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Navstar 1.1 The Power-User's File Management Tool Christopher R. S. Schanck May 30, 1989 Copyright 1989 Table of Contents Philosophy...........................................1 Comments.............................................3 Installation.........................................4 Screen Display Files...........................................5 Current & Logged Path...........................5 Pages Line......................................5 Sort Type & Order...............................6 Logged Drive....................................6 Navigation & the Cursor.........................7 Filename Character Search.......................7 File Information Line...........................8 Informational Keystrokes Help............................................9 Information Key.................................9 Key & Extension Information.....................9 Commands which Alter Navstar Change Directories.............................10 Jump Directories...............................11 Log Current Directory..........................11 Swap Logged & Current..........................12 Change Sorting Method..........................12 Toggle Sort Order..............................12 Edit Attribute Mask............................12 Refresh Screen.................................12 Commands to Manipulate Files Marking Files..................................13 Copying Files..................................13 Backing Up Files...............................14 Moving Files...................................14 Making Directories.............................14 Renaming Files & Directories...................14 Deleting Files & Directories/Global Verify.....15 Deleting Files & Directories/Ind. Verify.......15 Altering File Attributes.......................15 Executing Programs from within Navstar Invoking a System Shell........................16 Command Line Expansion.........................16 Execute with Parameters........................18 "Hot" Execute..................................18 The Action Key & Recognizable Extensions.......18 Viewing Files..................................18 Editing Files..................................18 Definable Keys.................................19 Exiting Navstar.....................................19 Examples Recognizable Extensions........................20 Definable Keys.................................21 Installation: The Navinst Program General Comments...............................22 Invoking Navinst...............................22 Main Menu......................................22 Modify Key Definitions.........................23 Modify Colors..................................23 Modify Sort Order..............................23 Modify Sort Method.............................23 Modify Recognized Extensions...................24 Modify Global File Attributes..................24 Modify Video Type..............................24 Modify Maximum Number of Files Allowed.........24 Modify Maximum Number of Directories Allowed...25 Reading in a Configuration File................25 Help Screen....................................25 Exiting Navinst................................25 The CCD Change Directory Program....................27 The Navshell Program................................28 The Disklist Program................................29 Licensing Agreement.................................30 Registration Form...................................33 The Author..........................................35 Acknowledgements....................................36 Navstar's Philosophy When I set out to create Navstar, I did not set out to create Navstar. Rather, it evolved from a "better DIR" program into the productivity tool it is now. Somewhere around halfway between then and now, I sat down and did a complete redesign in order to formalize what I wanted from it. In doing so I looked at a dozen or so file/disk managers, both of a commercial and public domain nature. In doing so, I noticed one common characteristic. Nearly all of these products were aimed at "protecting" the user from DOS to some degree. A large portion of them billed themselves as "simplifying" DOS, or "giving power to the non power-user". In doing so, they tended to provide not so much functionality as protection. Very few of them were designed to allow a person to use his/her own knowledge of DOS to the fullest extent. In designing Navstar, I went the other direction. I elected not to include functions which I felt power-users would find a waste of RAM. A good example of this was my decision as to whether or not to implement a "visual tree" of the directory structure to allow easier navigation of the hierarchy. In discussing it with colleagues, several pointed out it was a great aid in making the hierarchical structure easier for novices to comprehend. With this I concur. However, I felt the overhead for the code/data needed to implement a visual tree was not warranted. Now I am sure there are those who would and who will argue with me, and I welcome such correspondence. However, this is a good example of the driving ideal behind Navstar. As an aside, in version 1.1 a 'jumpdir' function which allows for a nice method of hierarchical tree navigation. Instead of a super-slick interface, Navstar provides a no- nonsense, extremely functional method of navigation. The jumpdir function is useful proportional to the amount of familiarity a user has with the directory structure of a volume. Most power users are intimately familiar with their directory structure, and so can use jumpdir extremely well. Yet another example is the admittedly boring display screen Navstar uses. No flashy borders adorn the display; its function is to provide the maximum amount of information in the least amount of space and allow the user to utilize that information effectively. Yet I think you will find that a boring screen is not so great a detriment as some would have you believe. My personal system is an 8088-based (4.77 Mhz!) system, and Navstar is more than usable with respect to speed on this system. In using this system I was at the lowest common denominator, so it was relatively easy to detect critical areas. Because of this, Navstar really flies on 286 and 386 systems with fast hard drives. Both speed and space were critical considerations, speed because my system is slow, and Navstar 1.0 1 size because Navstar is designed to run other programs with ease. When executing another program, Navstar takes up only about 47k (depending on configuration options) or a mere 7k (!!!) of your precious system memory, depending on how it is invoked. These rather sparse memory requirements are a great advantage when one wishes to run programs from inside Navstar. While most other similar products include extensive pull-down menus or similar "nice" command structures, I found this to be counter-productive in light of my goal. Similar reasoning led me to make the installation process part of a separate program; this saves the memory that in-code installation would otherwise use. And so on; the very simple command structure is another by-product of this train of thought. Several of the other products ignored color; since I have a CGA system (flicker-free!), color was of distinct importance to me. I made the color options as varied as possible. Hopefully they are wide-ranging enough to suit everyone. Since I have a CGA card, the 43 and 50 line modes of EGA and VGA cards are not supported; this should change in the future. The aged-ness of my system does have some drawbacks though. For instance, I have no access to extended or expanded memory, so Navstar makes no use of such peripherals. This is something I hope to rectify in the future. In version 1.1, it is relatively easy to make Navstar use an extended or expanded memory RAMdisk. A few extra words are in order about Navstar's use of memory. Normally, Navstar stores two distinct blocks of information. First, it stores the directory information, which is read from the CCD.DAT file. This block of memory is not deallocated when other processes are executed from inside of Navstar. Therefore, the exact memory requirements of Navstar differ for different configurations. Second, Navstar stores each file entry as part of a dynamically allocated block of memory. However, when executing another program, Navstar deallocates this entire block in order to save memory. When the program(s) are finished executing, Navstar must then reread and resort the current directory. This is somewhat different from other, similar, programs. Generally, these programs retain the directory in memory, thereby chewing up gobs of memory and leaving little for the program to use. Finally, while Navstar has been released for only 3 months now, it has been a "bootstrap" system. By that I mean it has been used in its own development for the past six months to a year. So, while I will not go out on limb and say that it is bug-free, it is bug-minimal(?). Navstar 1.0 2 Comments on Navstar This manual does not completely specify Navstar. In using Navstar you will encounter lots of things which are not covered in the manual. Most of these things are minor touches, such as the string editing. String editing is quite complete in Navstar; you can toggle between Insert/Overwrite modes, navigate forward and backward using the arrow keys as well as some control combinations. Navstar also "remembers" the last executed command, making repeated commands easier, as well as recovering from mistyped commands which failed to execute. This manual is intended to supplement the natural curiosity of the DOS power-user. Navstar is constructed in such a way that anyone with a solid background in DOS can begin using it immediately; the beginner will have to spend some time experimenting, but he or she too should have little difficulty tapping the power of Navstar. Navstar 1.0 3 Installation Installing Navstar is quite simple. First of all, create a directory for Navstar (say, called \navstar on your C: drive) using DOS's mkdir (make directory) command. Now copy all the files from the distribution disk over to this directory (c:\navstar). Now, a few changes must be made to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. First, add a line set NAVSTAR=c:\navstar or =whatever path Navstar resides in. Then add that path (c:\navstar in my example) to your PATH environment variable. Consult your DOS manual for details on how to do this. Finally, use the Navinst installation program to configure Navstar to your taste. Then reboot to make the changes in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file take hold. Navstar 1.0 4 Navstar's Screen Display Upon invoking Navstar at the DOS prompt, you will see several things. In this section we will discuss them, and what they mean to you. The Files --------- The first thing you will see is a list of files in the current directory. The files will be listed in lower case, 88 on a screen, 4 columns across. Don't worry about the order they are displayed in; you can change that to taste later. Directory entries have their names preceded by a '\' character, and files with hidden, system, volume, or read-only attributes will have these attributes displayed as follows: filename.ext [HRS] If none of the attributes are present, the brackets will not be displayed at all. The Current & Logged Path ------------------------- In the lower left hand corner, you will see two paths displayed, the current path and the logged path. The current path is the path which currently has its files displayed on the screen. The logged path is just that; it is the current working directory as far as DOS and Navstar are concerned. These two separate paths stem from their counterparts in command-line DOS: You may be in C:\TEMP\TEMP2 (which would be your logged path) and type DIR C:\TEMP (which would be your current path). The power of having separate paths will become apparent later when you learn to manipulate files, so don't worry if it is a bit unclear now. The Pages Line -------------- There is a line in the lower left hand corner which reads: Page X of Y What this means, logically enough, is that you are currently displaying page X of Y possible pages of files. Pages of files are a necessary and convenient way to handle directories of more than 88 files. Navstar 1.0 5 The Sort Type & Order --------------------- Again in the lower right hand corner, you will see 2 characters bracketed by > and <. The two characters within describe what the current sort type and order. The possibilities are as follows: Sort Type: N File Name E File Extension S Files Size D File Date U Unsorted The sort order has only two possibilities: ascending and descending. Ascending is signified by a '+', and descending by a '-'. So you will see something like >N+<, meaning the files are sorted by name, in ascending order. An extra note about sort order is needed here regarding volume labels and directory entries. Volume labels are always assumed to come "first" in any sort order, followed by any directory entries. Within a directory, each subdirectory entry will be sorted by name, regardless of the current sort order and type. Further, the parent entry ".." will always be displayed as the first directory entry. The Logged Drive ---------------- Yet another piece of information displayed in the lower right hand corner is the currently logged drive. Normally you can disregard this; it is only important if you will be use Navstar to peruse disks across multiple drives. In this case, the logged drive determines to what drive you will be returned to when you exit Navstar. The logged drive also informs you which volume's directory tree information is currently in memory. Navstar 1.0 6 Navigation & The Cursor ----------------------- Upon starting up, you will notice that the upper-left hand corner entry is highlighted in some fashion. That is because the cursor is currently residing there. There are many ways to move the cursor, and we will now discuss a few of them. The arrow keys: these work as you might expect, with up, down, left, and right moving you in the expected directions. Experiment with them to get a grasp on how they wrap around; it is easier to see than to explain. Basically, holding any one of the four down will eventually traverse an entire screen. Home and End: these keys move you to the first entry and the last entry of the current screen. PgUp and PgDn: these keys move you two the previous or next screen of files, respectively. These do NOT wrap around at all. Control Home & Control End: these keys move you to the first and last pages of files. Tab/Control-S: Filename Character Search ------------------------------------ Navstar has one further method of navigating among the files in a directory: textual search. This is a very useful method becomes it allows you to quickly find a particular file, regardless of the current sort method. To invoke the text search feature, press the Tab key or Control-S. Now, in the lower left hand corner, the message "Scan: " will appear. Now type in a character. One of two things will happen. If a filename starting with that character can be found, the cursor will jump to the necessary page and highlight the first matching occurrence, and the character will appear in the Scan line. If there is no filename starting with that character, Navstar will beep, and the character will not be added to the Scan line. This behavior will continue until you press a key which is not one of the following: [0-9], [a-zA-Z], or a period. A special situation occurs when the period is the first character typed: the following characters are compared to file extensions only. For instance, the sequence: Tab/Control-S .exe ESCAPE will leave the cursor positioned at the first .exe file on the screen forward of the original cursor position. The last point is an important one: the text search function searches from the current cursor position forward; it does not reset to the beginning of the screen/pages when invoked. Finally, BackSpace can be used to edit the Scan line. Navstar 1.0 7 The File Information Line ------------------------- The last part of the screen display to be explained is the file information line. This is the line between brackets in the lower right hand corner. Notice as you move the cursor, the content of this line changes. This line contains pertinent information about the file the cursor is currently residing on. By pertinent information we mean the following: size, time of creation, date of creation. For most files this is enough. For directory entries, instead of a file size, the string "<DIR>" is substituted. For volume labels, the string "<VOL>" is substituted. Navstar 1.0 8 Informational Keystrokes The '/' and '?' keys: Help -------------------------- These two keys, as you might have noticed, reside on the same physical key. So, for convenience sake, both invoke the help screen. The help screen is, by design, very minimal. It primarily lists available keystrokes and the functions associated with them. Pressing the same key again will bring up the title menu, while pressing any other key will clear the menu. The 'I' key: Information ------------------------ Pressing the 'I' key will bring up a three line display of pertinent information. For instance: free space on disk, current time & date, max number of files & directories, and so on. Pressing any other key will return you to the command level. The 'K' key: Defined Keys and Extensions ------------------------------------------------------- Pressing this key will bring up the first of two screens. First, it will bring up a list of all the Function Keys and Alternate Function Keys, with each's associated current definition. Pressing any key except 'E' will return you to the command level, while pressing an 'E' will take you to the second information screen. This screen contains the recognized filename extensions and their associated command lines. Key definitions and extensions will be covered later; for now it is enough to know this key exists. Navstar 1.0 9 Commands which Alter Navstar's Current Attributes The 'N': Changing to a New Directory ------------------------------------ This is a fairly straightforward command; if you understand how DOS's chdir command works, you understand how the 'N' command works, with a few limitations. When you press the 'N' key, it will ask you for a new directory specification. For the most part, the 'N' command works as though you were at the command line in the logged directory and typed in cd <new directory spec>. The limitation is that you cannot use the .. or . filenames in specifying a new directory. This is not so great a limitation as it might seem, thanks to Navstar's built in mechanisms to traverse directory structures, which will be shown later. Navstar evaluates such directory specifications in a variety of ways. The following rules apply: 1) If the filespec includes a drive designation, it is used as is, with no expansion. Note that DOS itself may perform some interpretation, depending on the logged directory of the specified drive. 2) If the filespec begins with the '\' character, the filespec is appended to the current drive, and no further interpretation is done. 3) If the filespec does not begin with the '\' character, but is not empty, the filespec is appended to the currently logged path. 4) If the filespec is empty, the current path is used. Navstar 1.0 10 The 'J' key: Jump to a Matching Directory ----------------------------------------- This Jump function is an extraordinarily powerful means to navigate DOS's directory structure. After pressing 'J', Navstar will prompt for a target string. After you enter this target string, Navstar will search its internal Jump table for matches. A match is a pathname with a directory entry starting with the target string. For instance, the target string "uti" would match: \utils \temp\utility \help\utils\tmp If no matches are encountered, you will be informed and the function will abort. If a single match is found, Navstar will change the current directory to the match. If more than one matches are found, the first will be displayed. Use the up and down arrow keys (as well as Home and End) to scroll through the list of matches until you find the desired entry. WHen you find it, hit return. Doing so will cause Navstar to change to the selected directory. A drive specifier may be used in specifying the target string. When a target string is of the form "x:<string>", two things happen. First, Navstar logs "x" as the current drive. Then it proceeds as if the target string had been entered in the above example. Even if you use the escape key to abort the Jump operation, you will still find yourself logged onto drive "x". In order for the jumpdir function to work, the data file CCD.DAT must have been created in the volume's root directory. If the file does not exist, this function will not work. Use the Control-J function (see following) to create the data-file. Control-J: Updating the Jump Table: ----------------------------------- When you press Control-J, Navstar executes the command line "CCD -r". As explained in the section of this manual concerned with the CCD program, this causes the jump data file on the current logged volume to be updated. The 'L' key: Log the Current Directory -------------------------------------- This is exactly what it sounds like; whatever the current directory path is, it becomes the logged path also. The logged drive is changed if necessary. If the logged drive changes, Navstar will read that volume's directory info into the Jump table. Navstar 1.0 11 The 'W' key: Swap Current and Logged Paths ------------------------------------------ This is a somewhat strange and counter-intuitive function which is included because I found it extraordinarily useful. It does exactly what it seems; it swaps the current and logged paths, changing the display accordingly. The 'O': Change the Sorting Method ---------------------------------- Pressing this key will toggle the sorting method based on the current one in the following progression: name extension size unsorted The display will be updated accordingly. Control-O: Toggle Ascending/Descending Sort Order ------------------------------------------------- This will toggle the current sorting method between ascending and descending and the display will be updated as necessary. Notice this has no effect on an unsorted directory. Control-A: Change the Current Attribute Mask -------------------------------------------- Pressing this key allows you to edit the attribute mask which determines what files are displayed/available for manipulation by Navstar. Control-R: The Refresh Screen Key --------------------------------- This key redraws the screen. It is provided as a means to clean up the screen after TSR's which do not do so after they have been invoked. Navstar 1.0 12 Commands for manipulating files The ' ','+','-' & Insert Keys: Marking files -------------------------------------------- In order to manipulate files, you need a way to mark specific files. Navstar provides several ways to do this. Pressing the space bar marks the current file; the file will begin to blink. When you move the cursor off of this file, the file will be shown as marked by a different screen attribute (color). The '+' and '-' keys are used to mark a large group of files. When you press either of the, the first thing that happens is all files & directory entries in the current directory are unmarked. If the '-' key was pressed, that is all that happens. If the '+' key was pressed, all files (but *not* directories) are marked, on all pages. Finally, the Insert key allows for a very flexible method of marking files. When you press the Insert key, you toggle off and on the 'marking' mode. When you turn on marking mode, the file the cursor is on will be marked. Any other files you subsequently move across will also be marked. The 'C' Key: Copying Files -------------------------- This is possibly the most used function in Navstar's repertoire. As you would think, it is a powerful method for copying files across the directory structure of a disk. It is both simple and powerful, and can take some understanding if you wish to use some of the more advanced possibilities. First, in order to copy a file or group of files, you must mark the file(s) you wish to copy. The press the 'C' key. Navstar will then ask you for the destination file specification. Notice you are simply specifying the path into which another copy of each marked file will be copied!!! You cannot change the name of a file using the copy command. Navstar evaluates such destination filespec's in a variety of ways, depending on the filespec. The following rules apply: 1) If the filespec includes a drive designation, it is passed to DOS as is, with no expansion. Note that DOS itself may perform some interpretation, depending on the logged directory of the specified drive. 2) If the filespec begins with the '\' character, the filespec is appended to the current drive, and no further interpretation is done. 3) If the filespec does not begin with the '\' character, but is not empty, the filespec is appended to the currently logged path. 4) If the filespec is empty, the logged path is used. Navstar 1.0 13 It is this last option which is so convenient; by manipulating the current and logged directories cleverly, copying becomes a trivial process. The 'B' Key: Backup Files ------------------------- In the above description of the copying command, it was noted that the copy command does not allow you to create another copy of a file with a different name. To do this, you would use the Backup Files command. When the 'B' key is pressed, for each marked file, Navstar will ask for a new filename. This will create a new copy of a marked file with a new name, in the same directory. The 'M' key: Move Files/Make Directory -------------------------------------- The 'M' key is the only command key in Navstar which does double duty. Depending on whether there are any files marked, it either invokes the Move Files command or the Make Directory. With some number of marked files, Navstar will ask for a destination file specification, which works just as in the Copy command. It then proceeds just as in the copy command, except it deletes the source file after the copy has been completed. However, if the file is being moved within a single volume, instead of copy the entire file, Navstar will use the DOS rename function to move it; this is significantly faster. If there are no files marked, Navstar will ask for a new directory entry, which will then be created in the *current* directory. The 'R' Key: Renaming Files & Directories ----------------------------------------- When the 'R' key is pressed and there are files marked, Navstar will ask the you, for each marked file, the new filename. Note you cannot use rename to move files, as it only allows the user to edit the filename, not the pathname. Navstar 1.0 14 The 'D' Key: Deleting Files & Directories/Global Verify ------------------------------------------------------- When the 'D' key is pressed and there are marked files, Navstar will first query you if you are sure you wish to progress. If the user responds positively, Navstar then proceeds to delete each marked file. If Navstar encounters a marked directory entry, it will halt and query you if you wish to delete the entry. After taking the appropriate action, Navstar then proceeds on with the deletion process. Navstar will not delete a non-empty directory, nor will it delete the currently logged directory. Control-D: Deleting Files & Directories/Individual Verify --------------------------------------------------------- When the Control-D key is pressed and there are marked files, Navstar then proceeds to delete each marked file. For each file or directory, Navstar will query you if you wishes to delete the entry. After taking the appropriate action, Navstar then proceeds on with the deletion process. Navstar will not delete a non-empty directory, nor will it delete the currently logged directory. This method provides an additional safety net for deletion over the 'D' command if the you so wish. The 'A' Key: Alter File Attributes ---------------------------------- When the 'A' key is pressed and there are marked files, the File Attribute Edit Line appears. This line allows you to alter the Hidden, System, and Read Only attributes for the marked files. After you select the attribute contribution you desire, the attribute of each marked file will be altered accordingly. Note that sometimes, this action will cause files to become hidden from the viewing directory, since it may no longer match the attribute mask currently active. Navstar 1.0 15 Commands for Executing Programs The 'S' Key: Invoking the System -------------------------------- When you press the 'S' key, Navstar will ask you for a command line. When you hit return, Navstar will invoke a new shell of COMMAND.COM with the command line as its parameter. Simply hitting return when asked for a command line will invoke a new shell and leave you at the DOS prompt. Typing "exit" will return you to NAVSTAR. In general, using the System option is a very inefficient way to do business; primarily, it is given as a means to access DOS's internal commands, such as DIR (but why?) in case they are needed. Execution Command Line Expansion -------------------------------- Invoking the system shell is one method of running programs; however it is not always the most efficient. Indeed, it is seldom the most efficient. It takes less memory to simply use DOS's built-in "spawn" command. The only thing that "spawn" cannot do that invoking a shell can is any internal DOS command, such as DIR & CHDIR. Since most of these other functions can be accomplished better and faster by Navstar itself, Navstar provides a multitude of niceties for spawning programs. These will be discussed at length throughout the rest of this section. When Navstar is given a command line for execution, it performs a significant amount of parsing. The major effect of parsing is the replacement of the following keys in the following manner: 1) (*) anytime an asterisk appears between parentheses, Navstar will replace (*) with the full marked filename, including the pathname. 2) (!) anytime an exclamation point appears between parentheses, Navstar will replace (!) with the marked filename, *not* including the pathname. 3) (..) anytime this appears, it adds all the marked file names (but not pathnames) to the command line. This is especially useful for editors which allow editing multiple files. 3) (?) anytime a question mark appears between parentheses, Navstar will query you for a string, then replace (?) with the string. Navstar 1.0 16 For instance, the following command line: edit (*) Would be expanded to: edit c:\temp1\temp2\file1 assuming file1 was marked, and the current directory is c:\temp1\temp2. Further, there is a set of execution modifiers. If the last parameter of a command line is a string enclosed in parentheses not equal to any of the expansion modifiers, it must be composed of the following: nop chto chback chcurr ovl sys The nop option instructs Navstar not to pause for a keystroke when the command line is finished executing. Normally, Navstar will pause. The chto option instructs Navstar to change directories to the directory of the program being executed. The program being executed must have its pathname fully specified. The chback option simply instructs Navstar to return to the currently logged directory after executing the command. It is generally used along with a chto command. The chcurr option changes the current directory to match the logged directory after the command line has been executed. The ovl option instructs Navstar to replace itself with the program in question; this option obviously does not allow you to return directly to Navstar when the program terminates. The sys option forces Navstar to invoke COMMAND.COM to execute the command line. This allows for DOS internal commands and redirection. For instance: c:\wp\word (*) (chto,chback,nop) tells Navstar to execute c:\wp\word with a marked filename as a parameter, and to change to c:\wp before execution begins, change back after execution, and not to pause after execution. Some caveats are in order. Navstar parses by spaces, so spacing is critical. For instance, wp/setup will return an error. It should be wp /setup in order to allow Navstar to proceed correctly. Also, do not forget that the file to be executed must have its pathname completely specified for the "chto" option to work correctly. Finally, use the (!) instead of the (*) option whenever possible, since it will take up substantially less space. DOS has an imposed limit of 128 characters for a command line, and Navstar observes this. Navstar 1.0 17 The 'X' Key: Execute with Parameters ------------------------------------ When this key is pressed, Navstar simply prompts for a command line and then executes it according to the guidelines specified above. The '*' Key: "Hot" Execute -------------------------- When the '*' key is pressed and there are some number of marked files, each file which is marked will be executed, with no parameters. This is useful for running multiple little utilities. If no files are marked, this command is identical to the 'X' command. RETURN: The Action Key ---------------------- When return is pressed, several things can happen. If the cursor entry is a subdirectory, Navstar will add that subdirectory to the current path and update the display accordingly. If the entry is '..', Navstar will move up one level on the directory tree and the current path and the display will be updated accordingly. If the entry is a file, and the extension is .COM, .EXE, .BAT, or one of up to fifteen other recognized extensions, it will immediately be executed. The recognized extensions are a facet of Navstar which are modified using the Navinst installation program. Conceptually, they are very simple. You are allowed to set up to fifteen extensions; associated with each is a command line. If a file of a matching extension is in question, its associated command line is executed as if the current file had been marked. There is a special extension, '.***', which has some special connotations attached to it. If, during installation, a command line is installed for this extension, it becomes the "default" command line. What this means is, if you hit <RETURN> on a file, and that file's extension is not .COM, .BAT, or .EXE, and its extension does not match any extension occurring before the '.***' definition, the command line matched with '.***' will be used. In this way, it becomes a catch-all extension. This extension, when defined, also matches all files without any extension at all. The 'V' Key: Viewing Files -------------------------- Pressing the View key invokes the command line you have defined as the View command line. See the next section "Definable Keys" for a complete description. Navstar 1.0 18 The 'E' Key: Editing files -------------------------- Pressing the Edit key invokes the command line you have defined as your editor. See the next section "Definable Keys" for a complete description. Navstar 1.0 19 Definable Keys -------------- Navstar supports twenty-two user-definable keys. These are F1 through F10, Alt-F1 through Alt-F10, 'E', and 'V'. These, as with the extensions, are defined using the Navinst installation program. Again, as with the extensions, they are conceptually simple. Simply put, each key can be assigned a command line, as was discussed previously. Then, when a key is pressed, the effect is as if you had pressed 'X' and then typed in the key definition. Any command line which can be executed using the 'X' command can be saved as a defined key. Exiting Navstar --------------- To exit Navstar, simply hit the Escape key. Navstar 1.0 20 Examples This section is intended as a help for those who wish some examples in creating and using Navstar's command line execution features, including recognizable file extensions and definable keys. The examples are drawn from Navstar as it would be configured using the supplied file "data.nav". Recognizable Extensions ----------------------- Example 1: Notice the extension/command-line pair: ".mak" & "make -f(*)" This is an example of an extension which I used in developing Navstar. What this means is that when the Action key (Return) is pressed on an entry with the file extension ".mak", Navstar will mark that entry, and execute the command line "make -f(*)". This will be interpreted like this. "make" will be tested to see if a "make.com", "make.exe", or "make.bat" can be found on the default search path. If so, it will become the first parameter in the call to DOS's EXEC() call. the second parameter, "-f(*)" will be expanded; the (*) will be replaced by the full filename of the entry. The command "make -f<filename>" tells the make program I use to process the make according to the dependency info in <filename>. So you can see how this is useful. Example 2: Notice: ".wp", "invokewp.bat (*) (nop,chback)" This is an example of a file extension which comes in handy everyday. The ".wp" corresponds to the extension used by my word-processor, so when I press the Action Key on a file with this extension, it executes the command line "invokewp.bat" with a single parameter, that of the current filename. The "nop" option tells Navstar not to pause after execution has been completed. The "chback" option tells Navstar to return the logged directory to the currently logged one when execution has ben completed. I use a batch file to invoke my word-processor because I want it to do a couple other little things before executing the word-processor itself. Navstar 1.0 21 Definable Keys -------------- Example 1: Look at the definable key F9, "grep (?)". This is another one I use almost constantly. By pressing F9, Navstar will make "grep" the first argument, and then, upon encountering the "(?)" argument, it will query you for an argument line. That line will then be parsed as is and executed. For example, I might hit: F9 "gstring *.c" in order to search for each occurrence of a call of my get string routine in each C file in the currently logged directory. Example 2: This example is one no owner of Navstar will want to exclude. See the entry: c:\utils\navinst (chdir,ovl) This is a highly useful entry as follows. When invoked, it will execute Navstar's installation program, Navinst. Prior to execution, it will change to the c:\utils directory (that is where I keep my Navstar & Navinst executables), thanks to the "chdir" option. Finally, the "overlay" option tells Navstar to replace itself in memory with Navinst. That way, when you have finished modifying Navstar, it will leave you at the DOS prompt, where by typing Navstar you will be in the new, modified version of Navstar. Navstar 1.0 22 The Navinst Installation Program General Comments ---------------- Navinst, Navstar's Installation program, allows you to alter several of the basic operating characteristics of Navstar. It, like Navstar itself, has a fairly mundane interface. Single keystrokes select options; the Escape key removes you from trouble and ends operations. Some of the options, like recognizable extensions and definable keys, are merely useful to use; you do not have to take advantage of these if you do not wish it. Others, like color settings, are a near necessity depending on the display you are using. Invoking Navinst ---------------- Invoking Navinst is simple. Simply type Navinst at the DOS prompt and hit return (alternatively, move Navstar's cursor over Navinst and hit return :-)!!!!). When you do this, Navinst will look for a file named "navstar.exe" in the currently logged directory. It aborts if it doesn't find one. Alternatively, there are three command line options which can be used. The -E<filename> switch tells Navinst to use <filename> instead on "navstar.exe" as the executable to be configured. The -D<filename> switch tells Navinst to use <filename> instead of "data.nav" as the default data file name. Finally, the -B option runs Navinst in batch mode. In batch mode, it simply uses the default data file (or specified one) to make the needed changes to the default executable file (or the specified). This is useful if you have multiple configurations which you use at different times. Main Menu --------- The Main Menu provides you with 11 options. They are: 'K' --> Modify Key Definitions 'C' --> Modify Colors Control-O --> Modify Sort Order 'O' --> Modify Sort Method 'E' --> Modify Recognized Extensions 'A' --> Modify Global File Attribute 'V' --> Modify Setting of Video Mode 'M' --> Modify Max Number of Files Allowed 'D' --> Modify Max Number of Directories Allowed 'R' --> Read in a Configuration File '?' --> Help Screen Escape --> Exit Navinst Navstar 1.0 23 The 'K' Key: Modify Key Definitions ----------------------------------- This key will display the twenty function key definitions, and the current definition of the View and Edit keys. Pressing any of the keys shown will result in Navinst asking you for a new definition. Pressing escape while entering a definition will clear the definition. After you have entered the definition, Navinst will update the screen accordingly. Navinst will then wait for another key to be pressed. If Escape is pressed, Navinst will return to the Main Menu. The 'C' Key: Modify Colors -------------------------- This key will bring a screen with the four types of screen attributes used by Navstar. The four attributes are: Normal: used for filename display and other mundane things. Highlighted: used for text and messages which need to be emphasized. Cursor: used for the cursor. Marked: used to show an entry has been marked. Pressing any of (NCHM) will allow you to edit the corresponding color; for instance, N allows you edit the Normal attribute. You edit said attribute by using the Up and Down arrow keys. There are 128 possibilities for you to choose from for each attribute. Escape ends the editing, as might be expected. Escape again returns you to the Main Menu. Control-O: Modify Sort Order ---------------------------- This will allow you to toggle between Ascending and Descending order as the default sort order. Simple, yes? Escape returns to the Main Menu. The 'O' Key: Modify Sort Method ------------------------------- This key will allow you to cycle through the four sorting methods. Escape again returns you to the Main Menu. Navstar 1.0 24 The 'E' Key: Modify Recognized Extensions ----------------------------------------- Here you are allowed to change the extensions which Navstar will recognize and their corresponding command lines. You press a key between A and O to choose which one, then fill in the extension and the command line. DO NOT forget the period at the start of the extension!!!!!! Escape returns you to the Main Menu. The 'A': Modify Global File Attribute ------------------------------------- At this screen you can change the default file attribute Navstar will use when reading and displaying a directory. Press (HRS) to toggle Hidden, Read-Only, and System. Escape or Return end and save the attribute. 'A' sets all three attributes true, while 'C' clears all attributes. Escape again returns you to the Main Menu The 'V' Key: Modify Video Mode ------------------------------ There are two types of video writing used in Navstar. Fast uses direct screen RAM updates. This is the preferred method; the only case in which it should not be used is in systems using older CGA cards. Such cards require you use the Slow setting to prevent 'snow' appearing on the screen. The 'M' Key: Modify Max Number of Files Allowed ----------------------------------------------- When this key is pressed, Navinst will display the current Maximum number of files which are allowed in a directory. Normally this number is 1024. The Up and Down arrows allow you to increase/decrease this value. If you find you have some exceedingly LARGE directories, you can increase this value to about 25000 in increments of 64; you can decrease it similarly. If Navstar is unable to allocate space for the requested number of files, it will beep upon reading a directory. It will then halve the number of entries requested repeatedly until it has room. This is a crude method indeed; you should adjust the value using Navinst. The Escape key will return you to the Main Menu. Navstar 1.0 25 The 'D' Key: Modify Max Number of Directories Allowed ----------------------------------------------------- This key will allow you to specify the maximum number of directories which will be maintained in Navstar's Jump table. If it is set too high, you will be wasting space. Too low, and not all of your directories will be entered into the table. Use CCD or a similar program, estimate your needs. The 'R' Key: Read in a Configuration File ----------------------------------------- Pressing this key will result in Navinst prompting you for a filename to read in. This must be in the proper file format or you will get unpredictable results. How do you get a file in the proper format? Read on, this is covered in the section on Exiting Navinst. The '?' Key: Help Screen ------------------------ Obvious, right? Ok, if you are still confused, try it. It won't bite, I promise. Escape: Exiting Navinst ----------------------- Exiting Navinst is bit tricky. Upon pressing Escape at the Main Menu, Navinst will ask you if you wish to write out a new .EXE file, with the changes. If you answer 'Y', the file will be written, if you press Escape, it will not. Following that question, Navinst will ask if you wish to save a configuration file. If you respond with a 'Y', Navinst will prompt for the name of the file. If you press Escape, it will not. Navinst will now exit. Navstar 1.0 26 The CCD Change Directory Program When I was developing the code for the Jump Directory function in Navstar, I did not do so within Navstar itself. Instead, I wrote and tested it separately as a command line change directory program. This program evolved into CCD, modestly called "Chris's Change Directory". CCD uses the same interface as Jump does in Navstar; refer to the section on the Jump function for a description as to how to use it. However, CCD provides some additional functionality. First, CCD is the means used to update the directory list file CCD.DAT. This file, which resides in the root directory of a volume, contains a list of all directories for that volume. To create the file, either run CCD when the file is nonexistent, or run CCD with the -r option. This option forces CCD to update the file for the current volume. CCD -r is the command line used by the Control-J command in Navstar to update the Jump table. CCD has one other option, -c. This option gives back useful count information, such as the number of files for a volume, number of directories for a volume, max number of files in a single directories, etc. It can also be combined with the -r into CCD -rc, which will redo the CCD.DAT file and give the tabular information. Navstar 1.0 27 The Navshell Program Navshell is another useful little program which performs the nice feat of allowing Navstar to run in an even smaller amount of RAM. Specifically, it consumes a mere 7k when configured properly. Configuration involves setting the NAVSTAR environment variable as shown in the Installation section. The only detriment to using Navshell instead of Navstar directly is a slight loss in speed, since Navshell must reload a copy of Navstar each time a program is run. On faster systems, with nice hard disks, this is barely noticeable. Try it, particularly with Navstar on a Ramdisk. You will like it!!! This is also the way to use Navstar if you have extended or expanded memory. Use the extra memory as a Ramdisk, and put Navstar on it. This will enable Navstar to load quickly, yet still only use 7k of RAM. Navstar 1.0 28 The Disklist Program Another program included with Navstar is Disklist. Disklist is a way for you to list all the files and/or directories for a particular volume. For instance, you can ask for the list to be sorted in ascending order by date per directory, or perhaps in descending order by size for files only. Disklist outputs to standard output, so its output can be redirected to a file easily. Disklist command format can be found by executing 'Disklist ?' at the command line. Primarily, there are three main types of options. First, to control the sort type and order: -n: sort by name (default) -e: sort by extension -s: sort by size -t: sort by date -d: switch to descending Second, to control output format: (default) show files per directory -d: show directory entries only -f: show all files as one list Third, to change the root: -pXXX: where XXX is the pathname to use as root (default) root of volume. This is an extremely useful command for disk maintenance. I use it for periodic housecleaning of machines which are used by multiple people. After generating the list, I can go over the list with both parties, then use Navstar to delete the offending files. Navstar 1.0 29 License Agreement This section tells you is how to become a registered user once you decide that you like the program and want to use it on a regular basis. Navstar is distributed under the shareware marketing concept; it is not free software and it has not been released to the public domain. The documentation, executable images, and all other files distributed with Navstar are copyrighted. Shareware is a way of distributing computer software that allows you to try out a program before you purchase it. Programs distributed as shareware typically give you some period of time to use the program and evaluate its usefulness to you. If the program doesn't meet your needs, you're under no obligation to pay for it. If you do find the program useful and wish to continue using it on a regular basis, the shareware program's author usually requests that you pay for the program by sending him or her a completed registration form and payment. This is the approach I have taken in making Navstar available to the public. If you find Navstar to be a useful addition to your software library, you're requested to become a registered user by completing the enclosed registration form and returning it along with the indicated license/registration fee. I hope that you will agree that the $30.00 license fee is a small price to pay for the continued use of the program. It requires a large investment to develop, market, and support a product of this complexity. Your support in the form of a license/registration fee will continue to make good software available at low prices. Quantity discounts are available to business, government, and other organizations that wish to use Navstar on multiple computer systems. Navstar is also available at very special rates to organizations who wish to use it in promotional campaigns. Write the author for information on using the program this way. You are granted a limited license to use and examine Navstar on a trial basis to determine if Navstar is suitable for your needs. If you find Navstar useful and continue to use it on a regular basis, you should complete and return the registration form along with the indicated license/registration fee. Navstar 1.0 30 You are encouraged to make copies of Navstar for the trial use of other individuals and organizations, subject to the following restrictions: 1) All Navstar distribution files must be copied in unmodified form, including the documentation, help, and executable image files. 2) You may not include any other files with the distributed copy. 3) You may not request compensation of any sort for providing the copy. This restriction does not apply to computer clubs and user groups who distribute software to their members for a nominal fee. You may not distribute Navstar with any other product or service without written permission of the copyright holder. Navstar may be included on electronic bulletin board systems for downloading by users of the bulletin board provided the above restrictions are met. Navstar and all accompanying materials are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk of using Navstar is assumed by you. The author, Christopher R. S. Schanck, makes no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to any warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the author, Christopher R. S. Schanck, be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of your use or inability to use the program. If you use Navstar on a regular basis, you should complete the registration form at the end of this document and return it along with the indicated license/registration fee. Registration gives you the right to use the software as documented in the license. The registration fee of $30.00 establishes you as a registered user of Navstar. You will not receive any software directly from the author, but you will, from time to time, receive notification when updated versions of Navstar are released. When you submit your registration fee, however, you can request that the author mail you a copy of the current version of Navstar and accompanying documentation on disk (3.5" or 5.25") for free. This offer is made for mailing addresses in the continental United States only. Navstar 1.0 31 The Navstar registration form appears at the back of this document. For your convenience, the same form is also contained in the file REGISTER.NAV, which can easily be printed. The source for Navstar is available on a case-by-case basis; contact the author if you are interested. Navstar 1.0 32 Registration Form - Navstar 1.1 Remit to: Christopher R.S. Schanck 364 W. Lane Ave. Columbus, OH 43201 Work Phone: 814-421-7051 Navstar 1.1 April 1989 Navstar Registration .............. @ $ 30.00 each $ _____ Disk size, circle one: ( 3.5" / 5.25" ) Navstar printed Documentation ..... @ $ 15.00 each $ _____ Subtotal $ _____ Overseas shipping ................. @ $ 10.00/item $ _____ Total (U.S.Funds) $ _____ Name: _____________________________________________________ Company: __________________________________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Day Phone: _________________________ Eve: _______________________________ Prices subject to change without notice. Navstar 1.0 33 Registration Form - Continued I acquired Navstar 1.1 from [ ] - Friend [ ] - Computer Club [ ] - Electronic BBS [ ] - Other - Please Specify ________________________________ I would also appreciate any input you would care to give concerning Navstar. If you have any ideas or comments that would make Navstar a better program, then please let me know. Navstar 1.0 34 The Author I am currently a graduate student in Computer Science, pursuing a PhD. As such, I expect to be in school forever. I was born in a steel town in Eastern Pennsylvania, and attended The Pennsylvania State University as an undergraduate, graduating in May of 1988. I hold a first- degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, and I am an avid reader of science-fiction. I am always interested in hearing feedback on Navstar; to contact me use the same address given above in the licensing/registration section. Navstar 1.0 35 Acknowledgements There are many I should acknowledge for the inspiration for writing this program: family, friends, colleagues. In addition, I want to thank Borland for their excellent TurboC compiler, which I used to write Navstar; IBM for making my beloved baby, lo those many years ago; and all the other folks who wrote software I used to create Navstar. And finally, thanks to all my computer science professors, who instilled the knowledge to write such a utility in me, often against my will. Navstar 1.0 36