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HELP.FB
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1990-04-13
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FILEBROWSER OPTIONS
FileBrowser may be loaded with the command line:
FB [-options] [speed] [editor] [d:][\path\]FILENAME[.ext]
The "options" currently available are 'q','m','b','s','e','w' and 't':
q : (Quiet Load) - Omit display of title screen before loading file.
m : Monochrome mode: use with MDA or Hercules card ONLY.
b : 'Black-and-White' mode for VGA/EGA/CGA cards.
s : specify CPU speed using the variable 'speed' (= integer in the
range 1-50). If 's' is not specified, speed defaults to 5.
e : specify editor calling name using the variable 'editor'
w : load a Wordstar (tm) document file: if omitted, the file is assumed
to be an ASCII file. (The extended ASCII character set is supported).
t : Do not expand tabs. The 'Tab' character will appear as a distinctive
graphic (ASCII 09). If omitted, tabs are expanded to spaces.
GETTING HELP ON FileBrowser COMMANDS
FileBrowser commands are entered from the Menu Bar (activated by pressing
the "Ins" key). To execute a command from the Menu Bar, move the Highlight
to the desired command and press "Return", or just type the first letter
of the command. To get help on the Highlighted command, press the "F1" key.
01
PRINT
The PRINT command is used to copy part of the current file to a new
file, to the lineprinter (device PRN), or to the FileBrowser NOTEPAD. If
the "Print to File" option is selected, you will be prompted for the new
filename (which can include optional drive and path, e.g. d:\path\file.ext).
If the file specified already exists, you have the option of overwriting it
or appending text to it.
After specifying a destination, you will observe that the top line
of text in the main window is highlighted in reverse video, and a blinking
cursor appears on the next line. You may move the cursor down to subsequent
lines - as this is done, the line above the cursor is marked. To 'unmark' a
line, use the Up Arrow key. When you have marked the desired number of
of lines, press the "Return" (or "Enter") key, and the marked lines will be
copied (in ASCII format). Press the "Esc" key to abort the operation and
return to 'Browse' mode.
The "PRINT" commands may be given while in 'Browse' mode by pressing
the "F" key (copy to File), "P" key (copy to Printer) or "Alt-P" keys (copy
to Notepad).
02
BROWSE
The BROWSE command is used to view the current file - it just causes
FileBrowser to enter 'Browse' mode, (which is the default mode). There are
several options:
- To scroll through the file, use the Up and Down arrow keys to move up
or down a line; use the 'PgUp' and 'PgDn' keys to move up or down by
one page. The 'Home' and 'End' keys move to the beginning or end of
the file, respectively.
- To move forward or back by <n> lines (where <n> is an integer):
first press the "+" key, then enter the value of <n> (you will get a
prompt to do this on the bottom line of the screen), then press the Down
arrow, or Up arrow as desired.
- To automatically scroll forward or backward, press the "*" key (aster-
isk) followed by the Down arrow or Up arrow key. To select the speed,
type an integer from 0 to 9. [9 = fast, 0 = slow, 5 = medium].
Press any key to stop scrolling.
- To move forward or backward to the next or preceding MARKed lines, use
the Right or Left arrow keys, respectively.
If the screen gets mangled for any reason, press Ctrl-L (^L) to redraw it.
03
SEARCH
FileBrowser incorporates a simple pattern matching function, which
may be used to locate a string of text in a file. A 'pattern' can contain
words, (a 'word' is defined as a string of alphanumeric characters), and
the wildcard symbol "*". The symbol "*" matches any number of words,
(including no words!). Thus, the pattern "the * fox" will match all of the
strings: "the fox", "the brown fox", "the quick brown fox". The symbol "*"
is only legal inside a pattern string.
When 'SEARCH' is invoked, you will be prompted to input a pattern.
FileBrowser will automatically process your input into a legal pattern (you
will have a chance to correct errors). The search then proceeds forward
from the Top Line displayed in the main window, and is on a line-by-line
basis (patterns extending over two lines are not found). At each successful
'hit', the line which matches the pattern will be highlighted, and you will
be asked if you wish to continue. If you have selected the "SEARCH AND
MARK" option, the matching lines will be permanently marked (see MARK)
Note: The SEARCH command may also be given in BROWSE mode by simply
pressing the "S" key, or the "Ctrl-S" (^S) keychord for SEARCH and MARK.
04
MARK
There are two commands possible in this mode: MARK and UNMARK. The
(M)ARK command allows you to put a permanent 'mark' on a line, and highlight
any portion of it. The (U)NMARK command is used to clear all 'marks' from
the text in the buffer.
When the MARK command is given, a cursor appears in the upper left-
hand corner of the main window; use the arrow keys to move the cursor to
the start of the text you wish to highlight (you can only move to text which
is visible - scrolling is disabled), and press the "Return" key. Then use
the Right arrow key to add letters to the highlighted area (the Left arrow
key may be used to back up) and press "Return" when you are finished. If a
line is already marked, you can unmark it by placing the cursor at the be-
ginning of the line and pressing "Return" or "Esc". At any time in the MARK
operation you may abort and return to BROWSE mode by pressing the "Esc" key.
The SEARCH and MARK mode allows you to semi-automatically mark all instances
of a SEARCH pattern within a file. It is entered from the SEARCH menu.
The MARK and UNMARK commands may be given in BROWSE mode by pressing
the M and U keys, respectively; SEARCH AND MARK command is given by pressing
the "Ctrl-S" (^S) keychord.
05
DOS
The 'DOS' command suspends FileBrowser and returns to the DOS operating
system: a second copy of the DOS command shell is loaded. To alert you
that you have loaded another shell, the cursor will change to a small
flashing box instead of the normal flashing underscore.
You may now carry out disk maintenance operations, run another program,
etc. The FileBrowser environment remains resident in memory; to return to
FileBrowser, type the command 'EXIT' at the DOS prompt.
The "DOS" command may be given while in 'Browse' mode by simply
pressing the 'D' key.
06
EDIT
The "EDIT" command allows you to edit the current file using the
text editor of your choice. You may specify the editor in the command
line when starting FileBrowser, or by setting the DOS environment
variable "EDITOR". If the variable "EDITOR" is not set, FileBrowser will
attempt to load the "vi" text editor. Whatever text editor you choose,
it must be one that can accept the file name in the command line, e.g.
"vi filename". Be sure that the editor you will use is in a directory
specified by your DOS path (environment variable "PATH"). When the "EDIT"
command is given, FileBrowser writes a short Batch file in the same direc-
tory as the file being browsed, loads the batch file and exits; the batch
file then loads the editor, and after exiting from the editor, re-loads
FileBrowser with the edited version of the file.
The external editor may be entered while in 'Browse' mode by pressing
the "E" key.
In NOTE mode only, you may use a built-in editor to edit the Notepad:
this is called from the EDIT menu or by pressing the "Alt-E" key. While
using the built-in editor, the "F1" key pops up a list of valid commands.
07
NOTEPAD
The FileBrowser Notepad is a buffer in which you may make notes on the
file loaded into the Main Buffer. When the Main Buffer is displayed, the
NOTE command switches to the Notepad display. If the Notepad is currently
displayed, the NOTE command causes a pull-down menu to appear, with the
options of (a), loading a disk file into the Notepad or (b) editing the
current Notepad. In contrast to the Main Buffer, the contents of the Note-
pad Buffer may be altered, so you may use it to make notes on the file being
browsed. Almost all of the FileBrowser commands have the same effect when
you are viewing the Notepad Buffer as when viewing the Main Buffer. To exit
from the Notepad Buffer, use the "Esc" or "QUIT" commands: several self-
explanatory options will be presented in a pull-down menu.
When you exit from FileBrowser, either temporarily (by calling an ex-
ternal editor) or permanently, the contents of the Notepad will be appended
to a Disk file named "{clip}.out" in the current (default) DOS directory. You
may flush the Notepad buffer into this file using the "Save and Clear" option
to quit Notepad. If you do not wish to save the buffer, use "Clear and Exit".
The Notepad Editor is started from the EDIT menu or by using the "Alt-E"
keychord. The Editor allows you to type text into the Notepad, or to add,
delete or copy existing lines. Consult the manual for complete details.
08
QUIT
This command is used to exit permanently from FileBrowser.
To exit temporarily, use the 'DOS' command. You may also exit from
FileBrowser when in 'Browse' mode by pressing the "Esc" key.
When the QUIT command is given by either method, you will get a new menu
with three options: "Q - Quit without Saving", "S - Save Buffer and Quit",
and "Esc - Return to FileBrowser". The "S" option is especially useful if
you have added highlights to the text - these will be preserved in the saved
file. The text will be saved in a file called "fb.out" in the current
(default) directory.
An alternative method for quitting FileBrowser is to use a 'Ctrl-Break'
interrupt. This causes an immediate exit to DOS. This method can also
be used whenever FileBrowser is expecting keyboard input, e.g. when
entering a file name in 'File' mode, or entering a pattern in 'Search'
mode.
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INFO
Provides supplementary information about your FileBrowser license.
To get the FileBrowser Title Screen, load a file without specifying
the '-q' option.
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