norge.freeshell.org (192.94.73.8)/192.94.73.8.tar/192.94.73.8/pub/computers/pcjr/arc/ARCA120.LZH/WHATS.NEW

Text File | 1990-04-30 | 10KB | 189 lines

      What's New for ArcAid 1.20, release date 04/12/90

Note to Beta site testers:

If you still have version 1.10b lying around, please erase it, or
otherwise get rid of it. Release 1.20 supercedes any previous version
of ArcAid that you may have. If you are a registered user, feel free
to download and use this release. If you are not registered, and you
continue to use ArcAid, registration is required. The fee is still
only $10.00 and is a one-time for all versions registration.

Please note...there was no full release of 1.12. The next is 1.20.
Due to the many new features and changes, I decided to raise the
release to the next major level (.20). The manual has been revised
and updated to not only include the new features, but hopefully to be
clearer in operation.

New features since 1.00:

ArcAid is now being developed using the LARGE 8086 model, which means
that it now uses all available memory for directories and so forth...so
the 500 file total directory limit with release 1.00 no longer applies.
The only limit is the amount of memory available to ArcAid. However,
ArcAid does have a 500 file per directory window limit. If there are
users out there with greater than 500 files in a particular directory,
let me know what you are using and I will expand ArcAid to handle that.

Lharc files are now directly accessed for file directory purposes.
Lharc.exe is still needed to arc/de-arc the files, but I was able to
get the file structure information so I can now access the file header
data as in the other formats.

Screen operations have changed a bit. I now show the archiver file
operations as they happen. This means that you will see each archiver
working, then return to ArcAid. This was a compromise I had to make
to allow greater flexibility in error checking with the archiving
programs. If you really hate this, let me know. I'm not sure what I
can do about it, but let me know anyway.

Disk drive errors are fully trapped, so you cannot ask for a drive
that your machine doesn't have, nor does selecting a non-ready drive
mess up the screen. When an invalid path or drive is asked for, ArcAid
tries and upon failure will return to the previous path or drive.

The new commands are included in the help window display that is shown
when <F1> is pressed from within the directory view mode.

                     User Specified Work Area

Prior to this release, ArcAid would create a temporary directory in
the current drive and path for temporary extraction of files for
viewing and moving. This caused problems when you were viewing/moving
files from/to floppies that were pretty full. You can now specify a
default work area that is saved in the ARCAID.DEF file.

To specify this area, use the <Alt-W> key. At the prompt box, enter
the full drive\path specification, INCLUDING TRAILING BACKSLASH!!!

For example, say you wanted ArcAid to create a temporary area in
the root directory of drive C:, enter this drive\path combination:

               C:\

If you wanted to have ArcAid create it's work area in your Opus file
area (and it was called OPUS and on drive C:), then:

               C:\OPUS\

is what you need.

As with the other areas you can change within ArcAid, pressing <Return>
or <Enter> without entering anything leaves the current value unchanged.

                     Multiple File Operations

This is the major operational addition to ArcAid. Of the many changes
that I have made to the code, this is the one that is the most visible
to the user. Multiple file operations are available in two modes:
tagged file mode and file mask/wildcard mode.

You can now tag/untag multiple files for use with all commands. This
extends to arc'd files as well. In other words, you can tag a number of
files and create a new arc file and all tagged files will be included
in the new file. Or you can tag a bunch of files to extract from an
archive file and it will extract them all. Or you can tag a bunch of arc'd
files and move them to another file.

To tag/untag a file, whether in the directory view or arc contents view,
use the <Ins> key. This is a toggle. Push once and it's tagged. Push
again and it's not. To clear all tags press the <Del> key.

There is a limit to the number of files that you can tag. The limit is
dependant upon the length of the filenames that have been selected. DOS
has a command line length limit of 127 characters, so the total length
of all files cannot be longer than 118 characters (the difference is the
length of the archiver file name and it's command option). If you select
too many files, ArcAid will tell you so and you can go back and unselect
some. Remember, a full file name occupies 12 character spaces, so a good
rule of thumb is you can tag about 10 files at a time.

To help you keep track of the number of files tagged, as well as the free
command line space that is available, 2 new display features have been
added. These features are provided for both directory view windows and
for the arc file contents view window. These features are [Tagged:xx] and
[CmdSpace:xxx].

[Tagged:xx] tells you how many files you have tagged for the currently
active window. [CmdSpace:xxx] tells you how many character positions you
have left in the DOS command line. This figure includes the archiver
file name and option and the full drive\path\filename of a archive file
that has the maximum number of letters allowed in the name (12). As the
remaining command space is dependant upon the destination drive\path, this
figure will change as you move the other destination window, so before you
actually execute the function, make sure that you have not exceeded the
command line space. ArcAid will let you exceed the command line space so
you can pick and choose among files if you have a choice. However, ArcAid
will not execute the command if you have exceeded the command line length.

When you change to a new directory, the tags for that view window are
cleared.

                     File Mask/*.* Selection                                                                                                                    File Mask/*.* Selection

In addition to being able to tag multiple files, you can also select a
group of files by using wildcards. For all operations, if no files are
tagged when a command key is pressed, you will be asked for a new file
mask, with the default value displayed in the window title position. The
default value will be the file that was highlighted by the cursor bar
when the command key was pressed. The default value is automatically
selected simply by pressing <Enter> without entering anything.

However, you can specify any SINGLE file mask at this point. You can
enter a complete drive\path\filename, a filename with wildcards, or
just *.*. For example, say you had an archive with a bunch of files
with a .DAT extension and you wanted to extract only these files. You
would press <F2> (to extract files) and then enter *.dat and ArcAid would
then do the rest. The same is true for other commands as well.

Please note: only one file mask (specification) can be entered. Anything
else will generate errors.

                       Copy File Operation

You can now copy a file or files from source to destination from within
ArcAid without having to exit to DOS. To execute this command, select the
file or files (using the tag/untag operation described above) and press
<Alt-C>. ArcAid will then copy the list of files to the destination
window. Please note: ArcAid automatically assigns the non-active view
window as the destination. Do not 'tab' over to the other window to show
ArcAid that this is the destination. You must be in the source window
before pressing <Alt-C>. If this is confusing (as this is not really
consistent with the archive commands), let me know.

If you only want to copy one file, you don't need to 'tag' it. Just
select it by moving the cursor bar to the desired file and press
<Alt-C>. You will be asked to enter a file mask. Press <Enter> to accept
the default value, which will be the selected file.

                       Delete File Operation

This command <Alt-D> allows you to delete one or more files from the
current directory view window. This is basically the same as the DOS
command ERASE or DEL. You can either move the cursor bar to the file
that you want to select, or you can select multiple files as described
above. Either way, pressing <Alt-D> will prompt you with a "Do you really
want to do this?" message. If you answer "Y" (case insensitive), then
ArcAid will erase each file entry you have selected in the current
directory view window. THIS IS NOT A REVERSABLE COMMAND (unless you have
an unerase command). This is a powerful command. Do not be careless with it.

               Configuration and Default Information

If ArcAid cannot find the defaults file, ARCAID.DEF in the directory where
it finds itself (ARCAID.EXE), it will prompt you for the program defaults
before the main screen is presented. After entering the defaults, ArcAid
will save these for future use. You can also change these at any time by
using the <Alt-F> command. <Alt-F> allows you to change any or all of the
program defaults, including the file viewer (<Alt-V) and the temporary
work directory path (<Alt-W>).

As always, I would appreciate your input.

Mike Masse
8822 Country View Drive
Sparta, MI  49345
Voice: 616-887-9404
E-Mail: Plane Crazy BBS, 616-887-9584, Opus 1:228/22.0
        (Mark Spangenberg, Sysop)