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1993-03-17
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ARCPLUS Version 6.0
Copyright (c) 1993 GDSOFT
PLEASE NOTE :
-------------
THIS IS BETA Software, and and such is provided AS-IS. The purpose of
providing the software in this fashion is to allow you to suggest changes
and permit selected users to find the "bugs". So, I will appreciate your
ideas, faultfinding, response, thoughts, criticisms, or whatever else you
have to say about the software. PLEASE DO NOT BE BASHFUL !!!! I'm not going
to be thin skinned. Hopefully, through your evaluation, I'll be able to
provide a useful piece of software to the PC community. Another note, the
DOCS are minimal. If anyone wants to take it upon themselves to write
better DOCS, they not have my blessing, and will receive credit in the
final version.
WHAT IS IT :
------------
ARCPLUS (AP) is a virtual file manager with COMPLETE archive capability.
The virtual part comes from the fact that you can have as many drives,
including NETWORK drives on screen as you have memory to support, ALL AT
ONCE. You can copy, rename, view, search and do all the other things that a
file manager SHOULD allow you to do. Additionally, files can be tagged on
ANY drive or path, and ADDED to any archive in ANY format that you select.
Additionally, existing archives can be viewed, and managed as though they
were a directory on your disk.
MINIMAL STARTUP :
-----------------
First, unpack the distribution files to some directory. PLEASE take note of
the file AV.EXE. This is a STAND ALONE archive manager that is called from
AP to handle archives. You can use it by itself by entering :
AV archivename [color - blue,red,cyan etc]
If you have the GDSOFT utility ARCTOOL, YOU WILL NOT NEED AV.EXE. AP will
find ARCTOOL and use it INSTEAD !!! With either of these programs, you can
perform view, extract, print, convert and various other functions on
archives. The ONLY difference between them is that AV.EXE is a SINGLE
archive program and ARCTOOL can search for multiple archives and allow them
to be manipulated. The IMPORTANT thing is that you have ONE of these
utilities on your disk. ARCPLUS WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT ONE OF THEM !!
Execute AP from DOS, and DO AT LEAST the following :
1. Press Alt O (Options) and Install your Archivers. This tells AP
where to find PKZIP, ARJ or whatever, and what switches you want to
use when CREATING archives. You MUST set up an archiver for EVERY
possible extension that you might use.
AP will ask you for the extension of the file (ZIP,ARJ etc). Enter
.ZIP or .ARJ or whatever extension you want recognized. When you
create an archive with a given extension, AP is going to call the
program you enter.
Press TAB and enter the program name PLUS full path PLUS switches.
Example :
\UTILITY\PKZIP.EXE -EX
You can also select [X] PROMPT to have AP prompt you EACH time that
you run the CREATE ARCHIVE function (F8). This would allow you to
change the switches if you wanted to. Personally, I prefer NOT to
have the prompt switch on.
2. Set up a Custom Viewer and Editor if you want to use them. AP
has a built in file viewer as well. Alt F4 calls it. Ctrl F4 calls
the custom viewer if you have it set up.
3. Select the color set that you prefer.
4. SAVE your options. If you don't, you WILL loose them when you
end the program.
You are NOW ready to create an archive. Go to some directory, and tag a few
files. Files are tagged and untagged individually using the <SPACEBAR>, or
you can press ALT F then ALT T. Next, Press F8(Archive) and enter and
archive name. Include the full path as well where you want the archive to
go. Example :
d:\somepath\somearc.zip
If the archive ALREADY exists, the tagged files will be added to it. Press
<ENTER> and AP will call the program you told it to call for the extension
of the archive file you just entered. If you DO NOT enter an extension, the
default extension '.ZIP' will be used.
Next, the archive you JUST created will be displayed, and you can view,
extract, print, convert or whatever.
Now, go back to the AP screen. You will now notice that the filename now
appears at the TOP status line. Pressing ALT V when the file is displayed
allows you to GO BACK to the current archive window AT ANY TIME. Also, you
can press F8(Archive) again, and 'V' to accomplish the same thing.
You can have VARIOUS archives that you are working on, and switch between
them by pressing F8(Archive) and the DOWN ARROW KEY. This will give you a
list of the archives that you have accessed during your session, and you
simply select the one that you want.
EXISTING ARCHIVE SUPPORT :
--------------------------
AP recognizes the extensions ZIP,ARJ,PAK,PKA,ARC,LBR,ZOO, and QWK. If a
files in the files display window ends in one of these extensions, simple
press <ENTER>, and the archive will be displayed. You can then view, print,
extract, or convert the contents.
Also, if you wanted to, you could use the ASSOCIATE command and associate
any program you wanted to with any extension that you wanted. If you do
this for say the .ZIP extension, then THAT program will be called whenever
you press the <ENTER> key on a file with that extension.
MORE ABOUT ASSOCIATE :
----------------------
ASSOCIATE WILL NOT WORK for files that end in COM,EXE,BAT, or BTM. That's
because these are themselves executable files. When you press <ENTER> on a
file with these extensions, AP will run them. It will ask you for any
parameters that you want to use. AP uses a special technique when it runs
these files, and ONLY USES about 1.5K of memory. So, you can run a pretty
BIG file !!
Otherwise, the ASSOCIATE feature is a VERY POWERFUL feature of ARCPLUS.
With it, you can cause AP to handle any file that it encounters in any
manner you wish. For instance, you could associate '.TXT' with you favorite
editor. Pressing <ENTER> on these files would then call the editor. It can
ALSO CALL BATCH FILES !!! So, you could create a batch file called PACK.BAT
and associate it with all of your '.DAT' files. The batch file might look
like this :
@echo off
pkzip -ex savedat.zip %1
then, whenever you press <ENTER> on a '.DAT' file, NO MATTER WHAT DISK IT
IS ON, it would be archived into the "savedat.zip". Pretty NEAT Huh ??
BASIC COMMAND WINDOWS AND CURSOR MOVEMENT :
-------------------------------------------
When executed, AP displays TWO distinct windows. The DIRECTORY window where
you select the directory, and the FILES WINDOW where you deal with the
files in the selected directory. The TAB key is used to switch between the
windows. The DIRECTORY window displays all directories on the selected
disk. Some directories MAY include a PLUS(+) sign in from of them. This
means that there are SUB directories under these directories. Pressing the
GREY PLUS (+) key will expand these. Pressing the GREY MINUS (-) key will
contract them. Pressin any LETTER key in the DIRECTORY window jumps to a
directory starting with that letter.
ARCPLUS uses the normal cursor keys to go UP, DOWN, HOME, END, PGUP, PGDN.
Here is a LIMITED list of the function, ALT and CTRL keys and what each
does :
Command Description
-------------------- ------------------------------------------------
[TAB] - Switches between DIRECTORY and FILES.
[F1] - Reserved for HELP system (coming later dude !!)
[F3] - Open NEW drive and its directories.
[F4] - Execute CUSTOM viewer on current file.
[F5] - ZOOM current window ( use ALL of the screen )
[F6] - Switch to the NEXT window.
[F7] - Copy current OR tagged files.
[F8] - place tagged files in archive.
[F9] - execute editor on current file.
[F10] - Command MENU
[SHIFT]-[F6] - Previous Window
[ALT]-F3 - Close CURRENT window
[ALT]-F4 - View current files (HEX)
[ALT]-F5 - Move/Size Current Window
[CTRL]-F4 - View current file (internal viewer)
[ALT]-[V] - View current archive (if one has been named).
[ALT]-[X] - End ARCPLUS.
[ALT]-[C] - End ARCPLUS and change to THIS directory.
[GREY+] - Expand current directory to include SUBS.
[GREY-] - Contract current directory (NO SUBS).
!!! A WARNING !!!
PLEASE DO NOT USE PKLITE, DIET or ANY EXE COMPRESSOR ON GDSOFT FILES. I
HAVE ALREADY COMPRESSED THEM TO THE LIMIT, and YOU WILL EXPERIENCE PROBLEMS
IF YOU COMPRESS THEM AGAIN.
Well, that's pretty much it. I think that you will find ARCPLUS easy to
use, FAST, and once you get used to using it, indispensable !!
If you like ARCPLUS, then please register it. For those who do, I will send
my super dooper BONUS archive as well. Believe me there are many goodies on
this BONUS disk. including FILEMANAGER PLUS, an exciting NEW program which
does ALL that you could EVER want a file manager program to do, including
everything that ARCPLUS does and MUCH MORE !!!
(FILEMANAGER PLUS will NOT be uploaded anywhere !! This is the only way you
can get it !!).
Send a FORMATTED, BLANK diskette to
G.D. DAVIS
57280 Osage Drive
Goshen, Indiana 46526
Please Include a $30.00 registration fee.
Make sure that you include your return address.
If you have any comments or questions, I would REALLY love to receive your
comments or suggestions. I can be reached by leaving mail on GENIE
(G.D.DAVIS) or CompuServe (72067,2726), or write to me at the above address
or better yet, call GDSOFT BBS (219) 875-8133, 5pm-5am (EST), HST
14400,8,N,1.
Thank you for choosing ARCPLUS.