On Disk Monthly 86/odm86.zip/DOSMAN.HLP

Text File | 1993-10-27 | 15KB | 387 lines

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^P
^C^IHot-Key Information
F1   Help                     Shift-F3  duplicates single file
F2   toggles sound/silence    Shift-F4  renames file(s)
F3   copies file(s)           Shift-F7  create & edit file
F4   moves file(s)            Shift-F8  continues search
F5   prints directory         Enter     views file
F6   selects sorting options  Space     marks/unmarks file
F7   edits file               +         marks all files
F8   searches for a file      ~         inverts marks
F9   shows credits screen     -         unmarks all files
F10  change drive/directory   Esc       exits program
Ins  creates directory        Del       deletes file(s)
@    hides/unhides file(s)    #         protects file(s)
/    (slash) runs program or executes command
*    Show information about currently highlighted file
Ctrl-Enter views all marked files.
Ctrl-Z views marked files from cursor downward.
PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, and arrows move through directory.
Shift-F1 brings up this screen.
^P


^C^I

^C^1^V

^CProgrammed by
^CDaniel Tobias

^CCopyright 1990-1993 by Softdisk Publishing

^CThe names of various programs mentioned in conjunction with
^Cthis program's file viewing capabilities are trademarks of
^Ctheir respective owners, and are mentioned for identification
^Cpurposes only.  No endorsement of this program by other
^Csoftware publishers is implied.

^C^I

^P
^C^IMain Screen

The main screen of DOS Manager shows you the current directory.
Use the arrow keys to move around on the directory, or use the
mouse on the scroll bar to the right.  Press ENTER to view the
current file (or, if it is a subdirectory, to go to it).
Double-clicking with the mouse has the same effect.

To select multiple files for an operation such as copying,
moving, or deleting, use the space bar to toggle a check mark in
front of the currently-highlighted file, or click with the
middle mouse button if you have a three-button mouse.

Various functions are available from menus which can be "pulled
down" from the top line with a mouse click, or by pressing Alt
and the first letter of the menu.  Each function also has a "hot
key" to access the function without going through the menus.

^C^IPress F1 again now to read the full instruction manual.
^P
^C^IGetting Ready to Print

You have selected a printout, and DOS Manager is getting ready
to write to your printer.

Be sure your printer is turned on, on line, lined up with the
top of a page, and is set to the proper mode in which you would
like the printout to appear.

After pressing ESC to leave this help text, press the space bar
to begin printing, or ESC if you decide you don't want to print
after all.
^P
^C^IText Editor

This is a miniature text editor, designed particularly for
editing batch and control files.  It is not intended as a full-
function word processor.

Available commands:

  F1   Help                     Home       Go to start of line
  F2   Toggle sound             End        Go to end of line
  F4   Insert another file      Ctrl-Home  Go to top of file
  F5   Print the file           Ctrl-End   Go to end of file
  F6   Insert a line            Backspace  Delete before cursor
  F7   Delete current line      Del        Delete at cursor
  F8   Search for text          Shift-F8   Repeat search
  F9   Program information      Ins        Toggle insert mode
  F10  Save file and exit       Esc        Exit without saving

  Arrows move around, and PgUp and PgDn page.
^P
^C^ICreating a Text File

You are first asked for the name of the file to create.  You are
then placed into the DOS Manager text editor to let you put text
into the new file.  You must type a name that is not already in
use for another file.  If you want to replace an existing file,
use the Delete command on it first.  If you want to edit an
existing text file, use the Edit command.

The text editor creates standard ASCII text files.  Once you are
in the editor, you can press <F1> for more help on the editor
functions.
^P
^C^IChanging Directories

You are being asked for a new directory to go to, which can be
on the same disk drive or a different one.  Type the MS-DOS path
specification, in the standard format, such as:

^1    C:\TEXT\DOCS\
^1    A:
^1    SUBDIR\NEXT

You can get a full tree to select from by pressing F8, or access
the history of past directory changes with the arrow keys.

You can also navigate the directories of the current drive by
moving to a subdirectory on the main screen and pressing ENTER,
or moving to the ".." entry at the top of a directory and
pressing ENTER to go up to its parent directory.
^P
^C^ICreating a Directory

To create a subdirectory within the current directory, simply
type the desired directory name.
^P
^C^IRun Program or Command

You can type the name of any executable program or batch file
you wish to run, or a DOS command such as DIR.

You can add any parameters you wish to pass to the program or
command.  Type the command you wish to execute exactly as you
would from the DOS command line.

Note that it's possible to do destructive things through DOS
commands, such as DEL *.* to delete all files in a directory, or
FORMAT C: to reformat your hard disk.  DOS Manager doesn't do
any command parsing to screen out harmful commands, so be
careful what you do with this function just as you would be
careful what you type at the DOS command line.
^P
^C^IFind File

You are being asked for the name of a file to search for.  Don't
include any drive or path information; the file will be searched
for in all directories of the current drive.

You may include MS-DOS wildcard characters:

       STUFF.*        selects all files with the name "STUFF"
                      no matter what extension they have

       A*.TXT         selects all .TXT files starting with A

       DEMO?B.ARC     selects all .ARC files starting with DEMO,
                      followed by any character, then a B.

Once a file is found, you can go to it, keep searching, or abort
the search.
^P
^C^ICopy and Move

These commands will act on the files in the current directory
which you have selected by pressing the space bar, or by
pressing + to select all files.  If directories are selected,
all of their contents, including subdirectories beneath them,
will be acted on as well.  If no files or directories are
selected, the file at the current highlight-bar position will be
chosen.

Copy makes a copy of the files to another directory, leaving the
originals alone.  Move puts the files in a different directory,
removing them from the current place.

Copy and Move keep the filenames the same as they presently are.
Use Duplicate if you want to copy a single file to a new file of
a different name.

If there is insufficient space on the destination drive, you
will be prompted to insert a new formatted disk.
^P
^C^IRename

This command will act on the files in the current directory
which you have selected by pressing the space bar, or by
pressing + to select all files.  If no files or directories are
selected, the file at the current highlight-bar position will be
chosen.

You are then prompted for new names for each of the files and
directories you have selected.  A directory is treated just like
any other file; you can rename it to any other legal name.
(Files within a directory are not changed.)

Legal filenames consist of up to eight characters, followed
optionally by a period (.) and up to three characters as an
extension.
^P
^C^IDuplicate

This command lets you copy a single file into a different name,
either in the current directory or a different directory.

Duplicate always acts on the file at the current highlight-bar
position, whether or not you have selected other files using the
space bar or +.

You are prompted for the name of the new file you wish to create
as a duplicate of the selected file.  If you type a name with no
path, the current directory will be used.  You can type any
drive or path preceding the name to select the position of the
file you are creating.

Subdirectories can't be duplicated using this command; use the
Copy command to copy files from one directory to another.
^P
^C^IDeleting Directory

You are about to delete a directory.  If you do this, everything
in the directory, including any files and subdirectories, will
be removed.  Thus, you'd better be really certain that this is
what you actually want to do, so you don't accidentally lose
files you wanted to keep.

It's always a good idea to make regular backups of your hard
disk, so that you can recover files you delete by mistake.

MS-DOS's UNDELETE command (5.0 and up), and some other software
packages, might be able to recover some of the files you have
deleted, but this is dubious, particularly after you've written
other information to your disk.  So, always regard all deletions
as permanent and irrevocable.
^P
^C^IDelete

This command will act on the files in the current directory
which you have selected by pressing the space bar, or by
pressing + to select all files.  If no files or directories are
selected, the file at the current highlight-bar position will be
chosen.

Say "Y" as each filename is shown to confirm that you really
want to delete it.  Be careful you don't delete something you
wanted to keep.  Press the exclamation mark (!) to skip further
questions and delete all remaining selected files without asking
you first.

You will still be asked to confirm deletion of subdirectories
and of hidden, system, or read-only files, as such deletions are
potentially more perilous than deletion of normal files.
^P
^C^IDirectory Tree

You can display the tree of any drive in order to select a
directory to go to or to copy files to.

First, press the letter of the desired drive when prompted (or
ENTER to use the current drive).  Then, the tree will be
generated.

When the tree is displayed, use the arrow keys to move around,
and ENTER to choose the currently highlighted directory.  You
can also double-click the mouse on a directory name to select
it.  Press ESC to abort without selecting a directory.
^P
^C^IDirectory Sorting

You may select a sorting order to use in displaying directories,
or choose Unsorted to leave them in their actual order.

These options affect only the order files are shown within DOS
Manager; they don't change the actual order on your disks.

Your chosen directory sorting order remains in effect until you
change it by bringing up this command again.

Numeric sorts put files in order of any numbers found within
their names or extensions, so that HELP9.TXT sorts before
HELP10.TXT, whereas normal alphabetic sorting would put these
files in the opposite order.

Size sorting proceeds from largest to smallest; if you copy
files in this order to multiple floppy disks, you will generally
get a reasonably efficient utilization of space.
^P
^C^IViewing Spreadsheet

You are viewing a spreadsheet or template created using
Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, or a compatible program.

You can use the arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn, and Home to move
around in the spreadsheet to view other parts of it, but
you can't change data in the spreadsheet.

Each time you move, the whole spreadsheet is reloaded,
so this can be slow for large spreadsheets.  However,
you needn't wait for the loading to complete before
pressing another key to move again or exit.

<Esc> or <Enter> returns you to the main screen.
If you are viewing multiple files, <Space> goes to the next one.
^P
^C^IFile Contents

DOS Manager has the built in capability of listing a number of
specialized file types, such as ARC, ZIP, LZH and ARJ archives,
DBase-style database files, Lotus-style spreadsheet templates,
and GIF, PCX, BMP, LBM, and Print Shop graphics.  The file type
is automatically detected when you press ENTER to view a file.
Files that are not of a supported type will be displayed either
as ASCII text or as raw hexadecimal dumps depending on their
content.  Ctrl-Enter views all marked files; while viewing
multiple files, Space goes to the next, and ESC stops viewing.

Specialized-format file listings are shown one screenful at a
time, and you should press ENTER to continue to the next screen.
F5 will print the entire listing (not just the current page),
and F6 switches to a raw hexadecimal dump of the file.  These
"hex dumps" will probably not be meaningful to non-technical
users, but may be helpful to PC experts who want to see what the
innards of their files look like in their raw form.
^P
^C^IPrinter Error

DOS Manager is unable to send output to the printer.

You may be out of paper, or the printer may be offline.

Please correct this and press ENTER to try again, or else
press ESC to abort the printout.
^P
^C^IHide/Unhide, Protect/Unprotect

These command will act on the files in the current directory
which you have selected by pressing the space bar, or by
pressing + to select all files.  If no files are selected,
the file at the current highlight-bar position will be chosen.

For each file, if it is already hidden (or read-only, depending
on which command you chose), it will be un-hidden (or un-
protected) if you say Yes, and left alone if you say No.
Conversely, if it is not already hidden (or read-only), it is
set to this status.

A Hidden file will not show in a normal DIR listing from the
DOS prompt (though it still shows in DOS Manager).  A read-only
file is not deletable or modifiable, except with programs that
can handle such files (like DOS Manager, which will allow you
to delete read-only files after a warning).  You may want to
use these commands to set your files so that others can't see
or change them, but be aware that some programs might not be
able to work with files that have been so modified.
^P
^C^IQuitting

You are being asked if you want to leave DOS Manager.

Press <Y> to quit, or <N> to return to the main DOS Manager
screen.  You can also click on the "Y" or "N" yellow-on-blue
areas in the dialog box to select one of these choices.

<Esc> or the right mouse button are equivalent to saying No,
and will return you to the DOS Manager main screen.
^P
^C^IChanging Directories while Files are Marked

When you change directories, all files in the current
directory will be un-marked, since marks are only preserved
in one directory at a time.

Because of this, you are warned before you change directories
using the <Enter> command, to prevent you from accidentally
undoing marks you really wanted to leave.

Your choices are <C> to continue changing to the selected
directory, in the process removing file marks;  <V> to
view the list of files in the selected directory without
going there or undoing file marks;  or <A> to abort and
return to the main screen without any change of directory or
file marks.