Media Share 9/MEDIASHARE_09.ISO/os2/mpm1_07a.zip/maxfmpm.INF

OS/2 Help File | 1994-02-15 | 38KB | 963 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. OverView ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

                            MaxFile/PM - Version 1.07


                  A FILES.BBS Manager for Presentation Manager

Portions of the header files used in compilation are:

  Copyright (C) 1992, Scott Dudley
  Copyright (C) 1993, Aki Antman
  Copyright (C) 1994, Marco Maccaferri

From the Development Team of:

  Craig Morrison - MaxFile/PM Development
    1:201/[e-mail]

  Ronald Van Iwaarden - MaxFile/2 Development
    1:104/[e-mail]

See next: Forward


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Thank You's ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Special Thanks go out to:

 Scott Dudley
  For making Maximus the great BBS that it is!

 Marco Maccaferri
  For providing the Lora structures and Lora itself

 Rick Fishman
  His container code was a great source of inspiration

 Steven Crandall
  Who thinks I should be barefoot and coding all the time

 Rick Ford
  Keeping me up to date with the Lora-BBS information

 Eric Chew
  For providing the SuperBBS information and testing

 Steve Lamb
  "Generic" code tester

 J Gitzen
  Maximus code tester

 David Campbell
  Lora-BBS code tester

 Raymond Deroo
  Maximus code tester

 David Roberts
  Maximus code tester

 Jerry McBride
  Maximus code tester

If I missed anyone, well...you know who you are! Thanks!


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. OS/2 Beta Service Pack Warning ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 NOTICE TO OS/2 BETA SERVICE PACK USERS

 PLEASE NOTE that the Beta Service Pack for OS/2 2.1 GA breaks MaxFile/PM. At
the present moment there is nothing I can do about this. When the Service Pack
goes GA I can assure you that I will get right onto the matter of fixing
MaxFile/PM so that it will work correctly.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. What's New ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

-  Fixed a minor bit of stupidity on my part in the configuration code that
wouldn't bring up the Settings dialog the first time MaxFile/PM was run.

-  Added accelerators (hot-keys) for easier function access.

-  Added ability to skip over headers in FILES.BBS.

-  Added extended description support.

-  Enabled Virus Scanner option.

-  Added ability to extract an archive to a specified directory.

-  Added support for fully qualified filenames in FILES.BBS files.

-  Added a generic file format to support _any_ BBS package that uses the
FILES.BBS format for download directories. Steve Lamb gets credit for this one.

-  Ripped out the old text configuration file code, it was causing way too much
confusion with users who weren't running Maximus.

-  Dropped the _tmalloc() code and went back to the API memory allocation
functions.

-  Added a new option to the Adopt Options dialog, DL Counters.

-  Changed memory allocation code to use the library _tmalloc() function for
compatibility with the PM's 16-bit code. Hopefully this will squash the random
SYS3175 access violations that some have been experiencing.

-  Added first run of the SuperBBS code. I don't know much about SBBS folks, so
you are pretty much on your own. For what I do know, please keep reading this
document.

-  Fixed a bug where if more than 4 files were tagged for dragging an error
would occur when dropping the files on a window.

-  Previous code wasn't setting the changes flag when a FILE_ID.DIZ was
imported from an archive. It is now. (Thanks Jim!)

-  Fixed a bug where if only a filename was present in the FILES.BBS it would
move the filename of the next file into its description.

-  Added external program macros to the FILES.BBS windows.

-  Added Lora compatibility.

-  Fixed bug that made it so only D:\MAX\AREA.DAT could be read as a valid area
file.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Forward ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 MaxFile/PM is a FILES.BBS manager that runs under Presentation Manager. While
it was written with the Maximus-CBCS in mind, any BBS software package that
uses the standard FILES.BBS format is supported.

A quick list of the features are:

    1. Drag and Drop between file areas

    2. Adopting orphan files

    3. FILE_ID.DIZ import

    4. Rearchiving files

    5. Sorting by:

      Name
      Date
      Size
      Description

    6. In-place editing of file descriptions

    7. Renaming files

 As the program grows, support for more convenient features will be added to
make MaxFile/PM the perfect tool for managing your downloadable files from your
desktop.

See next: Registration


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 I'm going to keep this short, sweet and to the point. What you are seeing in
MaxFile/PM is the result of drinking a lot of coffee and smoking way too many
packs of cigarettes over the past month or so. Please take the time to print
out the REGISTER.FRM file that is in the distribution archive and consider
registration. MaxFile/PM is in a class by itself for managing FILES.BBS files
on your desktop and $25 is a small fee for something that will make the chore
of keeping your file areas neat and tidy a lot easier. To show my good faith in
those of you who will use the program, the unregistered version is NOT crippled
in any way, shape or form. A registration key simply stops the Product
Information dialog from appearing when the program first starts and removes the
"Please Consider Registration" message from that dialog.

 'Nuff said...

 One last comment here... Please share MaxFile/PM with other sysops in your
area who are running OS/2. Your support for the program is needed if you want
it to grow and get better than it already is!

See next: Support


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Support ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 If you need to contact me about the program I can be reached in a number of
places. NetMail will get you the fastest response, but I read the OS2PRODSUP,
OS2BBS and MUFFIN conferences everyday and intend on answering any questions
posted there. There is also a local conference on my BBS called MFILEPMSUP that
you are more than welcome to poll for. I *will* support MaxFile/PM, all you
need to do is ask.

 I will respond to you in the same manner you contact me, with certain
exceptions.. If you are in Zone 1 and you crash netmail to me, I will return
netmail to you in the same fashion. Routed netmail will get a routed response.
To those of you in other Zones, I am sorry but the cost of international calls
is very prohibitive. If one of you would like to volunteer to hub the support
echo in your Zone, I would really appreciate it and it will get you a
registered copy of MaxFile/PM.

 If your BBS package is not supported by MaxFile/PM and you would like me to
add it, I need a few things from you or the author of your BBS software. First
I need the structure definitions or layouts for the file that holds your file
area information. Second, I need a copy of the file that holds the file area
information so that I can test the code before I ship it out to anyone.

See next: Before You Start


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Before You Start ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The default installation of OS/2 defines Mouse Button 1 as the left button and
Mouse Button 2 as the right button. Please keep this in mind as you read
through this document if you have redefined your mouse buttons.

 A word to the wise here..

 BACKUP *BEFORE* USING MAXFILE/PM !

 Here comes the standard disclaimer...I don't promise that MaxFile/PM will do
anything for you except take up space on your hard drive. While I am fairly
certain I have got all the nasties out of it, there is a chance that I may have
missed something. So please be safe and backup prior to using the program.
Suffice it to say, you have been warned.. :->


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Configuring MaxFile/PM ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 To configure MaxFile/PM for use, simply start MaxFile/PM by typing MAXFMPM and
pressing ENTER at an OS/2 Command Prompt. The MaxFile/PM Settings dialog box
will be presented for you, so that you can enter the vital information about
your system and BBS setup. There are four dialog boxes in total that you will
need to enter information into so that MaxFile/PM will be able to do everything
it does. The Main Settings, Adopt Options, External Programs and Macro Setting
dialogs.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. The Main Settings Dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The Main Settings dialog box is the first dialog that gets presented. Here you
will need to enter the basics about your BBS setup. These items are;
Registration Key, BBS Package, BBS Directory, the path and filename of the file
that contains your file area information, Temp Directory, File Database Utility
path and filename, when to run your File Database Utility, whether or not to
display the date and size of your files, and whether you want to be prompted to
save the FILES.BBS window information when you close a window or to save it
automatically.

Main Settings Controls:

   o Registration Key
   o BBS Package
   o BBS Directory
   o Temporary Directory
   o File Area Data
   o File Database Utility
   o Run FD Utility
   o Display
   o AutoSave
   o Header Size
   o ED Marker

 The Adopt Options and External Programs buttons get you to the Adopt Options
and External Programs dialog boxes.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.1. Registration Key ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 If you don't have a registration key, set this field to 0, otherwise type your
key number into the Registration Key Field.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.2. BBS Package ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The BBS Package field has four options, Maximus, Lora, SBBS and Generic.
Select which ever is appropriate for your system. The default is Maximus.

 For 'Generic' please see the section entitled Generic File Area Definitions
later in this document.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.3. BBS Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The BBS Directory field should be filled in with the root path that your BBS
files reside in. For example mine is D:\MAX. An entry in this field is
required.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.4. Temporary Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The Temporary Directory field is where you want MaxFile/PM to place its work
files and any files it needs to create when rearchiving, testing or viewing
archives.  NOTE: THIS DIRECTORY SHOULD NOT BE ONE THAT IS USED FOR ANYTHING
ELSE!  MaxFile/PM  will delete _EVERYTHING_ in this directory, including any
sub-directories during the normal course of its operations. This is a required
entry and you will need to create this directory for MaxFile/PM.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.5. File Area Data ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The File Area Data field should be filled in with the full path and filename
to the file that contains the information relating to your file areas. For
Maximus this would be AREA.DAT by default. On my system I have this set to
D:\MAX\AREA.DAT. For Lora-BBS users, this is the path and filename to
SYSFILE.DAT. For SBBS users, this is the path and filename to your FLSEARCH.BBS
file. This field is also a required entry.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.6. File Database Utility ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The next field is for the filename of your File Database Utility. For Maximus
this will be either FB.EXE or FBP.EXE. On my system I have this set to FBP,
since the utility is in my path. For Lora-BBS users, this will be FILEIDX.EXE.
Please see the "Known Problems" section at the end of this document for more
information about FILEIDX.EXE. For SBBS users, I don't have a clue. If someone
would fill me in on this one I'd really appreciate it! This entry is only
required if you want MaxFile/PM to run the utility for you.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.7. Run FD Utility ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The options for Run FD Utility determine when and if the File Database utility
will get run. There are three; Always, Prompt and Never. Always will run your
file database utility everytime you exit MaxFile/PM. If no changes have been
made, it will prompt you before running it. Prompt will ask you if you wish to
run it. Do I need to explain Never? :-}


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.8. Display ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The Display options control whether or not the file size and date information
gets displayed for your files in the FILES.BBS windows. Simply check or uncheck
the check boxes to set your preferences.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.9. AutoSave ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 AutoSave controls whether you are prompted to save FILES.BBS information or if
it should be written automatically each time you close a window that has
FILES.BBS information in it. When the checkbox for this item has a check in it,
MaxFile/PM will automatically save, if not, you will be prompted to save the
information.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.10. Header Size ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Header Size controls how many lines at the beginning of the FILES.BBS are
skipped when the FILES.BBS is read to populate the FILES.BBS window. It also
tells MaxFile/PM how many lines to copy from the old FILES.BBS to the new
FILES.BBS when it saves changes.

 This will solve quite a few of the problems with DownSort headers while still
preserving the headers in your FILES.BBS files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.11. ED Marker ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 For those BBS packages that support extended descriptions this option will
come in handy. Here you tell MaxFile/PM what character is associated with
extended descriptions for your BBS Package. This character can not be a space
or a dash.

 Defining this character causes a few changes in the way MaxFile/PM handles
your file descriptions. When this option is used, file descriptions are allowed
to be up to 1024 characters in length and nothing is stripped from FILE_ID.DIZ
descriptions read in from archives. MaxFile/PM does not insert this character
in multiple line descriptions for you, you need to do this.

 If this character is not defined, file descriptions are limited to 255
characters, also, any CR/LF pairs and high-bit ASCII characters are stripped
from FILE_ID.DIZ descriptions.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. The Adopt Options Dialog Box ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The Adopt Options dialog box is where you enter the information that tells
MaxFile/PM what files are okay to adopt. You do this by entering the extensions
of the files that you want to be added to your FILES.BBS when you do an Adopt
Files. You also may enter a Default Description here that gets used for adopted
files that either aren't archives or are archives that don't have a FILE_ID.DIZ
file in them.

Adopt Options Controls:

   o Add/Remove Extensions To Adopt
   o AutoAdopt
   o Download Counters
   o Default Description


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2.1. Add/Remove Extensions To Adopt ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 You may enter upto 15 extensions for MaxFile/PM to recognize. Entering them in
is accomplished by typing them into the edit field just above the Add button
and then clicking on the Add button. You may also remove extensions by
hilighting them in the listbox and clicking on the Remove button. NOTE: what
you are entering here is JUST the file extension, I.E. ZIP, not a file
specification mask.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2.2. AutoAdopt ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The little checkbox to the right of the adopt list listbox labeled AutoAdopt
tells MaxFile/PM whether or not to automatically adopt files each time a file
area is opened. Check it if you want this behaviour. I will have to admit that
at this time adopting is a rather slow process, so you might not want to have
AutoAdopt set to on.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2.3. Download Counters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Next comes the DL Counters checkbox, if you have this option checked, when
ever an Adopt is performed a download counter will be added to the beginning of
the file description. Currently this is hard coded as '[   ]'.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2.4. Default Description ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The last item in this dialog box is the Default Description. You may enter
upto 80 characters for a default description. This text will get used any time
you Insert, Adopt or drop files from an outside source into a window in
MaxFile/PM and those files meet the following criteria: 1, they are not an
archive or 2, they are an archive and the archive does not contain a
FILE_ID.DIZ description inside of it.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.3. The External Programs Dialog Box ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The External Programs dialog box is where you enter all the information about
your archivers and viewers. There are four entries for each archiver type that
MaxFile/PM supports (ZIP, ARJ, LZH and ARC.) Which are; Extract, Add, List and
Test. You'll need to look up the proper switches in the documentation for each
of the archivers you have. If you deal with archivers that can handle
directories inside of them, make sure that you specify those switches here.

See also: MaxFile/PM and External Programs

 The final control in this dialog is a button labeled Macros, it will bring up
the Macro Settings Dialog.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.4. The Macro Settings Dialog Box ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Here you can enter the definitions for 5 macros that will get called when you
press one of the keys, Shift-F6 - Shift-F10. They aren't macros persay, but
they behave in a very similar manner.

See also: MaxFile/PM and External Programs


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.5. MaxFile/PM and External Programs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 If you have REXX installed you can use REXX command files for any of the
external program options. You may also call OS/2 command files.

 Just remember to save the directory that your command file gets called from
and restore it just before your command file gets done.

 During certain operations MaxFile/PM expects to find a result file in the
directory it calls these programs from. The Test and View functions are those
times. MaxFile/PM expects to find the file ARC.TXT in the temporary directory
these programs are called from, if it doesn't find that file it will not
display anything about the files that are being tested or viewed.

 I had originally stated the MaxFile/PM could directly run DOS applications,
well it can but in certain circumstances it takes a little work. For the
Archiver Test and Viewer functions, if you use a DOS based archiver you will
need to write a small batch file that runs the archiver and directs the output
from the archiver to a file called ARC.TXT. As stated above this is the file
that MaxFile/PM displays to you for those functions.

 Please note that what directory the programs start out in WILL vary over the
course of a MaxFile/PM session, so don't hard code any references into your
command files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.6. Generic File Area Definitions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 To provide support for any BBS system that uses the standard FILES.BBS format
for their file listings I have come up with a very simple text file format that
will allow you to tell MaxFile/PM how your file areas are defined.

 The file is made up of a verb that tells MaxFile/PM how many areas it can
expect to find in the text file. Each successive line after that verb defines
the file areas themselves. A sample file is shown below:

----------------------------- AREAS.CFG sample --------------------------------
AreaCount 5
0 d:\max\file\uncheck    d:\max\file\uncheck\files.bbs    Unchecked Uploads
1 d:\max\file\max        d:\max\file\max\files.bbs        BBS Stuff
2 d:\max\file\dos\games  d:\max\file\dos\games\files.bbs  Dos Games
3 d:\max\file\os2\util   d:\max\file\os2\util\files.bbs   OS/2 Utilities
4 d:\max\file\os2\apps   d:\max\file\os2\apps\files.bbs   OS/2 Applications
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 The 'AreaCount' keyword tells MaxFile/PM how many area definitions it can
expect to find in the file. The AreaCount keyword must come BEFORE the area
definition lines.

The format for each area definition line is:

  <area tag> <file path> <list name> <area description>

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 <area tag>           Is a short name to identify the file area.

 <file path>          Is the path to the files.

 <list name>          Is the full drive:\path and filename of the
                      FILES.BBS for the area.

 <area description>   Is a short description of the area.
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 You can name this file what ever you wish, just make sure you specify the name
of this file for the File Area Data option in the Main Settings Dialog and make
sure the BBS Package is set to 'Generic'.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Using MaxFile/PM ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 When MaxFile/PM first comes up a window will be displayed that contains all of
your file areas. I will be referring to this window by the term 'File Area
Window' throughout the rest of this document.

 When you open up a file area, a window that is very similar in appearance to
the File Area window will appear. This window will contain all the files listed
in the FILES.BBS for that area. These windows will be referred to as 'FILES.BBS
Windows' from here on out.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. File Area Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The File Area window serves two basic purposes. First, it allows you to open
FILES.BBS Windows and second, it also serves as a dropping point for files so
that you can quickly move files to another file area without having to open the
file area.

The File Area Window Context Menu:

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 Open                      Opens the highlighted file area.

 View                      Change the way items are displayed.

 Area Sort                 Change sort order of file area display.

 Settings...               Configure MaxFile/PM for use.

 Product Information...    Displays some information about
                           MaxFile/PM.
ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ

 To bring up the context menu for the File Area window, press mouse button 2
anywhere inside the confines of the window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.1. File Area Menu/Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This menu item allows you to open the highlighted file area.

 The other ways of opening a file area are: Highlighting the area you want to
open and pressing enter or double-clicking mouse button 1 on a file area.

 If the file area is already open it will be brought into view, even if it is
minimized to the Minimized Window Viewer folder.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.2. File Area Menu/View ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Here you can change the way that the window displays your file areas. There
are three different options:

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 Detail          Sets the display to the "detail" view.

 Icon            Sets the display to the "Icon" view.

 Text            Sets the display to the "Text" view.
ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.3. File Area Menu/Area Sort ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The default order for your file areas is the order they are defined in. Here
you may change the order in which they are displayed. You can sort your file
areas in the following ways:

ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ
 Tag             Sorts file area display by Area Tags.

 Description     Sorts file area display by Area Description.

 Files Dir       Sorts file area display by Area Download Path.
ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.4. File Area Menu/Settings ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option brings up the Main Settings configuration dialog.

 See Also: Main Settings Dialog


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.5. File Area Menu/Product Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This menu item displays the Product Information dialog box for MaxFile/PM.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. FILES.BBS Window ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 FILES.BBS windows are the heart and soul of MaxFile/PM, these windows are
where you will be spending most of your time. A FILES.BBS window is very
similar to the File Area window in appearance. What you will see when you open
one of these windows is the contents of the FILES.BBS that is associated with
the file area this window belongs to.

The FILES.BBS Window Context Menu:

ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ
 Sort                      Sort Options

 View                      Displays file(s) based on their type.

 Test Archive              Run archive tests on selected arhcives.

 Virus Scanner             Run virus scannner utility on selected
                           files.

 ReArchive                 ReArchive Options

 Extract to Directory      Extract files to a specified directory.

 Adopt Files               Adopt orphan files.

 Touch Files               Updates Time and Date stamp of selected
                           files.

 Edit Description          Edit description of FIRST selected item.

 Get FILE_ID.DIZ           Extract FILE_ID.DIZ from selected
                           Archives.

 Insert                    Insert Files or Comments

 Remove Items              Removes highlighted items (doesn't
                           delete files.)

 Select All                Selects all items in FILES.BBS window.

 Deselect All              Deselects all items.

 Area Statistics           Display number of files, space used,
                           etc...
ΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.1. FILES.BBS Menu/Sort ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 With this option you can sort the entries in this FILES.BBS window in one of
four ways; Name, Date, Size or Description. Pay attention here, this is the
part that confuses some people. If there are any items selected ONLY those
items get sorted. To sort the entire window, make sure NONE of the items in
that window are selected. We'll talk about this a bit later.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.2. FILES.BBS Menu/View ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 The View option works in conjunction with the external program options. For
archives it will fire up the proper archiver to create a list of files
contained in the archive and display a dialog containing that list. For
pictures and text files the appropriate viewer will be started. View is also
the action that is associated with double-clicking mouse button 1 on an entry
in the window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.3. FILES.BBS Menu/Test Archive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option only works with archives. It simply invokes the appropriate
archiver for each selected item in the window. The output from the archiver
will be displayed in a dialog box after the testing is completed is completed
for each archive.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.4. FILES.BBS Menu/Virus Scanner ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option runs the virus scanner you have set up on each file selected in
the current FILES.BBS window. The window that the virus scanner is run in is
not closed when the scan is complete so that you may view the results.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.5. FILES.BBS Menu/ReArchive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option allows you to convert archives to your preferred archive format.
Should one of your archivers not have an Add option defined for it, its menu
option will be grayed out.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.6. FILES.BBS Menu/Extract to Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Here you can extract a selected archive to a directory that you specify. Note
that the directory you specify must exist.

 Once you select this option a dialog box will appear asking you to specify the
directory you want to extract the files to, it also displays the current
directory. Type in the directory name and select Ok, or select Cancel to abort
the operation.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.7. FILES.BBS Menu/Adopt Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Adopt Files allows you to add any orphan files in a particular file area to
the FILES.BBS for that area. Adopting is performed in a seperate thread so that
you may continue to work in the window for the file area while the adopt is
going on. The window will be locked open while the Adopt is being performed.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.8. FILES.BBS Menu/Touch Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 "Touching" is the process of updating the Time and Date stamps of files to the
current time and date. This option allows you to do that for the selected files
in the current window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.9. FILES.BBS Menu/Edit Description ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Many of you asked for this one. Edit Description allows you to edit the
description of a selected item by first selecting it, then choosing this option
from the context menu. It works the same way as ALT+clicking mouse button 1 on
an item's description.

 To cut and paste text you can use the standard CUA key combinations in the
edit box provided for editing descriptions. They are:


 Ctrl+Insert          Copy to clipboard.

 Shift+Insert         Paste from clipboard.

 Shift+Delete         Cut to clipboard.

 Delete               Cut text.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.10. FILES.BBS Menu/Get FILE_ID.DIZ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option goes through the selected items in the window and attempts to
extract the FILE_ID.DIZ from them. Comments and files that aren't archives are
skipped over by this function. If a FILE_ID.DIZ is present in the archives
selected, the first 255 characters will be read from it and placed in the
description field. CR/LF pairs and high-bit ASCII characters are stripped from
the text read in from the FILE_ID.DIZ.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.11. FILES.BBS Menu/Insert ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 To Insert a comment into the current FILES.BBS window, first select the item
in the window that you want the comment to go in FRONT of. Then bring up the
context menu and select Insert->Comment. A blank comment will then be inserted
in the FILES.BBS window.

 To allow you to adopt a single file from either the current directory or
another drive/directory, you can use Insert/File. It works much the same way as
Insert/Comment, first select the item in the window that you want the file to
go in front of, then select Insert->File from the context menu. A file dialog
will be displayed so that you can find the file you want to insert. Once you
have found the file, select the Insert button in the dialog box. The file will
then be inserted into the current window. Selecting the Cancel button inside
the file dialog box aborts the insert operation.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.12. FILES.BBS Menu/Remove Items ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This item removes or deletes items from the FILES.BBS window. When you select
it from the context menu, a dialog box will appear allowing you two options.
'Entries' just removes the entry from the FILES.BBS window, 'Entries and Files'
causes the entries to be removed and the associated with the entries to be
deleted. Click Ok to remove the items, or Cancel to abort the operation.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.13. FILES.BBS Menu/Select-Deselect All ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 These two options do exactly what they say. Select All, selects every item in
the window and Deselect All, deselects all items in the window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.14. FILES.BBS Menu/Area Statistics ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 This option displays an information message box containing how many files are
in the current area, how much space they take up and how much free space
remains on the volume.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. Selecting Items ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Perhaps the most confusing part of working in a FILES.BBS window is selecting
or deselecting items. I wrote the program and I still have to think about it.
Basically it works like this; Clicking mouse button 1 on an item selects it and
clears the selection from any other items in the window. To select multiple
items in the window, press mouse button 1 on the first item you want selected
and hold it down while you drag the mouse cursor. This allows you to select a
contiguous range of items. If you want to select multiple items and they aren't
adjacent to each other, hold down the CTRL key while you click mouse button 1
on each item. If the item is not selected it will become selected, if the item
is already selected the selection is cleared for that item.

 If you need to select or deselect all the items in a window, your best bet is
to use the Select All/Deselect All options from the context menu.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. Drag and Drop ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 A drag operation is started by pressing mouse button 2 down and dragging the
mouse cursor. The operation is considered complete when you release mouse
button 2. Should you wish to abort the drag, press the ESC key on your
keyboard.

 You can drag files from anywhere on your system and drop them either on a
FILES.BBS window or onto the File Area window. When dropping on an open
FILES.BBS window, the files are inserted into the FILES.BBS at the point at
which they were dropped. When dropping on the File Area window, the files are
inserted at the end of the FILES.BBS for the area they are dropped on.

 You can also rearrange the items in a window by selecting them, then dragging
them and dropping them where you want them to be.

 Many of you have asked about this one...To delete one or more items from a
FILES.BBS window; highlight the items you want deleted, then drag them to the
shredder object and delete them.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.5. Renaming Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 To rename a file, press and hold the ALT key and click mouse button 1 on the
file that you want to rename. Then enter the new filename and click button 1
anywhere outside the edit box or press the ESC key to end the edit.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.6. Editing File Descriptions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Editing descriptions works in the much the same manner as renaming files,
ALT+click mouse button 1 on the description you want to edit. To save the
description, click outside the edit box or press the ESC key.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.7. Program Macros ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 FILES.BBS windows are the only place that the Shift-F(x) macros will operate.
When pressing one of these key combinations MaxFile/PM will search through the
container in the window and pass the fully qualified filename of the FIRST (and
ONLY the first) selected item in the container to your macro. If a comment is
selected, or no items are selected, your macro will get called with no
arguments passed to it. Don't make any assumptions about what directory the
macro will start out in, that will be determined by the default OS/2 shell.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.8. FILE_ID.DIZ Notes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 MaxFile/PM will attempt to extract FILE_ID.DIZ from archives and use the
description inside the file any time you adopt orphans, drop files from an
external source on the File Area or FILES.BBS windows or 'Insert' files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Known Problems ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 In a system as configurable as OS/2 there are always going to be problems,
this section is devoted to those problems and in some cases work-arounds. If
you are having trouble with MaxFile/PM this is the first place to look to see
if you can find some help.

Problem List:

   o CONFIGURATION
   o SYS3175 - Access Violations
   o DOWNSORT
   o FEELX
   o FILEIDX.EXE
   o RENAMING FILES
   o SPLAT DIRECTORIES


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. CONFIGURATION ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 I changed the BBS package I use, why do I have to restart MaxFile/PM?

 Sometime in the near future this is likely to change, but for now anytime you
change the 'BBS Package' and 'File Area Data' options in the Main Settings
Dialog you will have to shut MaxFile/PM down and restart it for the changes to
take effect. It has to do with the way the configuration is read in, which I am
not going to go into here.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.2. SYS3175 - Access Violations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 On ocassion when dragging file(s) outside of MaxFile/PM's windows an access
violation will occur and shut MaxFile/PM down. I have not been able to reliably
duplicate this (its only happened to me once), thus I haven't been able to
track down its cause.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.3. DOWNSORT ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Single Carriage Returns in Comment Lines

 DownSort headers have been a major source of anguish.. ;-} Some versions of
DownSort will insert ASCII 0x0D carriage returns in comment lines in order to
cover up the dash that tells Maximus to use white text instead of the default
cyan. In an effort to keep the PM Container control and DownSort users both
happy I had to resort to a kludge. When the FILES.BBS is read in, MaxFile/PM
will replace any single occurances of CR's with a sentinel (ASCII 0x01). This
tells MaxFile/PM when it writes the FILES.BBS back out to insert a single CR at
that position. This sentinel character shows up as a little smiley '
' in the
comment text on the right side of the container control. If you delete this
little guy, the CR will NOT get replaced. So make sure you actually do want to
get rid of it.   Another alternative is to use the Header Size configuration
option to force MaxFile/PM to skip the headers in your FILES.BBS files.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.4. FEELX ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Video corruption when fast scrolling in the Archive Statistics Dialog.

 It has been brought to my attention that some video corruption has occured
when FEELX is being used. MaxFile/PM is not causing the problems here. I am
using standard controls with none of their behaviour modified. I'm sorry if
this causes some inconvenience to FEELX users, but I can't fix something in my
program that isn't broken.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.5. FILEIDX.EXE ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Lora-BBS File index maintenance utility

 Make sure that you specify the files IDX file that you want rebuilt in the
Main Settings dialog box. For example:

                           ΓöîΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÉ
   File Database Utility   Γöé E:\LORA\FILEIDX E:\LORA\FILES.IDX  Γöé
                           ΓööΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÇΓöÿ

 MaxFile/PM will take care of the rest. (The "AREA .. .. .." part.)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.6. RENAMING FILES ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 I haven't fully tested all the different ramifications of renaming files now
that full path specs are supported, please be careful when renaming files in a
FILES.BBS window. And report anything out of the ordinary.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.7. SPLAT DIRECTORIES ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

 Left over directories in the Temp Directory

 If MaxFile/PM suffers from an Abnormal Termination, it is quite possible that
the proper cleanup of the Temporary Directory did not get performed. It is safe
to remove the files from these temporary directories and remove the extra
directories. Please do this when MaxFile/PM is NOT running.