Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d1/da.arc/DA.DOC

Text File | 1989-02-11 | 5KB | 105 lines

DA.EXE (c) 1987 by Paul Roub

NOTE: this is a prototype (i.e. potentially dangerous) program that plays
      with your disk internals; it works on everything I've tried it on
      so far, but try it on a scratch floppy before touching your hard
      disk with it. Let me know about any incompatibilities (in fact,
      if you have a chance, let me know what it DOES run on). I take
      no responsibility for any damages. Do NOT use it on nonstandard
      hard disks, particularly the new large Compaq Dos format (> 32mbytes).
      Otherwise, it should work on any PC-Compatible running DOS 2.0+.

DA (Directory Arrange) is a Norton-esque utility which allows you to arrange
directory entries in any order you choose. It is designed to be used as an
alternative to Norton's DS (Directory Sort) and similar utilities, in
situations where a straight sorted order is undesirable. For instance, you
might wish to have all the .EXE files first in a particular directory,
followed by all the .COM files, followed by one .BAT file, then a .ARC file,
another .BAT file, etc.

  The operation is simple -- basically a point-and-shoot activity. The user
is presented with a list of files in the current directory, a page at a time.
The cursor keys are then used to move through the list; as the next
desired file is pointed at, the user hits the enter key to place it in the
next position in the ordered list. Numbers next to selected entries show the
current ordering, and selected entries are skipped by the highlight bar.
At any time, ESC will abort the program without making any changes. After all
files have been picked, the list is displayed (again, a page at a time) for
final approval. Press any key to move through the successive pages - in the
interest of safety, the ESC key is still valid, and all screens must be
cycled through to commit the new directory to disk.

  Also of interest is '-e', the only command line option. With this option,
erased file entries are removed, instead of simply moved to the end of
the directory. This can speed up operations in a directory with many erased
files.

  if a drive or directory is specified, that directory is Arranged, instead
of the current. the original drive/dir are restored afterwards.

  note: this is a prototype version, so all features are subject to changes/
additions -- so let me know what you think; I'll try to make this as useful
as possible. As the programmer, I tend not to see the shortcomings right
away. You can contact me on Compuserve (71131, 157), through messages on
DDJFORUM, IBMCOM, IBMSW, or EasyPlex; or at my address below.

  question: ater you've played with the program a while, answer this: how
should a PgUp/PgDn key work? i mean, given that already-picked entries are
skipped and we wrap-around when cursoring past the end or beginning of the
list, where would you expect a PgUp/Dn to land? i have yet to hit on a
heuristic that makes sense to me, which is why it's not implemented here.
let me know if you have any ideas. there's a free upgrade in it if i use
your idea (yeah, big deal, but remember - you get a free floppy out of it).

  This program is semi-shareware, semi-freeware. There is no charge for the
program - I couldn't see charging for something this small. However, if you'd
like the (Microsoft C and ASM) source code, that'll cost $10.00, mostly
to cover the cost of a disk and shipping - send a disk and i'll knock
off $5 (previous versions claimed a $15.00 charge - this was a typo).
Send a check or M/O to:

        Paul Roub
        786 Loggerhead Island Dr.
        Satellite Beach, FL 32937

and I'll send a disk with the latest executable and source (IBM 5 1/4" DS/DD).

                     thanks for your input and support,
                     Paul Roub


         ----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------

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