Copyright: Dirhtml Version 2.4


Dirhtml help
-- Dirhtml 2.4 Help File --

Dirhtml creates index.html files from a directory list using the GUI or command line, optionally including html code of your own design at any point in the generated file. With dirhtml, your index.html files can be unique and arbitrarily complex.

Program Options

Custom HTML File

Batch Files

Building Files Recursively

An email would be appreciated if you find dirhtml useful.

“I build software I personally need, then give it away.”

Dirhtml 2.4 and all prior versions are Copyright© 2000 Eric Nitzsche

Please direct feedback to nitzsche@pacbell.net or webmaster@half-step.com

Get fresh versions at http://home.pacbell.net/nitzsche/dirhtml.htm

Dirhtml is freeware.  No restrictions are placed on the use or distribution of this software except as follows:

   It is distributed absolutely free, with no charges of any kind, including handling/shipping charges.

   Unchanged versions of dirhtml.exe, dirhtml.hlp, insert.txt and readme.txt are included with any distributions.


Program Options

Folder		Folder where the desired files lie
File Specification		Files to include in the html file (e.g. *.mp3).  Multiple specifications can be added by separating them with ';' (e.g. *.cpp;*.h;*.rc).  Duplicate files will be automatically skipped.
Output File		Name of the generated file
Folder Prefix		This text is inserted as a folder/directory prefix in the HREF.  For example, if your http server root directory is d:\apache\htdocs and you are building an html file from d:\apache\htdocs\misc\mp3 but saving it in d:\apache\htdocs, you would need to add "misc\mp3" as the Folder Prefix.  You may want to consider using aliased directories instead of folder prefixes.
Title		Title of the created HTML file
Replace HREF spaces with '%20' ?		The internet doesn't allow spaces in URL's.  Select this option to replace them with %20.  Do not select this option if the files are located at a local server.  There is no easy way to upload files with spaces in an html file.
Include File Size		If selected, the size of each file is added to the file table.
Include Sub-Folders		If selected, the file list table will be preceded by a list of folders.
Include File Date/Time		If selected, timestamps are added to the file list table.
Two Columns of Files		If selected, the generated file has two files per row.  Please note that various browsers may show tables wider than the browser window differently.
Summary at Bottom		If selected, the file table is followed by the total number of folders, files and the total size of all files, where appropriate.
Suppress Headers		If selected, Folders and/or Filename… will not appear before links.
Suppress Link to parent		If selected, there will be no link to {parent directory} in the folders list.  If Include sub-folders is not selected, this option is ignored.
Custom HTML File		HTML code to include, see Custom HTML File for more information
dirhtml help


Custom HTML File

Dirhtml has the ability to incorporate any amount of html code into the generated file by parsing a custom html file, typically named insert.txt.  Use this option to make your generated index.html files unique.

Using custom html files is not as daunting as it may at first appear.  See the sample below for a simple example.  If you are not comfortable with coding html by hand, copy/paste code from the html editor of your choice.

Below is a description of insert.txt contents:

/FOLDER_HREF_APPEND

{text here is appended after folder HREF links, if any} (e.g. target=”frame2”)

/FOLDER_FILE_LINK

{text here is added to folder links, if any} (e.g. index.html)

{Note the difference from /FOLDER_HREF_APPEND: text here is added directly to the link, not after it}

/FILE_HREF_APPEND

{text here is appended to file HREF links, if any} (e.g. target=”frame2”)

/HEAD

{text here goes into the HEAD} (e.g. <META NAME="Author" CONTENT="FUBAR Resides Here">

/BODYHEADER

{text here REPLACES the <BODY> line}

(e.g. <BODY BACKGROUND="www.mydomain.com/marble.jpg">)

/START

{text here is inserted just prior to the TABLE} (e.g. <P><B>Below is a list of files...</B>)

/TABLEHEADER

{text here REPLACES the <TABLE> header line. (e.g. <TABLE cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=2 width=100%>)

/END

{text here is inserted after the TABLE} (e.g. <P><A HREF="mailto:me@mydomain.com"><I>Email The Webmaster</I></A>

Use this option to add your own, arbitrary HTML code to the created page.  /HEAD, /START and /END can contain multiple lines of code, other sections are limited to one line.  Section names can be absent, repeated, or be in random order.

This is a sample insert.txt file:

/BODYHEADER

<BODY BACKGROUND="marble.jpg">

/END

<P><A HREF="mailto:webmaster@mydomain.com"><I>Email The Webmaster</I></A>

This is what I use for most of my site:  (rather more elaborate - yours can be arbitrarily longer or shorter)

/FOLDER_HREF_APPEND

target=”frame2”

/FOLDER_FILE_LINK

/FILE_HREF_APPEND

/HEAD

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOINDEX">

/BODYHEADER

<BODY BACKGROUND="http://www.half-step.com/marb18.jpg" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" VLINK="#004400">

/START

/TABLEHEADER

<TABLE cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=100%>

/END

<P><A HREF="mailto:webmaster@half-step.com"><I>Email The Webmaster</I></A>

<P><H5><A HREF="http://home.pacbell.net/nitzsche/dirhtml.htm">Built with dirhtml</A></H5>

<P><H6><I>half-step: a musical interval (as E-F or B-C) equivalent to one twelfth of an octave</I></H6>

<P><!--#exec cgi="/cgi-bin/robcount.cgi"--> <FONT SIZE="2">page views since 3-20-00</FONT>

There’s a more complex example on my home page:  http://home.pacbell.net/nitzsche/sample.html

If you need an HTML reference, try

http://www.htmlhelp.com/reference/html40/ or http://developer.netscape.com:80/docs/manuals/htmlguid/contents.htm

dirhtml help


Batch Files
Using Dirhtml Batch Files

Once you set up dirhtml to build a particular file to your satisfaction, click the 'Save Batch File' button.  This will allow you to rebuild the file by double clicking the batch file instead of using the GUI interface, which is very handy if you are rebuilding files repeatedly or many files simultaneously.  Dirhtml will automatically create the batch file linked to a customized ini file.

For sites with the bulk of files in a single folder branch and a few aliased directories, it may be best to build most html files recursively and the remainder with batch files.

{Power user hint: Copy the text of multiple batch files into a single batch file to rebuild multiple files or an entire site simultaneously.}

dirhtml help


Recursively Build Files
Building Files Recursively

There are two options available if you wish to recursively process directories (e.g. to link to files in multiple child folders):

1) One HTML File Per Folder	Clicking this button creates an HTML file in every folder under (and optionally including) the selected folder using settings from the main dialog box.  You can traverse the HTML files via folder links, if selected.
2) All Links In A Single File	This button creates a single master HTML file in the selected folder containing links to every file in the selected folder and all of its child folders.

Please note that your Custom HTML File, if any, is assumed to be located in the same directory as dirhtml.exe.  If it’s in some other location, you need to specify it exactly.

Recursive processing is not presently supported in batch file mode.

dirhtml help