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1991-09-28
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┌───────────────────────────┐
│ QUICK SHELL │
│ │
│ Version 1.1 │
│ │
│ (C) 1991 │
│ Freestyle Software │
│ ALL Rights Reserved │
└───────────────────────────┘
USING QUICK SHELL
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Load Quick Shell from the command line by typing QShell, or
include the command in your autoexec.bat file if you want it to
load automatically when you boot your system.
If you have a mouse, be sure and load the driver before you
run Quick Shell. Quick Shell recognizes both keyboard commands,
and responds to your mouse if it is installed and the driver is
present. All keyboard commands appear at the bottom of the Quick
Shell screen, and scrollable, indexed help is available either
by pressing the F1 key, or by selecting HELP from the horizontal
menu at the top of the Quick Shell screen.
Commands are simple. They mainly consist of the escape key,
the arrow keys, the F1 key, the F10 key, and the Enter key. Using
a mouse, a small solid rectangular symbol at the upper left of a
menu or window has the same function as the escape key. Click
on it once with your mouse to execute it. A small solid diamond
shape symbol in the upper right of a menu or window has the same
function as the enter key. Click on it once to execute it. From
most windows or menus, double clicking on the upper horizontal
menu returns to it and activates the upper menu. The F10 key has
the same function. A few windows, such as an error message, or
the help screen, will NOT allow you to return to the upper menu
without first pressing the escape key or clicking on the rectan-
gular symbol in the upper left of the window. Almost every pos-
sible option currently available is listed at the bottom of each
Quick Shell screen. The help system clarifies their usage.
The Quick Shell Main Menu consists of six options. Use the
arrow keys to select an option, or click once on the option with
your mouse, and double click the option to accept it. Select the
Drives option to log to another drive. The default is the drive
current at Quick Shell startup. Select the Directories option to
view the directory tree and select a directory function. The de-
fault is the directory current at Quick Shell startup. Select the
Files option to view the files in the current directory, and ac-
cess the file options. Select Specs to change the file search
and list specification parameter. The default is standard para-
meter [*.*]. Of course, Help summons context sensitive help, and
pressing the enter key or clicking the diamond symbol in the
upper right hand corner of the help screen calls up the help in-
dex. Select Quit from the main menu to exit the program. When
the Main Menu is present (and only then), the Directories window
and the Files window are each accessible by double clicking your
mouse cursor in the respective window. So to select another dir-
ectory, simply double click the directory window. From either of
those two main windows, when the title of the opposite window
appears (Directories or Files), the opposite window is accessible
by double clicking your mouse cursor in it. For example, if you
have selected Directories, and subsequently selected a specific
directory, double clicking in the Files window once returns you
to the main menu, and double clicking again in the Files window
highlights and selects the files option. Or from the Files win-
dow, double click TWICE on the directories window to activate the
directories option. So with a mouse present, selection of direc-
tories or files is greatly speeded up.
Each time a Main Menu option is selected and accepted, a new
horizontal menu appears at the top of the screen corresponding to
the selected option. Activate the new menu with the F10 key, or
by double clicking on the menu bar with your mouse cursor. To re-
turn to the Main Menu, select the option MAIN when present. To
return to the current option, select the FIRST option of any sub-
menu, which corresponds to the name of the option. For example,
after selecting Drives from the main menu, press F10 or double
click the Drives sub-menu at the top of the screen to access the
sub-menu. Select Main to return to the main menu, or Drives to
return to drive selection. With a mouse, you may also double
click on the drives window to re-activate it. This is also true
of the Directories menu, and the Files Menu. From either of those
options, activate the corresponding menu as described above. Re-
turn to the Main Menu by selecting Main, or the current option by
selecting the FIRST sub- menu option or double clicking on the
current option window. So if you are selecting a directory, you
may access the directories menu with F10 or by double clicking on
it. You may then return to selecting directories by double click-
ing in the directories window, or by selecting the first option,
which is 'Directories', and so on. Return to the Main Menu by
selecting 'Main.'
Drives sub-menu options consist of Drives (which returns to
drive selection), Help, and Main. The are largely self evident.
Directories sub-menu options consist of Directories, Add, Remove,
Help, and Main. Select Add to add a new directory to a disk, or
Remove to remove and existing directory. The Files sub-menu con-
sists of these options: Files, Run, View, Print, Copy, Attribute,
Erase, Help, and Main. Run launches or executes the file that is
currently highlit in the files window. View attempts to view the
file. Print prints the file. Copy copies the TAGGED files from
one drive and/or directory to another. Erase deletes the TAGGED
files.
CHANGING DRIVES
Change drives with the Drives option from the Main Menu. All
physical drives are detected and listed. Use the arrow keys
to select a drive from the list, or click on a drive letter with
your mouse cursor. You may also select a drive by clicking on
the arrow symbols at the right of the drive window. Press the
enter key to accept the highlit drive letter, or click on the
diamond symbol at the upper right of the drive window. Press F10
to access the drive menu, or double click on the it with your
mouse cursor. The escape key, or double clicking on the solid
rectangular symbol at the upper left of the drives window, can-
cels the selection process and no drive change is made. In the
same way, accessing the Drives menu and selecting Main, returns
without any change.
WORKING WITH DIRECTORIES
Select Directories from the main menu to work with directo-
ries on the current drive. Select a directory with the arrow
keys or by clicking on the directory with your mouse cursor.
Scroll the directory list by clicking on the arrow symbols that
appear at the right of the directory window when it is active.
Use the help function to clarify the usage of scroll arrow sym-
bols. To add a directory, access the Directories Menu, and se-
lect Add. Enter a legal directory name (up to eight characters,
with an optional three character extension separated by a per-
iod...just as a dos file name). Remove a directory by selecting
the Remove option. Quick Shell verifies the removal, but ONLY
ONCE! After selecting a directory by highlighting it, make it
current and view any files in it either with the Enter key, or
by clicking on the diamond symbol in the upper right of the
Directories window. This action also returns you to the Main
Menu. Double clicking on the Files window once also returns to
the main menu, and double clicking on it again accesses the
Files option where you can work with the files in the current
directory.
WORKING WITH FILES
Access the files window either by selecting Files from the
Main Menu, or as mention priveously, by double clicking on the
files window. Select a file with the arrow keys, or by clicking
on a file name with the mouse cursor. Tag the selected file by
pressing the Enter key, or by clicking on the diamond symbol at
the upper right of the file window. You can tag as many files
as you like. Tagged files are then available to the file copy
and erase options from the Files sub-menu. Untag files by high-
lighting a tagged file, and again pressing the Enter key or
clicking on the diamond symbol. Access the sub-menu by pressing
F10 or by double clicking on the menu bar itself.
From the Files sub-menu, select Run to launch, or execute
an executable file. Executable files are those with .EXE, .COM,
or .BAT extensions. There must be enough memory left to launch
the selected file. You do not need to tag a file to run it.
Select View from the files menu to view a file. You may
choose to view the file as ascii characters, or in hexadecimal
format. The view option has it's own sub-menu, consisting of
View, Search, Color, Help, and FileMenu. Access the sub-menu
in the same way as others. Select View to return to viewing,
Search to search for text, Color to change viewing colors, Help
for view help, and FileMenu to return to the Files sub-menu.
QShell only loads files up to sixty four kilobytes into memory
for viewing. Longer files are truncated. You do not need to
tag a file to view it. The currently highlit file is selected
by default.
Select Print from the files menu to print the currently
selected file. You may print the file in ascii characters, or
in hexadecimal characters. Interrupt the print process at any
time with the escape key, or by clicking on the solid rectangu-
lar symbol at the upper left of the print process window. The
print process window appears at the beginning of the actual
print process. An expandable bar indicates the relative amount
that has been printed from within this window. You do not need
to tag a file to print it. The currently highlit file is sel-
ected by default.
Select Copy to copy tagged files to another drive and/or
directory. Tag files as previously described. After selecting
the file copy option, you must select the drive to copy tagged
files into. You must also select the directory you want to
place the files in. You're guided throughout this process. Sim-
ply described, select a drive and press enter or click on the
diamond symbol; then select the target drive and press enter or
click on the diamond symbol. Clicking on the solid rectangular
symbol, or pressing escape anywhere along the way, cancels the
process. You may also create a new directory during the copy
process. When prompted to select a target directory, access
the Directories sub-menu and select Add. Add the new directo-
ry and re-access the directories window. Scroll down to the
new directory and complete the copy process as described above.
The copy process verifies all files at the byte level, byte by
byte. Although slower, this is a highly reliable method.
Select Attribute to change the attributes of a selected
file. The five possible attributes are Anyfile, Read Only, Sys-
tem, and Archive. You do not need to tag a file to change its
attribute. The currently highlit file is selected by default.
However, each attribute appears in the attribute window, and
ATTRIBUTES must be tagged in order to place the attribute into
effect. As each attribute is tagged or untagged, the combina-
tion in effect appears to the right of the file name. Aborting
the attribute process leaves the file unchanged; pressing the
enter key or clicking on the diamond symbol changes the attri-
bute.
Select Erase to delete tagged files. If only one file is
tagged, you are cautioned and prompted for verification that
you do indeed want to delete the tagged file. CAUTION! This
verification only appears once! If more than one file is tag-
ged, you are presented with the option to delete all at once,
or verify them one at a time during the deletion process. If
you select all at once, ALL of the files will be deleted! So
be careful with this option. You may abort at any time up to
the last verification with the escape key, or by clicking on
the rectangular escape symbol.
UPGRADED VERSIONS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-
Version 1.2 fixes all known and reported bugs in V 1.0 and
V 1.1 on 9/28/91. This included the failure of the directory de-
letion routine to account for one floppy drive (C: drive was seen
by the program as B:); screen fouling when clicking with a mouse
cursor below the file list; and problems with the help index when
using the keyboard instead of a mouse to select help subject.
FOR ETHICAL USERS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-
Try QShell. Distribute it freely. If you're amused by
it, but find no use for it, don't worry about it. If it's cute,
but beneath your dignity, give it away. Still, if you find
yourself USING it, if it works for you, the shareware license
fee is $20.00.
It's the nature and spirit of things that really make
them valuable to us. QShell has a very reasonable price, and
several nice features you may not find at any price. Used pro-
perly, these features can save you personal time.
If QShell saves time, it saves money. At $20.00, the QShell
License is nominal. If it only saved a few accumulated hours in
the course of a season, it would still be significant. Your own
time is unquestionably worth more than a few dollars an hour,
isn't it?
QShell is copyrighted. If you use QShell, Send your check
or money order to Freestyle Software, 24307 Magic Mountain Park-
way, Suite 255, Valencia, CA, 91355. The QShell license is only
$20.00. So if you use it, be dignified enough to register it.
It's the right thing to do. (Yeah, yeah...He's Naive!)
DISCLOSURES
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-
QShell contains assembly units licensed from Eagle
Performance Software. QShell was written in Pascal and compiled
using Turbo Pascal Version 5.5 for MS-Dos or IBM-Dos operating
systems version 2.x to 5.x. Turbo Pascal is a trademark of Bor-
land International, MS-Dos is a trademark of the Microsoft cor-
poration, and naturally, IBM is a trademark of International
Business Machines. The Freestyle Company belongs to me and my
wife.
CAVEATS!
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
This program is provided on an as is basis. The user assumes
all risk as to the performance, quality, or reliability of the
product. No warranties, implied or otherwise, are made, includ-
ing, but not limited to, any 'implied' warranties of merchant-
ability, fitness, or suitability for any particular purpose or
design. A user waives ALL other claims, and the Freestyle Com-
pany, or any other purveyor or dealer of this product, becomes
free from responsibility of ALL liabilities or damages, includ-
ing, but not limited to, lost revenues or profits, unsuitability
of performance for a user's particular needs, damage to a user's
computer hardware or software, any other incidental or consequen-
tial damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this
program, even if the Freestyle Company has been advised of possi-
ble damages.
OTHER FREESTYLE PRODUCTS
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────-
If you like QShell, you might also find use for FSRead, a
very fast text file browser that allows loading files up to 425K
into memory. Change drives from an automacally built menu of
drives, or directories from a full graphic tree. Choose up to 36
color attribute combinations for file viewing. Mark text blocks,
or enter text strings for searches, and set place markers for ex-
tremely quick searching. Print out all, or just portions of any
text file. FSRead was written as a shareware documentation file
reader, and is entirely light bar menu driven, with pop-up inter-
active help. Then there's FSLabel! If you own a Hewlett Packard
printer, FSLabel is one of the few automatic disk labeling pro-
grams that reads the file names on a disk and prints a label on a
full sheet of lables. Select the exact label position on screen
by moving the cursor on a visual page of labels. FSLabel is easy
to use, and prints labels for either 3.5" or 5.25" diskettes. You
may also be interested in FSText, a quick style analyzer for
readability, personal interest, and negativity of writing for
journalism, public relations, or advertising copy. You might also
enjoy a need for Snapshot, a TSR screen image saver. Snapshot
pops-up as you need it to save text based screen images to a disk-
file. You may later view or print the images as you need them.
END QShell DOCUMENTATION