Merciful 3/Merciful_Release_3.bin/software/d/data_division_docs/datadivisiondocs02.dms/datadivisiondocs02.adf/03

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                               Chapter Two

                        Introduction and Overview

Introduction and Overview ..........5
Workbench Replacement ..............6
Multitasking as it should be done! .6
No Waiting, No Delay ...............6
Superfluous Glitz ..................7
The Opus 5 Visual Display Objects ..8
The Main Window ....................9
File Listers .......................9
Lister Display Modes ...............10
Custom Button Banks ................11
User Defined Menus .................12
Scripts ............................13
Hot Keys ...........................13
Extended Power .....................13
Configurations Settings ............13
Special Paths ......................14
Automatic Recognition of Files .....14
Drag and Drop! .....................15
Pop-up Menus .......................15
Built-in FTP Support ...............16

                      Introduction and Overview

 Thank you for purchasing Directory Opus 5.  We believe you will be
 impressed by its new power and features.

 This manual has been designed to lead you through using Opus 5, or allow
you to quickly skip to chapters of interest.  This chapter is designed to
tell you something about the concepts behind Directory Opus 5.  It will
provide you with a general overview of its operation, so you can start
using the program immediately.  Even if you read nothing else in this
manual, you should read this chapter!  Chapter two provides you with a
simple introduction to the Amiga filing system while the subsequent
chapters discuss the individual parts of the Directory Opus 5 system in
more detail.

 Directory Opus 5.5 - The Power of the Amiga Realised!

 There are now many directory utilities for the Amiga, but nothing like
Directory Opus 5.  Whatever program you used before, Opus 5 heralds a
totally new generation of directory utilities.  Directory Opus 4 reached
the effective limit of power and flexibility for a static directory
utility program.  Opus 5 breaks out of the mould!  It uses the power of
the Amiga in a way rarely seen before, giving you the most powerful Amiga
disk utility ever.

 There are directory utilities, then there's Directory Opus 5!

 Directory Opus 5 is the result of a total rethink on the nature of
directory utilities from authors who have been developing Amiga software
for many years.  By using a strict object orientated design methodology to

                             Directory Opus 5                        5

harness the often hidden, multi-tasking power of the Amiga Operating
System, we have been able to create a totally new program, which is much
smarter than Opus 4 in the way it delivers this new power and flexibility.

                          Workbench Replacement

 When used as a Workbench replacement, Opus 5 greatly enhances your
productivity since there is no need to keep swapping between Workbench and
your file manager.  Opus provides a seamless integration of file manager
and Workbench functions.

 Although Opus 5 is simple and easy to use, it still gives you an
extensive ability to configure the display and program operations exactly
as you desire.  And, all this is done in full compliance with the Amiga
Style Guide principles.

                    Multitasking as it should be done!

 Opus 5 is a fully multi-threaded, internally multitasking suite of
programs, which are called into operation when required.  These programs
invisibly control the operation of each system object, whether it be the
visual display of a directory list, or a specific action such as copying
files.  Each visible component of the Opus 5 display, whether the main
backdrop window, a directory Lister, a Button Bank, or other object, is
actually controlled by an independent program task which interacts with
the other objects in the system as required.  Commands can pass
instructions to source and target objects to perform actions on demand,
independently of the other objects of the visual display.

 So what does all this technical design talk mean to the user? Simple!
Opus 5 now has more power than ever before, but is even easier to use!


                           No Waiting, No Delay

 The object design concept, with its inherent multi-tasking, is what
actually gives Opus 5 its impressive power and makes it so fast and

    6                        Directory Opus 5

efficient.  Once you understand how Opus 5 works, you will no longer need
to wait while one action finishes before starting another.  For example,
while de-archiving into one directory, there is now no need to wait for
this to finish before doing something else.  Once the action has been
launched, you can immediately open a new directory Lister and start
performing other tasks, all while the first task completes.  Similarly,
you can download a file from a remote Internet site using the internal
OpusFTP without blocking other activities.

 The power of Opus 5 is also demonstrated when editing any of the Opus 5
objects or system configuration items.  The configuration items and
actions of each object can be edited separately and independently, while
never blocking the actions of other objects.  So, while you are editing
the commands attached to a set of custom buttons in a button bank, you can
still be performing jobs with other component objects such as the file
Listers.

                           "Superfluous Glitz"

 It has been said in some quarters that the Amiga user does not need all
this "superfluous glitz" in a file manager.  Some people seem to think
that the way we all did things back in the heady days of 1988 with WB1.3
should be good enough for everyone.  We beg to differ!  The Amiga has
advanced and so have its developers.  We now know how to harness some of
the machine's native multitasking ability for our own uses.

 Opus 5.5 adds even more configurability and user options to give you the
power to run the system just the way you require.  No longer are you, the
Amiga user, confined to a simple two-windowed display.  Opus 5 uses the
full potential of the Amiga OS to provide rapid access to an unlimited
number of directory displays, button banks and icon/image banks.   If the
power of this approach was not amply demonstrated in Opus 5,  it is now
even more evident with Opus 5.5 and its in-built OpusFTP commands which
allow you to seamlessly access Internet sites just as if they were local
directories.

 You may have to adjust your brain to new concepts, but the extra
productivity gained will be well worth it.

                             Directory Opus 5                        7

                    The Opus 5 Visual Display Objects

 Opus 5 can be run with a myriad of different configurations for almost
every conceivable use.  However, the essential nature of the Opus 5
display consists of a few simple component windows and objects :-

     The Main Window is the parent window of the Opus 5 system.  It
    displays icons representing selected devices, Opus 5 groups and any
    left out icons. This may be opened on any public screen in your system
    including Workbench.  It provides access to all other objects in the
    Opus 5 system. If the main window is opened on the Workbench Screen,
    Opus can be run in its most powerful mode as a full Workbench
    replacement.

     Listers are independent windows which display lists of files and
    directories.  Have only one Lister open to view contents of a disk or
    have as many as you desire.  Each Lister may be a source or
    destination for actions and you may have multiple sources and
    multiple destinations if desired.  Listers may show the file list
    using either text or icons and you may optionally have special
    toolbar for each Lister.

     Button Banks are windows which display custom action buttons
    showing text or graphic images.

     Other independent windows are provided to allow you to customise
    the visual display and procedural operations of Directory Opus 5
    and add or edit HotKeys, Scripts, Filetypes and many other
    configurations.  These aspects of the program may be changed at
    any time while the program is performing other tasks.

 Apart from the Main Window, each of the above components is actually the
visual footprint of a completely separate program task, which is invoked
only when required.  There can always be only one Main Window, but, at any
given time, you may have none or any number of Listers and Button Banks in
any configuration.

    8                        Directory Opus 5

                             The Main Window

 When you run Opus 5, the first component opened is the Opus 5 Main
Window.  This is the foundation object in the Opus 5 system.  From here,
you can easily access all the volumes and directories in your system,
launch the other Opus 5 components, and, from the menus, hot keys, and
double left, right, and middle mouse button clicks, you can create, edit
and adjust Lister displays, Button Banks, and other items which control
the Opus 5 configuration system.  Initially, control over Opus 5 is
provided by global menus from this Main Window.  These actions are fully
explained later.

 The Opus 5 Main Window is much more than just a simple place holder
window.  The concept is very similar to that of the standard Amiga
Workbench window with which you are familiar.  The Opus 5 Main Window
displays the disk and device icons for all the volumes in your system.
(You can also decide which icons not to show.)  Just like Workbench, you
can 'leave out' your favourite directories, files, and programs.  Unlike
Workbench, Opus provides the concept of 'Program Groups' to help you
organise your favourite programs more easily.  Opus 5 also supports full
drag and drop actions for all objects on the Opus Main Window.

 One of the powerful options provided by the Opus 5 system is the ability
to use the Opus 5 Main Window as a complete Workbench replacement - so you
never need to run the Workbench program itself!  The Opus 5 main window
provides all the functionality of Workbench, but with the extra power of
Opus 5.

                               File Listers

 The working heart of the Opus 5 system is the file Lister window.  This
is used to display a list of directories and files in the order and format
you desire.  Traditionally, one uses two Listers, one as a source and one
as a destination, when copying files between directories.  But, often only
one Lister is required, for example, when you wish to view and delete
files from a specific directory.  On other occasions, you may wish to copy
files to more than one destination or compare files in multiple
directories.  Opus 5 gives you the flexibility to use as few or as many
Listers as you require to get the job done.

                             Directory Opus 5                        9

 As one of the axioms of Opus 5's object orientated design, file Listers
are designed to be dynamic.  Do not consider them as the old-style, static
file display windows which you must leave open and on screen all the time!
Each Opus 5 Lister is a fully independent program with its own in-built
functionality.  They have been crafted to be transient objects, to be
brought into existence for the specific job in hand, then discarded.
Alternatively, if your application requires it, you can readily create a
dual or multi-Lister display, lock the Listers in place, and save the
complete configuration setup for use at a later time.

                           Lister Display Modes

 A file Lister can show files in one of three modes, Icon Mode, which
displays icons just like Workbench, the more powerful Name Mode, which
provides a host of extra functionality, or the new Icon Action Mode, which
combines the ease of use of Icon Mode with the power of Name Mode.

 As well as the usual ability to select, display, and drag and drop single
or groups of files and directories, in Name Mode and Icon Action Mode each
Opus 5 Lister has a range of extra features already built-in.  These
features include :-

*      A status display showing information on the files in the selected
       directory.

*      A quick access toolbar of custom, icon-image style buttons, each
       having separate actions for the left, middle and right mouse
       buttons.

*      A custom pop-up command menu which by default provides instant
       access to the main internal Opus 5 AmigaDOS commands such as copy,
       delete, etc.

*      A pop-up menu giving instant access to directory functions and to
       the history of previously seen directories.

    10                       Directory Opus 5

*      A pop-up menu to switch the Lister's status quickly between source
       or destination, between icon and file display, to lock the Lister's
       status as desired, and other functions.

*      A right mouse button pop-up menu which provides quick access to
       basic Lister GUI functions such as iconify, snapshot, and Lister
       modes.

*      In Name Mode only, the ability to customise the file display by
       field, type, date, file type and other features.  You can also
       customise the font and colours used to display the different types
       of files.

*      In Icon Mode and Icon Action Mode the ability to display a
       background pattern in the Lister Window.

                           Custom Button Banks

 Just like earlier versions of Directory Opus, Directory Opus 5.5 provides
you with the ability to create a bank of custom buttons giving separate
functionality to left, right, and middle mouse button clicks.  New for
Opus 5.5 is the added ability to incorporate a pop-up menu into any
button.  This allows you to group a larger number of related functions in
one place and select the specific one required.  Holding down the LMB on a
button displays the full list of commands attached to this button.
Releasing the LMB over a command brings this command to the top and makes
it the default LMB command.

 As you may now have come to expect with Opus 5, a Button Bank is not just
limited to the traditional old style, static group of buttons.  With Opus
5, you can have as many Button Banks as you wish.  The banks can be of any
dimensions which fit on the screen, and the buttons can show either a text
string or a graphical icon-style image.  With Opus 5.5 you can customise
the look of the button banks and even select from a traditional Amiga
style window with full borders and scroll bars or a minimal button display
with horizontal or vertical drag bar.

                             Directory Opus 5                        11

 Each button has the potential of executing an unlimited set of
instructions made up of any mix of AmigaDOS, Workbench, ARexx, Script or
internal Opus 5 commands.  Additionally, each button may have a separate
set of actions invoked by a left, middle or right mouse click, or the
selection of an item from a pop-up menu.

 Again, as a result of the object design concept of Opus 5, the custom
buttons used in button banks are a special class of an internal Opus
Button Object.  The same class of object is used for the Lister toolbars,
Lister Menus, custom User Menus, Scripts, Hotkeys, and Filetype actions.
This means that not only are custom buttons fully interchangeable between
different banks, but buttons are fully interchangeable with toolbars
buttons, menus, hot keys, etc.  So, as well as being able to edit multiple
buttons from different banks at the same time, you can even drag and drop
'buttons' between button banks, Lister toolbars and custom menus!

 Further, since the editing of button banks is independent of other
program operations, you can open, edit and save button banks at any time.
The extra flexibility provided by this approach greatly enhances your
productivity when creating your own buttons or when editing existing sets.

                            User Defined Menus

 You are not limited to custom buttons.  Opus 5 also provides several
custom menu systems for you to use; the User Menus are traditional Amiga
style global menus available from the Main Window title bar; the Lister
Command Menu is a special set of menus available from each file Lister;
individual icon pop-up menus may be customised via the Filetype system;
and Buttons within Button Banks can each have a pop-up menu of its own.

    12                       Directory Opus 5

                                 Scripts

 Opus 5.5 has the added ability to execute a specific function or series
of command scripts on certain events and actions.  These include starting
and shutting down Opus, inserting disks, clicking mouse buttons, opening
Listers and many other actions.  For instance, whenever you insert a disk
into the floppy drive, you can easily tell Opus to play a sound file, open
a new Lister and display the disk contents.

                                 Hot Keys

 Although you have always been able to attach a specific hot key to any
button or menu within Opus, Opus 5.5 has added a specific set of user
defined hot keys.  The keys may be solely for use while Opus is the active
program or may be used as global system hot keys.  As with all other Opus
functions, you may attach a command or custom script to each hot key.

                              Extended Power

 Through these menus, scripts and hot keys, Opus 5 provides the user with
the power to extend the basic operations of the program.  Each action is
fully user definable and may be made to execute a simple command or an
unlimited set of instructions made up of any mix of AmigaDOS, Workbench,
ARexx, Script or internal Opus 5 commands.

                         Configurations Settings

 Because Directory Opus 5 follows the Amiga Style Guide recommendations as
closely as possible, we have been able to rationalise some of the
excessive and now redundant configuration options presented by some other
programs.

 However, Opus 5 still provides extensive user control over the essential
elements of the visual environment, plus gives control over the operational
behaviour of the Opus 5 command functions.  These settings are grouped

                             Directory Opus 5                        13

into two independent requesters which separately control the Environment
and procedural Options.

 From the Environment section you can save the complete layout of a
particular visual display.  This includes not only the screen mode and
colour selections but also encompasses all the Listers and button banks,
their paths and screen positions.  It is very easy to tailor a custom
display for a specific job.

                              Special Paths

 Directory Opus has always provided you with shortcuts to access specific
paths within your system.  With Opus 5.5 we have improved the method and
now provide you with a powerful system to customise the visual display of
any specific directory in your Amiga.  You can now define the Lister
position, size and display format for any directory and save these
settings to be used whenever you access this directory.  You can also
easily allocate a specific hot key to bring up any specific directory on
demand.

                      Automatic Recognition of Files

 A very versatile feature of Directory Opus 5 is the ability to recognise
files by type using a system called Filetypes.  With Filetypes, you can
configure Opus 5 to play animations when they are double-clicked, to load
a database program when you double-click on a database file, or to
uncompress an archived file when you drag and drop it to a new directory.

 Opus 5 comes with several pre-defined Filetypes for many of the common
types of files you may encounter on the Amiga.  We also provide a full
Filetype editor where you may edit current Filetypes and associated
actions.  It is relatively easy to teach Opus 5 to recognise new types of
files and provide commands to be executed when you double-click, drag and
drop, or apply special Opus 5 functions to such files.

 New for Opus 5.5 is the 'Automatic Filetype Creator' which will analyse
unknown file formats for you and make the creation of filetypes easier and
faster.

    14                       Directory Opus 5

                              Drag and Drop!

 One of the many powerful features built in to Opus 5 is the extensive use
of the concept of 'drag and drop'.  This is where you highlight one or
more items with the mouse, pick them up on the mouse pointer, drag them to
a new place, then release the mouse button.  When using Opus 5, if you are
in doubt about how to change or edit a button or function, try drag and
drop first.  You will be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to move
objects and edit buttons and commands using this concept.

 A few specific examples of drag and drop are:-

*    If the "Select  Destination" requester appears you can drag and drop
     the icon of a destination drive onto the window to set the path.

*    Within Function Editors, use drag and drop either to swap function
     lines around within the one editor or to copy function lines to
     another editor.  If you hold down shift while you drag a function
     line from one editor to another, the entire function will be copied.

*    Add files to a Program Group by simply dropping the program icons
     onto the Program Group icon.

*    Within the Menu Editors, you can simply drag and drop menu items to
     move them to the required place.

 Remember, when in doubt, try drag and drop!

                               Pop-up Menus

 Opus 5.5 adds many new pop-up "sticky" menus.  Just press the right mouse
button over an icon or Lister title bar and you have instant access to the
most common functions.  If enabled, these can also be accessed in a Name
mode Listers by clicking the right mouse button over a file.  The Opus
Filetype system allows you to add custom entries to these menus to be
displayed according to the type of file or icon selected.

                             Directory Opus 5                        15

                           Built-in FTP Support

 Because of the object orientated nature of Opus 5's design, in Opus 5.5
we have been able to readily integrate a new FTP module as part of the
Opus system.  Providing you have an active Internet connection, you can
now directly access directories on a remote Internet site just as if they
were on your local system.  Most Opus commands will function invisibly on
the remote directory.  For example, not only can you copy files to and
from a remote site but you can even double-click on a remote picture file
to view it through the Opus viewer.

    16                       Directory Opus 5