High Voltage Shareware/high1.zip/high1/DIR24/FMBETA.ZIP/FM.HLP

OS/2 Help File | 1993-09-29 | 27KB | 693 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. General Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Files Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Command Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. Views Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Misc Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Associations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Collector ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Grep ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Dropping files on files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Confirming Deletion ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Pick Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Filemasks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Archive Listings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Editor switch dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Program Setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

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).