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FILE COMMANDO
VERSION 1.30
12 MARCH 1986
COPYRIGHT SANDI AND SHANE STUMP
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Table of Contents
Section 1: Before You Start......................................2
Disclaimer............................................2
The ShareWare Concept.................................3
Update Policy.........................................3
Author Information....................................4
System Requirements...................................5
INSTALL program.......................................6
Section 2: An Introduction to the File Commando Screen..........10
Global Abort Key.....................................15
POPPING Back to FC from a running program............15
Bigger Keyboard Buffer...............................15
Section 3: The Function Key Commands............................16
<F1> -- The CHDIR Command...........................16
<F2> -- The SORT Command............................19
<F3> -- The TREE ON/OFF Command.....................21
<F4) -- The RUN Command.............................22
<F5> -- The MARK Command............................24
<F6> -- The VIEW Command............................27
<F7> -- The FIND Command............................28
<F9> -- The DISPLAY Command.........................30
<F10> -- The QUIT Command............................31
Section 4: The Space Bar Commands...............................32
The ATTRIB Command...................................33
The COPY Command.....................................35
The DELETE Command...................................37
The DISK Command.....................................38
The EDIT Command.....................................41
The INFO Command.....................................42
The MATH Command.....................................43
The PRINT Command....................................44
The RENAME Command...................................45
The SPACE Command....................................47
The UTILITY Command..................................48
Section 5: The Editor...........................................51
Section 6: The Patch Editor.....................................54
Section 7: The Math Commando Calculator.........................57
Introduction.........................................57
The Math Commando Screen.............................57
About the Stack......................................59
How to Use Math Commando.............................61
Mathematical Functions...........................62
Alphabetic Keys - Number Alteration Functions....62
Function Keys - Exponential Math Functions.......63
Control Function Keys - Trigonometric Functions..65
Shift Function Keys - The Registers & Stack......67
The Use Of Memory Registers..........................69
Storing and Recalling Numbers....................69
Arithmetic Operations On Data Registers..........69
1
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 1: Before You Start...
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ << USER-SUPPORTED SOFTWARE>> ║
║ ║
║ CUSTOMER'S NAME ...................SN#12345 ║
║ ║
║ If you find this program useful, you can become a registered user ║
║ by sending either a check or money order in the amount of $30.00 to: ║
║ (Texas residents add 5.125% sales tax) ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ SANDI & SHANE STUMP ║
║ BOX 13719 ║
║ COLLEGE STATION, TX 77841 ║
║ ║
║ ║
║ Please enclose your name and address, along with any comments or ║
║ suggestions. All registered users will be informed of product updates. ║
║ We encourage free distribution of this program to other users for ║
║ evaluation, but DO NOT distribute this program for any charge or fee. ║
║ ║
║ SUPPORT US SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DEVELOP GOOD PRODUCTS AT A GOOD PRICE!║
║ ║
║ PRESS ANY KEY TO BEGIN! ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Screen 1.1: The Log-on Message Screen.
Disclaimer
Sandi & Shane Stump make no express or implied warranty with
regards to the documentation or the program described in regards to the
suitability of this program for any particular purpose or its ability
to produce any particular result. This program is made available on an
"as is" basis, and the entire risk as to its quality and performance
lies with the user. Sandi & Shane Stump shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, or consequential damages in connection or arising
from the use of this program.
2
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The ShareWare Concept
The ShareWare concept is a low priced alternative to commercial
software. Instead of buying a program at a local retail software
establishment then bringing it home to find out if it does what you want
it to, this method permits you to try the program out at home for a
period of time. You can then decide whether you will use it or not.
Amount of payment is recommended by each program's author.
File Commando is being distributed under the ShareWare concept. We
ask that persons who use this program and find it helpful contribute
$30.00. We will in turn notify all persons who become registered users
of impending updates to this program and other releases by us. Updates
of File Commando will be $10.00 to cover cost of materials and shipping.
This program was developed as an new approach to our previous
utility PC-SWEEP. All following updates will be available to
registered users for a $10.00 fee. This amount should cover the costs
incurred in shipping the revised versions. We will notify all
registered users of updates by sending a card with a description of the
update to the address we have on file for the user. If your address
changes and you wish to remain on our update list, please send us your
new address information along with your name and the serial number on
your version of File Commando.
3
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Author Information
Send your inquiries to the address listed below:
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ Sandi & Shane Stump │
│ Box 13719 │
│ College Station, Texas 77841 │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘
Sandi & Shane Stump (that's us) are two senior-level Computing
Science students currently attending Texas A&M University in College
Station, Texas. Besides school, we do computer comsulting work and
programming on the side to pay the bills. Shane writes file utilities
in his spare time for pleasure, although I think it demonstrates some
masochistic tendencies on his part.
This program was written on a GulfStream APC/286 IBM-AT compatible
under PC-DOS 3.0. It was tested on a Kaypro 2000 and a Sperry PC under
PC-DOS 2.0 and MS-DOS 2.1. It was written in the C language using the
Instant-C interpreter system and the DeSmet C complier system.
4
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
System Requirements
To execute this program, your computer must meet or exceed the
following specifications.
IBM-PC compatible computer (this includes the IBM-AT)
This can also include some of the MS-DOS compatibles such
as the TI Professional.
192k main memory, one disk drive
MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or higher
printer (if use of the print command is anticipated)
File Commando has a special installation program to configure
the program for those of you with composite monitors for execution.
This installation program also allows you to change the popback key
and the number of directory entries. This is detailed on the
following page. Be aware that any programs that operate as Resident
programs (such as Sidekick, ProKey, Turbo Lightning, etc), must be
executed before File Commando. If you attempt to run one of these
type programs, File Commando will display the following error
message:
Terminate Stay Resident Call Issued By filename. Process Aborted.
This will not stop the desired program from execution, it will only
disable the stay resident feature. One more thing, if you attempt to
execute a program from a program under File Commando (this process is
called nesting), you are responsible for keeping track of where you are
at.
File Commando itself can be configured to stay resident on your
machine. The process to accomplish this is simple. Simply execute
File Commando as you normally would, then once under it, move the
file cursor to COMMAND.COM , press <F4> and select option 1. To quit
the stay resident feature, type 'EXIT' at the DOS prompt.
If you currently use a computer that is not considered fully
compatible with the IBM, you can still run this program. It will be
necessary for you to run the INSTALL program found with this program.
The DISPLAY MODE and INTERRUPT SUPPORT toggles will have to switched to
BIOS / INT10h and OFF, respectively. The Pop-Back feature and the
Abort Running Program features will not work on a machine with this
switched off. We cannot verify whether File Commando will work on any
other computer falling into this category. If you have one of these
machines and you attempt (successfully or unsuccessfully) to run this
program, please drop us a line at the address above and tell us what
machine you are using, the version of DOS you are using and whether it
runs, partially runs, or dies on you. We are extremely interested in
any information on the subject.
5
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
INSTALL Program
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ FILE COMMANDO INSTALL PROGRAM ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ║
║ ╔[CURRENT SETTINGS]════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ ║ ║ ║
║ ║ MONITOR TYPE........................ COLOR / MONOCHROME ║ ║
║ ║ DISPLAY METHOD...................... MEMORY MAP ║ ║
║ ║ POP-BACK KEY........................ ALT '=' ║ ║
║ ║ TREE SUPPORT........................ ON ║ ║
║ ║ INTERRUPT SUPPORT................... ON ║ ║
║ ║ DIRECTORY ENTRIES................... 256 ║ ║
║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
║ ║
║ ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║
║ ║ INSTALL MENU ║ ║
║ ╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║
║ ║ F1 - SET MONITOR TYPE F5 - SET INTERRUPT SUPPORT ║ ║
║ ║ F2 - SET DISPLAY METHOD F6 - SET # OF DIR ENTRIES ║ ║
║ ║ F3 - SET POP-BACK KEY F7 - SAVE SETTINGS & EXIT INSTALL ║ ║
║ ║ F4 - SET TREE SUPPORT F8 - QUIT - NO CHANGES ║ ║
║ ║ ║ ║
║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Screen 1.2: The INSTALL program screen.
The INSTALL program configures File Commando for your particular
machine. There are now six items that specifically need to be defined
by File Commando. The screen that is displayed appears above. The
default values are shown in the current settings box, as shown below:
╔[CURRENT SETTINGS]════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ MONITOR TYPE........................ COLOR / MONOCHROME ║
║ DISPLAY METHOD...................... MEMORY MAP ║
║ POP-BACK KEY........................ ALT '=' ║
║ TREE SUPPORT........................ ON ║
║ INTERRUPT SUPPORT................... ON ║
║ DIRECTORY ENTRIES................... 256 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 1.1: The Current Setting Window.
The monitor type is set to the default color / monochrome mode which
will display File Commando with no interference on most monitors.
Display method refers to the degree of compatibility between your
machine and the IBM standard. The default is set to IBM standard
machines. The default key used to activate POP BACK to and from File
Commando is ALT '='. The tree support toggle allows you to switch the
directory feature off from File Commando. This is useful for those of
you with very large hard disks who do not wish to re-read all the
directories of the disk when any command is executed. The interrupt
support toggle is for those of you who either run this program on less
compatible machines or for those of you who run multitasking software
6
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
packages such as Microsoft Windows. The lower limit to the number of
directory entries is 256. The black & white mode will allow any
monitor to run File Commando without visual interference. These
options are explained in more detail below.
Under this appears the different options available to change these
default settings. This menu appears as follows:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ INSTALL MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ F1 - SET MONITOR TYPE F5 - SET INTERRUPT SUPPORT ║
║ F2 - SET DISPLAY METHOD F6 - SET # OF DIR ENTRIES ║
║ F3 - SET POP-BACK KEY F7 - SAVE SETTINGS & EXIT INSTALL ║
║ F4 - SET TREE SUPPORT F8 - QUIT - NO CHANGES ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 1.2: The Install Menu.
Function F1 changes the type of monitor that is connected to the
computer system running File Commando. Function F2 sets the display
mode for the program. Function F3 sets the desired pop-back key.
Function F4 toggles on or off File Commando's ability to read all
directories off of the disk. Function F5 sets the interrupt toggle on
or off to support pop back for File Commando. Function F6 sets the
maximum directory entries located in your largest file directory.
Function F7 saves the changes made under this INSTALL program and exits
to the system. Function F8 quits the INSTALL program without altering
the current INSTALL parameters used by File Commando.
If you press F1 to change the Monitor Type, the monitor type as
shown in the upper half of the screen will switch from COLOR/MONOCHROME
to BLACK & WHITE. This mode is for those of you with composite
monitors. If you do not know whether your monitor is a composite
monitor, simply run File Commando with the default monitor setting of
COLOR / MONOCHROME. If the opening and subsequent screens appear only
minimally readable, then your monitor is a composite monitor.
If you press F2 to change the Display Mode, the display type
shown in the upper half of the screen will switch from MEMORY MAP to
BIOS / INT10h. This mode is for those of you running computers such as
the TI Professional computer, which is marginally compatible with the
IBM. If you are running a TI, please run EMULATE before attempting to
execute INSTALL or File Commando. We cannot guarantee that this
program will run on all MS-DOS machines, but with this software switch
toggled, many of the MS-DOS machines will hopefully be able to use this
program.
7
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
If you press F3 to change the Pop Back key, the following menu will
appear in the place of the INSTALL Menu:
╔[SET POP-BACK-KEY]════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║CHOOSE THE DESIRED KEY BY USING ARROW KEYS AND PRESSING RETURN: ║
║ ║
║ ALT-A ALT-B ALT-C ALT-D ALT-E ALT-F ALT-G ALT-H ║
║ ALT-I ALT-J ALT-K ALT-L ALT-M ALT-N ALT-O ALT-P ║
║ ALT-Q ALT-R ALT-S ALT-T ALT-U ALT-V ALT-W ALT-X ║
║ ALT-Y ALT-Z ALT-1 ALT-2 ALT-3 ALT-4 ALT-5 ALT-6 ║
║ ALT-7 ALT-8 ALT-9 ALT-0 ALT-- ALT-= ALT-F1 ALT-F2 ║
║ ALT-F3 ALT-F4 ALT-F5 ALT-F6 ALT-F7 ALT-F8 ALT-F9 ALT-F10 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 1.3: The Set Pop-Back Key Window.
This menu allows you to select a more appropriate key for POP BACK.
This is useful for those of you who either are used to another program
with POP BACK capabilities or for those of you with programs whose
instruction activation conflicts with the ALT '=' key specified. To
select a key other than the ALT '=' key, simply use the cursor keys
located on the number/cursor pad to move the highlighted field to the
desired key and press enter. If you wish to escape the menu without
changing the default value, press <ESCape>. After selecting a more
appropriate pop-back key, the screen will return to the initial INSTALL
screen with the newly chosen pop back key replacement appearing in
ALT '=' place.
If you press F4 for Tree Support, the entry for tree support in the
upper half of the screen will switch from ON to OFF. This function
allows those of you with very large hard disks to disable File
Commando's directory tree feature, which requires all files to be read
in from the currently logged disk. When switched OFF, directory
handling is done one directory at a time. File Commando will then have
no knowledge of any other directories on the system and instead will
function more in the manner of PC-SWEEP 2.10.
If you press F5 for Interrupt Support, the entry for interrupt
support in the upper half of the screen will switch from ON to OFF.
This allows MS-DOS compatible machines to run File Commando. This
option also enables multitasking programs such as Microsoft's Windows to
run on the system along with File Commando.
If you press F6 for Directory Entries, the following prompt appears
on the screen in place of the INSTALL Menu:
╔[SET NUMBER OF DIRECTORY ENTRIES]═════════════════════════════════╗
║ ║
║ENTER NUMBER OF DIRECTORY ENTRIES (256-2500): ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 1.4: The Set Number of Directory Entries Window.
The number of directory entries is important, because some people may
have need for File Commando to handle a super-large directory, while
others may not. This is important to you and the program itself because
File Commando has to anticipate the worst case and appropriate enough
memory to handle a directory containing the maximum number of files
8
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
specified. Each file entry in a directory takes up 23 bytes of memory.
If the number of directory entries is set too low, when File Commando
attempts to read in a directory that exceeds this number, it will return
the following error message:
NOT ENOUGH MEMORY TO READ IN ALL FILES!
If this occurs, increment the number of files to accommodate your
largest directory.
If you have made all necessary changes, press F7 to save these
changes and have them implemented by File Commando. File Commando must
be located in the same directory as the INSTALL program. When function
4 is selected, the installation program directly modifies File Commando
using the values selected in the Installation procedure. Therefore, no
exterior file is needed later to be present when it is run. After the
changes are made, you are returned to DOS. When you next execute File
Commando, the changes are already incorporated into the program.
If you press F8 for Quit, the program will return you to the point
where you began execution of the INSTALL program. This option allows
you to abort this INSTALL program without changing the current
installation parameters and without altering File Commando.
9
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 2: An Introduction to the File Commando Screen
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ COMMAND .COM DOC .DOC FC .EXE ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║ FC1 .SCR FCDOC .PG1 FCDOC .PG2 ║SIZE : 730112║
║ FCDOC .PG3 FCDOC .PG4 FCDOC .PG5 ║FREE : 272384║
║ IO .SYS LPTX .COM MSDOS .SYS ╠══════════════════╣
║ P1 .S SEE .EXE ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ ║ FILES 14║
║ ║ BYTES 252788║
║ ║TAGGED ║
║ ║ FILES 0║
║ ║ BYTES 0║
║ ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║ ║ TIME: 23:05 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ ATTRIB is used to change or set a file(s) attributes. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 2.1: The File Commando screen display.
This is the screen display for File Commando. At the top of the
screen is the name of the program, the author's names (that's us), and
the version number of the program. The version number is a very
important piece of information for both of us, because any problems
or bugs you may experience may have been discovered and corrected in a
later version. In any correspondence with us about this program,
please include the version number and the machine that you are running
this program on. In any bug report, please tell us what happened and
what events precipitated the inconsistency. Along with this
information, it would be helpful if you list a phone number in case we
need further clarification of the reported problem.
The line FILES IN A:\ indicates the current drive and
directory specification that File Commando is currently operating on.
Below this is the list of all files in the directory. If more files are
on the directory than are displayed, the cursor keys allow you to move
either up or down the list, across or back through the files, forward or
back one page, or to the beginning or to the end of the directory file
listing. This is discussed in more detail in the following paragraph.
The directory display format that is shown on your screen initially
includes only the file name itself, and will be referred to as the
'short form' of the file directory display. This display is made up of
three columns of file names, listed in alphabetical order horizontally,
as in the screen pictured above. Toggling <F9>-DISPLAY will display
the directory in a more conventional format with one file name per
line, and all pertinent file information to the right of the name. The
information included is the file size, the date, the time, and the
10
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
current attributes. This form of the directory display will be
referred to from now on as the 'long form' of the directory listing.
If while in the INSTALL program, you selected to toggle off the
directory tree support, then along with the other file names listed on
the screen will appear the directories located in the subdirectory.
There will be a directory called '.' which signifies the current
directory, and there will be a directory shown as '..' which is the
parent directory to the current one. The parent directory is the
directory under which can be found the current directory. By using the
F6-View command, you can log immediately to these two directories.
This provision is intended for those of you who have used our previous
program PC-SWEEP 2.10 and who do not wish for all directories to be
read in all at once when a disk has been logged to.
To move the highlighted file field to a specific file name, the
cursor keypad is used. Most IBM PC compatible computers incorporate a
cursor/number keypad with a layout similar to the diagram described
below:
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ Up │ ║ │
║ Home │ ║ Arrow │ ║ PgUp │
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
║ <- │ ║ 5 │ ║ -> │
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
║ End │ ║ Dn │ ║ PgDn │
║ │ ║ Arrow │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
Diagram 2.1: The Cursor/Numeric Keypad on the IBM PC.
In the diagram above, you may notice that the up and down arrow
are not represented by their ASCII characters, but are instead
represented by words. This is because many printers do not support the
up arrow, the down arrow, the right arrow, or the triangular
characters. So, wherever there is one of these characters in File
Commando, we will use their verbal label instead or their character.
To move horizontally to the next file listed to the right of the
current file, press the right arrow key, ( -> ). To move back
horizontally to the left one file, press the left arrow key, ( <- ).
To move vertically down one line of files, press the down arrow key.
To move vertically up one line of files, press the up arrow key. The
<PgUp> and <PgDn> display the prior page and the next page of files in
the directory, respectively. The file field is then located at the top
of the page displayed. The <Home> key displays the first page of files
in the directory, with the file field highlighting the first file
listed in the directory. The <End> key displays the last page of files
in the directory, with the file field highlighting the last file in the
directory. When in the 'long form' of the directory display, only the
11
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
left and right arrow keys from the previous description are not used to
move from file to file. The center key on the keypad, the <5> key, is
not utilized by File Commando for field movement in any menus or
screens.
The FILE: *.* section of the screen displays the current
file wildcard search specification of the program. It is initially set
to '*.*', which signifies that all files on the directory are read in
and are accessible. This can be changed under the <F1>-CHDIR command to
read in any files matching a specified wildcard field. This will be
discussed in more detail under <F1>-CHDIR.
The VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK
SIZE : 730112
FREE : 272384 section of the screen display provides
the disk specifications for the current disk. VOLUME: is the volume
label field and indicates what volume label, if any, has been attached
to the particular disk currently being accessed by File Commando. SIZE
refers to the total amount of disk space available on the disk, both
occupied and free. FREE refers to the amount of free space available on
the disk. MS-DOS and PC-DOS currently allocate space for each file
based on one kilobyte boundaries, therefore the amount of disk space
free will equal some multiple of 1024k. This is why the total size of
the files can be less than the difference between the space available
and the space free on the disk. This also means that a file can still
be altered and enlarged when FREE : 0, as long as these additions do
not exceed the next 1024k boundary.
The DIRECTORY STATS
FILES 14
BYTES 252788 section of the screen display provides
the number of files in the current directory being displayed and the
total amount of disk space that the directory itself occupies. If a file
pattern other than '*.*' is used to display the file directory, only the
number of files and the combined size of those file shown will be
displayed. As explained above, the number of bytes located in all the
files on the disk will rarely, if ever, equal the difference in the
amount of space available and space free on the disk.
The TAGGED
FILES 0
BYTES 0 section of the screen display provides
the number of files and the total size of the files that have been
tagged by File Commando in the current file directory.
The TODAY'S INFO:
DATE: 2-03-86
DAY : MONDAY
TIME: 23:05 section of the screen display provides
the current date, the corresponding weekday, and the current time that
the system has been initialized with and is using. Computers with
battery operated clocks must, at some time, initialize their clocks with
the correct time and date, whereas other computers, with no such
battery-powered clock, must be initialized with the correct time and
date every time the system is turned on. To reset the date and time on
12
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
the system, File Commando has a CLOCK RESET option under UTILITY
command.
The next major section of interest to you is the 'Space Bar'
commands. These commands, so named because to select one, you must move
the highlighted command field by pressing either the <SPACE BAR> or the
<BACKSPACE> key to the desired command, are located directly underneath
the file listing area of the screen and appear as:
ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY
ATTRIB is used to change or set a file(s) attributes.
This line contains ten commands that are readily accessible to you. The
line directly below the command line gives a brief description of the
currently highlighted command. To move this field across to the right,
simply press the <SPACE BAR>; to move it back to the left, press the
<BACKSPACE> key. When the highlighted field is on the last command on
the line, the UTILITY command, the next press of the <SPACE BAR> will
move the field to the beginning of the line, to the ATTRIB command. The
<BACKSPACE> key works the same way, only in reverse. Once the highlighted
field is on the command that you wish to execute, press <ENTER>. You can
also select any one of these commands but the DISK command by pressing
the alphabetic key corresponding to the first character in the command
name. These eleven commands will be discussed in further detail in
Section 4.
Directly under the two 'space bar' command lines is a line
containing nothing but the characters:
A>
This line is used by various routines, as needed, when additional
information is necessary to execute a specific instruction. The A> in
this case is the current logged disk drive where the current directory
is located.
At the very bottom of the screen, the following line appears:
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
This is the function key line, containing nine 'function key' commands.
These commands are toggled by pressing the indicated function key. The
commands that should be brought to your immediate attention are the
<F1>-CHDIR command, which changes the drive and directory of a disk
being displayed, <F9>-DISPLAY command, which switches the file display
between the current file display to one that shows one file per line
with all relevant file information to its side, and <F10>-QUIT command,
which allows you to escape from File Commando.
13
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 2.1 Global Abort Key
An important key to remember is the <ESCape> key. This key will
allow you to abort any menu without consequence. Of course, the
<ESCape> key is no miracle worker, if you have completed entry of all
necessary information asked for by File Commando and have pressed
<ENTER>, the <ESCape> will have no effect.
The FCAbort key, the Shift PrtScr key, aborts a current or pending
File Commando operation. This is helpful if you chose the option
DELETE ALL UNTAGGED FILES and suddenly realized that that was not what
you wanted to do. This key will not reinstate anything lost before
being pressed, and it is not guaranteed to stop the execution of the
command immediately. For example, if you choose to format a disk and
then change your mind and press the FCAbort key, the format procedure
may have already begun and your disk may be unreadable by any program.
Section 2.2 POPPING Back to File Commando from a running program
The Popback key is the ALT '=' key combination, with both the ALT
key and the equals sign, '=', pressed simultaneously. If you use the
install program and change the default popback key to something else,
when the ALT '=' is mentioned, just substitute in your mind the key you
changed it to. The Popback feature, for those of you who are not
already familiar with it from other programs, permits you to suspend
execution of a program run under the File Commando shell and return
system control to File Commando. The easiest way to explain the
command is to give an example. After pressing <F4> to run your
favorite word processing program from File Commando, you may realize
that there is not enough room on the disk for your newly edited file.
By using the Popback command, the ALT =, you can return to File
Commando and do the necessary operations to help you finish your task.
Under File Commando you can delete files from the disk, format a new
disk to use, or do whatever is needed. You can then use the Popback
key again to return to your program and continue on with what you were
doing.
We cannot guarantee that this routine will work with all programs
or computers. For those of you with MS-DOS machines who are required
to set the INTERRUPT SUPPORT toggle OFF in the INSTALL program,
Pop-Back is not implemented. As for programs that manipulate
interrupts, it is recommended that you try it out before using it with
a important and/or irresplaceable file. Sometimes when this key is
pressed, a low pitched beep will sound. This beep means that the DOS
is currently busy and can't respond immendiately. It can also sound
when there is no file to pop back to. As long as there is a file to
pop back to, keep trying the POPBACK key.
Section 2.3 Bigger Keyboard Buffer
File Commando expands the original 15 character keyboard buffer to
128 characters. This feature is enabled at all times during execution
of File Commando, even during execution of programs under the File
Commando shell).
14
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 3: The Function Key Commands
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
The commands located on the bottom line of the screen are the
'function key' commands. By pressing one of these keys, you will begin
execution of the indicated function. Pressing <ESCape> will abort any
of these commands other than <F3>-TREE ON/OFF which is a toggle key,
<F6>-VIEW which proceeds to view the indicated file, and <F9>-DISPLAY
which switches the file display mode. Most of the information
collected concerns the execution of a command and collection methods
include either one or more menus, data field prompts, or both.
To select an option from any of the following menus, use the
cursor/numeric pad shown in Diagram 2.1 to move the selection up or
down, then press <ENTER> to record your choice. The SELECTION field at
the bottom of the menu should show the number of the option currently
being pointed at by the selection arrow. You can also select an option
by entering the number corresponding to the option that you wish to
execute.
15
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F1>-CHDIR
Pressing <F1> invokes the Change Directory command. File Commando
responds by displaying the following menu in the center of the screen:
╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║ CHDIR MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . CHANGE DIRECTORY ║
║ 2 . RE-READ CURRENT DIRECTORY ║
║ 3 . RE-LOG CURRENT DISK ║
║ 4 . CHANGE FILE SEARCH WILDCARD ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.1: The CHDIR Menu.
For this menu, there are four options. The first is the change
directory option, which allows you to change either the current drive,
the current directory, or both. The second is the reread current
directory option, which re-reads the current directory from the disk.
The third is the re-log current disk option, which re-reads the entire
directory table for the disk. The fourth is the change file search
wildcard option, which changes the current file search pattern.
The Change Directory option allows you to select the drive and
directory that you wish to access. When this option is selected, File
Commando will respond with the query:
A> CHDIR to drive (A-D): A
At this prompt, enter the drive you wish to be logged to. Notice that
the default is the current drive, in this case A. Also notice the drive
values located in parentheses. This is a list of all drives File
Commando currently recognizes as being resident on your system. This
list includes any RAM disks on the system, hard disk drives, 3-1/2
floppy disks, and 5-1/4 floppy disks; in short, any drives the system
notes as existing. Please note that if you exit File Commando after
changing drive or directory, you will be returned to the directory
that you had selected.
If the directory tree display mode has been switched off (the
indicator is located at the bottom of the screen as the <F3>-TREE OFF
command), you will instead be asked to input the drive and directory
where you wish to log to. If an incorrect drive is inputted, or you
begin entering the directory name without entering the drive
specification, File Commando will insert the current directory
specification into the beginning of your directory path name. File
Commando will only accept correctly typed entries. If you cannot
remember the exact path name of the directory that you wish log to,
then use the <F3>-TREE ON toggle to use the following directory tree
display. If the INSTALL program was used to toggle OFF the TREE
SUPPORT, the directory name must be entered into File Commando as
described above.
16
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ >A:\ ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║ │ ║SIZE : 730112║
║ ├CALCULAT─────┤DOCUMENT ║FREE : 272384║
║ │ ╠══════════════════╣
║ ├DESMET ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ │ ║ FILES 14║
║ └WORKAREA─────├SANDI────────├HOMEWORK─────├PROJECTS ║ BYTES 252788║
║ │ │ │ ║TAGGED ║
║ │ │ └ETCETERA ║ FILES 0║
║ │ │ ║ BYTES 0║
║ │ └RECORDS ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ │ ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ └SHANE ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║dn ║ TIME: 23:14 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ DIRECTORY functions: MKDIR and RMDIR. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>Use the cursor keys to move marker, <CR> for selection, ESC to quit█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 3.1: The Directory Tree.
If the directory tree display mode is switched ON (the indicator
can be found at the bottom of the screen as the <F3>-TREE ON command),
the display clears and the current directory tree structure is drawn
onto the screen. The top directory shown is the root directory, which
is named by the current drive where the disk is located. The current
directory is indicated by the directory field, which is in reverse
video on the screen. The cursor keys control the movement of the
directory field. Any directory located to the right of another
directory is subordinate to the directory on its left; all directories
created by the user are subordinate to the drive directory. If there
are more subdirectories located on the disk than is room to display
them, then a down arrow key will be displayed in the bottom lefthand
corner of the directory tree display. Once you have found the
directory you wish to display, move the pointer to it and press
<ENTER>. Pressing <ESCape> will terminate the operation and return you
to the directory where you were previously located.
The Re-Read Current Directory option allows you to re-read the
current directory from the disk in order to update its record of files
and related file information. This is to update the display after a
file has been edited or created, or after a file has been squeezed or
unsqueezed.
The Re-Log Current Disk option allows you to re-initialize the
current drive. This command is used when you swap diskettes, but wish
to stay logged to the same disk.
17
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The Change File Search Wildcard option is responsible for
recognizing and controlling what files are displayed onto the screen
from a particular directory. The current file search pattern is located
on the second line of the screen, directly above the volume label field.
The default value is '*.*', which displays all files located in the
current directory. Setting this field to an alternate wildcard value
would result in only those files in the current directory being read
that conformed with the wildcard specified. For example, if you specify
a wildcard of '*.DAT', File Commando will re-read the directory,
recognizing and displaying only those files that end with the file
extension '.DAT'. This option can be helpful to those with a large
directory of files, but only certain files sharing a common file name
factor that you wish to work with.
A wildcard is denoted by an asterisk, '*', and in this case marks
the remaining positions in the file name open to any legal character. A
question mark, '?', differs from the function of an asterisk in that a
question mark holds the place for any character, but it has no control
on the following character positions in the file. For example, using
the wildcard 'W*.*' means that only those files beginning with a W are
considered. The field 'F?.*' means only those files beginning with the
letter F followed by only one legal file name character followed by any
file extension are related.
When this command is chosen, the following message is displayed:
ENTER NEW FILE SEARCH WILDCARD:
At this point, enter the wild card that you want your files to conform
to and press <ENTER>. The next message displayed is:
RE-READ CURRENT DIRECTORY WITH NEW WILDCARD? Y
Pressing <ENTER> for Yes will re-read the current directory looking for
files conforming to the file search wildcard entered. Pressing N for no
will change the file wildcard, but will postpone re-initializing the
screen directory until the next time the directory is read in by File
Commando. Pressing <ESCape> at this point is like pressing N for no,
the wildcard has been entered, and the next time File Commando re-reads
the directory, the files that will be displayed will reflect that fact.
Notice the current directory statistics only reflects the number
and size of the displayed files only, not all the files on the disk.
Performing this operation is like logging to a new directory on the same
disk; the files of the other directory are on the disk, but you cannot
access them until you switch back to it.
One important note to remember, the file search wildcard is NOT
reset to '*.*' when changing to another directory or disk, so if no file
on the current directory or the directory being read in conforms to the
wildcard specified, a NO FILES IN DIRECTORY message may result.
18
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F2>-SORT
The SORT function, when selected, will display the following menu:
╔═════════════════════════════════╗
║ SORT MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . SET PRIMARY SORT KEY ║
║ 2 . SET SECONDARY SORT KEY ║
║ 3 . SORT FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.2: The Sort Menu.
Under this menu will appear the following line:
A>PRIMARY SORT KEY :=FILENAME [up] SECONDARY SORT KEY :=FILENAME [up]█
Selecting option 1 sets the primary sort key for the sort. Selecting
option 2 sets the secondary sort key for the sort. These two fields are
used to sort the files and subsequently display them based on the file
fields chosen, using the primary sort key to sort all files in ascending
or descending order, and using the secondary sort key to resolve
duplicate primary sort matches. Thus, a good secondary sort key for any
sort is either the file name or file size, since it would be unusual, if
not impossible, for either to be duplicated in the directory exactly.
The arrow following both sort keys indicates the direction the sort will
arrange the files. The choices available are ascending order (signified
by the up arrow key) or descending order (signified by the down arrow
key) order. Selecting option 3 begins sorting the files in the current
directory based on the sort keys entered. The default for both sorts
keys is the file name sorted in ascending order.
If either option 1 or option 2 on the SORT MENU is chosen, the
following menu will appear on the screen:
╔════════════════════════╗
║ SORT KEY MENU ║
╠════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . FILENAME ║
║ 2 . FILESIZE ║
║ 3 . DATE ║
║ 4 . ATTRIBUTE ║
║ 5 . MARK ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.3: The Sort Key Menu.
Selection 1 will set the sort key to filename, sorting the files
alphabetically. Selection 2 will set the sort key to file size and
selection 3 will set the sort key to the date on the file. These are
sorted numerically. Selection 4 will set the sort key to the file's
attribute, which will sort in the order of:
19
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
1-Read only 2-Hidden 3-System 4-(1,2) 5-(1,3)
6-(2,3) 7-(1,2,3) 8-Archive 9-Read/Write
Selection 5 will set the sort key to the file mark state (whether the
file has been tagged or not), with the tagged files appearing first.
Once you choose a sort key, the following message appears on the
screen:
╔══════════════════════════╗
║ SORT ORDER MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . ASCENDING [up] ║
║ 2 . DESCENDING [dn] ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.4: The Sort Order Menu.
Option 1 sorts the files in ascending order, from 0 to 9, from A to Z,
whereas option 2 sorts the files in descending order. After making your
selection, you will be returned to the SORT MENU.
20
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F3>-TREE ON
The TREE ON/OFF command is a toggle which switches ON/OFF the
directory tree structure display. If while under the INSTALL program
you set the TREE SUPPORT toggle to OFF, pressing this key will result in
the following message being displayed:
TREE SUPPORT DISABLED! YOU MUST USE INSTALL TO REACTIVATE
Otherwise, toggling this switch ON/OFF enables or disables,
respectively, the directory tree display. If the directory tree is
disabled, all subsequent selection of directories must be made by typing
in the full path name of the desired directory. This feature is useful
for those of you with large hard disks who wish to copy, delete, or
otherwise modify another disk, but who also don't wish to take the time
for File Commando to read all the directories and sort them. When the
TREE ON label is displayed, all directories are read in from the other
disk and a directory name is selected from the directory tree that is
then displayed. When the TREE OFF label is displayed, entry of a drive
specification and directory name is entered by the user after the
following prompt:
COMMAND to what drive\dir:
This command only accepts correct drive and directory specification
and if no drive is specified, the current drive is entered into the
directory path.
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ >A:\ ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║ │ ║SIZE : 730112║
║ ├CALCULAT─────┤DOCUMENT ║FREE : 272384║
║ │ ╠══════════════════╣
║ ├DESMET ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ │ ║ FILES 14║
║ └WORKAREA─────├SANDI────────├HOMEWORK─────├PROJECTS ║ BYTES 252788║
║ │ │ │ ║TAGGED ║
║ │ │ └ETCETERA ║ FILES 0║
║ │ │ ║ BYTES 0║
║ │ └RECORDS ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ │ ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ └SHANE ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║dn ║ TIME: 23:14 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ DIRECTORY functions: MKDIR and RMDIR. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>Use the cursor keys to move marker, <CR> for selection, ESC to quit█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 3.2: The Directory Tree.
21
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F4>-RUN
This command executes a specified file from under the File
Commando shell. When selected the following message is displayed
onto the screen:
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ RUN MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . RUN CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . RUN A DOS COMMAND/OTHER PROGRAM ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.5: The Run Menu.
Option 1 executes the file that is currently highlighted in the file
directory display. Option 2 executes a DOS command or another
program located elsewhere on the system.
If you select option 1, RUN CURRENT FILE, File Commando will
then execute the program that is currently highlighted in the file
directory listing. The only limitation on this is that only files
with the extensions '.COM', '.EXE', and '.BAT' files can be executed.
If a '.BAT' file is selected for execution, COMMAND.COM must be
available on the disk that you are currently logged onto. Once
execution of the program is finished, control is returned to File
Commando.
When this command is selected, the following line is displayed:
PROGRAM PARAMETERS:
This is where you enter supplementary information necessary for the
selected program to run. Do not re-enter the file name to be executed.
After executing the program to your satisfaction and exiting, the
system will display the following message on the screen:
PRESS ANY KEY TO RETURN TO FILE COMMANDO
After pressing any key, the now familiar screen of File Commando is
redrawn onto your screen.
During execution this command, the Popback key can be a useful
feature. A complete explanation of this function appears in Section 2.1.
If you select option 2, RUN A DOS COMMAND/OTHER PROGRAM, File
Commando will then exit its shell and allows you to execute a DOS
command or a program located on another disk. An example of its
application follows. In some situations, you may wish to copy a
number of tagged files to another disk that does not have enough
space available. In this situation, instead of having to change
directories to delete files to make room, you can simply execute <F3>
and enter DIR plus the drive specification. This will list all the
22
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
files on the drive and directory. From here, you can determine what
files you wish to delete from this disk to make room for your new
files. Next, delete any unwanted files on the disk by pressing <F3>
again and enter the delete command plus the files you wish deleted.
After DOS is finished, you can return to File Commando and use its
COPY command to copy to that disk all the files that you have tagged.
After option 2 is selected, the following message will then
appear on the screen:
PRESS ANY KEY AND THEN ENTER COMMAND!
As the command instructs, just press any key to clear the screen and
type in the DOS command or the program that you wish to execute. Once
it has completed execution, the following message is displayed:
PRESS ANY KEY TO RETURN TO FILE COMMANDO!
After pressing any key, the now familiar screen of File Commando is
redrawn onto your screen.
23
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F5>-MARK
This command tags or untag files. Tagging a file marks the file
and allows you to perform certain operations on the group of tagged (or
untagged) files as a unit. This includes copying, moving, deleting,
sorting, and changing the attributes of the files. Files are
automatically untagged when an operation has been performed on them
using the tag option. Retag will then retag all files that were just
untagged during execution of a command using the tag option.
To tag or untag the current file, there is no need to press
<F5>-MARK. The plus key, <+>, and the equal sign key, <=>, will tag the
current file highlighted in the file directory listing. An asterisk,
'*', will then appear immediately to the left of the file name that you
have just tagged. To the side of the file directory display, the TAGGED
files section will then be incremented by one and the file size section
will be incremented by the size of the newly tagged file. To untag the
current file, simply press the minus key, <->. This will remove the
asterisk at the side of the file name, and also decrement the number of
tagged files and the tagged size.
When <F5>-MARK is selected, the <+> or <-> keys cannot be used to
tag or untag a file. Instead, <F5> tags or untags a file or files based
on a wildcard pattern. After selecting the <F5>-MARK option, the
following menu is displayed:
╔══════════════════════╗
║ MARK MENU ║
╠══════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . TAG FILES ║
║ 2 . UNTAG FILES ║
║ 3 . RETAG FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════╝
Menu 3.6: The Mark Menu.
Selection 1 is the TAG option, which lets you mark specified files
for later group consideration. Selection 2 is the UNTAG option, which
lets you take the tag marking off of a file or files that you wish to
remove from consideration as a group. Selection 3 is the RETAG option,
which re-tags files that were previously tagged but were untagged due to
execution of a command using the tagged file option.
24
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
When either selection 1 or selection 2 is chosen, the following
menu is then displayed:
╔════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ TAG / UNTAG KEY MENU ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . BY FILENAME ║
║ 2 . BY DATE (BEFORE, ON, OR AFTER) ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.7: The Tag/Untag Key Menu.
If you want to tag a file or files by their file name
characteristics, select option 1 from the preceding menu. When selected,
File Commando will respond with:
A>ENTER WILDCARD: FC*.*
You must then enter the file name or file wildcard specifications that
you wish to have tagged. Just for clarification, a wildcard allows any
or no characters to take the remaining places in the filename. For
instance, '*.EXE' will tag all file names with the file name extension
'.EXE', whereas 'C*.*' will tag any file beginning with the letter C.
If you select to tag or untag by date, File Commando will prompt
you with the message:
A>ENTER DATE: 00/00/00
At this point, enter the key date. If you wish to tag files falling
before or after a particular date, remember to make the day one day
later or earlier then the first day you wish tagged.
Once you enter this date, File Commando will then display the
following menu:
╔════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ TAG / UNTAG BY DATE SELECTION ║
╠════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . BEFORE DATE ║
║ 2 . ON DATE ║
║ 3 . AFTER DATE ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.8: The Tag/Untag By Date Selection Menu.
Selection 1 will tag or untag all files with a date falling before the
date entered. Selection 2 will tag or untag all files with a date
identical to that which you had just entered. Selection 3 will tag or
untag all files with a date falling after the date entered.
25
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
After pressing <ENTER>, File Commando will find and tag, untag, or
retag all files indicated. A tagged file is recognized by the asterisk,
'*', immediately preceding the first character of the file name. In the
tag operation shown, the tag operation was based on file names that
matched the wildcard 'F*.*'. Notice that in the TAGGED file section,
the total number of tagged files is recorded, along with their combined
sizes. This is helpful when you wish to copy a number of files to
another disk and/or directory, and need to know how much room is needed
on the target disk where you wish to copy them to.
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ FILENAME FILESIZE DATE TIME ATTRIBUTE ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║> COMMAND .COM 15957 11-10-1983 12:03a . . . ARC ║SIZE : 730112║
║ DOC .DOC 4106 01-01-1980 02:22a . . . ARC ║FREE : 272384║
║ *FC .EXE 64000 02-03-1986 10:32a . . . ARC ╠══════════════════╣
║ *FC1 .SCR 2560 01-01-1980 12:37a . . . ARC ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ *FCDOC .PG1 11382 01-01-1980 12:45a . . . ARC ║ FILES 14║
║ *FCDOC .PG2 27671 01-01-1980 12:49a . . . ARC ║ BYTES 252788║
║ *FCDOC .PG3 23903 01-01-1980 12:16a . . . ARC ║TAGGED ║
║ *FCDOC .PG4 22310 01-01-1980 12:06a . . . ARC ║ FILES 7║
║ *FCDOC .PG5 4203 01-01-1980 12:04a . . . ARC ║ BYTES 156029║
║ IO .SYS 8192 03-14-1985 02:27p R H S ARC ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ LPTX .COM 7808 10-27-1985 12:37a . . . ARC ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ MSDOS .SYS 17176 05-16-1984 11:32a R H S ARC ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║ P1 .S 0 01-01-1980 12:01a . . . . ║ TIME: 23:09 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ ATTRIB is used to change or set a file(s) attributes. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 3.3: The File Commando 'long form' screen with files fitting the
description 'F*.*' marked.
26
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F6>-VIEW
The <F6>-VIEW command allows you to list a file sequentially onto
the screen. Before selecting this command, be sure the file you wish to
view is highlighted by the file field. When the <F6> key is pressed,
the screen clears and begins listing the current file. Currently, only
the first 80 characters on each line are displayed, if more exist on the
line a '->' will appear in column 80. All tabs are expanded to 4 blank
characters. The screen appears in the following format:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ VIEWING FILENAME. ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
(contents of file)
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ F1 -- NEXT LINE F2 -- NEXT PAGE F10 -- QUIT ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Screen 3.4: The VIEW command screen.
Notice at the bottom of the screen appears the command line. There
are three options. To scroll the file one line downward, press the
<F1> Next Line instruction. To scroll the screen one video page
downward, press the <F2> Next Page instruction. To quit viewing the
file and return to File Commando, press F<10> Quit key. As you can
see, this only allows you to view a file sequentially, from top to
bottom. If this is not satisfactory, and you wish to be able to page
through the file at will, use the EDIT command under the 'Space Bar'
commands. This will view any file, but if you attempt to look at a
'.COM' file or a '.EXE' file, only garbage will be shown on the screen.
If you attempt to view a squeezed file, the message:
filename IS A SQUEEZED FILE.
will be displayed. Viewing a squeezed file will be supported in a later
version.
When TREE SUPPORT is toggled OFF from the INSTALL program, the VIEW
command can do something else, also. When the TREE SUPPORT toggle is in
the OFF position, the files are displayed with all subdirectories in the
listing marked as DIRECTORY. If <F6>-VIEW is pressed while the file
field is on one of these directory entries, File Commando will log to
that subdirectory. The file listing will also include the doubledot,
'..', and the dot, '.', directories. The double-dot directory is the
parent directory, the dot directory is the directory where you are
currently logged. By pressing <F6>-VIEW while the file field is on one
of these two, you can log back to the parent directory of your current
one, or relog to the current directory.
27
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F7>-FIND Command
The message displayed when the <F7>-FIND command is selected is as
follows:
FIND is used to find a file in the current directory or anywhere on a disk.
This command will let you look for a file anywhere in the current
directory, anywhere on the current disk, or anywhere on any specified
disk on any drive. It will also search for a particular subdirectory
name. After selecting this command, the following menu appears on the
File Commando screen:
╔═════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ FIND MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . FIND FILE IN CURRENT DIRECTORY ║
║ 2 . FIND A FILE ON A DISK ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 3.9: The Find Menu.
Selection 1 allows you to search for a file on the current
directory. This is helpful when you have a large number of files in a
directory. This can also help when you wish to rename a file, and need
to know if the name appears somewhere else in the directory. This
routine allows you to enter either a specific file name, or a specified
wild card field. When and if the file is found in the directory, the
following prompt is displayed:
A>FOUND FC.EXE. CONTINUE SEARCH (Y/N)? N
Answering N for no will quit searching the directory and place the file
cursor at the file found. Answering Y for yes will continue the search.
Else if no file matching the description you gave can be found, File
Commando will display the following message:
A>I'M SORRY YOU COULD NOT FIND YOUR FILE.
Selection 2 allows you to search for a specific filename on any
disk. This can be helpful in finding a file when you have no idea
where it could be on your disks, or it can help protect a file with the
same name from being overwritten by alerting you that there is a file
by that name on the specified disk and directory. Once you select this
option the following prompt will be displayed:
ENTER FILENAME / WILDCARD:
After entering a legal filename or filename with an appropriate wildcard,
File Commando will respond with the prompt:
SEARCH ON WHAT DRIVE (A-D)?
After selecting the desired drive (note that the default is the current
drive), File Commando will commence searching for the designated file(s).
28
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The following message is displayed while File Commando searches the disk.
SEARCHING ==> C:\subdirectory name
Once File Commando finds a file name that conforms to the
specifications set above, the following message is then displayed:
A>FOUND A:\WORKAREA\SANDI\FC.DOC. CONTINUE SEARCH (Y/N)? N
In this message, the directory in which the file was found is displayed
as part of the path name for the file. In the example above, FC.DOC was
found on drive A:, in the subdirectory WORKAREA\SANDI.
The default to the previous query is no, which if entered will
return you to the former directory. If this was not the file you were
looking for, or you need to see if it is elsewhere on the disk, under a
different subdirectory, enter Y for yes. File Commando will then begin
searching for the filename from that point in the disk onward.
If no file is found on the disk that matches the one you wished to
find, File Commando will respond with the message:
A>I'M SORRY YOU COULD NOT FIND YOUR FILE.
29
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F9>-DISPLAY
Choosing <F9>, the Directory Display option from the function key
commands, switches the directory display between the two formats offered
by File Commando. The first directory display is based on the
assumption that there are a large number of files resident in the
current directory (as might be the case on a large hard disk), and that
it would be useful to be able to see as many as possible at once. If
more files are resident in the directory than are shown on the screen,
the arrow keys,as described in the introduction to the screen (see
diagram 2.1 and the following explanation), will move the screen up or
down by one line, up or down by pages, or to the beginning or end of
the directory listing. Under the 'short form' of the directory
listing, you can also move from left to right to each individual file.
As stated previously, File Commando comes up under the 'short
form' file display mode. If this does not display the file information
you wish to see, press <F9> to switch the display to the 'long form',
which shows the file name, the file size, the date and time attached to
the file, and the attributes of a file, if any. At the beginning of the
file name will appear an asterisk, '*', if the file had been previously
tagged. Movement through the directory is almost identical to that of
the 'short form', except that the left and right arrow keys have no use
under the longer, one-file-to-each-line display. Pressing <F9> again
will return the file display to the 'short form' display.
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ FILENAME FILESIZE DATE TIME ATTRIBUTE ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║> COMMAND .COM 15957 11-10-1983 12:03a . . . ARC ║SIZE : 730112║
║ DOC .DOC 4106 01-01-1980 02:22a . . . ARC ║FREE : 272384║
║ FC .EXE 64000 02-03-1986 10:32a . . . ARC ╠══════════════════╣
║ FC1 .SCR 2560 01-01-1980 12:37a . . . ARC ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ FCDOC .PG1 11382 01-01-1980 12:45a . . . ARC ║ FILES 14║
║ FCDOC .PG2 27671 01-01-1980 12:49a . . . ARC ║ BYTES 252788║
║ FCDOC .PG3 23903 01-01-1980 12:16a . . . ARC ║TAGGED ║
║ FCDOC .PG4 22310 01-01-1980 12:06a . . . ARC ║ FILES 0║
║ FCDOC .PG5 4203 01-01-1980 12:04a . . . ARC ║ BYTES 0║
║ IO .SYS 8192 03-14-1985 02:27p R H S ARC ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ LPTX .COM 7808 10-27-1985 12:37a . . . ARC ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ MSDOS .SYS 17176 05-16-1984 11:32a R H S ARC ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║ P1 .S 0 01-01-1980 12:01a . . . . ║ TIME: 23:09 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ ATTRIB is used to change or set a file(s) attributes. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 3.4: The 'Long Form' directory file display of File Commando.
30
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
<F10>-QUIT
Entering this command allows you to exit from File Commando. When
entered, the line:
A> EXIT FILE COMMANDO? N
appears. Notice that the default is N for no, which when entered will
return you to File Commando. If you truly wish to exit the program, at
this prompt, type a <Y> and press <ENTER>. You will then be returned
to DOS.
31
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 29 JANUARY 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 4: The Space Bar Commands
ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY
Each of the following commands, called 'space bar' commands, are
selected by moving the highlighted command field to the desired command
and pressing <ENTER>. To move the field to the right, press the <SPACE
BAR>, to move the field back to the left, use the <BACKSPACE> key.
You can also execute one of these commands by pressing the key
corresponding to the initial character in the command name. In the
case of DISK, activation can only occur by using the spacebar. Many of
these commands have menus associated with them. If a command is chosen
by accident, you can exit the command by pressing <ESCape>, as long as
you have not completely entered all information required by the command
and have not yet pressed <ENTER>.
Once under a command menu, to move the selection arrow upward,
press the up arrow key, to move the selection arrow downward, press the
down arrow key (as shown in Diagram 2.1). When the selection arrow is
pointing at the desired option, press <ENTER> to select that particular
option. If you wish, you can also just enter the number corresponding
to the selection that you wish to execute, instead of using the cursor
keys.
32
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
ATTRIB command
When this command is highlighted, the following message appears on
the next line, called the command message line:
ATTRIB is used to change or set a file(s) attributes.
A file's attribute is a one byte flag maintained in the directory entry
for a file. Its purpose is to enable files to be marked for special
treatment under DOS. The file attributes allowed are the read/write
attribute, the read only attribute, the system file attribute, the
hidden file attribute, and the archive attribute. The Read/Write
attribute allows for normal access to a file and no special mark is
necessary. The Read only attribute only allows the file to be read
from, not written to or changed. The System file attribute is for
special system files. The Hidden file attribute hides the file from
DOS' view. For example, IBMBIO.COM and IBMDOS.COM are two files that
are located on some MS-DOS boot disks, but they will not show up when
a DOS DIRectory command is issued, because their attributes mark them as
hidden. The Archive attribute is used by DOS to mark a file that has
been changed (see COPY - BACKUP command appearing later in this
section).
Each file's attribute is displayed under the 'long form' of the
directory display, visible when <F9>-DISPLAY is toggled.
Selecting the ATTRIB option will display the following menu onto
the screen:
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ATTRIBUTE CHANGE MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . CHANGE ATTRIBUTE OF CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . CHANGE ATTRIBUTE OF TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . CHANGE ATTRIBUTE OF UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.1: The Attribute Change Menu.
Selection 1 allows you to modify the attribute of the current file,
Selection 2 allows you to modify the attribute of all tagged files, and
Selection 3 allows you to modify the attribute of any untagged files in
the directory.
33
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Once one of these three options has been selected, the following
menu will appear on the screen:
╔════════════════════════════════════╗
║ ATTRIBUTE(s) MENU ║
╠════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . SET FILE TO READ ONLY. ║
║ 2 . SET FILE TO HIDDEN. ║
║ 3 . SET FILE TO SYSTEM. ║
║ 4 . SET FILE TO 1 & 2. ║
║ 5 . SET FILE TO 1 & 3. ║
║ 6 . SET FILE T0 2 & 3. ║
║ 7 . SET FILE TO 1, 2, & 3. ║
║ 8 . SET FILE TO ARCHIVE. ║
║ 9 . SET FILE TO NO ATTRIBUTE ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.2: The Attribute(s) Menu
Selection 1 will set the file's attribute to read only, Selection 2
will set it to hidden and Selection 3 will set it to system attribute.
Selection 4 will set a file's attribute equal to both read only and
hidden, Selection 5 will set it to both read only and system, and
Selection 6 will set it equal to both hidden and system attributes.
Selection 7 will set the file's attribute to all three; read only,
hidden, and system. Selection 8 will set the file's attribute to that
of archive, and Selection 9 will set the attribute to the normal file
attribute, read & write attribute which has no identifying label. After
a selection is made, the following message is displayed:
SETTING filename TO ...... attribute
The filename in the above message is the file whose attribute is being
changed by File Commando; the attribute is the attribute that you have
chosen to change it to. After the operation is done, the screen is then
returned to the normal File Commando display.
34
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
COPY command
The message displayed by the copy command when highlighted is:
COPY is used to backup, copy, or move a file(s).
This command is responsible for copying, moving and backing-up files to
other disks or to other directories. Copy can operate on the current
file, on a multiple number of tagged files, or on all files not tagged
by File Commando. When this option is chosen, the following menu
appears:
╔═════════════════════════════════╗
║ COPY MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . COPY FILE(S) ║
║ 2 . MOVE FILE(S) ║
║ 3 . BACKUP FILES (ARCHIVE) ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.3: The Copy Menu.
The copy files option, selection 1, will allow you to make an exact
copy of the file. This includes transfer of its current attribute,
date and time. It will copy this to another drive or to another
directory on the same disk, without deleting the file in the current
directory. You cannot copy, however, to the same directory since that
would effectively mean overwriting the original. Two files cannot have
the same file name in the same directory on the same disk.
When the copy option is selected, the screen then displays the
following menu:
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ COPY FILES MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . COPY CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . COPY TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . COPY UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.4: The Copy Files Menu.
After choosing one of the three options above, the following prompt
appears:
A>COPY to drive (A-D): A
After selecting the drive where you wish to copy your files, you are
then shown the directory tree structure of the disk which you had
selected. Here you must select the particular directory where you wish
your files to be copied to. Just move the directory cursor, using the
35
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
cursor keys, to the desired directory and press <ENTER>. File Commando
will then copy all indicated files to the chosen drive and directory.
The move files option, selection 2 on the COPY MENU, allows you to
move an exact copy of the file or files to another directory or drive.
This differs from COPY in that it erases the file from the current
directory after the move has taken place. This is used when you wish
to clean up your working directories by moving less-used files to other
subdirectories or another disk.
When selected, the screen then displays the following menu:
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ MOVE MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . MOVE CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . MOVE TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . MOVE UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.5: The Move Menu.
After choosing one of the three options above from the MOVE MENU, the
following prompt appears:
A>MOVE to drive (A-D): A
After selecting the drive where you wish to move your files, you are
then shown the directory structure of the disk which you have just
selected. Here you must select the directory where you wish your files
to be moved to. Just position the directory cursor, using the cursor
keys, to the desired directory and press <ENTER>. The move command
will then move the desired files to that location, deleting them from
the current directory as they are moved. So, in case you attempt to
move more files than can be accomodated on the chosen disk, only those
files actually moved will be deleted, and the files still remaining
will be left unchanged.
The backup option, selection 3 on the COPY MENU, is used to back up
ARChive files located on the current directory to another disk. It
then removes the ARC attribute from the file name. When selected, the
system finds all ARC files in the directory and copies them to another
directory and/or disk. When invoked, it displays the following prompt:
A>BACKUP files to what drive (A-D): A
First, notice that all recognized drives are listed in the parentheses.
Secondly, the default drive is the current drive. After selecting a
drive, it will ask you to select the directory where you wish your files
backed up to. You may not backup files to the same directory. After
the files have been backed up, the ARC attribute specification is
stripped from the files in the current directory.
36
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
DELETE command
The message displayed when the Delete command is highlighted
follows:
DELETE is used to delete a file(s).
Selecting this command permits you to remove a file from the current
directory. Several options are offered, as shown below:
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ DELETE MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . DELETE CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . DELETE TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . DELETE UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ 4 . DELETE TAGGED FILES WITH QUERY ║
║ 5 . DELETE UNTAGGED FILES WITH QUERY ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.6: The Delete Menu.
Selection 1 will delete the current file (the file at which the cursor
arrow is pointing in the current file listing window). Selection 2
will delete all files currently tagged by File Commando. After choosing
selection 2, the message displayed while deleting the files is:
A>Deleting filename...
Selection 3 will delete all files not currently tagged by File
Commando. If you choose selection 3, File Commando will display the
files being deleted in the same manner as above. You may be able to
abort this operation by pressing the ALT '=' keys simultaneously but
this will not restore the files that were deleted before the ALT '='
was pressed. Selection 4 provides for deleting all tagged files, with
a query provided before deleting each. This will look like this:
DELETE filename (Y/N)? N
Entering Y for yes will delete the file; entering N for no will not.
This is repeated for all indicated files, providing you with more
control over the process, protecting you from irrevocably deleting a
file through careless oversight. Selection 5 provides for the same
control in deleting all files not tagged by File Commando.
37
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
DISK Command
When the DISK command is highlighted on the space-bar line, the
following message is then displayed:
DISK functions: MKDIR, RMDIR, and VOLUME LABEL.
When this command is chosen the following menu appears on the screen:
╔══════════════════════════════╗
║ DISK UTILITIES MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . MKDIR ║
║ 2 . RMDIR ║
║ 3 . VOLUME LABEL ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.8: The Disk Utilities Menu.
Selection 1 on the DISK Menu is the MKDIR option. This command
will create a new directory on any drive, at any point in the
directory tree structure. When selected, the following message
is displayed:
A>MKDIR to drive (A-D): A
File Commando can verify how many drives are defined by to the system,
this value is the maximum value you can specify. The default drive is
the current logged disk.
After you input the preferred drive, File Commando will then
display the complete directory tree on the chosen disk. If more
directory entries are defined than can be displayed at once on the
screen, the display will have a down arrow at the bottom of the current
display. Moving the cursor down past this point, using the down arrow
key, will display the next group of directories until all are displayed.
Moving the cursor back up the tree structure is done by using the up
arrow key. Notice that all second-level directories are lined up in
the leftmost column on the screen directly under the current drive
directory, designated by the current drive name followed by a colon,
':', and a front slash. The current drive directory is the only first
level directory on the disk with all other directories on the disk
subordinate to it. This directory will always appear at the top of the
directory tree listing. Directories appearing to the right of these
directories are subordinate to them and are referred to as their
subdirectories. The lines drawn on the screen between the directory
entries show the tree structure of the disk. Under the directory tree
display, appears an instruction line. The symbol <CR> stands for
carriage return, or in other words <ENTER>.
38
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 1 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╦══════════════════╗
║FILES IN A:\ ║FILE: *.* ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╬══════════════════╣
║ >A:\ ║VOLUME:SANDI'S_DSK║
║ │ ║SIZE : 730112║
║ ├CALCULAT─────┤DOCUMENT ║FREE : 272384║
║ │ ╠══════════════════╣
║ ├DESMET ║DIRECTORY STATS ║
║ │ ║ FILES 14║
║ └WORKAREA─────├SANDI────────├HOMEWORK─────├PROJECTS ║ BYTES 252788║
║ │ │ │ ║TAGGED ║
║ │ │ └ETCETERA ║ FILES 0║
║ │ │ ║ BYTES 0║
║ │ └RECORDS ║TODAY'S INFO: ║
║ │ ║ DATE: 2-03-86 ║
║ └SHANE ║ DAY : MONDAY ║
║dn ║ TIME: 23:14 ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╩══════════════════╣
║ ATTRIB COPY DELETE DISK EDIT INFO MATH PRINT RENAME SPACE UTILITY ║
║ DISK functions: MKDIR, RMDIR and VOLUME LABEL. ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║A>Use the cursor keys to move marker, <CR> for selection, ESC to quit█ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
F1-CHDIR F2-SORT F3-TREE ON F4-RUN F5-MARK F6-VIEW F7-FIND F9-DISPLAY F10-QUIT
Screen 4.2: The Directory Tree Structure.
To place the proposed directory in the first sublevel of
directories, move the cursor to the current drive directory at the top
of the directory tree structure and press <ENTER>. If you wish the new
directory to be subordinate to another directory, move the cursor to
the directory in which you wish the new directory to appear, then press
<ENTER>. For example, in the directory tree listed above, to place a
new directory LIBRARY in the DESMET directory, move the directory
pointer to DESMET and press <ENTER>. You will then be asked to:
A>Enter name of directory to make:
A directory name follows the same rules as file names. It can be up to
eight characters in length, followed by a period and a three character
extension using any character permitted in a file name. The name of the
directory, as the name of a file, should be meaningful and logical.
Using silly, senseless names can make it hard to remeber what is located
in it and can cause misunderstanding. Do not enter the drive
specification or the path name. The only limits to the number of
directory levels is that the resulting complete file path, including the
file name itself, must be less than 66 characters in length.
Selection 2 of the DISK Menu is the RMDIR option. This command
will remove a specified directory from any drive and from any point in
the directory tree structure. When selected, the following message is
displayed:
A>RMDIR to drive (A-D): A
39
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
After entering the drive containing the disk where the directory is
located that you wish removed, the file display screen will clear and
then display the current directory tree structure of the disk in
question. Only directories which are empty of files and subdirectories
can be deleted. This is a safeguard protecting you from accidentally
deleting a subdirectory with important files or with other
subdirectories in it. This is shown above. Now move the cursor to the
directory you wish to delete. Press <ENTER> and File Commando will
then display the name of the directory that was removed. The only
directory that cannot be removed by File Commando is the root
directory. If this act is attempted, the following warning is
displayed:
A>YOU CANNOT REMOVE A ROOT DIRECTORY!
Selection 3 on the DISK Menu is the VOLUME LABEL option. This
option appends a volume label to the disk chosen. If one currently
exists, this command renames the volume to the new name given. If this
option is selected, the following prompt appears:
A>CREATE OR CHANGE VOLUME LABEL ON DRIVE (A-D): A
The default value is the disk where you happen to currently be logged.
The current volume label for the current disk can be found on the
VOLUME line of the File Commando display screen (on the right side of
the screen, on the second line, below FILE: *.* line).
If no volume label has previously been specified for this
particular disk, the following message will be displayed:
A>NO VOLUME LABEL FOUND. ENTER VOLUME LABEL:
Else if the disk currently has a volume label, the following message
will be displayed:
A>CURRENT VOLUME LABEL ON DRIVE A is 'SANDI'S_DSK'. ENTER NEW ONE:
A volume label is useful in identifying each disk; a unique disk
label is a name tag. This volume label, once entered by File Commando
will remain on the disk chosen until removed. The volume label appears
on the screen in many DOS commands like DIR, CHKDSK, or VOL. A volume
label can be 1 to 11 characters in length, conforming to the rules
specified by DOS for file names. No period is allowed, however. The
volume label must begin with an alphabetic character and can only
contain the characters:
A - Z, 0 - 9, ! @ # $ % ^ & ( ) ` ' _ - ~ { }
After entering a valid volume label for the disk, File Commando
will respond with the message:
A>CONGRATULATIONS! F_COMMANDO born at 2:11:49 on 1-29-86.
After pressing <ENTER> or any other key, this name will be placed on
the volume label line of the File Commando screen.
40
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
EDIT command
The message displayed when the EDIT command is highlighted is as
follows:
EDIT is used to edit an ASC file or patch (hex edit) a binary file.
When this command is selected, the following menu appears on the
screen:
╔═════════════════════════════╗
║ EDIT / PATCH MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . EDIT CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . EDIT NEW FILE ║
║ 3 . PATCH CURRENT FILE ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.13: The Edit/Patch Menu.
Selection 1 is the EDIT CURRENT FILE option. This allows you to
enter the built-in editor to modify the file that is currently being
pointed to in the file directory section of the screen. Selection 2 is
the EDIT NEW FILE option. This allows you to create a new file and
edit it. Selection 3 is the PATCH CURRENT FILE option. This allows
you to modify disk sectors associated with a particular file.
The Editor that is available in this program is rudimentary text
processor. It is not intended to replace your favorite word processor
for typing long documents or programs. Instead, it is available to
make quick corrections to a file, or to type a short note without
having to first find, load and execute your word processing package or
text editor. It can only edit files up to 30k in length. The function
of the editor is discussed further in Section 5.
The Patch command available in File Commando is a disk sector
editor. It will be discussed further in Section 6.
41
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
INFO Command
The message displayed when the INFO command is highlighted is as
follows:
INFO shows the current environment settings of File Commando.
When this command is selected, the following menu appears on the
screen:
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ CURRENT FILE COMMANDO SETTINGS ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ MONITOR TYPE.................................COLOR / MONOCHROME ║
║ DISPLAY METHOD.......................................MEMORY MAP ║
║ POP BACK KEY............................................ALT '=' ║
║ TREE SUPPORT.................................................ON ║
║ INTERRUPT SUPPORT............................................ON ║
║ MAXIMUM DIRECTORY ENTRIES...................................256 ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ THE SETTINGS CAN BE CHANGED WITH THE FILE COMMANDO INSTALL PROGRAM. ║
║ PLEASE SEE INSTALLATION SECTION IN DOCUMENTATION FILE FOR DETAILS. ║
╠═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE. ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
This display is for your information only. To change any of this
information, you must exit File Commando and execute the INSTALL program
provided with File Commando. Each of these fields are elaborated upon
in the Installation section of the Documentation.
42
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Math Command
The message displayed by the Math command when highlighted is:
MATH is a scientific RPN calculator.
This command invokes a full-screen calculator based on the Hewlett-
Packard calculator operations. More complete and detailed information
on the operation of this calculator, dubbed Math Commando, follows in
Section 7. As you enter Math Commando, if NUM LOCK is not toggled on,
a beep will sound and the following message will appear:
NUM LOCK NOT ON
Press any key to clear this message. After NUM LOCK is activated,
number entry uses the number/cursor keypad of the PC computers.
An important key to remember is the quit key. This is the <ESCape>
key. This quits the calculator and returns control to File Commando.
43
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
PRINT command
The message displayed when the PRINT command is highlighted is as
follows:
PRINT is used to print an (ASC) file(s).
Do not select this command if you have no printer installed on your
system.
When this command is selected, the following menu is displayed
onto your screen:
╔═══════════════════════════════╗
║ PRINT MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . PRINT CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . PRINT TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . PRINT UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.14: The Print Menu.
Selection 1 prints the current file. Selection 2 prints all tagged
files. Selection 3 prints any files not tagged by File Commando. Once
one of these three options are selected, File Commando begins printing
the indicated files. All files that are to be printed out must be in
ASCII format. Wordstar-like control characters will not be translated,
but graphics characters are recognized. Any printer redirection
programs already in operation before execution of this command will
work to redirect any and all file output to a disk file instead of the
hard copy device. As a last warning, be sure a printer is attached and
initialized, the power is turned on, and enough paper is available to
print the specified files. If this warning is not heeded, your system
may or may not lock up.
44
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
RENAME command
The message displayed when the RENAME command is highlighted is as
follows:
RENAME is used to rename a file or a sub directory.
As the message states, this command allows you to change a file name or
a subdirectory name to one you feel is more appropriate. This command
will not allow you to rename the root directory (the one named by the
drive specification), to rename one file to another file name that
appears on the same disk and directory, or attempt to remove a file
from one drive or directory and place it into another by virtue of its
name. Wildcards are not used rename a file, either. When this command
is selected, the following message is displayed:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ RENAME MENU ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . RENAME CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . RENAME A SUB DIRECTORY (DOS >= 3.0) ║
║ 3 . RENAME USING WILDCARD ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.15: The Rename Menu.
Selection 1 renames the current file. Selection 2 renames a
selected subdirectory. Selection 3 allows the use of wildcards to
rename a file.
After choosing selection 1, the Rename Current File option, the
following prompt is displayed:
A>New name:
This field allows for the input of twelve characters, which is the
limit for a valid filename. The first eight characters can be any of
the following:
A - Z, 0 - 9, ! @ # $ % ^ & ( ) ` ' _ - ~ { }
This is followed by a period, '.', then a three character file name
extension, which can contain any of the above legal file name
characters. A file name should have some meaning. It is wise to adopt
some sort of informal file naming rules for yourself and stick to them.
Some people name their data files by their creation dates, others name
them by their purpose. By using logically derived names instead of
silly, whimsical ones, you may save yourself some extra time and
headaches later on when you need to figure out what they mean.
After choosing Selection 2, the Rename Subdirectory option, the
following prompt is displayed:
RENAME to drive (A-D): A
45
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.00 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
After choosing Selection 2, the Rename Subdirectory option, the
following prompt is displayed:
RENAME to drive (A-D): A
Subdirectories can only be renamed if you are currently running DOS 3.0
or higher. Otherwise, after entering the new directory name an error
message will be displayed onto the screen. This is not a fatal error,
just press <ENTER> to continue. After typing in the drive that
contains the directory you wish renamed, press <ENTER>. The display
will then show the directory tree structure of the chosen disk. Move
the directory cursor to the directory entry you wish renamed, then
press <ENTER>. The following prompt will then be displayed:
A>ENTER NEW DIRECTORY NAME:
Subdirectory names conform to the same naming conventions as file
names. A directory name can be up to eight characters in length
followed by a period and a three character extension. All legal file
name characters are allowed. A subdirectory name can be the same as
another as long as its path name is different. In other words, a
subdirectory name can be repeated, but only under a different parent
directory. This practice is not recommended since it can become
confusing later. Try to make your subdirectory names as mnemonic and
logical as possible to avoid later confusion.
The only directory that cannot be renamed is the root directory,
designated by the drive specification. When you attempt to rename this
directory, the following error message is displayed:
A>YOU CANNOT RENAME A ROOT DIRECTORY!█
After selecting option 3, The Rename Files Using A Wildcard
function, the following prompt is displayed onto the screen:
RENAME FILES MATCHING WILDCARD: _
This wildcard entry should correspond with the files that you wish
to rename in a similar fashion. After entering a suitable wildcard
specification, the following prompt will appear to the right side of
the previous prompt:
TO _
This entry should correspond to the file name wildcard that you wish
the indicated files to be renamed to. For example, if you select to
use a wildcard to rename all files in the directory ending with the
extension .DOC to files with the extension .TXT, your response to the
should be *.DOC and your response to the second prompt should be *.TXT.
46
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
SPACE command
The message displayed when the SPACE command is highlighted is as
follows:
SPACE is used to find out available disk space on another disk.
This command is used to find out how much space is available on another
disk, without forcing you to log to a new disk for this information.
The amount of space given when asked is the amount of free space on the
disk (see Section 2 on FREE: ). When this command is selected, the
following message appears on the screen:
A>Free space for which drive: (A-D): B
After entering the particular disk drive specification that you wish
information on, File Commando will return with the free storage space
available on the chosen disk. This appears as:
A>DISK SPACE AVAILABLE ON DRIVE 'B' is 262144
This command is useful when you wish to copy or backup a
particular file or files to another disk, and a specified amount of
disk space is needed. If not enough disk space is currently available,
you can then log to that disk and delete files to make room or to
remain logged to the same directory and search other disks for the
required disk space.
47
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
UTILITY command
The message displayed when the UTILITY command is highlighted is
as follows:
UTILITY functions: ABORT RUNNING PROGRAM, SET DATE & TIME and SQ/USQ.
The UTILITY command is a catch-all section responsible for making
available various utilities that are useful for computer or file
maintenance and that do not readily fit under another category. The
utility functions currently available are the SET DATE AND TIME, and
the SQUEEZE/UNSQUEEZE.
If the UTILITY function is selected, the following menu appears on
your screen:
╔═════════════════════════════════╗
║ UTILITIES MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . ABORT RUNNING PROGRAM ║
║ 2 . SET DATE AND TIME ║
║ 3 . SQUEEZE/UNSQUEEZE ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.16: The Disk Utilities Menu.
Selection 1 is the ABORT RUNNING PROGRAM option. This command
allows you to abort a program that you have executed via the <F4>
command. This command is not guaranteed to work 100% of the time on all
files; it should only be used as a last resort. For example, if you
execute a program and it locks, first pop back to File Commando using
the ALT '=' key. Then try using this command to abort execution.
Selection 2 on the UTILITIES Menu is the SET DATE AND TIME option.
This option allows you to reset the time, the date, or both on the
computer system clock. The system time, as it is on the computer
itself, is displayed in what is called 'military time'. The system of
time we normally use in everyday life is based on two sets of 12 hours,
AM and PM. Military time is based on one set of 24 hours, where 1:00
AM is 1:00 and 1:00 PM is 13:00. Just remember, if the hour is later
than 12:00 noon, add twelve hours to the time to get the correct time
to input into the system clock. To read the correct time from the
screen, just remember to subtract twelve hours from any hour appearing
greater than 12:59.
48
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
If this option is chosen, the following menu appears on the
screen:
╔═══════════════════════════╗
║ DATE / TIME MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . SET DATE ║
║ 2 . SET TIME ║
║ 3 . SET BOTH ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.17: The Date/Time Menu.
After selecting one of the above options, press <ENTER>. If you have
chosen option 1, SET DATE, the following prompt appears on the
information line:
A>ENTER SYSTEM DATE: 00/00/0000
Enter today's date with the first two digits representing the month
number (1 for January through 12 for December), the next two digits
representing the day in the month (maximum of 31, 30 or 29, or 28,
depending on the month and year), and the last four digits representing
the year. The computer system will not accept a date of before January
1, 1980 or a date past December 31, 2099.
If you have chosen option 2, SET TIME, from the DATE/TIME Menu,
the following prompt will appear:
A>ENTER SYSTEM TIME: 00:00
Enter the current time, making sure to add 12 hours if necessary. The
first two digits are the hour field, the next two are the minutes
field.
If you have chosen option 3, SET BOTH, from the DATE/TIME Menu,
File Commando will first prompt you for entry of the date, then the
time as above.
Selection 3 on the UTILITIES Menu is the SQUEEZE/UNSQUEEZE option.
This command, for those of you not already familiar with it, allows you
to make you files smaller by removing unnecessary file level
information from a file in a pre-arranged manner. The file name is
then changed by the addition of the extension '.*Q*'. This will notify
you that the file is squeezed. Squeezed files are commonly used in
transferring files over modem lines, since no one likes to pay for
unnecessary telephone time. Most users who make use of this utility
have experience with public domain and/or user supported software. Any
file that is currently squeezed cannot be accessed in the normal
fashion by a program. This is the purpose of UNSQUEEZE, which allows
you to expand the file back to its original size and characteristics.
49
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.20 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
When this selection is made, the following menu appears on the
screen:
╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
║ SQUEEZE / UNSQUEEZE MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . SQUEEZE ║
║ 2 . UNSQUEEZE ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.18: The Squeeze/Unsqueeze Menu.
Option 1, the SQUEEZE command, allows you to reduce a particular file
to a smaller one. Such a file will then be renamed with the current
name plus a 'Q' appearing as the second character of the extension.
Option 2, the UNSQUEEZE command, allows you to undo the squeeze,
restoring the file to its original size. Choosing the first option
causes the following menu to appear onto the screen:
╔═════════════════════════════════╗
║ SQUEEZE MENU ║
╠═════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . SQUEEZE CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . SQUEEZE TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . SQUEEZE UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.19: The Squeeze Menu.
The choices above are self-explanatory. Option 1 permits you to
squeeze the current file displayed in the file listing. Option 2
permits you to squeeze all tagged files. Option 2 permits you to
squeeze any files not tagged by File Commando.
Choosing the second option, the Unsqueeze option, invokes the
following menu:
╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
║ UNSQUEEZE MENU ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════╣
║ ║
║ ══> 1 . UNSQUEEZE CURRENT FILE ║
║ 2 . UNSQUEEZE TAGGED FILES ║
║ 3 . UNSQUEEZE UNTAGGED FILES ║
║ ║
║ Selection: 1 ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════╝
Menu 4.20: The Unsqueeze Menu.
As above, the choices above are self-explanatory. Option 1 permits you
to unsqueeze the current file displayed in the file listing. Option 2
permits you to unsqueeze all tagged files. Option 2 permits you to
unsqueeze any files not tagged by File Commando.
50
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 5: The Editor
FILENAME: FILENAME. LINE: 0 COL: 0 MODE: INSERT FREE: 40720
(contents of the file)
COMMANDS: F1-DEL LINE F10-QUIT
The Editor under File Commando is not intended to replace your
favorite word processor or text editor. Its main purpose is to be on
hand when you need to type a short note, make a quick change to a file,
et cetera. It will accept input of any IBM character, including the
ASCII graphics characters. It is limited to accessing and editing
files smaller than 29k in length. To edit larger files, it is
recommended that you use your customary editor.
51
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The Screen
On the top line of the editor screen, the following line appears:
FILENAME: CALC.C LINE: 0 COL: 0 MODE: INSERT FREE: 40720
The first entry on the line is the file name chosen to be edited.
Following it is the current line number where the cursor is positioned.
The next entry on the line is the current column number where the cursor
is located. Mode can be toggled by pressing the Insert key on the
cursor keypad. When the editor first comes up, it is in INSERT mode,
which means that when you begin typing, the editor will insert the
characters ahead of the previous characters located at that cursor
position. Toggling mode will display the OVERWRITE mode, which will
type over any characters appearing at the cursor. To type in an IBM
extended ASCI╔ character, use its corresponding key sequence. Most
of these sequences begin with <CONTROL> key.
The last entry on this line is the space free indicator, which
counts down from the buffer size available to zero. If you are
creating a new file, the space free will equal 30000, else the space
free will equal this value minus the size of the file which you chose
to edit. When the free space counter reaches zero, the editor will
display a message underneath this information line saying:
BUFFER FULL.
At this point, you can still move through the file, save the file, or
delete characters or lines, but no more characters can be entered past
the zero space mark. Although this editor will not open a file larger
than 29k, it will allow edits increasing the size to 30k.
If you are creating a new file, underneath the above information
line will appear the message:
NEW FILE!
Press any key to clear this message from the screen.
Along the bottom of the screen is a line containing the functions
available in this editor. At the present time, only the <F1>-DELETE
LINE key and the <F10>-QUIT key is available. To delete one character,
press the delete key on the cursor pad. To delete the line where your
cursor is located, press <F1>. To exit the editor, press <F10>. If you
have edited the file, the following prompt appears on the second line of
the screen:
At this prompt, enter Y for yes if you wish to save the edits that you
have made, enter N for no if don't. If you made no edits, or after
entering your response to the previous prompt, the following prompt then
appears on the second line of the screen:
EXIT EDITOR (Y/N)? Y
Enter Y for yes if you wish to exit back to File Commando, enter N for
no if you wish to continue editing the file.
52
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Cursor Movement
The movement up, down, around and in the file is controlled by the
cursor keypad. Most IBM-PC compatible computers incorporate a cursor /
number keypad with a layout similar to the diagram described below:
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ Up │ ║ │
║ Home │ ║ Arrow │ ║ PgUp │
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
║ <- │ ║ 5 │ ║ -> │
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕ ╔═══════╕
║ │ ║ │ ║ │
║ End │ ║ Dn │ ║ PgDn │
║ │ ║ Arrow │ ║ │
╙───────┘ ╙───────┘ ╙───────┘
In the diagram above, you may notice that the up and down arrow
are not represented by their ASCII characters, but are instead
represented by words. This is because many printers do not support the
up arrow, the down arrow, the right arrow, or the triangular
characters. So, wherever there is one of these characters in File
Commando, we will use their verbal label instead or their character for
those of you who may wish to print this documentation file out. You may
notice that this diagram is repeated from earlier in Section 2. This is
to make it easier to explain the following cursor movement.
To move the cursor down one line, press the down arrow key.
Likewise, to move the cursor up one line, press the up arrow key. To
move the cursor one space to the right, press the right arrow key, (->).
To move the cursor one space back to the left, press the left arrow key,
(<-).
To move to the first position on the current line of text, press
the Home key. To move to the last position on the current line of
text, press the End key. To move one word to the right, press the
control key and the right arrow key simultaneously. This will put the
cursor at the first character position in the word. To move one word
to the left of the current cursor position, press the control key and
the left arrow key simultaneously. This will place the cursor at the
last character position in the preceding word.
To move one page downward in the text, press the PgDn key. To move
one page upward in the text, press the PgUp key. To move to the first
position in the file, press the control key and the Home key
simultaneously. To move to the last position in the file, press the
control key and the End key simultaneously.
53
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 6: The Patch Editor
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Patching: B:\CALC.C
Relative Sector 0000 ( 0) Byte 0000 ( 0) Page 0
-0 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -A -B -C -D -E -F 0123456789ABCDEF
-00 23 69 6E 63 6C 75 64 65 20 22 63 61 6C 63 2E 68 #include "calc.h 00-
-01 22 0D 0A 23 69 6E 63 6C 75 64 65 20 22 6D 61 74 " #include "mat 01-
-02 68 2E 68 22 0D 0A 0D 0A 69 6E 69 74 69 61 6C 69 h.h" initiali 02-
-03 7A 65 5F 76 61 72 69 61 62 6C 65 73 28 29 0D 0A ze_variables() 03-
-04 7B 0D 0A 20 20 64 69 76 69 64 65 5F 62 79 5F 7A { divide_by_z 04-
-05 65 72 6F 20 3D 20 22 41 74 74 65 6D 70 74 20 74 ero = "Attempt t 05-
-06 6F 20 44 69 76 69 64 65 20 62 79 20 5A 65 72 6F o Divide by Zero 06-
-07 22 3B 0D 0A 20 20 69 6C 6C 65 67 61 6C 5F 76 61 "; illegal_va 07-
-08 6C 75 65 20 20 3D 20 22 49 6C 6C 65 67 61 6C 20 lue = "Illegal 08-
-09 56 61 6C 75 65 20 6F 72 20 4F 75 74 20 6F 66 20 Value or Out of 09-
-0A 52 61 6E 67 65 22 3B 20 0D 0A 20 20 6F 76 65 72 Range"; over 0A-
-0B 66 6C 6F 77 20 3D 20 22 4F 76 65 72 66 6C 6F 77 flow = "Overflow 0B-
-0C 22 0D 0A 20 20 70 69 20 3D 20 33 2E 31 34 31 35 " pi = 3.1415 0C-
-0D 39 32 36 35 34 3B 0D 0A 20 20 72 61 64 69 61 6E 92654; radian 0D-
-0E 73 20 3D 20 30 2E 30 31 37 34 35 33 32 39 33 3B s = 0.017453293; 0E-
-0F 0D 0A 20 20 7A 65 72 6F 20 3D 20 30 2E 30 3B 0D zero = 0.0; 0F-
COMMANDS: F1 - SAVE F2 - TEXT F3 - UNDO F10 -QUIT KEYS: L R U D PgUp PgDn Home
The Patch command, located under the EDIT command menu, allows you
to display and modify any byte in a file. The screen, shown above, is
divided into two sections, the hexadecimal representation of the file
and the ASCII display of the file. Modification of the file can be
accomplished in one of two ways, either by changing the ASCII characters
or by changing the HEXADECIMAL representation of the file.
The line underneath the title line identifies the file picked by
you to modify under the PATCH command. Under this line is the location
line, which informs you where you are currently at in the file. The
Relative Sector entry tells where you are located in the file. A sector
is made up of 512 bytes. Only 256 bytes are on the screen at a time.
The Byte entry tells where you are in the 256 byte block on the screen.
Each of these entries have one number followed by another number in
parentheses. The first number is the hexadecimal notation, the second
is its decimal equivalent ( HEX(DEC) ). The Page entry tells whether
you are in the first or second half of the sector. Page will vary only
from 1 to 2. The following are the page byte value ranges for each
screen:
Page 0 --- Bytes 000(000) - 0FF(255)
Page 1 --- Bytes 100(256) - 1FF(511)
54
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The bottom line of the screen defines the commands available to use
in modifying the file. This line appears as follows:
COMMANDS: F1 - SAVE F2 - TEXT F3 - UNDO F10 -QUIT KEYS: L R U D PgUp PgDn Home
The L R U D keys represent the left, right, up, and down arrows,
respectively.
<F1> - SAVE
The Save command saves only the current edited sector of the file
to the DOS buffer. When the DOS buffer is filled, the saved sectors are
written to disk. If the DOS buffer is not filled before exiting the
PATCH command, the buffer is then saved to disk.
<F2> - TEXT
This option switches the edit option from hexadecimal format to
regular ASCII characters. Pressing <F2> once will switch the displayed
prompt to <F2> - HEX When displaying the label TEXT, the editor is in
hexadecimal edit mode, meaning that the only characters that can be
entered are the numbers 0 - 9, A - F. These characters will show up in
the hexadecimal portion of the file display at the cursor. When
displaying the label HEX, the editor is in text mode, meaning that
almost any characters can be entered. These characters will appear in
the ASCII character portion of the file display at the cursor. Each
character is two hexadecimal characters long. The character or number
entered on the activated side of the display will correspondingly alter
the other side of the display.
<F3> - UNDO
The UNDO command resets the current page to its former state. This
is useful when you have extensively changed a section of the file by
mistake. This command will then redisplay the current page as it was
before you began changing it. Once you move beyond a page, however, the
changes are recorded in the current file buffer. These changes will not
be saved unless each changed sector is saved. The only way to keep
these changes from being written to the disk file is by not saving it,
thereby losing all edits made on that sector.
<F10> - QUIT
The Quit command exits the PATCH command, saves the DOS buffer if
so indicated, closes the file, and returns to File Commando.
55
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
KEYS: L R U D PgUp PgDn Home End
The arrow keys (up, down, left, and right) are used to move the
cursor to desired location for editing. They will not advance the page.
The PgUp key will display the preceding page on the screen. PATCH
displays the file one half of a sector at a time, so if Page currently
equals 2, then when <PgUp> is entered, Page will equal one. If Page
equals 1, then when <PgUp> is pressed, the relative sector will be
decremented by one and Page will equal 2. Once <PgUp> is pressed, the
edits are saved to the current file buffer. These edits will not be
saved to disk unless you press <F2>-SAVE while in that sector.
The PgDn key functions much as the PgUp key did, in reverse. When
pressed, it will display the next screen, either page two of the current
sector or page one of the following sector.
The Home key displays the first page of relative sector zero on the
screen.
The End key displays the last page of the last relative sector of
the file onto the screen.
56
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Section 7: The Math Commmando Calculator
Introduction
Congratulations on your aquisition of Math Commando. Math
Commando version 1.00 is a RPN (Reverse-Polish-Notation) style
calculator containing the most commonly found mathematical functions of
most hand-held calculators. We chose to implement an RPN style
calculator because that is the style calculator we have observed more of
our colleagues at Texas A&M University using than any other. This is
true of not only scientists and engineers, but businesspeople as well.
If you do not know how to use RPN, don't worry. We give a number of
examples later in this section on use of various functions.
╔════════════════════╗ ╔════════════════════╗╔═════════════════════════════════╗
║ REGISTERS ║ ║ STACK ║║ DEG ║
╟────────────────────╢ ╟────────────────────╢║ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ ║
║R1: 0.0000║ ║t: 0.0000║║ │ 0.0000 │ ║
║R2: 0.0000║ ║z: 0.0000║║ └─────────────────────────────┘ ║
║R3: 0.0000║ ║y: 0.0000║║ ║
║R4: 0.0000║ ║x: 0.0000║║ ┌─┬───╥─╖ ┌─┬───╥─╖ ┌─┬───╥─╖ ║
╚════════════════════╝ ╚════════════════════╝║ │ │<--║ ║ │ │ * ║ ║ │ │ ÷ ║ ║ ║
║ ╘═╧═══╩═╝ ╘═╧═══╩═╝ ╘═╧═══╩═╝ ║
╔══════════╦══════════════╦═════════════════╗║ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ║
║ FUNCTION ║ CONTROL FUNC ║ SHIFT FUNCTION ║║ │ ║ │ 7 ║ │ 8 ║ │ 9 ║ │ - ║ ║
╟──────────╫──────────────╫─────────────────╢║ │ ║ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ║
║ F1 √x ║ C F1 ARC ║ S F1 STO[+-*/] ║║ ├───╢ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ║
║ F2 x² ║ C F2 HYP ║ S F2 RCL[+-*/] ║║ │ENT║ │ 4 ║ │ 5 ║ │ 6 ║ │ ║ ║
║ F3 1/x ║ C F3 SIN ║ S F3 ROLL DOWN ║║ ╞═══╣ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ │ ║ ║
║ F4 xⁿ ║ C F4 COS ║ S F4 ROLL UP ║║ │ ║ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ┌───╖ ├───╢ ║
║ F5 LOG ║ C F5 TAN ║ S F5 X <=> Y ║║ │ ║ │ 1 ║ │ 2 ║ │ 3 ║ │ + ║ ║
║ F6 10ⁿ ║ C F6 π ║ S F6 RET X ║║ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╘═══╝ ╞═══╣ ║
║ F7 LN ║ C F7 D->R ║ S F7 FIX ║║ ┌─┬───╥─╖ ┌─┬───╥─╖ │ ║ ║
║ F8 eⁿ ║ C F8 R->D ║ S F8 SCI ║║ │ │ 0 ║ ║ │ │ . ║ ║ │ ║ ║
║ F9 FACT! ║ C F9 DEG ║ S F9 CLX ║║ ╘═╧═══╩═╝ ╘═╧═══╩═╝ ╘═══╝ ║
║ F0 INT ║ C F0 RAD ║ S F0 CLR REG ║║ ║
╟──────────╫──────────────╫─────────────────╢║ Math Commando 1.0 ║
║ A - ABS ║ C - CHS ║ E - EEX ║║ ║
╚══════════╩══════════════╩═════════════════╝╚═════════════════════════════════╝
The Math Commando Screen
To begin use of Math Commando, move the File Commando command
indicator to CALC and press <ENTER>.
Before going any further, to exit Math Commando to return to File
Commando press the <ESCape> key. The familiar File Commando screen will
then be redrawn onto the screen.
57
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
When Math Commando is activated, a calculator is drawn in the right
half of the screen. This diagram corresponds to the number keypad on
your computer. When first activated, if NUM LOCK s not turned on, the
message:
NUM LOCK IS NOT ON
will appear directly underneath the calculator number window. This is
where all error messages will be displayed. Press any key to clear the
message from the screen, then toggle the NUM LOCK key on.
Above the number keys is the calculator number window. When Math
Commando is initialized, a 0.0000 appears here. This value will always
be identical to the value found in the x position in the stack.
Above the calculator number window, will appear the label DEG.
This signifies that the calculator is in degrees mode for trigonometric
functions. The number displayed in the calculator window is initially
0.0000. This signifies that the calculator is currently in a FIX 4
digit display mode.
Located on the keypad are three commands other than the normal
four mathematical functions (+-*/), the decimal point (.), and the
numerals (0-9). The ENT key and the <-- key serve as entry commands.
The ENT command allows the user to enter the currently displayed
value (the x-value) into the y position in the stack, and to begin
entry of a new number.
The <-- command allows the user to backspace through the currently
displayed value (the x-value) to any pointn the number. This allows
the user to modify an incorrectly entered value without having to start
all over again. Once another key, other than a numeric or decimal
point, has been pressed, pressing '<--' will clear the window and
display the value of zero.
To the side of the calculator display, at the top lefthand corner
of the screen is located the Register Display. Currently, Math
Commando only allows nine registers to be stored, with only the first
four displayed onto the screen.
Between the register display and the calculator display is the
Stack Display. The four stack entry places are shown in a logical
bottom-to-top display showing the x, y, z, and t entries. For those of
you not familiar with stack use and operations, the concept and usage of
stacks are explained in more detail under Stack Operations.
To exit from Math Commando, simply press ESC.
58
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
About the Stack
Math Commando's operating logic is based on a mathematical logic
known as Reverse Polish Notation (RPN). This, we feel, provides
optimal efficiency of calculator use.
Math Commando uses RPN to solve complicated calculations in a
simple, straightforward manner without the use of mind-boggling
parentheses. This is achieved by automatically retaining and returning
intermediate results onto a memory stack. The stack in Math Commando
is set up as follows:
╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║
╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║
╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║
╟───────────╢
X ║ x ║ WORKING REGISTER
╚═══════════╝
Any number that is keyed in or results from the execution of a numeric
function is placed into the x position of the stack at the same time as
it is displayed in the calculator number window. This action will
cause the stack to be either "pushed", "popped", or only the X-register
to be changed. The three stacks drawn below illustrate the three types
of stack movement. Assume x, y, z, and t represent any numbers which
may be on the stack.
Stack Push
t pushed off
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ ║ t ║ ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ ║ z ║ ║ y ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║ ║ y ║ ║ 12.00 ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ x ║ ║ 12.00 ║ ║ 12.00 ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
KEYS: (original stack) 12 ENTER
In the case above, the first diagram of the stack shows it before
any key is pressed. Once you begin entry of a number, in this case 12,
the number in the x position is changed along with the value entered
into the calculator window. When you press ENTER, the value currently
in the x position, in this case the 12, is moved into the y position in
the stack. The value in the y position is likewise moved into the z
position, with the z value moved into the t position. The old t value
is popped off the top of the stack and is no longer accessible.
59
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Stack Pop
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ ║ t ║ ║ t ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ ║ z ║ ║ t ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ 12.00 ║ ║ 12.00 ║ ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ 12.00 ║ ║ 24.00 ║ ║ 36.00 ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
KEYS (from stack push) 24 +
In this case, the first diagram of the stack shows it as it was
after entering the value 12 onto it. When a new number is entered, in
this case 24, the number in the x position is changed to reflect the new
number entered. After typing in '2' and '4', the x position should
reflect the number '24.00'. Now when the plus sign is entered, the
number in the y position is taken off the stack and added to the number
in the x position. This results in the value in the t position being
dropped down to the z position, and the value in the z position dropped
into the y position. The number in the x position reflects the result
of the operation, in this case 12.00 + 24.00 = 36.00.
X-Register Operation
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ ║ t ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║ ║ y ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ 36.00 ║ ║ 6.00 ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
KEYS: (from stack pop) F1
In this case, the first diagram of the stack shows it as it was
after adding 12.00 + 24.00. The stack at this point displays the value
36.00. If you enter one of the defined mathematical functions located
below the register and stack displays, in this case we entered F1 for
√x, the value located in the x position of the stack is the only value
in the stack altered when pressed. The result of the square root of
36.00 appears in the x position and the calculator window.
60
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
How to Use Math Commando
ESC Return To File Commando
Pressing ESC will return you to File Commando, or to the position
where you popped back from.
+ - * /
These four commands are located on the calculator keypad, with
their activation keys corresponding to the '+', '-', '*', and '/' keys
on the computer keyboard. Any keys that return one of these characters
can be used to simulate the operation. For example, the Print Screen
key can be pressed to return an '*' to perform a multiplication
operation. In RPN notation, a calculation is done by entering the
first number in the calculation, pressing ENT, entering the second
number, then pressing the desired operation [+-*/].
To Calculate: Keystrokes Display
14.5 + 10.25 - 2 14.25 14.25
ENT 14.2500
10.25 10.25
+ 24.7500
2 2
- 22.7500
5 * 9 5 5
ENT 5.0000
9 9
* 45.0000
3 / 2 3 3
ENT 3.0000
2 2
/ 1.5000
24 / (4 + 2) 24 24
ENT 24.0000
4 4
ENT 4.0000
2 2
+ 6.0000
/ 4.0000
Remember that division by zero is frowned upon, and if you
accidently instruct the calculator to do so, it will return a message,
Attempt to divide by zero
Pressing any key will clear the message from the screen, and allow you
to return control to the calculator. If you were in the midst of a
calculation when this occurred, use the Shift F3 key to roll down the
stack one position and continue as before.
61
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Mathematical Functions
╔══════════╦══════════════╦═════════════════╗
║ FUNCTION ║ CONTROL FUNC ║ SHIFT FUNCTION ║
╟──────────╫──────────────╫─────────────────╢
║ F1 √x ║ C F1 ARC ║ S F1 STO[+-*/] ║
║ F2 x² ║ C F2 HYP ║ S F2 RCL[+-*/] ║
║ F3 1/x ║ C F3 SIN ║ S F3 ROLL DOWN ║
║ F4 xⁿ ║ C F4 COS ║ S F4 ROLL UP ║
║ F5 LOG ║ C F5 TAN ║ S F5 X <=> Y ║
║ F6 10ⁿ ║ C F6 π ║ S F6 RET X ║
║ F7 LN ║ C F7 D->R ║ S F7 FIX ║
║ F8 eⁿ ║ C F8 R->D ║ S F8 SCI ║
║ F9 FACT! ║ C F9 DEG ║ S F9 CLX ║
║ F0 INT ║ C F0 RAD ║ S F0 CLR REG ║
╟──────────╫──────────────╫─────────────────╢
║ A - ABS ║ C - CHS ║ E - EEX ║
╚══════════╩══════════════╩═════════════════╝
Alphabetic Keys - Number Alteration Functions
These three functions are found on the bottom line of the
mathematical functions section of the Math Commando screen. Activation
is accomplished by pressing the indicated key.
A ABS Pressing A yields the absolute value of the current x-value.
The absolute value of a number is the positive value of the
number.
C CHS Pressing C will change the sign of the current x-value from
positive to negative and back. To enter a negative value
into the x- position in the stack, simply key in the number
and press C.
E EEX Pressing E allows you to key in exponential values. First,
enter the value of the mantissa, then press E and enter the
value of the exponent. If a negative mantissa is required,
simply press C before pressing E. If a negative exponent is
required, press C after keying in the value of the exponent.
The maximum and minimum values of the exponent that can be
entered into the calculator are 99 and -99, respectively.
The calculator can do calculations on exponents whose values
range between 308 and -308.
Keystrokes Display
9.452 9.452
C -9.4520
A 9.4520
3 3
62
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Keystrokes Display
C -3
E -3.0000 E 00
8 -3.0000 E 08
C -3.0000 E-08
0 0.0000
E 1.0000 E 00
10 1.0000 E 10
Function Keys - Exponential Math Functions
F1 √x Pressing F1 computes the positive square root of the current
x-value. The number to be operated on must be positive.
F2 x² Pressing F2 calculates the square of the current x-value.
F3 1/x Pressing F3 calculates the reciprocal of the current x-value.
This is the value obtained by dividing the current number
into 1.00.
F4 xⁿ Pressing F4 computes the specified exponential power. This
function requires you to first enter the base number, then
pressing ENTER. You must then enter the exponent value n,
followed by pressing F4 to calculate the result. This will
take the number from the y position in the stack and raise it
by the number found in the x position.
To Calculate Keystrokes Display
√25 25 25
ENT 25.0000
F1 √x 5.0000
5² F2 x² 25.0000
1/25 F3 1/x 0.0400
5^3 5 5
(5 * 5 * 5) ENT 5.0000
3 3
F4 xⁿ 125.0000
8^(1/3) 8 8
(cube root of 8) ENT 8.0000
3 3
F3 1/x 0.3333
F4 xⁿ 2.0000
63
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
F5 LOG Pressing F5 calculates the logarithm (base 10) of the current
x-value. The log value cannot be computed for a number equal
or less than zero.
F6 10ⁿ Pressing F6 calculates the antilogarithm of the x-value. This
is the result of raising 10 to the power of the current
x-value. For example, if you take the LOG of 2.00, you will
get the result 0.3010. Taking the antilog of this, 10ⁿ, you
will get back the result 2.00 which is what you started with.
F7 LN Pressing F7 calculates the natural logarithm (base e) of the
current x-value.
F8 eⁿ Pressing F8 calculates the natural antilogarithm of the
current x-value, that is, the result of raising e to the power
of the current x-value.
F9 FACT! Pressing F9 calculates the factorial of the x-value. The
x-value entered must not haqve a fractional value, in other
words, the number must be an integer. If a number with a
fraction is entered, Math Commando will simply ignore the
Factorial directive.
F0 INT Pressing F0 replaces the x-value with the integer portion of
the current x-value.
To Calculate Keystrokes Display
log 14 14 14
F5 LOG 1.1461
10^1.1461 F6 10ⁿ 14.0000
ln 14 F7 LN 2.6391
e^2.6391 F8 eⁿ 14.0000
log 0 0 0
F5 LOG INVALID ARGUMENT
5! 5 5
(5*4*3*2*1) F9 FACT! 120.0000
INT 5/3 5 5
ENT 5.0000
3 3
/ 1.6667
F0 INT 1.0000
1.75 - INT 1.75 1.7525 1.7500
ENT 1.7500
F0 INT 1.0000
- 0.7500
64
FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Control Function Keys - Trigonometric Functions
Be sure the calculator is set to the desired trigonometric mode
(DEG/RAD). These functions are activated by pressing the Control key
and the appropriate function key (either F9 or F0) simultaneously.
CF1 ARC This function is the also known as inverse. This is the
first keystroke of two, the next keystroke must be a
trigonometric function. Before a calculation can be made,
either the sine, cosine or tangent function must be
selected. CF2 Hyperbolic can also be selected at this time.
CF2 HYP This function is the hyperbolic toggle key. After selecting
this key, you must follow with the selection of one of four
trigonometric functions. These options include the arc (or
inverse) toggle, the sine function, the cosine function, or
the tangent function.
CF3 SIN This function computes the sine of the current x-value.
Cosecant can be evaluated by taking the sine of the value in
question and inverting it using the F3 RECIPROCAL function.
CF4 COS This function computes the cosine of the current x-value.
Secant can be evaluated by taking the cosine of the value in
question and inverting it using the F3 RECIPROCAL function.
CF5 TAN This function computes the tangent of the current x-value.
Cotangent can be evaluated by taking the tangent of the value
in question and inverting it using the F3 RECIPROCAL function.
CF6 π This is the numeric representation of pi. When selected, it
places the value 3.1416 into the current x-value.
CF7 D->R This function converts the current x-value from degrees to
radians. The current Trigonometric mode has nothing to do
with this operation.
CF8 R->D This function converts the current x-value from radians to
degrees. The current Trigonometric mode has nothing to do
with this operation.
To Calculate Keystrokes Display
(in DEG mode)
sine 45 45 45
CF3 SIN 0.7071
arc cosine 0.7071 CF1 ARC 0.7071
CF3 COS 45.0000
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FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
To Calculate Keystrokes Display
hyp cos 1.25 1.25 1.25
CF2 HYP 1.2500
CF3 COS 1.8884
arc hyp cos 1.8884 CF1 ARC 1.8884
CF2 HYP 1.8884
CF3 COS 1.2500
cotangent 30 30 30
CF4 TAN 0.5774
F3 1/x 1.7321
π CF6 π 3.1416
convert 360° to rads 360 360
CF7 D->R 6.2832
convert back to degs CF8 R->D 360.0000
These next two functions change the number entry mode and do not change
the current x-value. Instead, they affect all subsequent trigonometric
calculations.
CF9 DEG This function changes the current calculator trigonometric
mode to degrees. An indicator will appear in the top
right-hand corner of the calculator indicating DEG. Math
Commando is initialized in the DEG mode.
CF0 RAD This function changes the current calculator trigonometric
mode to radians. An indicator will appear in the top
right-hand corner of the calculator indicating RAD.
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FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
Shift Function Keys - The Registers & Stack
SF1 STO [+-*/] This function stores the current x-value into a register
location. At the present time, only 10 registers are
available, with only four of them shown on the screen.
When you wish to add, subtract, multiply or divide the
number currently in the register location by the current
x-value, press SF1 followed by the operation you wish to
perform, and the register location that you wish to
perform the operation on. More information about
registers and this function follows in the next section.
SF2 RCL [+-*/] This function removes the value in the designated
register and places it into the x-position on the stack.
Like the SF1 STO function, you can have this function
add, subtract, multiply or divide the current x-value by
the number located in the register chosen. When a
register is recalled, the value is not changed.
SF3 ROLL DOWN This function rotates the values located in the stack.
Before Function Press SF3 to ROLL DOWN
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ T ║ x ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ Z ║ t ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║ Y ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ x ║ X ║ y ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
The t-value is moved into the z position, the z-value is
moved into the y position, the y-value is moved into the
x position, and the x-value is moved into the t position.
SF4 ROLL UP This function rotates the values located in the stack.
Before Function Press SF4 to ROLL UP
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ T ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ Z ║ y ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║ Y ║ x ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ x ║ X ║ t ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
The x-value is moved into the y position, the y-value is
moved into the z position, the z-value is moved into the
t position, and the t-value is moved into the x position.
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FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
SF5 X <=> Y Pressing X allows you to exchange the x-value and the
y-values in the stack.
Before Function Press SF5 to Swap X <=> Y
╔═══════════╗ ╔═══════════╗
T ║ t ║ T ║ t ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Z ║ z ║ Z ║ z ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
Y ║ y ║ Y ║ x ║
╟───────────╢ ╟───────────╢
X ║ x ║ X ║ y ║
╚═══════════╝ ╚═══════════╝
SF6 RET X This functions returns the value currently in the
calculator window (the current x-value)
These next two functions do not change the x-value, only the display of
the number in the calculator window.
SF7 FIX This function allows you to specify the number of decimal
digits that are to follow the decimal point. The display
can handle a number with a maximum of 12 digits or number
with a maximum of 9 digits following the decimal point.
In calculations, exponents will be shown if the number is
too large or too small for the display. Exponents can be
entered under this mode. The calculator is initialized
to FIX 4 mode, showing 4 decimal places after the decimal
point.
SF8 SCI This function allows you to display a number in scientific
notation with up to 9 digits after the decimal point.
Scientific notation uses the Exponent notation to signify
number of decimal places of the number. For example, the
number 1.0000 E 10 equals 10,000,000,000 and 1.0000 E-5
equals 0.00001. The maximum and minimum exponential
values allowable by the calculator are 308 and -308,
respectively. Only exponents ranging between the values
99 and -99 can be entered into the calculator.
Scientific notation displays all numbers with one digit
preceding the decimal point, the predefined number of
digits following the decimal point, and the number of
exponential places occupied by the number.
These next two functions clear various portions of the numeric display
and resets them to zero.
SF9 CLX This function clears the calculator window and the x
position.
SF0 CLR REG This function resets all registers, stack values, and the
number found in the calculator window to zero.
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FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
The Use Of Memory Registers
Math Commando provides the user with 10 memory cells called
"registers". Registers are used to store immediate results for a later
use (thus liberating the stack). When numbers are stored, they are
copied from the x position in the stack to the data storage registers.
When numbers are recalled from a register, the value is copied from the
designated register to the x position in the stack. In both cases, the
source number is not changed. In later versions of this program, more
registers will be available, plus many more uses for them will be
provided.
Storing and Recalling Numbers
The following two commands are used to store and recall values
from the data registers.
SF1 -- STO (store)
This function prompts the user for a data register between 0 and
9 inclusively. After a data register has been supplied, this function
will copy the value in the x position of the stack to the specified
data register.
SF2 -- RCL (recall)
This function prompts the user for a data register between 0 and
9 inclusively. After a data register has been supplied, this function
will copy the value from the specified data register into the
x position of the stack.
Arithmetic Operations On Data Registers
These four mathematical operators [ * / + - ] may be used to
directly operate on a specified data register.
F2 -- STO
This is used to perform an arithmetic operation on a data register
and store the result in the same register. This is accomplished by
performing the requested operation on the specified data register using
the value located in the x position of the stack. The following
example will multiply data register 04 containing the number 100 by the
number 12 [R4 * 12].
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FILE COMMANDO (TM) VERSION 1.30 12 MARCH 1986 COPYRIGHT BY SANDI & SHANE STUMP
KEY(s) PRESSED DISPLAY X-VALUE DATA REGISTER 04
-------------- ------- ------- ----------------
(initial) 0.00 0.00 0.00
100 100 100 0.00
F2 STO[+-*/] STO __ 100 0.00
4 STO 04 100 100.00
12 12 12 100.00
F2 STO[+-*/] STO __ 12.00 100.00
* STO * __ 12.00 100.00
4 STO * 04 12.00 1200.00
F3 -- RECALL
This is used to perform an arithmetic operation on the value
located in the x position on the stack without "pushing" the stack.
Pushing the stack is the process of moving the values of each stack
entry up one position (x -> y, y -> z, z -> t, t -> off stack). The
value located in the register is not changed. The operation is done
on the number located in the stack. The following example extracts
the value located in register 0 and divides it by 2 [R0 / 2].
KEY(s) PRESSED DISPLAY X-VALUE DATA REGISTER 00
-------------- ------- ------- ----------------
(initial) 0.00 0.00 0.00
100 100 100 0.00
F2 STO[+-*/] STO __ 100 0.00
0 STO 00 100 100.00
2 2 2 100.00
F2 RCL[+-*/] RCL __ 2.00 100.00
* RCL / __ 2.00 100.00
4 RCL / 00 50.00 100.00
70