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SmartDir 3.2 Documentation
Written by Owen Emry
Compiled July 17, 1991
Contents
1. What is SmartDir?
2. How to install SmartDir
1. File Descriptions
2. Installation
3. Using SDIRCFG.EXE
4. Using SDEDIT.EXE
3. How to use SmartDir
1. Executing SmartDir from the Dos prompt
2. Usage
3. Detailed Option List
4. Version History
5. Disclaimer
6. Shareware Registration Information
1. What is SmartDir?
SmartDir is a full-featured command-line directory utility comparable
to that provided by the Dos DIR command, yet is far superior in many
ways. In addition to those features provided by the DIR command,
SmartDir contains many features of its own, making it the most powerful
shareware directory utility available.
The following features are availble ONLY with SmartDir:
o Color
o Multi-column modes ranging from 1 through 6
o Output sorted by Name, Extension, Size, or Date (or not at all)
o Optional inclusion of Hidden, Read-Only, and Volume ID files
o Lowercase output, generally accepted as easier to read
o Direction of output (including ANSI color) to Disk Files (or printer)
o EGA/VGA 43/50-line mode (for those really big directories)
o Free space displayed in bytes, Kilobytes, Megabytes, Gigabytes, Percent
o File Descriptions (up to 55 characters)
2. How to install SmartDir
1. File Descriptions
The following files should be included in the file SDIR3x.ZIP:
SDIR.EXE -- This is SmartDir
SDIRxx.DOC -- This documentation file
SDIRCFG.EXE -- SmartDir configuration program
SDEDIT.EXE -- SmartDir File Description Editor
ORDER.TXT -- Order form for paid registrations
2. Installation
SmartDir is installed by placing the file SDIR.EXE into a subdirectory
specified in your PATH statement. This allows SmartDir to be executed
from any location within your disks.
For example, if you are installing SmartDir on your C drive, locate
a subdirectory specified in your PATH statement, such as C:\UTILS.
If you have no such subdirectory, make one with the Dos MD command,
and make sure the following statement is in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
path=c:\utils;
Then, copy the file SDIR.EXE into the directory. That's all there is to it.
3. Using SDIRCFG.EXE
SDIRCFG is a program used to automatically set the default options you
desire. By using SDIRCFG, you can save yourself the trouble of adding
your most frequently used options to the command line each time you
run SDIR. SDIRCFG searches all directores in your PATH statement for
a file called SDIR.CFG (not to be confused with SDIRCFG.EXE). The
configuration is loaded if the file is found, otherwise the user is
prompted to enter the name of the configuration file to create. The
file should be in a directory in your PATH statement in order for SDIR
to find it.
4. Using SDEDIT.EXE
SDEDIT is a program used to attach file descriptions to files listed by
SmartDir. The first time it is used, a data file must be specified in
which to store the file description data. This is similar to the config
file used by SDIRCFG. Options within SDEDIT are fairly self-explanatory.
NOTE: Unregistered copies of SDEDIT.EXE are not capable of adding file
descriptions to more than 50 files at one time. Therefore, if
you wish to take full advantage of the power of file descriptions,
you MUST register your copy! Registration is only ten dollars!
3. How to use SmartDir
1. Executing SmartDir from the Dos prompt
If you have properly installed the file SDIR.EXE into a subdirectory
specified in your path statement, SmartDir may be executed by typing
"sdir" at the Dos prompt.
2. Usage
SmarDir Usage is just like that of Dos, as follows:
sdir [pathname] [/options]
Item(s) in brackets is/are optional. If [pathname] is not specified, the
default (current) drive and directory are used.
3. Detailed Option List
SmartDir Options:
Help Screens:
I -- Displays Shareware Registration Information. Use this
option if you would like to Register your copy of
SmartDir, or for a description of the Shareware concept.
? -- Diplays a brief listing of all available SmartDir options.
Sort Methods:
N -- Sort output by Name. (Default sort method) This option
causes all output to be alphabetized by the 8-character
name field.
E -- Sort output by Extension. This option causes all output
to be alphabetized by the 3-character file extension.
S -- Sort output by SIZE. This option causes all output to
be sorted in ascending order by the size (in bytes)
of the files.
D -- Sort output by Date and Time. This option causes all
output to be sorted chronologically.
O -- Do not sort. This option causes all output to be
displayed in the order it is physically stored on the
disk. Note: This is not necessarily in any order
other than that of actual physical storage, and is
the order normally displayed by the Dos DIR command.
Multi-Column Modes:
1 -- One-Column mode. (default column mode) Displays all
file data, including name, extension, size, date, and time.
2 -- Two-Column mode. Displays directory in 2 columns.
Otherwise, identical
to one-column mode.
3 -- Three-Column mode. Displays directory in 3 columns,
displaying name, extension, and size.
4 -- Four-Column mode. Displays directory in 4 columns,
displaying name, extension, and size. Size is displayed
in kilobytes (1024 bytes) or megabytes (1024 kilobytes)
as follows: If the file is less than 1k, size appears
as " <1k". Sizes up to 1M appear as "xxxk". Sizes over
1M appear as "x.xM". Sizes over 10M appear as ">10M".
5 -- Five-column mode. Displays directory in 5 columns,
displaying only filenames. Subdirectories are preceded
by ">".
6 -- Six-column mode. Displays directory in 6 columns,
displaying only filenames.
F -- Single-column mode with file descriptions. Displays
name, extension, size, and a full 55 character file
description, if one is available.
B -- Single-column mode with brief file descriptions.
Displays exactly like One-column mode, but displays
also the first 40 characters of the file description.
Optional Files: (These options are available only to REGISTERED users)
H -- Toggle. Show Hidden files. This option causes all hidden
files to be displayed, in addition to all normal files.
R -- Toggle. Show Read-only files. This option causes all
read-only files to be displayed, in addition to all normal
files.
V -- Toggle. Show Volume ID file. This option causes the
Volume ID file to be displayed, in addition to all normal
files.
Miscellaneous Options:
U -- Toggle. Toggles Uppercase/Lowercase output.
G -- Toggle. Toggles graphics (column dividers). Use this
option when sending output to a printer that does not
properly display graphics characters.
P -- Toggle. Toggles Page Breaks. This option causes the output
to pause after each screen of output. Output resumes once a
key is pressed.
A -- Toggle. Toggles EGA/VGA 43/50-line mode. This is useful
for those really big directories. The original text mode
is restored upon completion.
C -- Toggle. Toggles Color. This option causes files with
specific 3-character extensions to be displayed in color.
When output is directed to a file, ANSI escape sequences are
used to change colors. Default color coding is as follows:
EXE, COM, BAT : Light Blue
TXT, DOC : Light Red
ZIP : Light Magenta (Pink)
GIF, PCX : LIght Green
Output Destination Option:
+filename -- Use of this option causes all output to be directed to
the disk file "filename" instead of to the screen. If
color is used, ANSI escape sequences included in the
output text. Output can be directed to a printer by
specifying "PRN" or "LPT1" as the output file.
Toggle Options turn ON the specified function. However, if that
function is specified as default with SDIRCFG, the use of that
option turns OFF the function.
All options must be preceded by a slash (/). Options may be stacked.
For example: "sdir /3cps+dirfile.txt" selects the following:
3-Column mode, Color, Page-breaks, sort by size, and directs output
to the file DIRFILE.TXT.
4. Version History
1.0 -- o First Release, December 1990
2.0 -- o Released January 1991
o Improved (perfected?) pathname interpretation.
o Added 4 and 6 column modes.
o Added /O sort method. (displays physical order on disk)
o Added Color
o Added /L option. (Lowercase)
o Added total byte count to drive stats.
(Now says "xxxxk in xxx file(s)")
o Extended sorting. For example, in 1.0, if you sorted by name,
the file extensions were not necessarily sorted within the
name field, so "FILE.EXE" might appear before "FILE.COM".
o Added ">" marker for subdirectories in 5-column mode.
o Removed /W option. Use /1-6 instead.
o Improved Documentation. (This File)
2.1 o Released February 1991
o /G (suppress graphics) option now also turns off color.
Useful for custom copies of SmartDir with color as default.
o Added /A option for EGA/VGA 43/50-line mode.
o ARCs are no longer supported! (They are no longer pink, as
are ZIPs). This is done in retaliation to SEA's unfair
attempts to trademark the ARC. Besides, they're pretty
obsolete, anyway.
3.0 o Released February 24, 1991
o Now includes SDIRCFG, a program to select default options.
o Free space on disk may now be specified in bytes, kilobytes
Megabytes, or Gigabytes.
o Most options are now "toggles". This means that their function
is enabled/disabled by use of that option. For example: /p
selects page breaks. However, if page breaks are selected
as default with SDIRCFG, the /p turns OFF page breaks.
3.01 o Released February 24, 1991 (a few hours after version 3.0)
o Fixed minor bugs in SDIR.EXE and SDIRCFG.EXE
o Release 3.0 still had the beta (ß) tag on the end of its
version number. It read "SmartDir 3.0ß".
3.02 o Released February 24, 1991 (yet a little later, still)
o One small, but messy bug had to be cleaned up in this version.
It seems that the +filename option sent all but the very end of
thedirectory to the file. The free space was accidentally echoed
to the CRT, instead of the file. Hopefully version 3.x is
now in perfect condition. It's kind of strange releasing three
versions in one day...
o Also, the Hidden, Read-only, and Volume ID options were being
ignored. (However, those options aren't available to you
UNregistered users, anyway...)
3.1 o Released May 15, 1991
o Added the ability to choose (via SDIRCFG.EXE) a SEPARATE method
for displaying free space for floppy drives and hard drives.
For example, you may now view your floppy drives' free space in
kilobytes, yet have your hard drives' free space displayed in
Megabytes.
o SDIRCFG.EXE was modified appropriately to allow the individual
selections of floppy/hard drive free space display methods.
o VERY IMPORTANT: Version 3.1 uses a DIFFERENT format for the
SDIR.CFG file. You must delete your old SDIR.CFG file and create
a new one with the new SDIRCFG.EXE program.
o This version also allows one new method of displaying free
space: Percent. This option displays the percent of your
disk drive that is empty.
o Several minor typos in the documentation and program code were
corrected.
3.2 o Released July 17, 1991
o Added support for file descriptions in the form of two additional
column modes: 1 column with short or long descriptions.
o SDEDIT.EXE was created to allow file descriptions to be added
and modified.
o SDIRCFG.EXE was modified to allow new default selection of
column modes.
o VERY IMPORTANT: Version 3.2 uses a DIFFERENT format for the
SDIR.CFG file. You must delete your old SDIR.CFG file and create
a new one with the new SDIRCFG.EXE program.
o The option of displaying free space in percent has been modified
to include the free space in percent to ONE DECIMAL PLACE. Now
you see 54.6% instead of 55%.
o Raised the official registration price to $10.
o Order form ORDER.TXT is now included.
5. Disclaimer
Although SmartDir contains no destructive code, and has been tested
thoroughly, the author assumes no responsibility for loss of data or
other damage to your computer system. Your use of SmartDir is completely
at your own risk.
6. Shareware Registration Information
SmartDir is shareware, which means, if you use it often and find it useful,
you are politely asked to send a small fee to the author to REGISTER your
copy. Registered users sending $10 or more receive the latest version of
SmartDir on diskette (please specify size: 3 or 5-inch). In addition,
registered users also have access to additional commands not available
with the shareware version.
Please support shareware. By paying a small fee for a piece of quality
shareware, you are helping to fight the high cost of commercial software, and
encouraging the production of future useful shareware programs. Thank you.
If you would like to register your copy of SmartDir, please fill out
the order form "ORDER.TXT", and mail it to:
Owen Emry
302 North Jefferson Street
Arlington, Virgina 22203
Please feel free to include comments and/or suggestions,
and thank you for supporting shareware.