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README.FC
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1989-12-31
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File Commando II
This file documents the changes made to File Commando II that have been made
since the manual has been written. This also lists some helpful hints that
may help you when running this program.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Please read this section on how to install File Commando II on your hard disk.
Note: For this example, I'll assume your hard disk is drive 'C' and the floppy
drive you're installing FCII from is drive 'A'.
Step 1:
English: Create a directory on your hard disk C named FCII and make it the
current directory. (If you use any other disk or directory, change
the information below as appropriate.)
DOSish : MD C:\FCII
C:
CD \FCII
Step 2:
English: Copy the FCII-2xx.EXE self-extracting file into the FCII directory
(for '2xx' substitute the current version).
DOSish : COPY A:FCII-2xx.EXE (you must be in the FCII directory)
Step 3:
English: Extract all files from FCII-2xx.EXE file.
DOSish : FCII-2xx (just run the file; it will self-extract)
Step 4:
English: Delete the FCII-2xx.EXE file from your hard disk.
DOSish : DEL FCII-2xx.EXE (you must be in the FCII directory)
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SETUP
**Important** You must set the FCOMMANDO environment variable before running
File Commando or the program will not run.
The FCOMMANDO environment variable specifies the File Commando
where to create/save its data files.
To set the FCOMMANDO environment variable, add a SET command as
follows to your AUTOEXEC.BAT:
SET FCOMMANDO=drive:\path
where drive:\path is the drive & directory where File Commando
is stored (e.g., SET FCOMMANDO=C:\FCII)
YOU MUST either reboot the computer after you've added the SET
command to your Autoexec.Bat OR type the above SET command
at the DOS prompt. Otherwise, File Commando will give you an
error message indicating that:
"FCOMMANDO environment variable is not set".
The above should get you going! If you can't get the program running, please
don't hestitate to call me at (512) 670-1061 for aid. Please note, if Sandi
or I am not available, please leave your name and number on the recorder.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Program Changes:
(1) FCSMALL.COM has been removed from the distribution disk. We found that
having this extra program on the disk is more confusing than useful. So,
to reduce the amount of memory used by FCII when running other programs,
toggle the Quick Run options found under the Options menu (described
under #5 below under program additions).
Program additions
(1) Quasi-mouse support has been added. If a Microsoft-compatible mouse is
active, File Commando will automatically use it as an extension of the
keyboard, as follows:
(a) Moving the mouse up, down, left, or right simulates the use of the
corresponding cursor keys.
(b) Pressing mouse button #1 sends a carriage return ([Enter]).
(c) Pressing mouse button #2 sends an [ESC] key.
(2) The following directory movement keys have been added. These are used when
the highlighted selection bar is shown in the file window and are only
available when the window mode is set to Tree & Files or Subdirectory mode.
(a) [CTRL][Left] - Moves up one directory.
(b) [CTRL][Right] - Moves down one directory.
(c) [CTRL][Home] - Moves to root directory.
(d) [CTRL][End] - Moves to last directory in tree.
(3) Directory search and file search is available. While the highlighted
selection bar is located within the directory tree window, pressing
[Insert] displays a prompt asking for the name of the directory to be
searched for on the disk. Once a full name, partial name, or wildcard is
entered, the first matching directory name is highlighted by the selection
bar. The quick file search works the same way when the highlighted
selection bar is located within the file window. To continue searchin the
directory or file window using the defined search pattern, press
[Ctrl][Enter].
Example: To find all batch files within the current directory, make sure
that the highlighted selection bar is located within the file
window and press the [Insert] key. At the prompt, enter the
wildcard *.BAT and press [Enter] to begin the search.
When the first matching batch file is found, the file selection
bar is moved to highlight the matching file name. To find the
next matching batch file, press [Ctrl][Enter].
(4) Three backup modes are available within the Editor for saving backup copies
of the edited file. These modes are as follows:
(a) No backup : The editor does not save a copy of the unchanged file
being edited when the edited file is saved.
(b) '.BAK' file: The unchanged version of the file is saved to a file with
the name extension of '.BAK' before the edited file is
saved to the original file. This keeps only two copies of
the file, the last two versions of the file saved to disk.
(c) Incremental: Each time the file is saved, a new backup is made. This
provides a historical record of changes made to the file.
This is also helpful when you decide that the changes made
to a file are not desired and you want to begin again from
an earlier version. Each time a file is saved, the backup
file extension is numbered. The naming of the backup files
goes like this:
FILENAME.DOC - Current file being edited
FILENAME.000 - First backup
FILENAME.001 - Second backup
FILENAME.999 - Thousandth backup
This should only be used when progress tracking is
necessary, an audit trail is needed, or when changes are
being made to a file that may or may not be kept. When
this mode is used, it is up to the you to delete unwanted
backup files.
(5) The amount of memory occupied by File Commando when running a program from
the Run or Applications menu is now controlled by a toggle found under the
Options menu. This toggle is named the Quick run toggle. When On, only the
disk and screen information is saved to a temporary disk file before the
selected program is run. When Off, File Commando is also swapped out,
leaving only 7k of memory occupied by its loader.
(6) EMS memory may now be used as a temporary storage area for program
information when File Commando runs another program. If EMS memory is
available, using it speeds up the amount of time needed to swap out File
Commando program information to begin running the selected program.
(7) Pressing [Ctrl][Shift][Delete] terminates a program run from the Run or
Applications menu and returns to File Commando. This feature does NOT
work when the Quick Run feature is ON or when a program "locks up" the
keyboard or when a program traps all keyboard information. Please note:
do not confuse this keystroke sequence with the [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] key
combination, which is used to reboot the computer.
(8) The Window menu Wildcard option has been expanded to include date, time,
and file attributes within the Include and Exclude characteristics.
Include Characteristics Exclude Characteristics
File(s): 10 file wildcards File(s): 10 file wildcards
Start date: 01/01/1980 Start date: 01/01/1980
Stop date: 12/31/2099 Stop date: 12/31/2099
Attributes: R.H.S.A.NONE.. Attributes: R.H.S.A.NONE..
Attr Mode: All attributes Attr Mode: All attributes
The above options should be self-explanatory other than the Attr Mode.
The Attr Mode determines how the selected attributes are to be used to
select files in the file window. The three attribute selection modes
are Off (which ignores the attribute list), All attributes (which
selects only those files whose attributes match the entire attribute list
exactly), and Any attribute (which selects the files whose attribute
list has any of the listed attributes).
For example, to locate all Read-Only Lotus 1-2-3 work files (.WKS) on
drives C & D for the year 1988, follow these steps.
a) Log drives C and D with the CTRL-L Log disk command.
b) Select Global option of the Window Menu to display all files on
both drives together on one screen.
c) Use the Window menu Wildcard option and enter the following
characteristics under the Include column (left column).
File(s): *.wk1
Start date: 01/01/1988
Stop date: 01/01/1988
Attributes: R.............
Attr Mode: All attributes
d) Press F9 to save the Wildcard options and return to the file
window. The only files displayed within the file window will be
those that match the above Wildcard options.
(9) A command stack has been added to the Run menu DOS command shell option.
File Commando II now saves up to 2048 bytes of commands issued at the
command line in a circular buffer. The commands are saved in the FCOMMANDO
directory in a file called DOSSHELL.HIS and are available each time the
Run menu DOS command shell is used.
Command stacks are useful when you want to edit a command that had been
entered improperly or had been misspelled, when you are doing several
repetitive tasks (for example, TYPE-ing a file then COPYing desired files
to another disk then using DIR to list the files in the directory to locate
the next file).
The following commands may be used to operate the command stack:
Up Arrow - Shows previous command in stack.
Down Arrow - Shows next command in stack.
Ctrl-PgUp - Shows first command in stack.
Ctrl-PgDn - Shows last command in stack.
F3 Reset - Empties (clears) the command stack.
F8 Recall - Pops up a window of the contents of the command stack and
lets you select a command from this window for execution.
When a command is entered or edited at the command line, it is only
executed up to the point where the cursor is located in the line.
Therefore, if you are editing a previously used command and you don't
move the cursor to the end of the line after editing the command, DOS
will only execute the portion of the command appearing before the cursor,
which may not be exactly what you had in mind.
(10) Automatic detection of network drives. It is no longer required to have
the drive logging method set to standard to work on networks. File
Commando II will automatically detect a network drive and switch logging
methods internally temporarily for the drive in question.
File Commando II will also issue an appropriate error message if you try
and use any of the low-level disk functions (hex editor, info, map) on
a network drive.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Possible program incompabilities:
(1) File Commando II has been tested on a wide range of machines with no
apparent difficulties. Unlike some of our previous programs that
implemented TSR functions, File Commando does NOT take charge of any of
DOS's interrupts. This should cut down (and possibly eliminate) the number
of conflicts between other programs.
The only command that MAY not work properly is the diskette formatter. If
this command does not work on your computer, it will not harm your
computer or your hard disk, it will just choke on the diskette that you
have selected for formatting. If Format does not work properly on your
machine, please contact us and tell us what machine you have along with
the BIOS version. For a temporary solution, define the DOS FORMAT program
as an application under the Applications menu and use that until we can
figure out the trouble and get you a fix.
(2) This version of File Commando is not meant to be a network version; but
here are a few helpful hints and limits to make it work on a network:
(a) Set the logging method to DOS rather than FAT TABLE,
(b) Set the virtual drive to a local drive\directory rather than a shared
drive\directory,
(c) The disk editor, disk information, and disk map commands will not
work on network drives and should not be used.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Important hints:
(1) Using the DOS JOIN, SUBST, or ASSIGN commands: If you do not use these DOS
commands, then you can safely ignore this section. The following
limitations exist for joined, assigned, or substituted drives:
(a) The following disk commands are not allowed on joined, assigned, or
substituted drives:
(1) Volume label,
(2) Disk Info,
(3) Disk map,
(4) Disk editor
(b) To log the files of a joined drive when an affected disk is logged,
the Logging method must be set to Standard (DOS) mode. The logging
method is located under the Options menu.
** Note: File Commando will correctly log a substituted or assigned
drive even when the Logging method is set to FAT Table.
(2) The overlay file FCII.OVL must be located along the DOS path if you are
using a version of DOS earlier than 3.0.
(3) After a program has been run from the Applications or Run menu, using the
Run DOS command, using the Run Gateway (OS shell) command, or editing any
files other than the one passed to the editor from File Commando, the
affected disks must be relogged to show the new, removed, or modified
files.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Support/bug reports/helpful suggestions:
A convenient way for you to communicate your ideas and inform us of possible
problems is by leaving us a message on our RBBS at (512) 670-0954.
Or, call us at (512) 670-1061 with your problems.
If you want to make suggestions about bettering the program, please either
leave a message on our RBBS or write us a letter. It's not that we don't like
talking to you about your good ideas. It's just a lot easier for us to keep a
folder of of ideas and planned program additions with the names of the people
who have suggested them (especially if you knew the way Shane keeps his
telephone notes and the rest of his desk organized).
Thanks,
Sandi & Shane Stump
Progressive Solutions
1321 Klondike
San Antonio, Texas 78227-6125