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  1.  
  2.  
  3.                                      CHAPTER 3
  4.                                   THE FILING CABINET
  5.                                   & THE FAMILY TREE
  6.  
  7.                 Like was mentioned in an earlier chapter.... computing is
  8.                 all done through the medium of FILES! Not paper files! but
  9.                 much tidier and less combersome ELECTRONIC FILES!
  10.  
  11.                 As was previously stated a good secretary does not remove
  12.                 all of the file drawers from a cabinet and then toss files
  13.                 in at will with no order until the cabinet is full and then
  14.                 simply shut the drawer and go get a new cabinet!  Well
  15.                 maybe some secretaries are like that!  But not the ones who
  16.                 want to keep their jobs for long .......
  17.  
  18.                 Organizing computer files is much like keeping a very neat
  19.                 and immaculately tidy filing cabinet system ... that might
  20.                 even resemble a family tree at times.
  21.  
  22.                 Let's pretend that you could build a gigantically tall
  23.                 filing cabinet with as many different drawers as you want
  24.                 in it.   One cabinet, many drawers one on top of the other.
  25.  
  26.                 Let's call the entire cabinet  "C"  -0 just for fun.
  27.                 Now the first thing a good secretary would do is to
  28.                 categorize all of the information / data that will be
  29.                 placed in the drawers... and pile all of the related files
  30.                 into correlating piles.
  31.  
  32.                 Then he/she would give each pile a name ... except the name
  33.                 could be no longer than 8 characters  (lettrs/symbols)!
  34.                 Also each file in the pile could also have only an
  35.                 abbreviated name of 8 or less characters followed by three
  36.                 more charcters that would describe whether it was an active
  37.                 file or a passive file etc .... separated by a  "." (period
  38.                 on the keyboard).
  39.  
  40.                 Then she/he would go about putting all of the files in the
  41.                 right drawers, under the right categories.
  42.  
  43.                 This is EXACTLY what is done in your HARD DISK or storage
  44.                 tank built inside of the computer cabinet.
  45.  
  46.                         The drive itself (or the cabinet) is named  "C"
  47.                         ---- C Drive/directory.
  48.  
  49.                         Each category of files has a separate drawer which
  50.                         is called a SUB-directory of C: written with a "\"
  51.                         just for tidiness:   so  C:\GLITE      is a
  52.                         subdirectory of C: called GLITE and in that drawer
  53.                         or directory will be found all files on the disk
  54.                         that have to do with the Galaxy Lite Word
  55.                         Processing Program.
  56.  
  57.                         And so it goes with  all of the files in the piles
  58.                         you have made.   Each "goes into it's own drawer"
  59.                         or into its own SUB-directory  (having 8 or less
  60.                         characters for a name)  EG:
  61.  
  62.                                         C:\PCPLUS    for  ProcommPlus Files
  63.                                         C:\LOTUS     for Lotus 1-2-3
  64.                                         C:\FE5       for File Express 5
  65.                                         C:\QUICKEN   for Quicken
  66.                                         C:\DOS       for DOS 6.0
  67.                                         C:\WINDOWS   for Windows
  68.  
  69.                         Now a lot of programs have an INSTALL program which
  70.                         automatically creates the name of the directory for
  71.                         you and loads all of the related files into them
  72.                         without you doing a thing: except telling it some
  73.                         information about your system that it could not
  74.                         find out on its own (this is called "Configuring")
  75.                         If you are not sure about how to answer configuring
  76.                         questions call someone who may know the answer,
  77.                         even if it is a computer store or COMPU-DOC at
  78.                         804-625-7163.  Though all programs are different...
  79.                         a lot of the configuration questions are similar.
  80.  
  81.                         Now doesn't all this in a way look like a family
  82.                         tree........ there is one root branch  ..... that
  83.                         is why the  C: directory itself is called the ROOT
  84.                         DIRECTORY    and then all of the directores that
  85.                         extend from it are called BRANCH or
  86.                         sub-directories.        So if I were to ask you the
  87.                         name of the root directory most likely the answer
  88.                         would be  C:      the : is important to put in
  89.                         there..... it means that it does not stand
  90.                         alone.... and that there are in fact
  91.                         sub-directories attached to it ........
  92.  
  93.                                 A good program which shows you your tree is
  94.                                 called DIRECTORY MASTER.... a very small
  95.                                 shell program but with a lot of features!
  96.                                 With DM you will see your subdirectories
  97.                                 lined up in a row from top to bottom.  And
  98.                                 if you highlight and access any of the
  99.                                 sub-directories you can see inside the
  100.                                 sub-directory all of the files that are
  101.                                 stored in that drawer!  It is even possible
  102.                                 to view inside each of those files to see
  103.                                 how they are constructed......in that way
  104.                                 you can view a txt or text file just as it
  105.                                 is written.
  106.  
  107.                         Got it!  FILES and TREES!
  108.  
  109.                         Now each major drawer or directory or program has
  110.                         one file that makes the program work ... and that
  111.                         is the  .exe   (or .com or .bat) file.  As we said
  112.                         before, the .exe is a list of instructions to give
  113.                         to the computer to make it do what is necessary to
  114.                         run that particular program.   So to RUN  or START
  115.                         UP the PROGRAM ....... generally one has to be at
  116.                         the drawer or subdirectory and then simply type the
  117.                         name of the .exe file and the program will start up
  118.                         right before your very eyes.
  119.                         Now to get from file drawer to file drawer or
  120.                         sub-directory to sub-directory one can simply type
  121.  
  122.                         CD\newdirname    meaning: CD   = change directory
  123.                                                   \  backslash meaning to
  124.                                                      go to a new sub-dir
  125.                                            newdirname  = the precise name
  126.                                                       of the new sub-dir
  127.  
  128.                               eg:
  129.  
  130.                          C:\QUICKEN>cd\publish
  131.                          C:\PUBLISH>
  132.  
  133.                                  what happened was that I was in the
  134.                                  Quicken Program Directory and I changed
  135.                                  to the Publish It Directory by typing in
  136.                                  cd\publish
  137.                                  I already knew the name of that directory.
  138.                                  It is a good idea to keep a list of your
  139.                                  SUBDIRECTORIES handy so you know what to
  140.                                  put after the cd\
  141.  
  142.                                  now to start up the PUBLISH Program all I
  143.                                  need to do is type in PUBLISH at the
  144.                                  prompt and it will start up.   I already
  145.                                  know that that program started with that
  146.                                  file name ..... it is a good idea to keep
  147.                                  a list of the start up file names next to
  148.                                  the corresponding directories.
  149.  
  150.                                  e.g    prog name      start up file name
  151.  
  152.                                         QUICKEN           Q.EXE
  153.                                         PUBLISH           PUBLISH.BAT
  154.                                         FE5               FE.EXE
  155.  
  156.  
  157.                                           it is not necessary to type in
  158.                                           the .exe or the .bat
  159.  
  160.                              so to start up PUBLISH IT   I would type:
  161.  
  162.                          C:\PUBLISH>PUBLISH         the word publish and
  163.                                                     it would start up.
  164.  
  165.                           To exit out of a program, and get back to a black
  166.                           DOS screen with one single prompt on it there is
  167.                           usually a Q command for  QUIT to program  or an
  168.                           X command to eXit the program.... or sometimes it
  169.                           is just  an ESC  for  escape from the program. To
  170.                           change directories one must be back at that empty
  171.                           screen that simply has the name of the directory
  172.                           you have been operating in on it.
  173.  
  174.                         Should you want to create a new directory which is
  175.                         not yet in existence  simply type  MD\newfilename
  176.                         and you got it!
  177.  
  178.                                    to create a file name called RECIPES
  179.  
  180.                          C:\QUICKEN>MD\RECIPES
  181.                          C:\QUICKEN>
  182.                                       that's all there is to it!  just
  183.                                       type md\recipes  and it is done,
  184.                                       you are returned to your orginal
  185.                                       directory, that is why it will look
  186.                                       like nothing happened..... but if
  187.                                       you type  CD\RECIPES it should look
  188.                                       like this:
  189.  
  190.                           C:\QUICKEN>CD\RECIPES
  191.                           C:\RECIPES>
  192.  
  193.                                      and you are ready to start up that
  194.                                      program (if it is not just a storage
  195.                                      tank directory)
  196.  
  197.                         What I suggest is that you set up your directories
  198.                         to include the following subdirectories:
  199.  
  200.                                        1
  201.                                        2
  202.                                        DL
  203.                                          A
  204.                                          B
  205.                                          C
  206.                                          D
  207.                                          E
  208.                                          F
  209.                                         UL
  210.                                         Z
  211.                                         ZZ
  212.  
  213.                                Directories 1 and 2  are holding tanks for
  214.                                information that you need to store in a
  215.                                hurry to sort out later
  216.  
  217.                                DL  is your DOWNLOAD DIRECTORY .... you
  218.                                would tell your COMM program to send all of
  219.                                the files you DOWNLOAD to go there so you
  220.                                can sort them out and do what you want with
  221.                                them later.    In sorting out the files in
  222.                                the DL you can further send them to  DL\A;
  223.                                DL\B  DL\C  DL\D  DL\E    Make sub-sub
  224.                                directories      like this
  225.  
  226.                                        C:\DL>md\dl\a
  227.                                        C:\DL\A>md\dl\b
  228.                                        C:\dl\B>md\dl\c
  229.                                        C:\dl\C>md\dl\d
  230.                                        C:\dl\D>md\dl\e
  231.                                        C:\dl\E>
  232.  
  233.  
  234.                                 You will need these sub-subs when unzipping
  235.                                 and zipping files for download.  More about
  236.                                 that later.
  237.  
  238.                                 You also need a UL  directory to place
  239.                                 files you know you will UPLOAD to other
  240.                                 computers via the modem.
  241.  
  242.                                 Z  and  ZZ  are storage holding directories
  243.                                 also ...  you will need a lot of these if
  244.                                 you do a lot of work on the PC.
  245.  
  246.