/viewer is used. Note that the same "%metastrings" that are used in the Commands dialog are available for these two programs (i.e. %a is replaced with all selected filenames with paths). Compare names a program that's run to compare two files (or two directories full of files). The filenames (or directory names) are given as arguments. This defaults to COMP.COM if you have nothing in this field. VirusScan names a program that's run to scan archive files for viruses. If this field is empty, "OS2SCAN.EXE %p /SUB /A" is executed (%p is replaced with the name of the temporary directory to which the selected archive member files are extracted prior to scanning -- you can also use %$ to indicate just the drive letter).