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Monster Media 1993 #2
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CHAPTER.3
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1993-07-21
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CHAPTER 3
THE FILING CABINET
& THE FAMILY TREE
Like was mentioned in an earlier chapter.... computing is
all done through the medium of FILES! Not paper files! but
much tidier and less combersome ELECTRONIC FILES!
As was previously stated a good secretary does not remove
all of the file drawers from a cabinet and then toss files
in at will with no order until the cabinet is full and then
simply shut the drawer and go get a new cabinet! Well
maybe some secretaries are like that! But not the ones who
want to keep their jobs for long .......
Organizing computer files is much like keeping a very neat
and immaculately tidy filing cabinet system ... that might
even resemble a family tree at times.
Let's pretend that you could build a gigantically tall
filing cabinet with as many different drawers as you want
in it. One cabinet, many drawers one on top of the other.
Let's call the entire cabinet "C" -0 just for fun.
Now the first thing a good secretary would do is to
categorize all of the information / data that will be
placed in the drawers... and pile all of the related files
into correlating piles.
Then he/she would give each pile a name ... except the name
could be no longer than 8 characters (lettrs/symbols)!
Also each file in the pile could also have only an
abbreviated name of 8 or less characters followed by three
more charcters that would describe whether it was an active
file or a passive file etc .... separated by a "." (period
on the keyboard).
Then she/he would go about putting all of the files in the
right drawers, under the right categories.
This is EXACTLY what is done in your HARD DISK or storage
tank built inside of the computer cabinet.
The drive itself (or the cabinet) is named "C"
---- C Drive/directory.
Each category of files has a separate drawer which
is called a SUB-directory of C: written with a "\"
just for tidiness: so C:\GLITE is a
subdirectory of C: called GLITE and in that drawer
or directory will be found all files on the disk
that have to do with the Galaxy Lite Word
Processing Program.
And so it goes with all of the files in the piles
you have made. Each "goes into it's own drawer"
or into its own SUB-directory (having 8 or less
characters for a name) EG:
C:\PCPLUS for ProcommPlus Files
C:\LOTUS for Lotus 1-2-3
C:\FE5 for File Express 5
C:\QUICKEN for Quicken
C:\DOS for DOS 6.0
C:\WINDOWS for Windows
Now a lot of programs have an INSTALL program which
automatically creates the name of the directory for
you and loads all of the related files into them
without you doing a thing: except telling it some
information about your system that it could not
find out on its own (this is called "Configuring")
If you are not sure about how to answer configuring
questions call someone who may know the answer,
even if it is a computer store or COMPU-DOC at
804-625-7163. Though all programs are different...
a lot of the configuration questions are similar.
Now doesn't all this in a way look like a family
tree........ there is one root branch ..... that
is why the C: directory itself is called the ROOT
DIRECTORY and then all of the directores that
extend from it are called BRANCH or
sub-directories. So if I were to ask you the
name of the root directory most likely the answer
would be C: the : is important to put in
there..... it means that it does not stand
alone.... and that there are in fact
sub-directories attached to it ........
A good program which shows you your tree is
called DIRECTORY MASTER.... a very small
shell program but with a lot of features!
With DM you will see your subdirectories
lined up in a row from top to bottom. And
if you highlight and access any of the
sub-directories you can see inside the
sub-directory all of the files that are
stored in that drawer! It is even possible
to view inside each of those files to see
how they are constructed......in that way
you can view a txt or text file just as it
is written.
Got it! FILES and TREES!
Now each major drawer or directory or program has
one file that makes the program work ... and that
is the .exe (or .com or .bat) file. As we said
before, the .exe is a list of instructions to give
to the computer to make it do what is necessary to
run that particular program. So to RUN or START
UP the PROGRAM ....... generally one has to be at
the drawer or subdirectory and then simply type the
name of the .exe file and the program will start up
right before your very eyes.
Now to get from file drawer to file drawer or
sub-directory to sub-directory one can simply type
CD\newdirname meaning: CD = change directory
\ backslash meaning to
go to a new sub-dir
newdirname = the precise name
of the new sub-dir
eg:
C:\QUICKEN>cd\publish
C:\PUBLISH>
what happened was that I was in the
Quicken Program Directory and I changed
to the Publish It Directory by typing in
cd\publish
I already knew the name of that directory.
It is a good idea to keep a list of your
SUBDIRECTORIES handy so you know what to
put after the cd\
now to start up the PUBLISH Program all I
need to do is type in PUBLISH at the
prompt and it will start up. I already
know that that program started with that
file name ..... it is a good idea to keep
a list of the start up file names next to
the corresponding directories.
e.g prog name start up file name
QUICKEN Q.EXE
PUBLISH PUBLISH.BAT
FE5 FE.EXE
it is not necessary to type in
the .exe or the .bat
so to start up PUBLISH IT I would type:
C:\PUBLISH>PUBLISH the word publish and
it would start up.
To exit out of a program, and get back to a black
DOS screen with one single prompt on it there is
usually a Q command for QUIT to program or an
X command to eXit the program.... or sometimes it
is just an ESC for escape from the program. To
change directories one must be back at that empty
screen that simply has the name of the directory
you have been operating in on it.
Should you want to create a new directory which is
not yet in existence simply type MD\newfilename
and you got it!
to create a file name called RECIPES
C:\QUICKEN>MD\RECIPES
C:\QUICKEN>
that's all there is to it! just
type md\recipes and it is done,
you are returned to your orginal
directory, that is why it will look
like nothing happened..... but if
you type CD\RECIPES it should look
like this:
C:\QUICKEN>CD\RECIPES
C:\RECIPES>
and you are ready to start up that
program (if it is not just a storage
tank directory)
What I suggest is that you set up your directories
to include the following subdirectories:
1
2
DL
A
B
C
D
E
F
UL
Z
ZZ
Directories 1 and 2 are holding tanks for
information that you need to store in a
hurry to sort out later
DL is your DOWNLOAD DIRECTORY .... you
would tell your COMM program to send all of
the files you DOWNLOAD to go there so you
can sort them out and do what you want with
them later. In sorting out the files in
the DL you can further send them to DL\A;
DL\B DL\C DL\D DL\E Make sub-sub
directories like this
C:\DL>md\dl\a
C:\DL\A>md\dl\b
C:\dl\B>md\dl\c
C:\dl\C>md\dl\d
C:\dl\D>md\dl\e
C:\dl\E>
You will need these sub-subs when unzipping
and zipping files for download. More about
that later.
You also need a UL directory to place
files you know you will UPLOAD to other
computers via the modem.
Z and ZZ are storage holding directories
also ... you will need a lot of these if
you do a lot of work on the PC.
