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GuiArc V1.22
Graphical User Interface for Achivers.
1. Copy-rights.
This program is spread as FreeWare. It means you may freely
distribute and copy this program, as long as everything stays
unchanged and all documentation and other files are spread with
it.
It also means, that this program is Copy-righted by me, the
author of this program. You are not allowed to change anything,
ask money for the program or use the program commericaly. Nobody
but myself is allowed to make money with this program. This also
implicates that this program may not be included with any
commercial product without written permission of the author.
This program may be included on non-commercial PD disks like
Fish Disks.
2. Distribution contents.
The distribution should contain at least:
ArcTypes
ArcTypes.info
GuiArc
GuiArc.info
GuiArc_E.doc
GuiArc_E.doc.info
GuiArc_N.doc
GuiArc_N.doc.info
The file 'GuiArcConfig' may absolutely NOT be included in any
distribution. When this file is present, the requester which is
shown at the start of the program, will be disabled, and I think
everybody should see this requester at least one time :-).
3. What's the program for.
This program is written, to give you a user friendly and easy to
use method of dealing with archivers. The main archiver where I
wrote this program for, is 'Lha' from Stefan Boberg, but the
program is fully configurable to use an unlimited number of
different archivers at once.
The program recognizes different types of archives automaticly
from their file pattern. When you, for example, select 5
archives, of different types, and choose 'extract' from the
gadgets menu, all archives will get unpacked, with their own
archiver. The program automaticly selects the correct archiver.
This is also done with all other actions, like adding and
listing. When you create a new archive, and don't explicitly
specify the type, the first defined type (default 'lha') will be
chosen.
4. How to use the program.
You can start the program from CLI or WorkBench. After that, it
will open a window on the WB-screen, that looks like this:
+--------------------+ +--------------------+
| | | |
: A : : B :
: : : :
| | | |
+--------------------+ +--------------------+
| C | | D |
+--------------------+ +--------------------+
+------------+ +-----+ +------------+ +-----+
| | | | | | | |
| E | | F | | G | | H |
+------------+ +-----+ +------------+ +-----+
The blocks A and B will contain the contents of the selected
directory or archive for the left and right work area. C and D
contains the path for A and B. They're editable. Blocks E and G
are short-cuts for the paths C and D. The right-bottom most
gadget of each block is configurable. And at last, F and H
contain gadgets for all different actions you can perform on the
archives.
5. Possible actions.
In this chapter, I will discuss all actions you can perform on
archives with this program. Therefore, I will first introduce
some terms.
The source area
is always the block (A or B) whose contents are
used to perform the actions on. If you selected an action in
F, block A is the source area, and the same with H and B. If
you selected the action by double clicking, the area you
first clicked in, is the source area.
The target area
is the block where the results of the action are
placed. This is always the other block.
The source archive
is a selected archive in the source area. This
can be the source area itself (if you are 'in' a archive) or
one or more selected archives in the source area.
Source files
are the selected files and/or directories in the
source area. This can be files/directories in a directory or
from the archive you're 'in'. This depends on the action you
want to perform.
A target archive
is the selected archive in the targed area.
Again, this can be the target area itself (if you're 'in' an
archive) or exactly one selected archive in the target area.
If not, the program will ask for the name of a new file.
Some actions can be activated with an other method than clicking
the gadget or pressing the underlined letter. This will be
mentioned at the action. An action is always performed from the
source area, to the destination area, or, is case no result will
show up, in the source area. These actions are possible (if
supported by the archiver, Lha supports them all).
Add
With add, you can add files to an archive (surprise!). The
source files are added to the destination archive, which is
created, if nessesary. When a new archive is created, the
default type is the one of the first defined archive type.
Ofcourse you can force the program to use a different
archiver, by adding the right file-extension (or so) to the
name. For example, if you type 'test', the archive
'test.lha' will be created with 'Lha' (supposing 'lha' is
the first defined type) but, if you type 'test.zoo' the
archive 'test.zoo' will be created, with the archiver 'Zoo'.
This way, you can select all different archivers.
You can also start adding files to an archive, by, after
selecting the last file to add, clicking in the destination
archive within the time of a double-click. You must be 'in'
the destination archive in the destination area.
Move
Similair to add, but all added files will be deleted from
the source. This action can not be activated in an other
way.
Ext/Cp
Ext means Extract. All selected source archives, will be
unpacked and the result will be in the destination area. If
you are 'in' a source archive, only
those
files which are
selected, will be unpacked.
Cp means Copy. This will copy all (non-archive) files and/or
directorys to the destination area. The program uses the
cli 'Copy' instruction for this action, so this command
should be available in your path (normally in the C:
directory).
You can also activate extract by, after you selected the
last source archive (source file within an archive),
clicking in the destination area within the time of a
double-click.
View
View lets the archiver show you the contents of the archive
in an output window. This action acts on the source
archives. If you select non-archive files and then activate
'View' (or double-click on non-archive files), the files
will be showd, using the 'File viewer' selected in the
Configuration menu (default: "Sys:Utilities/More").
List can also be activated by double clicking within an
archive or on a non-archive file.
Test
Test acts as if the archive will be extracted, but will not
extract. Just to test. All source archives will be tested.
No other activation method is possible.
Delete
Delete will delete files. This can be files within an
archive, or plain files or directories. When you are 'in' an
archive, all selected source files will be deleted from the
archive. When you are in a directory, all selected files and
directories will be deleted from that directory.
Before the program deletes files or directories, it asks
your to confirm this deletion, to avoid unwanted deletions
of files. This option can be disabled in the configuration
menu.
6. The menu's.
The program has only three menu-items. 'Quit' is easy. It quits
the program (same as the close gadget). 'About' will give you
some 'on-line' information about the program.
And finaly, 'Configure' lets you adjust some things about the
program. You can ajust:
- The path-short-cut gadgets at the bottom right of both
blocks, can be adjusted. You can type in your own name and
path.
- When the program starts, both areas can be automaticly
filled with the contents of an archive or directory. You can
give in these default paths/archives here. When you leave
this empty, nothing is read.
- The viewer used for viewing non-archive files, can be
entered in the 'File viewer' gadget. Please, use the full
path and name of the viewer.
- The next to gadgets let you disable the confirmation before
deletion of files from archives or of files and directories
from directories.
- The gadget 'Archive flags' will bring you to a window where
you can (de)select eleven options for the archivers. These
options are specific for Lha, but some other archivers also
support them.
When you select 'OK', the flags are active. Selecting
'Cancel' in the configuration windown, will not cancel the
flag settings.
- With the gadget 'Save' you can save the settings to the file
'GuiArcConfigure', which is located in the same directory as
the program.
7. Different types of archive(r)s.
As mentioned before, the program is able to deal with many
different file archivers. You can configure the diffente
archivers, by editing (or creating) the file 'ArcTypes', which is
placed in the same directory as the program itself. The
distribution of the program, contains an 'ArcTypes' file with
definitions for: Lha 1.42, Zoo 2.1 Beta, Ape 1.35 and Arc 0.23.
Unfortunately, Zoo is very bad programmed. So bad, it isn't even
possible to redirect it's output to an anther file, and thus you
can't enter the archive by double clicking it. With all other
archivers, this is possible, and I think, this is the strength of
GuiArc!
I think the settings will do for new versions of these archivers,
however, you can change them yourself easily. The description of
the 'lha' type below, is integrated in the program. These
settings are used when the file 'ArcTypes' can't be found.
The format of the 'ArcTypes''s archiver's descriptions is
described below.
Each entry MUST exist of ALL of the fields described below, and
in THAT order. Lines starting with a semi-collon (';') are
considered comments, and are ignored. Inline comments aren't
possible. Empty lines are ignored. Before each new type-name, you
must place a '@'. This is character is used to synchronise
everything. In this way, it's easier to locate errors in the
configuration file.
The %s in the command line, will be substituted with the choosen
options in GuiArc, preceded by a '-'. Note that not all archivers
support these options. The flags are given as 'lha' flags. (So
generally this options are only use-full with 'Lha'...)
Example configuration for Lha:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@LHA '@' + Name, max. 5 characters
#?.(lha|lzh) Recognizion file pattern.
lha %s x Command to unpack the archive
lha -2Y %s u ,, to add files
lha -2Y %s m ,, to move files into the archive
lha v ,, to list the archive
lha t ,, to test the archive
lha d ,, to delete files from the archive
lha v ,, to list files for 'entering'
-1 Lines to skip at the top of the listing.
-1 Lines at the bottom of the listing
44 Start position of names on the line
0 End position of names on the line
Whenever a command is not available, place a '-' on the line
(no
spaces before or after the '-'!) If you want to be able to
'enter' an archive, the last command and the 4 offsets must be
available. The program uses these to filter the file names out of
the archive list. Lines starting with a ':' are ignored. Most
archivers (at least, lha) use this to indicate a file-comment.
If you use a negative number as top or bottom skip, the program
skips all lines before/after a line which starts with a '-' or a
'='. This is very usefull for archivers who use lines of '-' or
'=' to indicate the start of the file list. You don't have to
count lines, and the program will be able to deal with a variable
number of lines before/after the file list (for example, error
texts or something like that).
When you enter a 0 for the end position of the file name on the
line, the program assumes the name of the file ends at the end of
the line. Always use this, if the file name is placed at the end
of the line in the file list.
Note that when files can't be entered due to the specification of
the archiver (yet only Zoo is strugling, but that's nog my
fault) you're still able to perform all actions on the
archive, except deleting files from the archive.
8. General information and something about the PATH.
To create some work-space on the workbench screen, without having
to quit the program, I've made it possible to iconify it. When
you press the 'Help'-key or the 'I'-key, the program will become
in-active, closes the window and create an 'icon' on the
work-bench. A double click on the icon will bring the program
back on the screen in it's original state. No buffers are cleared
on iconifying.
It is very important, that the archivers you use, can be reached
by the program. Therefore, be sure the directory where the
archivers are placed is added in the PATH of the program. C: will
be a fine place to put the archivers.
If, for one or another reason, it is not possible to add the
right dir to the path, you can enter the full path before the
name of the archiver in the configuration file. However, this is
not the best way to do this, since the available space for the
commands in the configuration file is limited to 30 characters.
If you use this method, don't use relative paths, because the
program switches internally between directories.
Some characters in the gadgets, are underlined. These can be used
as short-cut for that specific item. I've arranged them in such a
way, that you can use them best if you leave all your archives in
the left area, and every thing else in the right area.
And last, but not least: In case you haven't discovered it by
now, by double clicking on an archive, you can enter that
archive, as if it was a directory! (That is, if it can be done
with the archiver you use.)
I would like to thank:
- Marcel Duyn, for testing the program and reading the
documentation and editing/correcting it.
- Frank Sloep, for testing the program.
- Jan van den Baard, for writing the program GadToolsBox.
- Michiel Willems, for providing the nessecery utilities and
information trough his BBS (Amiga Bs Online Heemstede,
+31-23-282002), connecting me to the different mail-areas,
coming with idea's and discouraging me in this project :-((
(at least, at the beginning) and for editing/correcting the
documentation.
- Marcel Offermans for testing, providing new idea's and some
system information.
- Winston Vakkers for his (little) bug-report.
- CSA, for manufacturing the Derringer!
- The brewers of Arcener tarwe white beer, Duvel and Maredsous
and of course the Amstel beer brewer :-))
- And of course all coders of those great file archivers!
Changes in version 1.01:
- Extended the line-buffer for 'entering' an archive from 100
to 256 characters. Pretty handy for looooong paths...
Changes in version 1.10:
- The 'Delete' function know also works on plain files and
directories.
- With the 'Ext/Cp' funtion, it now is posible to copy files
and directories.
- With the 'View' option, you now can vies archives and files
(for example those 'ReadMe' files).
(Remark: Despite the above options, this program is and has
been an util to handle archivers. Therefore, the posibility
to handle plain files, will be restricted.)
- It has made easier to select multiple files and directories,
by holding down the left mouse button during selection, and
moving the mouse up and/or down.
- When changing the active path in a scroller, or rereading
the scroller after some actions, the current position of the
scroller, will be kept as much as possible. (An idea of
Marcel Duyn.)
- If you enter an empty path for a scroller (or click on the
'Drives' gadget), a list of available volumes and assigns
will be shown. (An idea of Michiel Willems.)
- Optimized the internal structure of the program. This has
made the program relative smaller and easier to
exetend/adjust.
Changes in version 1.15:
- Made scrollerbars 8 pixels smaller and added the room to the
list-view, so one more character can be displayed :-)) Gives
a nicer look.
- Fixed the ugly look when you used a "default screentext"
other than 8 pts. topaz.
- Fixed the 'text-mixing' if you chainged the configurable
gadgets when you worked on a screen smaller than 256 pixels
high.
- Fixed the placing of the string-requester and the
output-window, when you work on BIG WorkBenches.
- Changed the system-requester style about requester, to a
custom-made one with a kind of a logo. This one will pop-up
every time the program is executed. You can disable this,
by selecting 'Configure' in the menu and then select the
'Save' gadget.
- Improved the control possibilities on the external commands,
using the new dos System function, in stead of the old
Execute function.
Changes in version 1.22:
- Nicer looking menu's under 3.0 (so they told me, I haven't got
3.0 (yet) so I can't check this).
- Usage of file-requesters (asl) in the configuration menu.
- Split the configuration into two separate menu items.
- Separate saving option for the configs, with a check at
'quit', if the config has been changed.
- All 2x6 drive gadgets are now configurable (many people asked
for this).
- Command-line and icon-tool options (PUBSCREEN, ICONIFY, ICONX
and ICONY) added.
- Public screen support (through the PUBSCREEN option).
- Removed a minor bug in the default ArcTypes in the code itself.
- Added a iconify option in the menu and removed the Help key as
short-cut for iconify (it confused some people).
- The iconify-icon now is a real icon and no longer a window.
- After a call to the 'viewer', the question 'Pres...' is no
longer asked.
- When you reach the upper or bottom of the scroller, during a
drag select, the scroller will scroll automaticly.
- The 'delete' option now is also capable of deleting not-empty
directories. However, it will first ask you. It uses the CLI
instruction 'Delete' for this, so it should be present in you
C: directory.
- The Path's below the scrollers will now provide you with better
information. If you, for example, type in "df0:" and in drive
"df0" is a disk named "GreatProgramGuiArc", then the Path will
show "GreatProgramGuiArc:" in stead of the old "df0:".
- Removed a minor bug in the WB startup handling code which caused
the program to hang when started from ToolsManager under WB mode.
- Added basic support for DMS. That is; paking and unpacking of
entire disks and viewing and testing the archives. Track
selecting is nog supported.
- Fixed a bug that occured when the command-line to be executed
became to long for Dos.
- As with version 1.22, GuiArc has a Hot-key, implemented with the
commodities system. The default key is the Enter key on the
numeric key pad. You can configure this with the option of
tool-type HOTKEY. See also the file "HotKeyHelp" for more info
about hot-keys. The hotkey does always work (iconified program
or not). When it is not possible to place an icon on the
WB-screen, but the hot-key is initialized correctly, the window
will close. The functions Enable, Disable and Kill of the
WB programm Exchange will also 'pop-up' the application.
- The loading and saving of the config file has changed. The
defaults know are env: (when you select 'use') and envarc:
(when you select 'save'). The saved file is called GuiArc.Prefs.
The program will still search for the file GuiArcConfig in the
program directory and will also save it there if found there.
So changing to the env: and envarc: system, as described below,
isn't necessary. You can also specify your own settings with
the keyword or tool-type SETTINGS. Using an settings file with
icon, is also possible (see example).
To fully change to the env: and envarc: method, when you already
have your own saved config, you should:
* Start GuiArc.
* Type in one of the Path gadgets: PROGDIR:
* Select the file "GuiArcConfig" and remove it with "Delete".
* Select "Configure" in the menu.
* Klick on the gadget "Use".
* Quit GuiArc by selecting "Quit" in the menu. Answer the
requester with "Quit" and NOT with "Save"!
* Start GuiArc again and select "Save settings" in the menu.
If your system had the env: and envarc: stuff installed corectly,
GuiArc from now on will work with them.
I also added file notification support on the ArcTypes file. This
means, that if you change this file, the program will be notified
by the system, and reread the file. This way, you don't have to
restart the program every time when you changed the ArcTypes
file. However, my OS (2.0) doesn't support notification fully, so
I haven't been able to test this. It will probably not work (but
took that less code, I let it in). If it works on your system, be
happy and let me know.
9. And finaly.
I made this program as part of my hobby. That's why its FreeWare,
and why I absolutely do not ask you for any share in the costs.
But I would like to know if you like this program, and how many
people like it. So, if you like it, please let me know by sending
me a post-card or net-mail or something like that. Ofcourse in
case you like the program so very much, and want to make a
donation, you're welcome! :-)) And I do appreciate eventually
bug reports.
You can reach me at the address below ( although I'm doing my
military duty for the rest of this year (1993) so I'm only the
weekends at home... :-((( )
Fido: 2:280/464.2 or Amy: 39:151/1.2 or
Patrick van Beem
Parlevinker 5
2152 LC Nieuw-Vennep
The Netherlands
© Februari, April, May 1993 by,
_ _
/_) /_)
/ atrick van /_)eem
