Copyright: ShortCutter for Windows95   ver 1.0 a


Contents
ShortCutter for Windows95

What is ShortCutter?

What does ShortCutter do?

How do I use ShortCutter?

How do I contact Golden Frog Ent?

How was ShortCutter written?

ShortCutter for Windows95 ©1996 Golden Frog Ent.

This program may be freely distributed and used so far as all three files (ShortCutter.exe, ShortCutter.hlp and Readme.txt) are distributed together and the files are not changed in any way.  If you have any questions regarding the copyright laws and how they apply to this program, please contact us at GoldenFrog@msn.com.


What is...?
What is ShortCutter?

Windows95 added a new type of file called shortcuts.  These are files that point to another file.  This gives the user the capability to place a shortcut in a separate location (the desktop, for example) from the actual file.

This added a problem, though.  If a shortcut has been created, then the file it is referencing gets deleted, you are left with a broken link.

ShortCutter checks your hard drive for broken links.  When it find one, it can check to see if the target has been moved, then deletes the shortcut if not.

As an added bonus, ShortCutter also has the capability to find and delete any empty folders and zero-byte files it comes across.

See What does ShortCutter do? for more information

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How do I use...?
How do I use ShortCutter?

Menus

About Options

General Options

Advanced Options

Start, Stop, and Restore

Report Window

Status Bar

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What does ShortCutter do?

Since ShortCutter looks at every file, and looks even harder at links, obviously the more files you have and the more shortcuts you have, the longer the scan will take.

There are a couple of options / programs that will create more shortcuts than you may realize you have.

Windows95 Password Feature

The individual login feature within Windows95 creates a separate Desktop folder and Startup folder for every user of the system.  This can quickly add to the total amount of shortcuts on your system.

Norton Navigator for Windows95

Norton Navigators’ Documents Management feature keeps a shortcut to every file you open within a special folder.  When you access the documents subfolder to the Start Menu, you see this list.
Also, expect to see a great many broken links since every file you have accessed that ends up deleted will be broken.

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How do I contact...?
How do I contact Golden Frog Ent?

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please address them to:

GoldenFrog@msn.com

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How was...written?
How was ShortCutter written?

ShortCutter was written using Microsoft’s Visual C++ version 4.0 and version 4.0 of the Microsoft Foundation Classes.

This help file was written with Microsoft Word 7.0 and compiled using version 4.0 of the Help Workshop supplied with VC++ 4.0.

The wonderful animation of the broken shortcuts getting...well, cut used Paint Shop Pro and Microsoft’s VidEdit to create and compile the images.

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Menu Bars

File

Begin Scan

This initiates a scan of the directory selected (same as Start button)

Cancel Scan

This cancels a scan in progress (same as Stop button)

Restore Controls

This restores all controls to their factory designed settings (same as Restore button)

Exit

Closes the program

Edit

Select All

Selects all links currently in the report window

Select Broken

Selects all broken links currently in the report window.

Delete Selected

Deletes all links currently selected in the report window

Deleted All Broken

Deletes all broken links currently in the report window

Run Target

Runs the target file for the links currently selected.  This will open up directories and will not (obviously) open anything should the link be broken.

Help

Help

Opens up this file.

Exit

Exits the application.  This cannot be done if there is a scan in progress.

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Start, Stop, and Restore buttons

These buttons perform the same functions as the entries under the Scan Menu

Start

This initiates a scan of the directory selected

Stop

This cancels a scan in progress

Restore

This restores all controls to their factory designed settings

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About... Options

The General tab offers the front page of ShortCutter.  It gives the information on how to begin, program information, as well as how to contact the authors.  There is only one option on the page.

Automatically Run With Windows95

Selecting this option will add a shortcut to ShortCutter in the Windows startup directory.  This will allow ShortCutter to run each time you start Windows.  Further options for this feature can be found in the Advanced Tabs.

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General Options

Look In

This allows you to specify a base directory that the scan will begin with.  You can type in a directory, or choose from up to ten previously used ones.

Browse

Using Browse lets you graphically select a directory from your computers drive tree

Include Subfolders

Selecting this option forces scan to look in all subdirectories beneath the root chosen

Delete Broken Links

The scanner to delete any broken links it finds.  The program will ask for confirmation if Confirm Actions is selected

Show All

All shortcuts, whether broken or not, will be displayed in the report window

Show Results

After a scan is completed, a log window will show the results of the scan and any actions performed.

Find Target

When a broken link is encountered, ShortCutter will look to see if its target has been moved to another directory.  Warning.  If a system has a large number of broken links, selecting this option can increase scan time noticably

Confirm Actions

If ShortCutter is forced to Find Target or Delete Link, it will prompt you for confirmation if this option is selected.

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Advanced Options

Enable AutoRun

AutoRun gives ShortCutter the ability to begin a session on every Windows95 boot, perform it’s actions, and then close itself down again.  It offers an excellent way to stay on top of the stray broken links, empty files, and zero-byte files that can begin to clutter a hard drive.

AutoRun comes with several other configuration options

Run Minimized

ShortCutter will run in a minimized window at start.

Run Silent

ShortCutter will not prompt you for any confirmations.  It will also not update the windows with information.  Selecting this option drastically speeds up the process.

Close After

This will automatically close down ShortCutter after all relavant processes have been completed.

File Types

ShortCutter allows you to scan your hard drives for Broken links, empty folders or zero-byte files.  Using these options under the Advanced Tab I, you can choose which you wish to look for.

Broken Links

Empty Folders

Zero-Byte Files

Directories

Windows95 shortcuts can point to almost any file in almost any location.  If there is a shortcut pointing to a network drive or a floppy drive that is not available when ShortCutter I run, those links will be reported as broken.  ShortCutter can be asked to ignore links pointing to those types of drives.

Local Drives (on by default)

Local drives consist of hard drives that are directly, physically connected to this computer.  In almost all cases, your ‘C:’ drive is a local hard drive.

Network Drives

If your computer is connected to other computes or a server (usually in a business environment) it probably has access to data remotely.  These are considered network drives.

Removable Media

This class of drives is made up of floppy drives, Syquest drives, Zip drives and any other type of storage device that allows the actual media (disk, etc.) to be removed from the drive and replaced with another.

CD-Rom drives

CD-Rom drives can also be considered removable media, however ShortCutter allows you to select or deselect them separately.

Log

ShortCutter can keep a log of it’s actions for you, letting you see the results of both manual and automatic scans.

Keep Log

Selecting this option will ask ShortCutter to add to the scLog.txt file.

Detailed

ShortCutter will report each broken link, empty directory, and zero-byte file it comes across along with its complete path.

View Log

If you wish to view the log file, you can open it in any text editor, or just choose this button and it will be opened in the editor Windows has your TXT files associated with.

Clear Log

You can use this to help maintain your log file.  Choose this whenever your file gets a little out of control

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Report Window

Name

The initial column contains two pieces of information: the filename and extension of the link or file, and two images denoting the type and status of the object.

The left image denotes the type:

  Indicates a shortcut

  Indicates a broken links

  Indicates a zero-byte file

  Indicates an empty directories

And the right image denotes the status:

  Indicates no action has yet been taken on this object.

  Indicates the item has been put in the Recycle Bin

Location

Contains the directory in which this link is located.  This location is relative to the base directory specified in the Look In option of the ‘Advanced Options’

Target Location

Specified the name and path of the file this link is pointing to.

Hot Key

The key combination assigned to a shortcut

Show Command

The mode in which a target application will be run when invoked from a shortcut.

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Status Bar

The status bar is located at the bottom of the ShortCutter window and tells you several pieces of information about a scan.

Scan Results

This pane will show whether a scan is in progress or has been completed.  During a scan, it will show the current directory being scanned.

Total:

Indicates the total number of shortcuts found during this scan.

Broken:

Indicates the total number of broken links found

Empty Dir:

Indicates the number of empty directories found.

Zero-Byte:

Indicates the number of zero-byte files files found

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 A link (or shortcut) is a file that points to another file


 A broken link is a shortcut who’s target has been deleted or moved.


The file that a shortcut points to is called it’s target file or just target


 A file that is completely void of data


 A folder that contains no files or subfolders


 The Recycle Bin is a place where Windows95 temporarily holds deleted files.  This allows you to recover something you accidentally deleted