Tech Arsenal 1/Tech Arsenal (Arsenal Computer).ISO/tek-13/4edit110.zip/4EDIT.TXT

Text File | 1991-12-14 | 16KB | 589 lines

                          4EDIT USER'S GUIDE


                             DECEMBER 1991





                                              _______
                                         ____|__     |                (R)
                                      --|       |    |-------------------
                                        |   ____|__  |  Association of
                                        |  |       |_|  Shareware
                                        |__|   o   |    Professionals
                                      -----|   |   |---------------------
                                           |___|___|    MEMBER























                              XD SYSTEMS
                          1014 SHIPMAN LANE
                           MCLEAN, VA 22101

                               CONTENTS



        Limited Warranty                                1


        Background                                      2


        4EDIT Usage                                     2


        Regarding Registration                          3


        4EDIT Version History                           4


        4ZIP/4UNZIP                                     5


        Software Registration Form and Order            6





































                           LIMITED WARRANTY



        XD Systems warrants the physical diskette enclosed herein to
be free of defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 60
days from the date of purchase.  In the event of notification within
the warranty period of defects in material or workmanship,  XD
Systems will replace the defective diskette.

        XD Systems specifically disclaims all other warranties,
express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties
of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.  In no event
shall XD Systems be liable for any loss of profit or any  other
commercial damage, including but not limited to special,  incidental,
consequential or other damages arising out of the use,  the result of
use, or inability to use this product.

        This program is produced by a member of the Association of
Shareware Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the
shareware principle works for you.  If you are unable to resolve a
shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member
directly, ASP may be able to help.  The ASP Ombudsman can help you
resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide
technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP
Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a
Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman, 70007,3536.  The
ombudsman may also be contacted by FAX by sending to the ASP FAX
number: [phone].  In communication with the Ombudsman, please
include a telephone number and/or FAX if possible.

        4DOS is a trademark of J.P. Software.  PKZip and PKUnzip are
trademarks of PKWare.  4EDIT and all the files and documentation
distributed with it are copyright 1990 by Iram J. Weinstein.  All
rights reserved.





















                                 -1-



                          4EDIT User's Guide

                       Copyright (C) 1990, 1991

                            I.J. Weinstein



A. BACKGROUND

        In 1988, I wrote and distributed a shareware program, XDIR,
which was one of the first DOS directory programs to attach a comment
to each file.  When I first saw 4DOS, I loved it, but  I wanted to
have the same sort of full-screen editor for directory comments (or,
in 4DOS terms, Descriptions) that I had in XDIR.

        4EDIT provides this feature.  I think you will find it very
useful.  Its good practice to comment your files, and often it is
handy to see the descriptions attached to other files, while you  are
writing a new one.

        4EDIT reads the DESCRIPT.ION files produced by 4DOS and
allows you to modify them, or creates a new file if 4DOS has
not already provided one.  You should know that the DESCRIPT.ION
file is a hidden file.  You will not see it in the DOS directory
unless you change the file attribute or use the 4DOS DIR /A:h (Dir /h
in Version 3.x) option.


B. 4EDIT USAGE

 4EDIT Usage is:


      4EDIT [/12 | /24] [d:][path][filespec] [filespec] [...]


        A directory display similar to that of SELECT will appear
showing all of the files meeting any of the filespecs. This use of
include lists is like the 4DOS DIR and SELECT usage. Filespecs can
freely use the wildcard characters '*' and '?'. For example the
filespecs c:\wp\*smith*.*; *. xyz would display all the files in the
c:\wp directory that either have the letters smith in the name part
or have xyz as the extension. Note that only the first argument in an
include list can have a pathname; subsequent arguments default to
the same path.  Filespecs in an include list can be separated by ';',
as in 4DOS, or, for convenience, '+' or  ' '.

        4EDIT implements International date and time formats.  The
display will automatically be consistent with your country=xxx
command in config.sys.  Since some users prefer different time
formats, 4EDIT provides command line overrides for the time format.

        They are:

                /24     Use 24 hour time

                /12     Use 12 hour time (e.g., 10:35p)
                                 -2-

        You can cursor around the screen using <Up>, <Dn>, <PgUp>,
<PgDn>, <Ctrl-PgUp> and <Ctrl-PgDn>.  At any row, you can start
typing, and a  cursor will appear.  Typing will start at the
beginning of the  description in Insert mode.  The editor is WordStar
compatible  and also supports the following:

        <Esc>                   Restore original contents of current line, if
                                in the midst of editing it.  Otherwise quit
                                4EDIT without saving.(If you want to exit
                                4EDIT before you do any editing, it may be
                                necessary to press Esc twice.)

        <F10> ,<AltF4>          End edit. Save changed Descriptions

        <PgUp>                  Cursor back one screen
        <PgDn>                  Cursor forward one screen
        <Ctrl-PgUp>             Cursor to top of first screen
        <Ctrl-PgDn>             Cursor to end of last screen

        <Left>                  Cursor left one character
        <Right>                 Cursor right one character
        <CtrlLeft>              Cursor left one word
        <CtrlRight>             Cursor right one word

        <Home>                  Cursor to beginning of line
        <End>                   Cursor to end of line

        <Del>                   Delete character at cursor
        <Bksp>                  Delete character to left of cursor
        <CtrlEnd> <ShftDel>     Delete to end of line
        <CtrlY>,<CtrlX>         Delete entire line
        <CtrlHome>              Delete from beginning of line
        <CtrlT>                 Delete word to right of cursor

        <CtrlR>                 Restore original contents of line

        <Ins>                   Toggle INSERT on and off. Thin cursor
                                indicates overwrite mode; thicker
                                cursor indicates insert mode (default).

        <CtrlC>,<CtrlIns>       Copy description to clipboard
        <CtrlP>,<ShiftIns>      Copy from clipboard to description

        ASCII characters that are not on the keyboard can be inserted
into a description by holding down the left shift key, simultaneously
pressing ALT and entering the ASCII code for the character on the
keypad.

        4DOS Version 4.0 has extended the allowable description length
to 80 characters, and has made provisions for additional fields in its
description records for eventual use for other purposes. 4EDIT is
compatible with both of these features.  On an 80 column or wider
screen, 4EDIT displays as much of the description as possible.   As you
edit a description, it will scroll when you come to the end of the
editing window, so that you can edit a description of the full 80
character length.  When 4EDIT saves the modified description, it is
careful not to disturb any (hidden) extended information.

                                 -3-

        If you are using an earlier version of 4DOS, you probably
should confine your descriptions to 40 characters, because 4DOS will
truncate them when you COPY or MOVE the file.



C. REGARDING REGISTRATION


        4EDIT is ShareWare. The law requires that if you use this
program, you must register and obtain a license for it. The
registration fee is $15.



        Registered users will receive the latest version of the
program and will be notified of major upgrades to 4EDIT as they are
released.  Online help is available through CompuServe, by EasyPlex.
Help is also available by mail. I will try to answer all letters
within 48 hours. Non-registered users must include a SASE for a
reply. The degree of help available to non-registered  users is
purely discretionary. Registrations and inquiries should  be sent to:


        Iram J. Weinstein
        XD Systems
        1014 Shipman Lane
        McLean, VA 22101
            Voice [phone]
            CIS [70741,3711]


A registration form is included at the end of this manual.


        Commercial use of 4EDIT without payment of the registration
fee is prohibited. Site licenses are available for users with
multiple machines. Please contact me for information. The program and
its associated documentation are the copyrighted property of the
author.


        Shareware distributors and Users Groups may charge a  nominal
fee for copying and distributing this program and Bulletin Board
may likewise carry it.  Please see the files VENDOR.DOC and DESCRIBE.DOC
for complete information.












                                 -4-

D. 4EDIT VERSION HISTORY


Ver 0.90 (Beta Test) 12/01/89

        This is the original release.  It used batch files to drive
4EDIT and could only run under 4DOS.


Ver 0.91 (Beta Test) 12/20/89

        4EDIT now stands alone, and can be run under DOS.


Ver 0.92 (Beta Test) 1/18/90

        Corrected error causing highlighted row to blink on some
machines.  Modified so that EDIT function is always active. Correct
command line parser so that C: ==> C:*.* and ABC ==> ABC\*.* if ABC
is a directory but ABC.* otherwise.



Ver 0.93 (Beta Test) 2/04/90

        This is mostly bug cleanup.

                1. Entering the editor with a right arrow positioned
the cursor  to the second character of an existing description, but
to the  first character of an empty description.  Fixed to always go
to  the first character position.

                2. Cursor size in Insert mode made larger and easier to
distinguish from overstrike mode.

                3. 4EDIT lost descriptions on some files in big
directories.  Now fixed.

                4. Use of wildcard symbols * and ? changed to match
4DOS extended features.

                5.Ver 0.92 tried to correct command line parser so that
C: ==> C:*.* and ABC ==> ABC\*.* if ABC is a directory but ABC.*
otherwise. Got it right this time!

                6. The default state of the editor is insert mode.  This
used to be reset on each line.  Now 4EDIT remembers if you toggle
insert mode and starts the next line in the state you left it.


Version 1.0  3/11/90

        First public release





                                 -5-

Version 1.01  3/21/90

        Minor changes in documentation.


Version 1.02  4/01/90

        Changed file access to run on networks reliably.
        Added name and serial number on registered copies.


Version 1.03  6/10/90

        Modified to correct for 4DOS 3.0 quirk. Entries in DESCRIPT.ION
are sometimes delimited by LF instead of CRLF.  Earlier versions
of 4EDIT misread these lines.


Version 1.04 8/03/90

        Added Error Messages for Drive unready and Disk write-protected.
        4EDIT a: is now equivalent to 4EDIT a:*.*


Version 1.05 10/21/90

        A problem with include lists that caused the same file to be
selected more than once has been corrected. For example, 4EDIT
*.txt+4*.txt would show the file 4zip.txt twice.

        Many users have complained about my use of ENTER to mean EXIT.
So I have changed the key usage as follows:

                F10    -  Exit 4EDIT, saving all Description changes.
                ENTER  -  Same as cursor down
                Esc    -  If current line has been edited, restore it to
                          original.

                Otherwise, Exit 4Edit without saving changes.

        The cursor is now ON at all times.  In addition, you can now
copy the description from one line, using CTRL-C, and paste it into
another line, using CTRL-P.


Version 1.06 12/02/90

        4EDIT would hang up if used on a directory that contained
only subdirectories.  Now fixed.









                                 -6-

 Version 1.07  6/22/91

        This version caused many machines to lockup and was immediately
removed from distribution


Version 1.08  9/21/91

        Errors in handling of extended wildcards fixed.  *.t would
formerly accept 4edit.txt, for example.

        SAA compliant keys for cut(CtrlIns),paste(ShiftIns), Del
(shift-del)  and exit-with-save (AltF4) were added.

        International date and time formats were implemented.


Version 1.09 10/13/91
        Updated to process 4DOS 4.0 80 character descriptions and
extended description fields.


Version 1.10 12/14/91
        4EDIT set the blinking attribute off and did not restore it.  Now
fixed.



E. 4ZIP/4UNZIP

        Also take a look at 4ZIP and 4UNZIP.  These are also utilities
for use with 4DOS.  These programs are shells that use the PKWare
programs PKZIP and PKUNZIP.  They provide a  facility for ZIPping and
UNZIPping selected files along with  the 4DOS directory comments.
Both provide a full screen SELECT screen, allowing you to easily pick
the files to enter or remove from the ZIP file. The 4ZIP/4UNZIP
package is shareware,  available on Bulletin Boards and from
shareware distributors. Registration is $15 plus postage and handling.
See the order form at the end of this manual.



















                                 -7-

                 SOFTWARE REGISTRATION FORM AND ORDER



Check all that apply:

   [ ] 4EDIT registration                 _____ @ $15.00

   [ ] 4ZIP/4UNZIP registration           _____ @ $15.00

        Postage and Handling      $3.00

               TOTAL ENCLOSED:    $______


If you already have copies of the programs you are ordering ,
where were they obtained?

    [ ]CompuServe [ ]Friend [ ]Employer [ ]BBS ______________________

    [ ]ShareWare Distributor________________________________________


Payment is by check [ ] or money order [ ] (Sorry - no COD or
charges)

Foreign Customers - Use $US check drawn on US Bank or Postal Money
Order.


        NAME    ___________________________________________

        COMPANY ___________________________________________

        ADDRESS ___________________________________________

        CITY    ___________________________________________

        STATE   __________________________ZIP _____________


        Send your registration form and payment to:

                       XD Systems
                       1014 Shipman Lane
                       McLean, VA 22101