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File Magician
V1.0
Copyright 1993-1994
by Terry Bullard
for Windows 3.1
Welcome to File Magician!! First I must tell you a bit about myself and
my company, then I'll get to the grit of the program. My name is Terry
Bullard and I've been programming on the Amiga computer since 1985. I love
creating utilities and have sold many to the different magazines, customed
to different software companies, and have just sold out right to distributers.
We are just a small company, man and wife, I do the programming and she does
all the work. After we had graduated to the PC world it didn't take me long
to discover that there were a few things that would make life a good deal
easier when dealing with the PC. File Magician is one of the first programs
I felt would benefit PC users. After talking with other Amiga users who are
also PC users it was voted unanimous that the PC world needs a good file and
directory program. Disk Master, Directory Opus, are the heart of the Amiga
World. Now that I have joined the ranks of the PC I hope to bring you the
best of both worlds, and File Magician is well on its way to that.
My main goal in all programs is to make it as user friendly as possible
and I do not spare the coding or time to do so. I believe that software is
suppose to take the work out of whatever you are doing and should be able to
to be used with little or no documentation at all. The interface should be
nice and should be straight forward in what it does. I also believe that the
customer is right! A lot of places (no names) automatically assume that the
customer is a dummy and if the customer did this or the customer did that or
the customer bought this etc., I don't! To me it means that I goofed, I
should have taken that problem into account within the program. What this all
boils down to is that I want to hear from you, I need your input so I can do
my best in my programming.
Description
~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, enough said on that subject! Now to tell a little about File Magician.
File Magician has a similar interface as Disk Master v1.4 for the amiga, if
you own a amiga and don't have Disk Master, get it , it is a must have.
File Magician has two view windows, one is always the 'Source Window' and one
is always the 'Destination' window. Source and Destination can be swapped by
clicking the LMB in the window or in the path bar above the window. The
clicked area will then become the 'Source' window. The 'Source' window will
have a red box around it plus the little toggle bar between the windows at the
top of the screen will also point to it. In the center of the screen between
the two windows will be a column of push buttons. The first six buttons are
for your drive configuations. The program will automatically configure to
your current devices. The following buttons will perform the different
functions as is explained below. Let me add at this point that File Magician
is a shareware program and that it is for evaluation only. Somewhere there
had to be a stopping point with File Magician as a evaluation program.
File Magician can only grow from this point. I have over 50 planned functions
that File Magician will have as time goes on, not counting new ideas that will
be generated by time and user input. Basically File Magician has unlimited
growth potential! User registation increases that potential many times over.
So Just What Is File Magician?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Magician is a program that EVERY PC owner must have. If you own a
computer, at sometime during your computer lifetime you will Have To make
some type of file or directory adjustment to your hard drive or floppy disks.
File Magician is designed to be as simplistic as possible in allowing you to
manage your files and directories. File Magician is for all levels of users,
beginning to advanced.
Requirments
~~~~~~~~~~~
A computer
Windows 3.1
Be Registered
How To Register
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are a couple of ways to register 'File Magician'. First you can send
a check or money order for $40.00 US Funds to:
Bullard Software
3291 Mt. View Rd.
Ferndale, Wa. 98248
OR
by Trust Mail.
Trust Mail
~~~~~~~~~~
Trust Mail is a term that we invented. Most places insist that first you
send them money and then they will send you your requested items. You trust
them to do this after you have parted with your money. With trust mail, we
will send you our software first and when you receive it, we will trust that
you will send us back a check or money order for it. All you need do is to
pick up your phone and dial the number supplied below and then register.
Don't be surprised if you get just a "Hello" instead of "Hello this is Bullard
Software". I have a really hard time being so formal! After you register
we will within 24 hours have 'File Magician' on its way to you, first class
and postage paid by us. As our company grows with your support we will add
additional lines for ordering and support. For now you can order between
5:00 P.M. and 9:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time. Keep in mind that there is
three hours difference between here and the east coast.
Also I must keep Trust Mail limited to the USA and Canada. Don't get
me wrong for those that don't live there, I must see how this works out first.
I do hope you understand.
CALL NOW: 1-(206)-384-6740
What You Get
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once you register, we will send you 'File Magician' without the dialog boxes
that appear when any item is first clicked. The program will be the lastest
update of File Magician. A printed manual that to begin with will be soft
bound. With the planned growth of File Magician it is not feasible to have
any other type of manual. The cost of re-printing such would be terribly high
and unfair to pass this unneccessary cost on to you.. You would be placed
on our mailing list and would be notified immediately by mail of future
updates of File Magician and any new products we develop. The package will
be postage paid by us.
Now the Grit
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now if you haven't already loaded File Magician you are one of the select
few. Who reads the docs anyhow? (g) I'll try and keep it as brief as
possible, but please read below on "what you can do for us".
View Windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Magician has two view windows. One is the 'Source' and one is the
'Destination'. The source window will always be the one with the red box
around it. The Source and the Destination window can be swapped. To activate
a 'Source' window, click in the window itself or click in the path bar above
the window. Once a 'Source' window is established the opposite window
automatically defaults to the 'Destination' window. Often a directory will
have more file and directory listings then the view window can display. Use
the scroll gadget to the right of the window to view the additional listings.
The bottom scroll gadget is inactive with this release but is there for
future compatability.
Selection
~~~~~~~~~~
The left mouse button (LMB) is used to select a file or directory. Clicking
once will select the listing and the listing will be hilited. Double clicking
a directory will instruct the program to enter and display to the view window
that directory listing. Double clicking a file listing causes No Action with
this release of File Magician. The next release of File Magician will contain a
a smart mode file selection. Smart Mode will be one of the main arteries of
File Magician!
When a file or directory is selected it means that the next command action
will be taken on all files and directories selected. Changing to a different
directory will de-select automatically all of the previous selections.
No action will be taken on any file or directory that has Not been selected.
Title Bar
~~~~~~~~~~
The title bar is used as a action display. There the program will show you
the current action that is taking place such as, copying, deleting, or moving
listings, bytes free on destination and source windows, files selected and
total bytes of selected files. Currently there is a 5 second timer after a
title information display before it defaults back to a byte free display. This
may change to something else, what I'm not sure yet.
Keyboard:
~~~~~~~~~
F1 - F1 activates "help mode". When you active help mode you may then
click with the LMB on any item that you need help for. A brief
help message will appear in the left view window. Help mode will
then deactivate itself. If you require more help you must press
F1 again. To reset the left view window back to the file listings
press F2. This method of help is designed for a 800x600 display.
F2 - F2 will re-display the file and directory listings on the left view
window. This sometimes becomes necessary when de-compressing files
or using the help mode feature.
F3 - F3 will re-display the file and directory listings on the right view
window.
ESC - Will exit the program.
Buttons:
**********
Drive Buttons:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first six buttons from the top of the screen are reserved for your
drive devices. The program will automatically configure to the first six
drive names in the list. Clicking the LMB on one of these will display the
root contents to the window that is active. The view window will display
yellow text as directories and white text as file. To enter a directory
double click the name of the directory.
Parent:
~~~~~~~
The 'Parent' button will direct the program to reassign the current
directory back one directory. For instance, when you double click a directory
name the program will display the contents of that directory to the view
window, then you click the parent window, the program will re-display the
previous directory. This command is completely harmless. The parent button
only works on the 'Source' window.
All:
~~~~
The 'All' command will select all the files and all the directories that
are in the current directory of the 'Source' view window. If a directory has
more files and directories then the view can be displayed, those files and
directories will also be selected.
Clear:
~~~~~~
'Clear' will de-select any file or directory that has been previously
selected. All files and directories outside of the view window will also be
de-selected.
Copy:
~~~~~
To use the copy function, first select a view window that you wish to
become the Destination point. Next go to the opposite window and select the
files or directories that you wish to copy. Press the 'Copy' button. Thats
it.
Copy will copy all files or directories that have been selected to the
Destination device (view window). If a directory has been tagged, the
program will create and copy all files and directories within the selected
directory to the Destination point. This release Does Not have an option to
check first to see if there is enough room in the destination area. The next
registered release will. You may use the 'Byte Req' button on the Source
directory before copying.
Rename:
~~~~~~~
To rename a file or directory first select the item then press the 'Rename'
button. A dialog box will appear. Enter in the new name excluding the full
path, the program keeps track of the location of the listings internally so
just the new name will be enough. Select OK.
Move:
~~~~~
The move function will move all files and directories that have been
selected to the location of the destination area. Moving a selected listing
means that basically the file is copied to destination area and then deleted
from the source area. So once a listing is moved it will no longer reside
in the source area! If a directory is selected, all files and directories
that are buried within that selected directory will also be moved.
Delete:
~~~~~~~
The 'Delete' button will delete all selected files and directories that have
been selected from the 'Source' window. All files and directories that are
buried within a selected directory will Also be deleted. With this version
of File Magician, when the 'Delete' is first invoked, a dialog box will appear
giving you the option of aborting. A later version of the program will allow
you to discontinue this option.
Read:
~~~~~
The 'Read' function is a seperate program that File Magician calls to read
a text file. The reason that I have done this is for future expandability!
I can think of a zillion different things that a read program should do and
I'm sure that you can too. So for ease of development I'm doing it this way.
Currently the read function is set to read text files only. It will read
anything but only text files will display properly. The file size of the text
file is not important, there isn't a byte limitation. There are three button
controls 'PageUp', 'PageDown', and 'Quit', also several keyboard controls are
present.
F1 = a brief help screen
PageUp = up a screen page
U = same
PageDown = down a screen page
Space = same
Enter = same
D = same
ESC = exit read function
Q = same
For best results read only one file at a time. Multiple selections are
possible but uses a lot of extra memory and it starts multiple instances of the
read program. Possibly in future versions I might be able to make Windows be
a bit more behaved.
PkUnzip:
~~~~~~~~
PkUnzip will decompress any .zip file that has been selected in the 'Source'
window. The decompressed files will sent to the destination area. The
PkUnzip program must reside within an assigned directory, the dos directory for
instance. File Magician will call PkUnzip and start a shell for PkUnzip to
do its work. After the files have been decompressed press either F2 or F3
to re-evaluate the destination view window. F2 = the left view window and
F3 = the right view window. This will display the new contents of the
destination window. This is neccessary because of Windows behavior that I'll
hopefully be able to fix in the future.
If you don't have PkUnzip, you should be able to obtain a copy of it from
your local dealer, user group, or BBS. It is a fine program and I strongly
recommend that you register it promptly.
COMPRESSION Functions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
File Magicians next registered update will have compression functions
for Lzh, Arj, and PkZip. It will have functions for compressing and
de-compressing files and will have configuration options that you can set
within File Magician's Configuration. If you are unsure of how to configure
these programs, a default generic configuration will be supplied.
Byte Req.:
~~~~~~~~~~
This function will total the bytes of all selected listings. If a
directory is selected, all the bytes of all the files that are buried within
that selected directory will be totaled and displayed on the title bar at
the top of the screen. This function is very handy to use before moving
or copying files to another device and just to know how large a directory might
be.
MakeDir:
~~~~~~~~
'MakeDir' will create a directory in the location that the 'Source'
window is displaying. Push the 'MakeDir' button, a dialog box will appear.
Enter in the name of the new directory that you wish to create. Press 'OK'
Config:
~~~~~~~
This command will activate the configuration program. With this version
of File Magician the configuration program takes no active part in running
File Magician. It is only present to show you what configuring File
Magician might be like. With the next registered upgrade you will be able
to configure different functions of File Magician like the compression utils,
Warning boxes, palettes, etc. The configuration program will save a data
file that File Magician will read when it starts up. Configuration will
only need to be run once if your unsatisfied with the defaults and then again
if you desire any changes that you have previously made. Here like the read
program this function has been made a seperate program, not only for future
expandability but also to save on program size. You can run the configuration
program seperately if you wish where you can't with the read program.
Run:
~~~~
The 'Run' function will attempt start any program that has been selected.
'Run' works on: .pif , .bat, .exe (dos or windows), .com (dos or windows),
files. A little care must be used when using this command, it is not harmful
but currently it has no way of checking to see how much memory an external
application will use. Good judgement and a knowledge of how much memory your
computer has and how fast your computer is makes a large difference with
the results of this function. Personally I haven't had too much trouble
using a 486(25) with 4 megs of memory and I was actually surprised on just
what it would handle.
What You Can Do For Us!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Success of any software program depends on distribution and a good program.
We feel that we have a excellent program that everyone needs but getting
an evaluation copy of File Magician to everyone is impossible unless we have
your help. We need you to upload the evaluation copy of File Magician to any
BBS that you might call that doesn't have it already, or to pass out a copy
to friends, club groups or anyone that you know that has a PC.
Secondly, register now, and get your friends to register now. Registering
not only just pays the bills but it gives programmers incentive to create
more and better programs at a lower price, it keeps older experienced
programmers in the shareware field. Only you can make it happen!!
Upload Description:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following description might be a bit much, but sometimes it takes a
little to grab people attention (grin).
FM.zip - File Magician V1.0 - for Windows 3.1
A Heavy Hitting program that ranks right
up there with the runaway hit 'Disk Master'
for the Amiga. Full screen with Dual View
Windows, too much to list. A must have for
all PC Users!! A Excellent File Management
Program! Shareware.
Ideas
~~~~~
I like nothing better then hearing ideas from people! If you have an idea
that you think File Magician should do, write it down either on disk or paper
and send it to my address. Its far easier for me to implement something
that has a basic guideline that I can refer back to. (In calling voice the
concept is lost.) If I use anyones idea, you will be acknowledged in the
Documentation for File Magician! But You must be a registered user.
Thanks for Taking the Time..
Terry Bullard
3291 Mt. View Rd.
Ferndale, Wa. 98248
(206)-384-6740 for ordering