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1992-05-06
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Browser version 1.2, copyright 1987, 1988 by Peter da Silva.
Binary redistribution permitted at no charge.
NAME
browser -- a "programmer's Workbench" for the Amiga.
SUMMARY
Browser provides a less flashy but more useful (at least
for programmer's and other power users) adjunct to the
Amiga Workbench. It also radically reduces the need for
directory utilities.
It emulates most of the features and capabilities of the
Workbench, in text-only windows. All files in the system
are accessible... not just the ones that have icons
associated with them.
Supported features include: executing, copying/moving,
renaming, and deleting files; and examining, copying/moving,
renaming, creating, and deleting directories.
Unsupported features: formatting, renaming, and making raw
copies of diskettes.
DESCRIPTION
After starting up, Browser will open a small window in the
upper left corner of the screen containing a list of all the
available devices in the system. Holding down the menu
button will reveal two menus: "Browser" and "Tools". More on
these later.
To open a volume, double-click on its name. A new window will
open up, just below and to the right of the original location
of the master window. All files and directories in the root
directory of the volume will be displayed.
You can see where we're going. All the normal Workbench actions
will work under browser. You can open directories and start
programs by double clicking them. You can move or copy files
and directories by clicking them and dragging them to a new
location.
NOTE: This version of the browser indicates that
you are moving files by changing the cursor to
a crosshair, like Workbench 1.1.
You can select a group of files by holding down either shift
key and clicking them one at a time. In this mode when you
click on a file a second time (after waiting for longer than
your doubleclick time, of course) it will become deselected.
This turned out to be convenient while I was testing it.
You can execute a file whether or not it has an icon file (a
.info file) associated with it. If there is no .info file
available, Browser will ask you if you really want to go
ahead with the operation.
WARNING: blithely starting CLI programs under
Browser, which provides a Workbench environment,
is likely to attract the attention of the Guru.
Shift-clicking a group of files and then shift-doubleclicking
a program works just like in the Workbench. You can also pass
a group of files to a program by installing that program in
your Tools menu.
MENUS
Browser:
Open:
Clicking a file and selecting Open has the
same effect as double-clicking that file.
Close:
This is equivalent to clicking the Close
gadget of the currently active window.
Rescan:
When you select this Browser will reread the
directory for the currently active window.
Delete:
When you select this entry Browser will delete
all selected files. A directory must be empty
for Delete to delete it.
Delete All:
This is the same as Delete, except that
directories will be recursively deleted.
Rename:
This entry will open a window and allow you
to enter a new name for one selected file.
Make Dir:
This prompts for the name of and creates a
new directory in the currently active window.
Quit:
This is the equivalent of clicking the close
gadget on the Master window.
Tools:
The entries in this menu depend on what tools you
want to use. I like putting More, a terminal program,
and CLI in here. Your milage may vary.
Add Tool:
Selecting this will put one selected program
into the tools menu.
*:
Any other entry will kick that program off as
if you had shift-doubleclicked it.
FILES
s:browser.tools
This file contains a group of lines of the form:
Name;Env;Cmd[;Stack[;Window]]
Name:
A label to appear in the Tools menu.
Env:
Ignored in this release. In the future it
may be CLI or Workbench.
Cmd:
The name of the file to be kicked off when
this entry is selected.
Stack:
An optional stack size, if the default 8K
isn't appropriate.
Window:
An optional ToolWindow, for programs that care
to pay attention to such things.
BUGS
None known, although I have had a suspicious GURU when
doing massive single-disk copies under Browser. I have
also had a couple of GURUs when doing the same thing under
Workbench in the days when Browser was just a fond dream.
Let me know if you discover any.
SUGGESTIONS
Please make any suggestions you care to. I'd like ideas on
precisely how to emulate the CLI environment. There are a
couple of ways of doing this that I know of, none of them too
clean or easy.
AUTHOR
Peter da Silva.
AT&T: (713) 497-4372
Usenet: ...!uunet!nuchat!sugar!peter
CI$: 70216,1076 (if you don't mind waiting weeks for
me to log on).