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1992-07-30
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KB-File Manager
Version 1.2
Copyright (C) 1992 by Kent Briggs
Introduction
------------
KB-File Manager (KB-FM) is an easy to use, yet powerful DOS file
manager that lets the user copy, move, delete, and perform other
functions on individual files or groups of files. Files are
selected by "tagging" them on the screen and then processing them
through a "Lotus" style menu. Safeguards are built in to prevent
a file from being overwritten without your permission. KB-FM is
for people who want a more powerful utility than the PC-Magazine
"CO.COM" program but don't want to shell out $100 for a commercial
program like "XTree Gold."
Distribution
------------
KB-FM is distributed as Shareware with a registration fee of $10.
Shareware is a "try before you buy" concept where users are
encouraged to share the programs with friends and business
associates, upload to electronic bulletin board systems (BBS), etc.
Those that find the programs useful should register their copy to
support the author's efforts and to receive technical support or
other benefits.
KB-FM is distributed in a compressed format in a file called
KBFM12.ZIP. The compressed file contains the following files that
must stay together for distribution:
FM.EXE KB-FM Program
FM.DOC KB-FM Documentation (10 pages)
FMCONFIG.EXE KB-FM Configuration program for registered users
ORDER.FRM KB-FM Registration order form
README.1ST KB-FM Description file
FMCONFIG Program
----------------
The shareware version of KB-FM has black and white screen colors
and an opening message screen with a three-second pause. No
operating functions of KB-FM are crippled. As an additional
incentive to register, a unique serial number will be sent to
registered users. This serial number is used by the FMCONFIG
program to disable the opening message screen and will let the user
customize the KB-FM screen colors. The user can select from a
default black and white or color configuration, or make a custom
color configuration by selecting individual colors for 11 separate
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areas of the screen. FMCONFIG will also personalize your
registered copy of KB-FM by placing your name (or company name) and
serial number on the help screen.
Registration
------------
To register your copy of KB-File Manager, print the order form,
fill it out and send in your registration fee. You can use the
following DOS command to print the order form:
COPY ORDER.FRM PRN
There are four line items on the order form:
1. KB-FM Registration (no disk) : $10
2. KB-FM Diskette, 5.25" : $3
3. KB-FM Diskette, 3.5" : $3
4. KB-FM Site License Registration: $150
Item 1 is the normal registration option for users who already have
the KB-FM shareware files and just need the serial number for the
FMCONFIG program. No disks are provided. Your serial number will
be valid for all future versions of KB-FM that have a $10
registration fee. This means that you can self-upgrade at no cost.
If the registration fee is raised, then you can upgrade to a new
serial number by paying the difference between the new fee and the
fee you originally paid.
Items 2 and 3 are disks that contain the same shareware files that
are distributed through the normal shareware channels. These are
for people who have read about KB-FM but do not have a modem or
other means of obtaining the latest version. The $3 charge is to
cover my costs of materials and postage. A registration serial
number is NOT provided with items 2 or 3.
Item 4 is a site license for companies who need more than 15 copies
of KB-FM. With a site license, you may make unlimited copies of
KB-FM for use on the site. A site is defined as one or more
buildings used by a company or institution on a contiguous area of
land. The site license includes a registration serial number and
a 5.25" and 3.5" disk. You may upgrade to a site license at any
time by subtracting $10 for every registered copy you already have
from the $150 site license fee.
When ordering items 1 or 4, please include the name that KB-FM will
be registered to. This name (30 characters max) will be placed on
the help screen by the FMCONFIG program.
For orders or technical support, write to:
Kent Briggs
109A Romana Cir.
Hewitt, TX 76643
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Disclaimer
----------
This software is provided as is and without warranty. The author
assumes no liability for damages, either direct or consequential,
which may result from the use of this product.
Installation
------------
No special installation is needed to run KB-FM. However, you will
probably want to put FM.EXE in your DOS path so that it will
execute from any directory. The DOS path is defined in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file and lists a string of directories that are
searched if DOS cannot find a program in the current directory.
Put FM.EXE in one of those directories or modify the PATH statement
so that it contains the KB-FM directory. Refer to your DOS manual
for use of the PATH command.
To start KB-FM, type FM at the DOS command line and press Enter.
You may enter optional parameters on the command line:
FM [pathspec][filespec] [/N,/E,/S,/D,/A,/U][R]
Pathspec is the directory that KB-FM will display on startup. The
default directory is the current directory. The Filespec is the
file name filter that determines which files to display. The
default filespec is *.* which displays all files. The / options
determine the file sort order: N=name, E=extension, S=size, D=date,
A=attribute, and U=unsorted. Use an R suffix to reverse the sort.
The default sort is /N. The following example will show the batch
files in the root directory on drive A and sort them by date in
reverse order:
FM A:\*.BAT /DR
KB-FM Screen
------------
The screen is divided into three main areas that contain
information about the current directory. The File List is the
large box on the left side of the screen. It contains the list of
files in the current directory that match the filespec. The list
contains the file name and extension, size, date and time, and
attributes. The four possible attributes are A for archive, S for
system, H for hidden, and R for read-only. Refer to your DOS
manual for a description of file attributes. The file list is
sorted by the current sort order.
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The Directory List is the box in the upper right corner of the
screen. This list contains the subdirectories of the current
directory and all of the logical drives on the computer. The name
of the current directory is displayed at the bottom of the
directory list in a separate box. The number of subdirectories and
drives are displayed under the directory list. If the current
directory is not a root directory, then the first item in the
directory list will always be a ".." which represents the parent
directory of the current directory. The date and time that the
directory was created are also shown in the list. The directory
list is always sorted by name in ascending order. Hidden
directories are not displayed in the list. However, you can
use KB-FM in a hidden directory by changing to the hidden directory
with the DOS CD command and then running FM.EXE or by placing the
directory name on the FM.EXE command line.
The box in the lower right corner of the screen contains additional
information about the files in the current directory. The filespec
shows the current file name filter that determines which files are
displayed. The default filespec is *.* which displays all files.
The current file sort order is shown under the filespec. "Rev"
will be displayed if the sort is in reverse (descending) order.
Both the filespec and sort order can be set from the FM.EXE command
line or changed from the top line menu. The filespec and sort
order remain in effect even after changing directories.
Below the Filespec/Sort order box is the Tagged files box that
displays the number and total size of tagged files. Files can be
tagged with the + key and untagged with the - key (use the numeric
keypad). Files are tagged so that they can be processed (copied,
deleted, etc.) all at once instead of one at a time.
The bottom line of the screen contains information on the number
and total size of the files in the file list and the number and
percentage of free disk space on the current drive. The menus are
displayed on the top line of the screen when the / key is pressed.
Active Keys
-----------
Scrolling: Press the left and right cursor keys or the Tab key to
move the highlight bar between the file list and directory list.
Press the up and down cursor keys to scroll the highlight bar in
the file and directory lists. Press PageUp and PageDown to scroll
a whole page of files or directories. Press Home to move to the
top of the lists and End to move to the bottom. A down arrow will
appear at the bottom of the list if more files (or directories) are
in the list below the last one shown. An up arrow will appear at
the top of the list if more files (or directories) are in the list
above the first one shown.
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Change Dir: With the highlight bar in the directory list, press
Enter to change to that directory. If the
highlight bar is on the ".." directory, then the
new directory will be the parent of the current
directory. If the highlight bar is on a drive,
then the new directory will be the current
directory on the new drive.
File Tagging: With the highlight bar in the file list, press the
+ key (use the numeric keypad) to tag the current
file. An arrow will appear on the left side of the
file name. Press - to untag a file.
File Viewing: With the highlight bar in the file list, press
Enter to view the current file in ASCII (text)
format. Binary files can also be viewed but each
byte will be converted to its ASCII equivalent
character. Only the first 9999 lines of the file
can be viewed. Lines wider than 255 characters
will be wrapped. Use the cursor, PageUp/PageDn,
and Home/End keys for scrolling. Press Esc to exit
the file viewer. Files with an "R" attribute can
not be viewed. Use the Attributes command to
change file attributes.
Run Program: With the highlight bar on a file with a COM, EXE,
or BAT extension, press Enter to display the
following menu:
FILE: Execute View
Select View to view the file as described above.
Select Execute to load and run the program. KB-FM
remains in memory so programs requiring more than
approximately 350K RAM will probably not run.
KB-FM regains control when you exit the loaded
program.
Menus: With the highlight bar in the file list, press / to
display the File Menu on the top line. With the
highlight bar in the directory list, press / to
display the Directory Menu on the top line. Press
Esc or the down arrow to remove the top line menu.
File Search: Press any other key to search for a file (or
directory) that begins with that character (i.e.,
press P to search for a file name that begins with
P). The search begins at the highlight bar and
goes down until a match is found or until the
bottom of the list is reached at which time the
search will continue at the top of the list and
continue until the original starting point is
reached. If a match is found, the highlight bar
will be moved to that file (or directory).
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Directory Menu
--------------
With the highlight bar in the directory list, press / to display
the directory menu:
DIRECTORY: Make Remove Help Quit
To select a menu item, press the left or right cursor keys until
the item is highlighted and then press Enter. As a shortcut, just
press the key corresponding to the first letter in the menu item.
Press Esc or the down arrow key to cancel the menu.
Make: Select Make to make a new subdirectory in the current
directory. This is the same as the DOS MD command. A
prompt will appear like this:
New subdirectory for C:\
Type in a valid directory name and press Enter or press
Esc to cancel.
Remove: Select Remove to remove the directory that is currently
highlighted. This is the same as the DOS RD command. A
Yes/No conformation prompt will appear before the
directory is removed. An error message will be displayed
if the directory is not empty.
Help: Select Help to display the help screen. If you are a
registered user, your name and registration serial number
will be displayed. A list of the active keys and menu
functions are listed on this screen. Press any key to
return from the help screen.
Quit: Select Quit to exit the KB-FM program.
File Menu
---------
With the highlight bar in the file list, press / to display the
file menu:
FILE: Copy Move Delete Rename Sort Tag Filespec
Attribute Help Quit
To select a menu item, press the left or right cursor keys until
the item is highlighted and then press Enter. As a shortcut, just
press the key corresponding to the first letter in the menu item.
Press Esc or the down arrow key to cancel the menu.
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Copy: Select Copy to copy files from the current directory to
a designated destination directory. If one or more files
are tagged, then the tagged files will be copied. A
prompt will appear like this:
Copy 3 tagged file(s) to: _
If no files are tagged, then the current highlighted file
is copied. A prompt will appear like this:
Copy KBFM10.ZIP to: _
Type in a valid directory just as you would using the DOS
COPY command or press Esc to cancel the Copy command.
KB-FM will ensure that the destination drive/directory
exists before an attempt is made to copy the files. The
arrow "tag" is removed after a successful copy and the
file is "marked" with an asterisk.
If an error occurs during the copy process, the speaker
will beep and a brief error message will be displayed.
The copy process will continue if other files in the list
are tagged. You can press any key to interrupt the copy
process. An error will occur if the file has attributes
other than "A" (archive) or if the destination drive is
full.
If a file with the same name already exists in the
destination directory, the copy process is interrupted
with the following prompt like this:
KBFM10.ZIP already exists.
(R)eplace, (S)kip, (N)o_prompting, (Q)uit?
Press R to overwrite the file and continue the copy
process. Press S to skip the file and continue with the
next tagged file. Press N to overwrite the file and all
other files that might already exist. Press Q to cancel
the Copy command.
Move: Select Move to move files from the current directory to
a designated destination directory. If one or more files
are tagged, then the tagged files will be moved. A
prompt will appear like this:
Move 3 tagged file(s) to: _
If no files are tagged, then the current highlighted file
is moved. A prompt will appear like this:
Move KBFM10.ZIP to: _
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Type in a valid directory just as you would using the DOS
COPY command (there is no DOS MOVE command) or press Esc
to cancel the Move command. KB-FM will ensure that the
destination drive/directory exists before an attempt is
made to move the files.
The move process is the same as the Copy command except
the files are deleted if they are successfully copied.
Delete: Select Delete to delete files from the current directory.
If one or more files are tagged, then the tagged files
will be deleted. A prompt will appear like this:
Delete 3 tagged file(s) (Y/N) ?
If no files are tagged, then the current highlighted file
is deleted. A prompt will appear like this:
Delete KBFM10.ZIP (Y/N) ?
Press Y to delete the file(s) or any other key to cancel
the delete command. A file will not be deleted if it has
attributes other than "A" (archive).
Rename: Select Rename to give the current highlighted file a
different name. Other tagged files are not affected. A
prompt will appear like this:
Rename KBFM10.ZIP to: _
Type in a valid DOS filename or press Esc to cancel the
Rename command. An error will occur if the name is
invalid or another file with the same name already
exists.
Sort: Select Sort to set the sort order for the current
directory and all subsequent directories. A submenu will
appear as follows:
Sort by: Name Extension Size Date Attribute
Unsorted Reverse
Select the file sort order from this list. Select
Unsorted to reload the current directory and leave it in
the original DOS order. Select Reverse to reverse the
current sort order with a descending sort. The current
sort order is displayed in the lower right box on the
screen. The sort order remains in effect until you
change it again. The default sort order is by Name and
can be changed from the FM.EXE command line (see the
Installation section discussed earlier).
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Tag: Select Tag to tag or untag a group of files all at once.
Individual files are tagged/untagged with the +/- keys.
A submenu will appear as follows:
Tag: All None Marked Unmarked Flip
Select All to tag all files in the list. Select None to
untag and unmark all files in the list. Select Marked to
tag all files that are marked with an asterisk. These
files have recently been copied or had their attributes
changed. Select Unmarked to tag all files that are
currently marked with an asterisk. Select Flip to tag
all untagged files and to untag all tagged files. Marked
files remain marked with an asterisk.
Filespec: Select Filespec to change the current filespec. The
filespec is the file name filter that determines which
files to display. A prompt will appear as follows:
Enter new filespec: _
Type in a new filespec or press Esc to cancel. The
default filespec is *.* which displays all files. The
current filespec remains in effect until you change it
again. You can change the default filespec from the
FM.EXE command line (see Installation section). Here are
some filespec examples:
*.DOC ; display only files with an extension of .DOC
K*.* ; display only files that start with a K
Attribute: Select Attribute to change the attributes of
files in the current directory. If one or more files are
tagged, then the tagged files will be changed. A prompt
will appear like this:
Change attributes of 3 tagged files(s) to (+/-ASHR): _
If no files are tagged, then the attributes of the
current highlighted file are changed. A prompt will
appear like this:
Change attributes of KBFM10.ZIP to (+/-ASHR): _
The four possible attributes are A for archive, S for
system, H for hidden, and R for read-only. Refer to your
DOS manual for a description of file attributes.
Type in the attributes to change by preceding each one
with a + to turn on or a - to turn off. Press Esc to
cancel the Attribute command. Here are some examples:
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+H-S ; turn on H attribute and turn off S attribute
; the A and R attributes are not affected.
-H-S-R-A ; turn off all attributes
Help: Select Help to display the help screen. If you are a
registered user, your name and registration serial number
will be displayed. A list of the active keys and menu
functions are listed on this screen. Press any key to
return from the help screen.
Quit: Select Quit to exit the KB-FM program.
Miscellaneous
-------------
KB-File Manager was written in Turbo Pascal 6.0 (approximately 2500
lines of code) on a Gateway 2000 486DX2/50 computer. The program
was beta tested on several types of computers including
workstations on a LANtastic network.
Here are some features that I am considering for future versions:
File editor (link in your own editor)
PKZIP support (tag files to compress, uncompress)
Laplink-like functions (transfer files over null-modem cable)
Mouse support
Please send your own suggestions to:
Kent Briggs
109A Romana Cir.
Hewitt, TX 76643
You can also leave e-mail addressed to me on the Exec-PC BBS at
(414)-789-4210. Exec-PC is PC-Pursuitable through WIMIL.
Program History
---------------
Ver 1.0 06/12/92
Initial release.
Ver 1.1 06/12/92
Bug fix. The box showing the number of tagged files did not update
after using the Attributes command on tagged files.
Ver 1.2 07/30/92
Added two new features: Text file viewer and COM/EXE/BAT program
execution.
---------------
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