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************************************************************************
V1 Directory Browser and File Viewer
(C) Copyright Neil Faulks 1994. All Rights Reserved.
************************************************************************
V1 is a superb tool for exploring directories on a hard or floppy disk,
or CD-ROM and viewing or processing files. Several unique features make
V1 indispensible, particularly when you are searching your hard disk
trying to work out where all the space has gone.
This version is shareware and you must read the section on registration
and payment at the end of this file.
************************************************************************
********************** IMPORTANT - READ THIS! **************************
************************************************************************
This version of V1 is still being developed and tested. It has not been
debugged to the same high standard as the E4 Editor. V1 is being
released early, because it is a useful product and I would like to get
feedback as soon as possible. To avoid putting early users at a
disadvantage registration of this version carries the added benefit of a
free upgrade to Version 1.00, PLUS a second free upgrade on request (via
email where possible). Registered users of E4 get a free software
upgrade to the latest E4 version when they register V1.
************************************************************************
Features
o Full screen display of filenames with adjustable level
of detail, sorted by name, size, time, or extension.
o Single keypress to change directory up or down, or to
change drive.
o Filename completion in dialog boxes, with directories
presented first.
o Background scanning of the hard disk to compute
directory sizes, while you use V1 normally.
o Transparent treatment of archive files (.ZIP, .ARJ etc)
as if they were directories, allowing you to enter and
view the contents of a archive file with a single
keypress.
o Copy and Move whole directory trees, as if they were
single files!
o User definable colours for files, depending on filename
and/or attributes.
o Full support for 4DOS style file descriptions in display
and when moving and copying files.
o Support for 28/43/50 lines modes and all SVGA text modes
up to 255 rows and columns. Special feature to increase
number of text modes available.
o Transparent support for text files from UNIX or Mac
systems.
o Comments can easily be added to files from within V1.
o Rename files or directories by editing their name.
o Delete directories and their contents.
o Universal "Process" feature to automate tasks such as
the extraction of ZIP files into directories.
o Programmable function keys.
o XMS Swapping when executing DOS commands.
o Network aware. Handles extra attributes, like Novell's
Shareable flag.
o Split windows.
o Compare files in two directories to find identical,
older or newer files.
o Small and neat.
o Single simple configuration file controls all aspects of
V1's behaviour.
Introduction to Using V1
The most important keys in V1 are Return and Backspace.
Return enters directories or archives, invokes applications to
view files, runs executables.
Backspace leaves directories and archives.
Most of your navigation can be done using just these two keys.
To alter the level of detail in the display (such as whether the
size, date and time are shown) press one of the number keys,
from 1 to 6. 1 shows just the filename, 6 shows the maximum
level of detail.
To change drive use Ctrl and the letter of the drive. For
example
Ctrl-A to change to drive A:
Ctrl-C to change to drive C:
V for View will always view the contents of a file using V1's
built-in file viewer. Return will also view files for which no
associated application has been defined (based on the file's
extension).
Inside the file viewer many normal commands are still available
such as the Delete key to delete the file being viewed, or K to
and a file comment. The + or = key is used to step to the next
file in sequence, - to the previous.
The Move or Copy commands work on the current file unless one or
more other files are marked (the current file is shown by a
reverse video "selector bar"). Having pressed M for Move or C
for copy you are prompted for the destination file or directory.
To move or copy several files first mark them by pressing the
space bar over each file in turn. Once files are marked Move or
Copy will work on those files. The current file will not be
included unless it is also marked.
You can limited the list of displayed files by using the List
command.
For more detailed information on all aspects of V1 please read
through the alphabetically list of commands.
Usage
V1 [<options> ...] [<directory>] [<filespec> ...]
A directory name may be given to cause V1 to change to that
directory before starting. Only one directory name may be given,
but it can include a filespec. For example: V1 C:\DOS\*.COM
Normally V1 displays all files in the current directory. One or
more filespecs may be used to limit the display of files to
those that match them.
A filespec preceded by a minus sign causes V1 to ignore those
files that match the specification.
Specifications given on the command line may be modified by the
List command. Directories are not affected by the file
specifications command and are always displayed. For examples
see the List command in the "Keys and Commands" section below.
Command Line Switches (Options)
/1-/6 Level of detail (same as commands below)
/0 Toggle display of 4DOS style descriptions
/B Force black & white only
/E Expert mode. Supresses hints from V1 about how
to do things more quickly
/H Toggle display of Hidden/System files
/Q Quiet mode. Supresses background reading of the
disk
/OU Set sort order to "unsorted"
/ON Set sort order to "by name"
/OT Set sort order to "by time"
/OS Set sort order to "by size"
/OE /OX Set sort order to "by ext"
/V## Video mode. For example V1 /V2a will set video mode 2a
on those video cards that support it. The video mode
number must be given in hexadecimal, as that is how it
is printed in most video card manuals.
WARNING: Make sure that your monitor can handle the
video modes available on your display card.
Try 2a for 100x40 on Tseng ET4000 cards. 56 for 132x60
on Trident 8900 cards.
/V##:## A decimal number given after a colon sets the number of
rows for the given video mode. If the mode is omitted
the current mode is used. Examples:
/V3:50 50 lines in Mode 3
/V:28 28 lines in the current mode
/V2a:75 special 100x75 mode for ET4000 cards
/X Toggle use of XMS memory for swapping (normally on).
When V1 executes a DOS command or shell it tries to
reduce its use of DOS memory by swapping itself to XMS,
if enough XMS memory is available. This switch is
provided in case you do not wish V1 to consume XMS
memory.
Default switches may be set using the environment variable V1.
E.g. SET V1=/V2a /30 /OX for video mode 2a and medium detail
with 4DOS descriptions, sorted by extension.
General Topics
V1TEMP and TEMP Environment Variables
V1 uses the V1TEMP or TEMP environment variable to
indicate where it should extract .ZIP and other archive
files when using the "Enter Archive" feature. Preference
is given to V1TEMP: TEMP is only used if V1TEMP is not
set. If either of these variables are not set the root
of the current drive is used.
Filename Completion
When in a dialog, such as that presented by a Move or
Copy command you can press Tab for filename completion.
V1 looks at the characters that you have typed into the
dialog and attempts to complete the rest of the
filename. If you haven't typed anything V1 presents the
first item it finds.
Directories are presented before files as these are most
likely to be required within V1. So pressing Tab
repeatedly in an empty dialog will step though each of
the sub-directories in the current directory, followed
by each of the files. At theend of the list V1 beeps.
Another press of Tab will start te cycle again.
If you have just pressed Tab for filename completion and
the next character you type is a backslash (\) V1 will
jump to the end of the line before adding the backslash.
Background Activity
While V1 is idle on the directory screen it scans the
disk to compute the size of directories. Only the drive
associated with the current window is scanned.
Once a drive has been fully scanned it is not scanned
again until the Tab (refresh) key is pressed.
The size of directories appears as a ? until that
particular directory has been scanned, although the
display is not updated unless you press a key, or the
whole drive has been checked.
Keys and Commands
RETURN
Depending on the type of the file under the selector bar
(the current file) RETURN will change into a directory,
run an executable, enter an archive (.ZIP, etc.) or view
any other file.
V1 asks before executing a program, unless the ALT key
is held down when pressing RETURN.
If the current file is an archive file, of a type listed
in V1.INI, then V1 will unarchive the contents into a
temporary directory (set by the V1TEMP or TEMP
environment variable) and switch to that drive and
directory. Changing up from that directory will return
you to the starting directory (the one containing the
archive file).
BKSP (Backspace)
Changes to the parent directory (goes up one level), as
if you had typed CD .. at the DOS prompt.
Ctrl-A to Ctrl-Z
Selects a drive letter: Ctrl-A selects A: and so on.
ESC
Leaves V1, but only if the current directory is the one
from which V1 was started. Otherwise you are asked to
use either the Quit or Jump commands.
SPACE
Marks or unmarks the current file (indicated by a
reverse video bar). Marked files may be processed by
many other commands. The Select command (S) may also be
used to mark files.
ALT
Holding the ALT key when using several of the commands
described here causes most normal confirmation prompts
to be suppressed.
DELETE
Deletes the file or directory under the selector bar, or
multiple files if they have been marked. You are
prompted before the deletion unless you hold the ALT key
down when pressing Delete. You warned twice before
deleting non-empty directories.
1 to 6
Sets the level of detail in the directory display. 1
displays just the name, whereas 6 provides full size,
time, date, and attribute information.
0
Toggles files descriptions (used by 4DOS and other
programs). When file descriptions are on the directory
display is always a single column: the level of detail
affects the space remaining for the description, which
is truncated as necessary to fit the screen.
TAB
Refreshes the directory display and other information by
re-reading the disk.
All windows are refreshed by this command and the
directory map used to compute sizes of directories is
discard and the rebuilding process begun again.
Ctrl-Right
Ctrl-Left
Switch to the next or previous window. See the window
(W) command.
?
Display extra information about the current directory on
the status line.
\
.
Both these keys work like the Goto command, except that
the character typed is entered into the Goto dialog box.
So for example typing
\FRED [RETURN]
Would change to the directory FRED in the root of the
current drive.
.. [RETURN]
Will change directory to the parent directory (although
pressing Backspace is simpler!).
F2 .. F12
The function keys are available for user-defined
functions. The section on "Programming V1" explains how
to do this.
+
-
The plus (actually the equals sign key) and minus keys
move the selector bar to the next and previous files.
Unlike down and up arrow these keys will not move onto
directories.
If any files are marked then these keys will switch to
the next or previous marked file.
If you have used the Window Match command then
then + & - take you between files that where
annotated as part of the Match.
A - Attrib
Changes the attributes of the current file (it is not
possible to change the attributes of several files at
the same instant). You change the attribute flags by
pressing the initial letter of the attribute(s) as
desired, then press RETURN to commit to the change, or
ESC to leave the file as it was.
C - Copy
If no files are selected this command copies the current
file to another file or directory. If files are selected
then they may be copied to another directory. V1 warns
beforehand if it is going to overwrite a file.
D - Dos Shell
Spawns a Dos Shell. The normal DOS prompt is changed to
indicated that you are shelled out from V1. Type EXIT to
return to V1. XMS swapping is used to which dramatically
increases the amount of memory available to the shell.
E - Edit
Invokes an editor on the current file. The editor name
may be set by the EDITOR environment variable, otherwise
E4 is used (if present in the path).
G - Goto Directory
Prompts you for a directory (and optionally a drive
name), to which V1 then changes. The Backslash key may
be used as a synonym to the Goto command except that it
enters a Backslash as the first character of the new
directory name.
H - Hidden File Display
Toggles the display of Hidden and System files. Normally
such files are not shown in the display.
I - Info
Changes the bottom line of the screen to display either
a menu of commands, or information about the current
file.
J - Jump
Leaves V1, taking you to the currently selected
directory. Compare with the Quit command.
K - Comment
Comments a file by adding a 4DOS style description to
the file DESCRIPT.ION (creating it if necessary).
Comments are copied with the file when using the V1 Move
Copy, or Rename commands.
When a file is deleted the description is deleted as
well.
See also: Rename
L - List
Controls which files are listed in the display. You can
enter a series of file specifications and only files
that match at least one of those specifications are
displayed. A file specification may also be preceded by
a minus sign, which causes files that match that
specification not to be listed. For example:
*.ASM *.C -PROJECT.*
Would list only C and ASM files, but not PROJECT.C or
PROJECT.ASM
All directories are always displayed.
If files exist in the directory that do not match the
given criteria they are show on the display as the
single special file
<other>
Pressing RETURN over this file will remove the criteria,
causing all files to be displayed.
M - Move
Works like the Copy command except that the files are
moved rather than copied. This is almost instant when
moving a file between directories, but moving a file
between drives involves a combination of copy and
delete, which is slower. Directories cannot be moved or
copied.
N - New
Creates a new directory; not necessarily inside the
current one. The directory name entered will become the
default for subsequent Move or Copy commands.
O - Order
Controls the ordering of files in the display.
Directories are normally separated from files (they
appear first) but are affected by the option chosen. The
options are:
N Name
E or X Extension
S Size
T Date/Time
U Unsorted
When the order is "By Extension" the file name display
is changed to separate the extension from the file base
name.
When the order is "Unsorted" directories are mixed with
files.
When the order is "By Size" directories are still sorted
by name, unless the size is known.
G - Group
Order by Group is a very special mode, where files with
similar extensions are grouped together as a single
entry on the display. For example *.bat would indicate
all.BAT files in the current directory. The size shown
next to such an entry is the combined size on disk of
all the files matching the pattern.
Pressing Return over one of these entries causes it to
explode into the list of files that it represents. Othe
files are left grouped. You can regroup the files by
pressing Escape. or by selecting another group.
P - Process
This command "processes" the current file. Processes can
be set for each extension, in the V1.INI file. If the
current file is an archive and a process is not defined,
but V1 knows how to decompress the archive, then the
archive is decompressed into a sub-directory with the
same name as the archive (but without the extemsion).
The sample V1.INI file includes a process entry that
processes self-extracting archives stored as .EXE files
by decompressing them into a sub-directory.
Q - Quit
This leaves V1 and returns you to the directory from
which V1 was started. Compare with the Jump command.
R - Rename
Allows you to rename the current file or directory by
editing the name. Note that the renamed file is not
resorted in the display, until the display is refreshed
by pressing TAB.
Any description attached to a file will remain with the
file.
See: Comment (K)
S - Select
Normally you mark (or select) files one at a time by
pressing the space bar. This command allows you to
select all the displayed files; clear all the marks; or
to invert the marks: so that marked files become
unmarked and unmarked files become marked.
If you have used the Window Match command you
can also use the Select command to mark files
resulting from the comparison. For example
pressing = will mark all files in the current
window that are identical to those in the other
window.
U - Use
Uses a command or program on the current file, or marked
files. You are prompted for command to be run and the
name of the current file is automatically added to the
command line. For example if the current file is
TEST.DOC
and you enter
WORD
then the command would be run as
WORD TEST.DOC
If several files are marked then the given command is
applied to each in turn.
You can control where in the command the filename
appears by using the special marker <> in the command to
be run. For example:
ECHO "<>" >> DIR.LST
Would echo the quoted name of each file to the file
DIR.LST. If the string <> does not appear in the command
then the filename is added to the end of the command
preceded by a space.
V - View
Invokes the built-in file viewer on the current file.
You can normally view a file by pressing RETURN, but
this command must be used if the file is an executable
as RETURN will try to execute rather than view such a
file.
W - Window
V - Vertical
H - Horizontal
Creates a new directory window, by splitting the
current window in half, Vertically or
Horizontally. Initially the second window is a
copy of the first but changing directory affects
only to the current window. You can switch
windows by using Ctrl-Right and Ctrl-Left.
O - One
Closes the other window, leaving the current
window as the only one.
M - Match
Compares the date/time and sizes of the files in
two windows. Files in both windows are marked to
show whether they are older, newer, same
date/time or same date/time & size, as
corresponding files in the other window.
X - eXecute
Runs the current file, if the extension is .EXE .COM or
.BAT You can use the Zip command to view the output of
the program once it has finished running.
Z - Zip to DOS Screen
"Zip back and take a look at the DOS Screen". Pressing
this key displays the state of the DOS screen, either
what was on the screen when V1 was entered, or the
output produced by running a program from within V1.
Viewing Files
When viewing files the following commands are available:
PageUp, PageDown, Up, Down
Are used to scroll the file vertically.
Left, Right, Ctrl-Left, Ctrl-Right
Scroll the file horizontally.
Ctrl-PageUp
Goes to the start of the file.
Ctrl-PageDown
Goes to the end of the file.
Esc, Backspace, V, Return
All leave the file viewing mode and return to the
directory viewing screen.
+ or =
-
Switch to the next or previous file. If any files are
marked then these keys switch to the next or previous
marked file.
E - Edit
Invokes an editor on the file. Set by the EDITOR
environment variable, or E4 if the environment variable
is not set.
F - Find
Allows you to search for a string. The search is not
case sensitive. The search may be repeated by pressing N
(next) or the Grey +/- keys on the numeric keypad, or
Alt-PageUp/Alt-PageDown. These latter keys also control
the direction of search +/PageDown for forwards,
-/PageUp for backwards.
H - Hex
Toggles the display between text and a hexadecimal dump.
7 - 7 Bit mode
Strips the top (parity) bit from the characters before
they are displayed. This only affects the display, not
the original file.
8 - 8 Bit mode
Shows the full IBM character set.
Delete
Deletes the file, as if you had pressed Delete from the
directory viewing screen.
Q - Quit
J - Jump
Behave as they do on the directory viewing screen.
Setting the COLOURS environment variable
The colours environment variable or the colours .INI file entry
control the displayed colour of a file based on its filename
and/or it attribute flags. The variable is set to a string of
items seperated by spaces, where each item may be either
<filespec>:<colour>
or
<attributes>:<colour>
<filespec> may be any normal wildcard specification or specific
filename e.g. *.bat or autoexec.bat, but it must be given in
lowercase.
<attributes> may be any of the letters RHSVDAYX which must be in
uppercase to distingish them from a file specification.
Colours are given as
<foreground><background> or just <foreground>
Colour letters are
k black
b blue
g green
r red
m magenta
y yellow/brown
w white
Capitalising the letter makes foreground colours bright and
background colours flash.
Example
SET COLOURS=D:W HS:g H:K e4*.exe:Gb *.c:G *.h:G *.asm:R
*.exe:M *.bat:M *.com:M *.bak:b readme*.*:YK *.doc:C
*.txt:C *.obj:B
For each filename the list is search from left to right and the
first set of attributes or filespec to match decides the colour
for the file.
In the above example directories will be bright white, hidden
system files will be green, and other hidden files will be
bright black (grey). For other files the colour will depend
primarily on the extension: executables will be bright magenta
except for any .EXE files that begin E4. Any README files will
be flashing yellow.
The V1 Initialisation File
The file V1.INI is used to customise V1, and it must be placed
in the same directory as V1.EXE.
The file consists of a series of entries, each of which controls
some aspect of V1's behaviour. A small V1.INI is provided
containing a few essential entries.
Entries in V1.INI take the form
<name>=<text>
Setting Default Command Line Switches
The V1 entry may be used to set any default
command line switches, as an alternative to
using the V1 environment variable. For example:
V1=/H
Would turn on the display of hidden files.
Setting File Colours
As an alternative to using the COLOURS environment
variable the COLOURS entry in V1.INI may be used to set
default file colours. The entry may continue over
several lines as long as the second and subsequent lines
are indented by at least one tab stop. For example:
COLOURS=*.txt:Bw
*.exe:BW
Associating a File Type with an Application
When the RETURN key is pressed (in the directory
display) V1 looks to see if it knows what kind of
application should be used on the current file.
Applications are associated with different extensions by
using entries of the form
<extension>=<program>
For example:
.doc=word
.gif=view
V1 will invoke the given application with the name of a
file as an argument, just like the Use command.
Like the Use command it is possible for the filename to
be inserted in the middle of the command by using the <>
placeholder. For example:
.ext=prog <> /option
All other placeholders are also available, but note that
the entry cannot extend over more that one line.
Archive Files (.ZIP, .ARJ, etc)
V1 can automatically uncompress archives file into
temporary directories, when RETURN is pressed over an
archive name.
You tell V1 how to uncompress different kinds of archive
by using entries like:
unarc.zip=pkunzip -d
unarc.arj=arj x
The command given should be one that uncompresses the
archive into the current directory, extracting any
sub-directory information as well.
The name of the archive to be uncompressed is
automatically added to the end of the command. If you
want it to appear elsewhere in the command use the <>
placeholder at the that point. UNARC entries cannot
extend over more than one line.
It is the presence of an UNARC entry that causes V1 to
recognise a file as being an archive: without an entry a
.ZIP file is treated just like any other.
Example
A comprehensive V1.INI file might look like this:
V1=/4 /H /OX
COLOURS= D:W HS:g H:K e4*.exe:Gb *.c:G *.h:G
*.asm:R *.exe:M *.bat:M *.com:M *.bak:b
readme*.*:YK *.doc:C *.sty:c *.txt:C
*.obj:B *.zip:y *.arj:Y
.doc=word
.gif=vpic
unarc.zip=pkunzip -d
unarc.arj=arj x
Programming V1
V1 allows you to assign short batch programs to function keys
(except for F1, which is used for help), or to the P key
(Process command). Such assignments are placed in the V1.INI
file as entries of the form:
<key>=<program>
For example
F2=echo F2 key pressed
For the Process command the word "process" is used instead of a
keyname:
process=echo Process Command
Often the script assigned to the key will extend over more than
one line, in this case the second and subsequent lines must be
indented by a tab character:
F2=echo first line
echo second line
echo third line
More than one program can be assigned to a key, and selected
depending on the extension of the current file. For example you
can use F2 to view archive files with entries like:
F2.zip=pkunzip -v <> | more
F2.arj=arj v <> | more
Note the use of the <> placeholder for the name of the file.
Unlike the Use command or UNARC entries in V1.INI the name of
the current file is not appended automatically to the command,
unless the <> placeholder is used.
Other Placeholders
The <> placeholder varies in meaning according to the command,
it is normally the relative pathname of the file, but may be the
full pathname in certain circumstances.
For example in an UNARC entry <> will be ..\ARCHIVE.ZIP when
uncompressing an archive into a sub-directory, it but will be
the full pathname of the archive when uncompressing into the
TEMP directory, as this may be on another drive.
Several placeholders are available in addition to the normal <>.
Assuming a full pathname of C:\WORK\PROGRAMS\TEST.BAT the
placeholders and their example values are listed below:
<name> TEST.BAT
The filename only, often a synonym for <>
<fullname> C:\WORK\PROGRAMS\TEST.BAT
The full pathname of the file
<path> C:\WORK\PROGRAMS
Just the path, without the filename part, or a trailing
slash (unless the file is in the root directory of a
drive, in which case the slash is present).
<dir> WORK\PROGRAMS
The absolute path without the drive or leading slash
<drive> C:
The drive letter followed by a colon.
<basename> TEST
The name of the file without an extension
<ext> .BAT
The extension with leading dot.
<label>
The volume label of the current drive.
<exedir>
The directory containing the V1 Executable (V1.EXE)
The above placeholders may be used to write powerful batch
programs such as this one, which will uncompress a
self-extracting .EXE file into a sub-directory:
process.exe=
mkdir <basename>
cd <basename>
..\<name>
The process command is capable of automatically uncompressing
other types of archive into sub-directories, if V1.INI contains
and UNARC entry for that kind of archive.
Registration and Payment
Registration and Payment is required if you continue to use V1
after an initial trial period of 30 days, from the date of first
use. You must pay for this software if you wish to continue to
use it legally.
The registration fee helps to pay for the further development of
this and other software.
V1 costs just £19 or $29 world-wide, for which you will receive
a vesion of V1 registered to you personally and without the
registration reminders. The price include postage and packing,
and technical support.
Technical support is available before purchase, to help you
decide if V1 meets your needs.
Cheques should be in UK Pounds Sterling, drawn on a UK bank,
and sent to the following address:
Neil Faulks
96 Middle Lane
Crouch End
London
England N8 8NT
Enquiries may be telephoned to +44 171 873 2007 (24Hr), Faxed to
+44 171 258 0717, or Emailed to
neil@dcs.kcl.ac.uk
or from CompuServe:
INTERNET:neil@dcs.kcl.ac.uk
or
100417,1251 (A faster response may be had from the
internet address)
Orders are welcome from any country in the world.
For more details and a printable order form refer to the file
V1ORDER.TXT
End of File