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MANUAL
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1988-09-01
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Table of Contents
Read this first . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
String Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
DIRMAGIC Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Command Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Enter Key
F1 Copy F2 Delete
F3 Rename F4 Move
F5 Clear marks F6 Mark free
F7 Sort Name F8 Sort Ext.
F9 Sort Size F10 Sort daTe
Alternate Command Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Alt-F1 Copy/V Alt-F2 Confirm
Alt-F3 Protect Alt-F4 Sort
Alt-F5 HighBit Alt-F6 Attributes
Alt-F7 File search Alt-F8 New path
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
DINSTALL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
DM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PRMANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
==== IMPORTANT: READ THIS FIRST ====
Okay, nobody likes manuals. But this one's short, and you should
at least skim it to learn how powerful DIRMAGIC really is.
If you think you can figure it all out from the onscreen menu, at
least note a few critical points:
The most important is that DIRMAGIC is really a pair of
files -- the muscular DIRMAGIC.COM file handler itself
plus a subdirectory manager called DM.COM. You can run
DIRMAGIC as a standalone program (by typing DIRMAGIC),
but it's much more capable when you start the whole
process off by running DM first. Then, when DM is
active, you can summon DIRMAGIC just by pressing F10.
Here are the other key points:
First, DIRMAGIC is designed to let you use the function keys (as
well as the Enter key and Esc key) to give you total control over
DOS. But it does so many things that that we couldn't cram them
all onto the ten basic function keys. To use the ones listed in
the lower part of the menu you have to hold down the Alt key and
then press the specific function key.
1
Second, install the program properly by running DINSTALL. This
lets you pick the screen colors (on a color system) and change a
few important settings. It will take just a few seconds, but
it's worth it.
Note that DINSTALL will modify the program file only if it's
named DIRMAGIC.COM. And the DM F10 key will load DIRMAGIC.COM
only if you haven't changed its filename. Don't try renaming
DIRMAGIC.COM to something like D.COM to make it easier to
execute. The easiest way to run it is by loading DM first and
then pressing F10.
But if you really do want to give it a shorter name, make a copy
of it called something like D.COM each time you install or
reinstall it. The program itself is so small that an additional
copy of it won't take up very much room.
Third, you can run the program one of two ways. You could enter
just:
DIRMAGIC
by itself just to run the file-handling part of the program. But
there's a much better way.
Make sure you have both the DM.COM and DIRMAGIC.COM programs on
your disk, and type:
DM /G
(The /G stands for Go.) This will load the directory-manager
part of the program into memory, and will let you jump around
from one subdirectory to another, see how many files are in each
directory and how much space they take up, create or delete or
rename subdirectories, and do tricks with the file attributes in
them.
When DM is loaded, you can run DIRMAGIC by making sure the
highlighted DM bar is on the subdirectory you want to examine,
and then pressing the F10 key. If this doesn't summon DIRMAGIC,
make sure you have a DIRMAGIC.COM on your disk and that it's in a
place where DM.COM can find it.
You can run DM each time you need it (which takes a few seconds
since DM has to read in the directory structure from your disk),
or you can install it in memory so that typing DM at the DOS
prompt will pop up an instant map of your subdirectory structure
(which is far faster). To run the program WITHOUT installing it
in memory, type just:
DM
To install it in memory and have it remain active, type:
2
DM /G
If you want to install it each time you boot up your system, so
that it remains lurking in memory just waiting to spring into
action whenever you enter DM at the DOS prompt, include the
following line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
DM /I
(The /I stands for Install.) If you keep DIRMAGIC.COM and DM.COM
in your \UTILITY subdirectory, you'd modify the line to:
\UTILITY\DM /I
==== String Searches ====
One feature of DIRMAGIC isn't mentioned in the onscreen menu. To
view the contents of any file, use DIRMAGIC's moving bar to
highlight the filename, then press the Enter key. Once you're
viewing a file, you can scan through it for up to 30 characters
of text, by typing F (or Ctrl-QF). But you have to be viewing a
file to search for text inside it.
When you are viewing a file and you type F -- or the equivalent
Ctrl-QF, which should be familiar to WordStar and SideKick users;
or the equivalent F7 -- the top of the screen will clear and
DIRMAGIC will display the last search string, if any.
(Of course, the first time you enter this command, the top of the
screen will be blank.)
You can either reuse the last search string by pressing Enter, or
type in a new string. Any existing string will vanish instantly
if you enter a new character. You can edit the current string by
backspacing or pressing the End key then appending to the string.
Once you've entered a string, DIRMAGIC will ask you for the
search options G, W, or U:
G -- (global) lets you search the entire document
regardless of the current viewing page.
W -- (whole words only) skips matches embedded in words.
For instance, this finds "port" but not "important."
U -- (upper/lower case) finds all matches regardless of
case. For instance, this finds "PC" and "pc."
You can skip the options by pressing the Enter key, and the
search will begin.
If it finds a match, it positions the line with the match at the
top of the screen and places the cursor placed under the first
character. You may repeat the search operation by pressing Ctrl-
3
L, or F8, or just plain L. You can quickly search through
multiple files for the same search string by pulling up each
individual file for viewing and typing L.
==== DIRMAGIC Overview ====
Just enter DIRMAGIC, and faster than you can say PC COMPUTING
you'll see a sorted directory listing in the same format as the
DOS DIR command on the left side of the screen. In the 40
columns to the right of the listing will be a menu chock full of
powerful file functions.
You can flip through the directory by using the keypad cursor up
and cursor down keys to move the highlighted bar. Park the bar
on a file of interest and tap the appropriate function key and
DIRMAGIC will either display the file for viewing, copy it, move
it, delete it, rename it or change the file's attributes. You
can even sort the directory in four different ways.
DIRMAGIC also offers a filename-initial search feature that will
quickly navigate you to a specific file. For example, pressing P
will take you to the first file that starts with the letter P.
Another press of P and you will arrive instantaneously at the
next P file. A beep indicates that no more files start with the
letter you entered.
To call up a directory for viewing simply tell DIRMAGIC the path
and, if any, the sort priority.
DIRMAGIC [d:][directory][/N][/E][/S][/D][/T][/O][/R][/F]
N = Sort by name E = Sort by extension
S = Sort by size D = Sort by date
T = Sort by date O = Original order (no sort)
R = Reverse all sorts F = Files only (no directories)
This may look intimidating but that's just because DIRMAGIC
offers lots of options. To use DIRMAGIC in the current
directory, just type:
DIRMAGIC
and the listing for the default directory will appear. Add a
drive and/or directory if you want to examine a directory other
than the default.
The switch characters like /N and /E tell DIRMAGIC the way you
want it to sort your directory. DIRMAGIC defaults to sorting by
filename, which alphabetizes the listing. (You can change the
defaults; see DINSTALL below.)
Don't worry if you can't remember the switches. All the sorting
functions except O and F appear in DIRMAGIC's menu.
4
Unlike the DOS DIR command that scrolls off your screen forever,
DIRMAGIC gives you complete control over the directory listing
display:
Up-arrow and down-arrow keys scroll the highlight bar one
line at a time.
PgUp and PgDn keys flip to the next screenful of the 21
filenames that DIRMAGIC displays at any one time. (DIRMAGIC
also supports EGA 43-line mode, listing 39 files at a time.)
Home and End keys take you to the beginning and end of the
directory.
Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn take you to the top and bottom of
the current screenful of filenames.
Tab key scoots you down the listing of filenames seven hops
at a press.
Shift-Tab will move you up the listing seven files at a
time.
WordStar users will feel at home with the Ctrl-letter function
keys. They give you the option of pressing:
Ctrl-V -- to View a file
Ctrl-C -- to Copy a file
Ctrl-D -- to Delete a file
Ctrl-M -- to Move a file
Ctrl-R -- to Rename a file
Ctrl-W -- to toggle the WordStar high bit on and off
Ctrl-N -- to sort by Name
Ctrl-E -- to sort by Extension
Ctrl-S -- to sort by Size
Ctrl-T -- to sort by daTe
To use these, hold down the Ctrl key and press the letter for the
appropriate function.
The Copy, Delete, Rename, and Move functions work directly while
you're viewing a file. For example, if while you view a file and
decide on the spot that you want to delete it, you don't have to
return to the main menu. Instead, just press F2 (or Ctrl-D) and
you will be automatically returned to the menu's confirm deletion
prompt. This assumes the Confirm toggle is ON. If this toggle
5
is set to OFF, DIRMAGIC will not pause before deletion.
At any time if you wish to abort a process, just press the Esc
key. Pressing Esc while in the listing window will exit DIRMAGIC
and return you to the DOS prompt.
If you press any key while copying files, DIRMAGIC will screech
to a halt and abort the copying process. If there is not enough
disk space for a marked file, DIRMAGIC skips it and checks to see
if the next one will fit. This will continue until all marked
files are checked for their size, optimizing the use of target
disk space. When DIRMAGIC copies a file successfully it turns
the arrow at the left edge of the screen next to the filename
into an asterisk.
DIRMAGIC observes all the DOS file handling rules. You can't
mark, copy, move, or delete hidden files (or directories) and you
can't delete read-only files. You can't copy a file over itself
or over a read-only file. And you can't move a file to a
directory that contains a file of the same name. You probably
won't want to use DIRMAGIC to copy files between the two logical
drives A: and B: if you have only one physical floppy drive,
since the constant swapping of source and target diskettes will
drive you up the wall. In this case either use the DOS XCOPY
program, or copy all of the target floppy files to a temporary
directory on drive C: and then use DIRMAGIC to copy them back
selectively to the target diskette in drive A:.
DIRMAGIC uses all 80 columns of your screen to display files. It
keeps displaying one line until it either encounters a carriage
return or gets to the last column of the screen. DIRMAGIC won't
try to outguess you by implementing a different kind of word wrap
or taking a stab at the default margins of your word processor.
Standard ASCII text files with margins of 80 columns or less will
look just as you'd expect, but text files from word processors
that either omit carriage returns, or format the text within
specified margins, will not display in the same format in which
they were created.
Also, if your word processor prefaces your document files with
control codes for something like page formatting, these will
appear as gibberish before the text. The variety of algorithms
used by word processors to format text makes it impossible for
DIRMAGIC to display all documents in their original form. This,
however, should present no major distraction. The text will
still be quite readable. If you choose to view an executable
file, however, unless it contains some embedded text strings such
as a copyright notice or error messages, it all will be
gibberish. You might find it interesting to look for all the
command strings in COMMAND.COM.
==== Command Set ====
Enter Key
6
One of the most useful DIRMAGIC functions is its ability to let
you view any file. Just highlight a filename and press the Enter
key and DIRMAGIC will instantly let you scan through the file.
Once you're viewing the file, use the arrow keys to browse
through it. The up and down arrow keys scroll the file one line
at a time. PgUp and PgDn move to the previous or next page.
Both Ctrl-PgUp and Home take you to the top of the file and Ctrl-
PgDn or End take you to the bottom of the file. When you're done
viewing, press the Enter key one more time, or press Esc to exit
to the menu.
As it should in all applications, pressing Esc takes you back one
step in all the modules of DIRMAGIC. Pressing Esc from the
directory listing will return you to DOS. This lets you jump in
and out of files with a minimum of keystrokes -- and assures that
you'll never again have to resort to the DOS TYPE command or, for
that matter, be bothered with typing the name of the file.
Pressing the Enter key when the highlighted bar is on a
subdirectory will change (CHDIR) to that directory and return you
to the DOS prompt.
Typing Ctrl-Enter while the highlighted bar is on a subdirectory
will display that directory. Pressing Ctrl-Enter when a dot
entry (.. <DIR>) is highlighted will load the parent directory.
Pressing Ctrl-Enter when you've highlighted an executable
filename will run the file if it has an extension of EXE or COM.
When the executable program is finished you will be returned to
DIRMAGIC. Some programs merely print some sort of output and
then exit, leaving the output on the screen. With these programs
you can have DIRMAGIC pause before erasing the output by holding
down one of the Shift keys while pressing Ctrl-Enter. Any
keypress after an appropriate pause will return you to DIRMAGIC.
[See also Alt-F5 HighBit.]
+/- (Plus/Minus) Keys
Pressing the plus key will place a little right-arrow character
in front of a highlighted filename and move the bar down one line
so you can mark the next file. By marking several files you can
"tag" or gang together commands and execute them in one gulp.
For example, by marking several files before pressing F1 Copy,
you can copy a group of selected files to one destination.
Pressing the minus key will erase any marks that may have been
attached to a filename by mistake. A shifted plus or minus will
move the highlight bar in the opposite direction (up the listing)
after placing or erasing the mark at the present position.
F1 Copy
7
Press F1 and DIRMAGIC will prompt you for the destination of
either the highlighted file or the marked files. If no files are
marked, the highlighted file will be copied. If you want the
files to retain their normal names (the most frequent case) just
give DIRMAGIC a path. Enter the path and/or filename, press
Enter and the copy will be made. DIRMAGIC will let you know if
the operation was successful by placing an asterisk in front of
the source filename in the listing.
You can enter any legal combination of path and filename, or omit
a destination path, just as with the DOS COPY command. If you
want the name of the copy to be the same, you need only enter the
directory or specify the drive for the copy. If you press the
Enter key without typing in any specification, DIRMAGIC will
attempt to copy the file to the default directory and drive --
the active drive and directory when you entered DIRMAGIC at the
DOS prompt. Note that this may or may not be the same as the
drive and directory you told DIRMAGIC to display.
DIRMAGIC's Copy command follows all the same rules as the DOS
COPY command. If you aren't sure about what you're doing, or are
trying something complex, first change to the directory you're
going to copy to before you enter into DIRMAGIC, or include the
complete path as the destination entry. You can add the familiar
*.* to the end of the path but it's not necessary.
Note: Be very careful not to specify a single filename if you
are copying a block of marked files or all the files will be
copied over the same target file. You can enter a filespec such
as *.BAK to make backup copies. The global ? character is also
acceptable. You can also copy a file to the printer. Just enter
as the destination PRN.
[See also Alt-F1 Copy/V and Alt-F3 Protect.]
F2 Delete
If you decide that you want to wipe out a file, press F2 Delete.
If the Alt-F2 Confirm feature is ON (it is by default) before
deleting the highlighted file or block of marked files, DIRMAGIC
displays a verification warning, giving you a chance to abort
just in case you made a typing mistake and hit the F2 key in
error. To continue with the deletion, press Y. Or press N or
Esc to abort the process. When a file is successfully deleted,
DIRMAGIC tidies up the listing by removing the filename. And it
adjusts the file count and number of bytes free at the bottom of
the screen.
[See also Alt-F2 Confirm.]
F3 Rename
8
When you press F3, DIRMAGIC prompts you for a new name for the
file you've highlighted. Your response cannot contain the path
characters : or \ or the wild card characters ? or *. Once you
have entered the desired new name, press Enter, and if you have
given the file a valid name, the new name will replace the old in
the directory listing. If you pressed F3 and wish to change your
mind in midstream, press Esc.
F4 Move
F4, which moves a file to another directory, is extremely useful
if you use one directory as a dumping ground for files and later
move them to their proper places. The F3 Move function operates
in the same manner as F1 Copy, prompting you for the new home of
a highlighted file or a group of marked files.
If able, DIRMAGIC will move the file or files to the destination
directory you indicate. Confirmation of a successful move is the
same as when you delete a file; the name will be removed from the
directory listing. Don't panic. Your file is not lost; it's in
the new directory. DIRMAGIC moves files across drives by first
copying the file as if you had pressed F1 Copy. It will then
delete the source file only if the copy operation succeeded.
You can rename a file that you're moving simply by tacking on the
new name to the end of the destination path. Actually, if the
source and destination are in the same drive, all that happens is
that the directory entry is changed. Since this leaves the
actual physical data alone it's very fast and easy. This also
lets you move files around on a full disk. You can trick
DIRMAGIC into renaming a file and leaving it in the current
directory by telling it to move the file to the source directory
with the new name. DIRMAGIC will appear confused, since it will
remove the old name from the listing without replacing it with
the new one. Your file, however, is safe.
F5 Clear Marks and F6 Mark All
F5 will clear all marks (both arrows and asterisks) attached to
filenames and F6 will mark all blank or non-marked filenames for
gang-tagging operations. F6 will not mark files that have a
confirmation asterisk in front of them.
The F6 Mark All lets you split up a directory into two
different target disks or directories. Mark the files destined
to go to the first directory and copy them. All the arrow marks
will turn to asterisks after completion. A press of F6 will then
mark all the rest of the files and you will instantly be ready to
copy the balance of the files to the other destination. If your
copying needs are simpler than that, you can, of course, use F6
as a Mark All function to copy all files of a directory.
Suppose you need to copy all the files in a hard disk directory
9
to diskettes but they won't all fit on one flopoy. First mark
all the files by pressing F6, then press F1 and indicate that the
target is drive A:. DIRMAGIC will copy all the marked files that
will fit on the diskette, and will turn these files' arrow marks
to asterisks. Next, insert a blank diskette in drive A: and
press F1 again and DIRMAGIC will try to copy all the files not
copied the first time. You can continue this process until all
the files are marked with asterisks, indicating all have been
copied to diskette.
F7 Sort Name
F8 Sort Ext.
F9 Sort Size
F10 Sort daTe
The last four functions of DIRMAGIC control the different ways
you can sort the directory listing -- by Name, by Extension, by
Size, and by DaTe. Unlike the DOS SORT.COM, the Date sort
correctly handles the old problem of sorting by year as well as
month, date, and finally time.
You would use the F8, Sort by Extension, for example, if you
were just interested in your BAK files. The Sort functions can
be used in combination with other functions. If you want to see
all your COM files sorted by size, press F9, Sort by Size and
then F8, Sort by Extension.
[Also see Alt-F4 Sort.]
==== Alternate Command Set ====
Alt-F1 Copy/V
Alt-F1 Verify function does the same as the /V switch does with
the DOS COPY command. Alt-F1 toggles whether or not verify is ON
or OFF. All that verify does is check to see if the file can be
read after writing; as with the DOS /V switch it doesn't do a
byte-by-byte comparison. It simply checks whether DOS can read
the newly copied data without an error. And just as with DOS,
the Verify switch command defaults to OFF because reading the
data a second time to verify it obviously takes longer than
omitting this step. Today's disks are so reliable that you
should probably leave Verify OFF. The function was provided for
those who sleep better with the /V switch.
Alt-F2 Confirm
Alt-F2 Confirm works with F2 Copy, controlling whether or not
DIRMAGIC warns you before it deletes a file. By default, the
Confirm switch is displayed as ON, so that you will be warned
before any deletion. However, if you feel confident about your
typing abilities and have a lot of purging to do and don't want
to be bothered with the extra Y confirmation keystroke that comes
10
with every deletion request, press Alt-F2 and OFF will be
displayed next to Confirm. Alt-F2 is a toggle so you can turn
the Confirm function back on with another tap. Warning: If you
turn Confirm OFF and you press F2, the deletion is instantaneous.
You will be given no second chance.
Alt-F3 Protect
DOS lets you blithely copy old files over new ones. DIRMAGIC is
smart enough to avoid this.
You can use Alt-F3 to enable or disable protection in copying
over existing files with the F1 Copy function. The default is
OFF, which lets you copy over files just as you can with the DOS
COPY command. But if you toggle Protection ON you will be given
the choice to continue copying or abort if the target file
already exists.
Alt-F4 Sort
DIRMAGIC defaults to doing all directory sorts in ascending
order, from A to Z. F4 will toggle the sorting order from
Ascending to Descending. You can also change the default sorting
order to Descending with the /R switch.
Alt-F5 HighBit
WordStar and some other word processors set the high bit of an
ASCII character on to control page formatting. This will cause a
normal text character to be displayed as a high bit graphics
character. DIRMAGIC by default strips this high bit so text
files controlled in this manner will look normal when you view
them. However, if the file you wish to view has graphics
characters you want displayed as graphics characters, press F6
and the ON next to WordStar will be toggled OFF and DIRMAGIC will
leave the high bit alone. The WordStar toggle does the same
thing as the Ctrl-QG in SideKick's Notepad.
Alt-F6 Attributes
At the right edge of the directory listing you'll see the
letter(s) H, S, R, or A beside any files that have an attribute of
Hidden, System, Read-only, or Archive. Alt-F6 will let you change
three of these attributes -- H, R, and A. Press Alt-F6 and
DIRMAGIC will prompt you to enter the change in attribute(s) of
the highlighted file or group of marked files.
To add an attribute, preface the attribute with a plus sign. To
remove an attribute preface it with a minus sign.
For example, to remove the archive attribute so the DOS BACKUP or
11
XCOPY commands won't back up a file, enter -A. If you don't
preface the attribute with either a plus or minus, DIRMAGIC will
assume you wish to add the attribute. Making a file read-only
with +R prevents you or anyone else from accidentally deleting it
or changing it or copying another file over it.
You can also change the attribute of directories. Hiding a
directory with a +H is an easy way to keep the files of a
sensitive directory from easy reach of probing eyes. Of course,
if the intruder is familiar with DIRMAGIC, the protection scheme
will be defeated, since DIRMAGIC will list the hidden directory.
Alt-F7 File Search
Press Alt-F7 and DIRMAGIC will ask for the name of a file to
locate. Enter a filename and DIRMAGIC will begin a diskwide
search of the default drive (the one you logged DIRMAGIC onto at
the DOS prompt) for that file. Add a drive request to search a
drive other than the default. You can narrow down the search by
adding a path. For example, if the default drive is C: and you
wish to look for MYFILE in the \BIN directory on A:, you would
enter:
A:\BIN\MYFILE
You can use any combination of the wildcard global characters (*
and ?) in the filename. For example, to find all the files
related to a file called THISFILE on the C drive, you would
enter:
THISFILE.*
DIRMAGIC will clear the directory listing on the left side of the
screen and list the directory and filename of all, if any,
matching files. You can stop the search at any time by pressing
Esc. The list of matches will pause if it fills the screen.
Pressing any key will continue the search.
When the search ends, if DIRMAGIC found a match it will give you
the opportunity to load the directory in which the file was
found. If you press Y, the directory will be loaded and listed
and the highlight bar will automatically be placed on the
filename of interest. Press either N or Esc to cancel the
loading operation.
Alt-F8 New path
Pressing Alt-F8 lets you load a new directory without leaving
DIRMAGIC. You will be prompted for a new path to list. You can
enter a drive/directory and any switch character just as if you
were at the DOS prompt and starting DIRMAGIC.
12
==== Error Messages ====
Requires 128K free RAM
DIRMAGIC requires 128K bytes of elbow room. The load module
is a small 8K for fast loading. The balance of the 120K is
used for buffering the directory listing, buffering a file
for viewing, and buffering the fast file-copying operation.
Invalid directory
DIRMAGIC could not find the directory requested to load. If
the default directory is other than the root, be sure to type
a complete path. DIRMAGIC uses the default directory of
the current drive rather than the currently loaded directory
for all copying, moving, and PATH loading. To avoid
confusion, either load DIRMAGIC from the root directory or
use a complete path for DIRMAGIC function arguments.
Too many files
DIRMAGIC has room to buffer approximately 500 files. It's
recommended that you break directories larger than this into
smaller directories.
Not enough disk space
There was not enough room to copy or move your file.
Error reading drive
You probably left a drive door open. Insert a diskette,
close the door, and press (R)etry to recover. Press (Q)uit
to abort and return to DOS.
Error writing to printer
The printer is probably off or out of paper. To recover,
follow the same steps as in the above drive error.
==== DINSTALL ====
DINSTALL will let you change the defaults of DIRMAGIC. You don't
have to be in the same directory as DIRMAGIC to change the
defaults but you do have to be on the same drive. If DIRMAGIC is
not in the current directory, DINSTALL will do a diskwide search.
Once it finds DIRMAGIC.COM, it will let you reconfigure the
default settings of DIRMAGIC's Alt-key functions.
For example, you might want DIRMAGIC to sort the directory
listing by date in descending order so the most recently updated
files will appear at the top of the list. Instead of loading
DIRMAGIC each time with /D/R (sort by date in reverse order)
or having to change the defaults later with F10 Sort by daTe
and Alt-F4 Sort Descending, change the defaults permanently with
DINSTALL. When you are satisfied with the changes, press Esc and
DINSTALL will ask if you wish to write your changes to disk.
DIRMAGIC will display and modify colors only in mode 3. If you
have a color monitor or a monochrome monitor with a color
13
graphics adapter and DINSTALL will not let you change the default
colors (the options will not appear in the menu), you are in a
mode other than color. To change to mode 3, enter the DOS mode
command MODE CO80. You cannot change the colors on a monochrome
adapter.
F7 - F10 will let you change the colors. Shift F7 - F10 will
change the colors in reverse order.
Remember that DINSTALL will modify the program file only if it's
named DIRMAGIC.COM. And the DM F10 key will load DIRMAGIC only
if you haven't changed its name from DIRMAGIC.COM. Don't try
renaming DIRMAGIC.COM to something like D.COM to make it easier
to execute. The easiest way to run it is by loading DM first and
then pressing F10.
But if you really do want to give it a shorter name, make a copy
of it called something like D.COM each time you install or
reinstall it. The program itself is so small that an additional
copy of it won't take up very much room.
==== DM ====
DM makes it a snap to create, remove, rename, hide, and unhide
subdirectories and jump from one to another. It can set and
reset the read-only and archive bits of all files in a directory,
and will report the file count and space taken up by all the
files. It can also run the main DIRMAGIC.COM program to handle
individual files.
You may run DM directly from the DOS prompt each time you want to
use it, simply by typing:
DM
Or you can install it in memory so it leaps instantly into action
every subsequent time you enter RN while in DOS. To install it
in memory and then immediately run it, type:
DM /G
If you want to load the map of subdirectories and the DM command
into memory when you boot up, but you don't want to run it right
away, add a line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT that says:
DM /I
All of these examples assume that DM.COM is either in the root
directory (which it shouldn't be) or is in a subdirectory that
your PATH knows about (which it should be).
If no drive (d:) is specified, the current drive is assumed.
You should load DM before SideKick and any other uninstallable
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memory-resident programs. DM cannot be deinstalled without
rebooting. It requires 128K of RAM and can grab a few more K on
file-packed disks. You can't summon DM from within another
application by pressing a hotkey; it can be popped up only at the
DOS prompt. Pressing Esc terminates DM's operations.
When you first run DM.COM, you'll see an alphabetized directory
tree with the current listing highlighted and a menu listing the
function keys used for its various directory services. You can
move the highlighted directory bar one entry at a time by the up
and down arrow keys, and in larger increments with the Ctrl-PgUp
and Ctrl-PgDn, PgUp and PgDn, and the Home and End keys. Use the
highlighted bar to identify the subdirectory you want to work on.
When renaming (F2) and creating (F3) directories, do not enter
a backslash (\) character. However, be sure to include it when
you add up the characters to see if the new path is shorter than
the maximum DOS path length of 63 characters.
Note: F2 (Rename Directory) requires DOS 3.x.
If you select and confirm RMDIR (F4), DM will delete all files
within the directory (unless they are marked read-only) before
removing the directory.
Hide/Unhide (F5) affects the directory name only, not the
individual files inside it.
F6 and F7 (mark/unmark as read-only and set/reset the archive
bit) toggle these bits on all files within the directory.
F8 updates the directory database if changes are made outside DM.
F9 displays a file count and tells how much space is allocated to
a directory's files.
F10 calls DIRMAGIC.COM.
==== PRMANUAL ====
If you want to print out a copy of this manual, and your printer
is set to handle pages that are 66 lines long, just turn your
printer on and type:
PRMANUAL
This will print out a copy of the manual (which has to be named
MANUAL).
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