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TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation ===================================================================== User Documentation for TreeWalker V2.01 (TW.EXE) A FREEWARE Utility Program By Steve Dunn 50 Hillside Drive Hanover, MA. 02339 CompuServe ID: 70034,2454 ===================================================================== Page: 1 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation ╔═══════════════════╗ ║ T A B L E ║ ║ O F ║ ║ C O N T E N T S ║ ╚═══════════════════╝ Section: Page: Introduction ............................................ 3 Distribution ............................................ 4 Getting Started ......................................... 5 The Initial Screen ...................................... 8 Using the TREE Manager .................................. 11 Using the FILE Manager .................................. 16 Program Limitations ..................................... 25 Tech Note ............................................... 26 Revision History ........................................ 27 Page: 2 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Introduction: ------------ TW.EXE is intended as a full-featured and easy-to-use DOS File Manager and Disk(ette) Manager. It features a "point-and-shoot" environment and simplified menus of various functions. On-line help is available at various points during program execution by pressing "F1". You should received the following files for this version: TW.EXE - the main executable program file TW.DOC - the ASCII text user documentation (this file!). If you wish, you can print this file via the DOS command COPY TW.DOC PRN. README.1ST - some rudimentary notes in ASCII format In general, all programs functions are activated either by pressing one of the FKeys or, where there are subsequent menus, by pressing the letter / character key contained in the square brackets. TW.EXE was originally intended to help new DOS users learn how their disk(ette)s are organized, how to use the "TREE" structure, etc and to simplify various DOS-level file management capabilites. Like J.R.R.Tolkien's wonderful tales, this program "grew in the telling" into something much bigger than I thought it would. TW.EXE V2.01 is designed to work on any MS-DOS/PC-DOS PC system - it uses no undocumented DOS or BIOS calls. It may, however, cause screen "snow" on older PC displays (sorry about that!). It requires a minimum of 256K free RAM. TW.EXE will run under both plain old DOS, or either 4DOS (from J.P.Software) or NDOS (licensed from J.P.Software by Symantech as part of the "Norton Utilities"). If you do run 4DOS or NDOS, additional TW features will be available, specifically supporting the "file commenting" features available under either of these two fine products. TW V2.01 may be run under Windows V3.00 either as a full screen or as a windowed application. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would sincerely appreciate any and all feedback you may have (comments, criticisms, suggestions for future versions, etc). Just drop me a line on CompuServe electronic mail (see title page). Page: 3 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Distribution: ------------ TW.EXE may be copied and distributed freely, subject to the following conditions: <> You make no changes to TW.EXE nor to TW.DOC. <> You MUST distribute TW.EXE and TW.DOC *together*. There is no required nor requested fee (but please send me your feedback!). To quote some Truly Great Americans, "Don't want money. Got Money. Want admiration". However, TW.EXE is my private property, so you may not sell this program for profit. If you want to distribute this program along with others as part of a "bundle" or "package", you may freely do so subject to the two conditions noted above. THIS PROGRAM IS BEING MADE AVAILABLE ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT ANY GUARANTEE OR WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE STRICTLY AT YOUR OWN RISK. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL I BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY SORT WHICH MAY RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. (This stuff may be necessary, but it sure sounds *cold*, doesn't it?) In any event, I have beta-tested the initial releases of this program on 10 local PC users, ranging from expert to the "Gee, where's the keyboard?" level for a period of 6 months without problem. This release has been largely shaped by the combined feedback of the inital 10 users, plus all the fine folks in the electronic BBS world who have so graciously shared their opinions with me (Thanks Dianne, Mark, Mike, Dennis, et al!). Page: 4 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Getting Started: --------------- TW.EXE is invoked from the DOS command line simply by typing "TW" and pressing <enter> - note that all of the following command line parms (except for drive spec and the "HELP" parm) can, as of V2.01, also appear in a DOS ENVIRON variable in the format: set TREEWALK=/parm1 /parm2 ... or, as they would appear on the DOS command line (and note that parms on the DOS command line supercede parms set in the ENVIRON variable): TW [d:|.] [/parm1] [/parm2] ... <enter> d: - is optional, and represents the drive spec to start with. If you omit this parm, the current default DRIVE (and the current default PATH) will be used automatically. In fact, the colon character is also optional. - The DRIVE or the "." must be the FIRST parm after the TW (if you plan to use this optional parm at all). - Note that if you use a period character, TW will start up and immediately enter the FILE MANAGER for the current default drive and directory. - If you DO specify a drive letter, TW will start up in the ROOT directory of the given drive. TW will still work if you specify a PATH, however, the initial hilite bar will be on the ROOT directory of whatever drive starts the PATH you specify instead of whatever sub-directory you happen to be in when you start the program. - If you WANT to start in the ROOT, even of the current default drive, use "d:\" (note the trailing "\" character). - NOTE: TW will check drives "A" and "B" to be sure they are "ready" (i.e., they contain a valid disk, the drive door is closed, ect) first; if not, TW will warn you. TW cannot (at this point) reliably check any other hard drive spec due to the fact that many popular PC systems do not respond in a standard way to MS-DOS INT 25h (eg, COMPAQ 386, ZEOS 386, etc). Page: 5 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Getting Started (continued): ---------------------------- - However, TW WILL check to be sure that the drive letter you give is, in fact, recognized as a drive on your system. If not, TW will terminate and display an error message which specifies which drives it can accept. - In general, this parm should be used only to start by reading a drive other than the current default drive. (You will be able to change drives later, from within TW, if you wish). /parm1, /parm2 - are all optional, and may be any of the following, in any order you want: /25 - forces TW to start in 25 rows-per-screen mode. This is the default mode. /43 - forces TW to start in 43 rows-per-screen mode. This works only if your system has an EGA adapter or better. /50 - forces TW to start in 50 rows-per-screen mode. This works only if your system has a VGA adapter or better. NOTE: If you specify more than one of the above, TW uses the highest row value it finds on the command line. /R - forces TW to physically re-read the disk(ette) TREE structure as it starts up. The default is to *NOT* physically read the disk(ette) tree structure, but rather to read the directory structure TW stored on disk from the last time it was used (see next paragraph). - When TW is started for the first time, it will automatically save two files to the ROOT directory of the drive being read which will contain the DOS TREE structure data (only for drive C: or higher - it will not save tree structure files for drive A: or B:). - Subsequently, when you start TW, it will read the directory structure data contained in these two files rather than go thru the time consuming physical disk read. Page: 6 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Getting Started (continued): ---------------------------- - You may want to force this physical re-read if you have created or deleted any directories under DOS, as opposed to using TW for this purpose. - This function can also be toggled "on" or "off" from within TW, after you have started it (see also "/NS", below). - Incidentally, these two files are named "TW!.DAT" and "TW!!.DAT", and are text files. You can view them using TYPE or LIST, or even send them to the printer if you wish. - NOTE: if your printer does not support graphics character printing, the results may be less than satisfactory!). /NS - prevents TW from saving the "TW!.DAT" and "TW!!.DAT" files (see above) to disk. This option is included for completeness, but I don't use it myself. - Note that TW must do a physical (i.e., time consuming) disk read of the DOS TREE structure each time it starts unless it can find the "TW!.DAT" and "TW!!.DAT" files. These files are always located in the root directory of the drive being accessed. - Note that this feature can be toggled "on" and "off" from within TW.EXE, but the default is that TW.EXE *will* save these two files (see also "/R", above). /? - this parm causes TW to display on the screen info /HELP on what all the available parms do - kind of on-line help for the start up parms. - NOTE: you cannot specify this parm in the DOS ENVIRON "TREEWALK=". /M - this parm causes TW.EXE to start up in monochrome mode (the default is in color). This is useful if you normally use a laptop or other monochrome system (thanks, Mike!). - NOTE: If you use the "TREEWALK=" DOS ENVIRON parm, this "/M" parm CANNOT be superceded by any command line parm. Page: 7 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation The Initial Screen: ------------------ After you have started TW.EXE, a screen similar to the following will appear: ..................................................................... Drive F: Has 10 Directories SaveTree Files Bytes % F:\[ROOT] 9 4,274,605 52.4% ├────FAM_ANL ................................ 38 327,162 4.0% │ ├────BETTY 115 911,363 11.2% │ ├────CINDY 6 37,675 0.5% │ ├────GREG 10 72,899 0.9% │ ├────JADA 20 149,579 1.8% │ ├────LARRYR 3 15,241 0.2% │ └────MIKE 28 200,881 2.5% └────GRAPHICS................................ 34 1,318,974 16.2% └────GIFS 17 851,795 10.4% F1 │ F2 │ F3 │ F4 │ F5 │ F6 │ F7 │ F8 │ F9 │ F10 Help│MkDir│Drive│RmDir│Paths│Search│Delete│Print│Shell│ Load ..................................................................... This screen starts by telling you, in the upper left hand corner, which drive is being used (in this example, drive F:) and how many directories are currently on the drive (including the ROOT). The "SaveTree" is a reminder that the TREE structure data is being written to disk - this will *ALWAYS* appear unless you specifed the "/NS" option at start up or in the DOS "TREEWALK=" parm (you also can toggle this feature on and off during execution of TW - see the F1 HELP menu for details - but since it has *ALREADY* saved the two files at this point, this has limited value UNLESS you subsequently change drives from within TW.EXE). Next to "SaveTree" may (or may not) appear a similar little reminder, "ReadTree", which refers to whether or not you specified the "/R" parm on the command line parm or in the DOS ENVIRON "TREEWALK=" parm (the one which forces a physical re-read of the DOS TREE structure). If you see the "ReadTree", the physical disk read operation *IS* being forced; if you don't, TW.EXE is relying on the "TW!.DAT" and the "TW!!.DAT" files. You can toggle this function on and off - see the F1 HELP menu for details. Page: 8 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Initial Screen (continued): --------------------------- The column labelled "FILES" tells you how many files are currently in each directory. This count includes hidden files, but does not include subdirectories (if any). The column labelled "BYTES" tells you the total bytes contained in all the files in each directory. Note that this figure is merely the total of the file sizes as reported in the DOS directory listing - it does not have anything to do with the number of bytes contained in all the clusters occupied by files. Note that, if a cluster size for your disk is 2,048 bytes (this does vary by hard disk) and you have a file which is 10 bytes long, the column labeled "BYTES" reports the file size as 10, not 2,048. The rightmost column is labelled "%" (hey, I ran out of screen columns, OK?!) and is derived as follows: Total number of bytes in files (not in file-occupied clusters) in the individual directory) ---------------------------------------------------- Total number of bytes in all files (again not in file clusters) on the entire disk Note that, by definition, the sum of all these percentages will always be = 100%. This is intended as a measure of which directories have the most files and/or bytes in them so that you can manage the entire disk instead of just individual directories. NOTE: The columns labelled "FILES", "BYTES" and "%" are always updated after every file operation you perform within TW, so that they are always current no matter what. This is useful so that you can immediately examine the effects of any file COPY or MOVE or DELETE operations in "real-time". The downside is that it takes a few seconds to do, but I feel it's worth it! The hilite bar will be located on either the current default directory or on the root, depending on whther you used the "[d:]" parm at startup time, and whatever the current default directory for the given drive happens to be. Page: 9 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Initial Screen (continued): --------------------------- The bottom two screen rows contain the available functions, most of which are available from the FKeys (those which are not available from FKeys can be found in the F1 - HELP screen). More on all of these below. When you are at this TREE MANAGER level of TW, you can exit the program in either of two ways: Press ESC to return to your original start up drive and path. OR Press ENTER to exit to the currently hilited drive and path. NOTE: If you have used the F4 (RmDir) function to delete the PATH from which you started TreeWalk, you will not be able to exit by pressing ESC (since the start-up PATH no longer exists!). In this case, move the hilite bar to another PATH and press ENTER. NOTE: When you attempt to exit, TW will check drives "A" and "B" to see if they are "ready", but cannot check any other drive spec. This is because certain PC's (notably COMPAQ 386's and ZEOS 386's - but not COMPAQ 286's - go figure!) have a non-standard response to MS-DOS INT 25h. This is significant, really, only if you start TW from a floppy drive and subsequently remove the diskette from the drive. Page: 10 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the TREE Manager: ---------------------- After you get to the Initial Screen, you can begin to use the TREE MANAGER section of TW.EXE. (Note that if you started TW using the optional "." parm, you should skip to the section below named "Using The FILE MANAGER"). The hilite bar can be moved to any of the various directories by using the UP arrow, the DOWN arrow, the HOME key and the END key. If the directory listing is too long to fit on the screen, you can also try using the PGUP and PGDN keys. As an alternative, you can use the built-in "quicksearch" feature - press the key corresponding to the first letter in the directory name you want. The hilite bar will immediately move to the first directory which starts with the letter you pressed. Press it again to go to the next directory name starting with that letter, and so on. NOTE: This "quicksearch" only searches forward, not backward, and does not wrap around when it hits the end. I happen to like it that way, but if I get enough complaints, I'll change it! If you press the ENTER key, you will immediately CHDIR to the hilited directory entry, and exit to DOS in that drive and directory. If you press the ESC key, you will exit to DOS in your original startup drive and directory. Other functions are available from the FKey "menu" on the bottom two screen rows, as follows: F1 - HELP - on line "help" giving brief descriptions of what all the available functions are in the TREE MANAGER section of TW.EXE. F2 - MKDIR - similar to the DOS MKDIR, except that the directory will be created automatically as a subdirectory of whatever directory the hilite bar is currently on. You never need to type a "\" character using this approach! Note you must be in the ROOT to create a subdirectory from the ROOT. Page: 11 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the TREE Manager(continued): --------------------------------- - Using this function will automatically turn ON the "ReadTree" function, and will automatically update the TW!.DAT and TW!!.DAT files. F3 - DRIVE - allows you to change the drive which TW is using. A sub-menu of available drives will be presented, and you can choose from ONLY those drive letters which appear by pressing the corresponding letter key. F4 *** {DIFFERENT BEHAVIOR FROM V1.2A} *** - RMDIR - this removes the currently hilited directory, BUT IS DIFFERENT from the DOS RMDIR command. If the directory is empty, it is simply deleted (see NOTE below). TW corrects the info in "TW!.DAT" and "TW!!.DAT" automatically for the next time out, and sets the "ReadTree" function to "on". - If the directory is NOT empty, you will be asked if it is OK to delete all the files first. CAUTION: - TW can (and will) delete any file, whether Hidden, Read-Only, or whatever (but not a sub directory entry)! File attributes can be altered from the FILE MANAGER section of TW, using the F9 key function menu (described below). - If you say OK to delete all files, TW deletes all the files WITHOUT asking for any further confirmation, and then removes the directory itself, then corrects the info in "TW!.DAT" and "TW!!.DAT" automatically for the next time out. - NOTE: TW cannot remove a directory entry if that directory currently has any open sub-directory entries, even if those sub directory entries contain no files. - NOTE: TW can (and will) remove the specified directory even if it happens to be the current default directory (after deleting all the files), and this behavior differs from V1.2A. (Not even TW will remove the ROOT directory under any circumstances). Page: 12 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the TREE Manager(continued): --------------------------------- - If you start TW from a given sub-directory, and then use F4 to delete it, you will NOT be able to exit TW by pressing the ESC key (since the drive and path you started from no longer exist). You MUST move the hilight bar to a new path and press ENTER to exit TW in this circumstance. F5 - PATHS - this is a toggle to control how the directory entries are displayed. The default is to display a graphic tree structure; press this key to get the actual DOS PATH names for each directory. - This is useful in training inexperienced users how to visualize a DOS TREE from a list of actual DOS PATH names (or vice versa). F6 - SEARCH - this invokes a GLOBAL SEARCH for a filespec which you will be asked to provide. This allows you to search an entire disk for any particular file (DOS wildcards are accepted and recognized appropriately) and it steps thru each directory (starting at the ROOT) for any and all matching files. - Each time a match is found, you will be given the option of either LOADing the matching files in that directory (see F10, below) or of merely continuing the search. - Note that this search will wrap-around to the ROOT after exhausting all other directories, in case you want to "go back" to a previously-found match. If not, just press ESC. F7 - DELETE - similar to F6, above, except that TW will attempt to GLOBALLY DELETE all files which match your given file spec. - When the first match is found, you are given the option to say [Y]es, [N]o, [A]ll matches, or [Q]uit. Page: 13 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the TREE Manager(continued): --------------------------------- - NOTE: Using the [A] option will causes TW to delete all matching files in all directories without asking any further confirmation - USE THIS WITH CARE! The best use I have found for this is in removing the host of .BAK and .TMP files created as intermediate files by several different software packages. - CAUTION: TW can delete any file, regardless of whether it is Hidden, Read-Only, etc. Note that file attributes can be changed from the FILE MANAGER section of TW, using the F9 key function menu (described below). F8 - PRINT - This will send a copy of the TREE data currently displayed on the screen to the printer. - NOTE: This routine assumes that your printer can print graphics characters. If it can't, the results will be "less than satisfactory". TW V2.01 has no provision for sending printer setup strings (maybe next time...?) - HINT: If your printer cannot handle graphics characters, try using the F5 key (see above) to change the screen display to the actual DOS PATH names and then use this F8 print function. F9 - STATS - (same as pressing the TAB key) This provides you with a quick insight into the current status of your hard drive, by providing a popup window containing the following info: Page: 14 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the TREE Manager(continued): --------------------------------- ╓─────────────────────────────────────────────────╖ ║ [*] Disk Statistics for Drive C: [*] ║ ╟─────────────────────────────────────────────────╢ ║ # Bytes per sector: 512 ║ ║ # Sectors per cluster: 4 ║ ║ Total # clusters on disk: 16,335 ║ ║ # Clusters unused on disk: 4,424 ║ ║ % Clusters available on disk: 27.1% ║ ║ # Bytes in avail. clusters: 9,060,352 ║ ║ # Files on disk: 937 ║ ║ # Bytes used by files: 23,262,096 ║ ║ Total # bytes on disk: 33,454,080 ║ ║ # Bytes unused on disk: 10,191,984 ║ ║ % Bytes available on disk: 30.5% ║ ║ ║ ║ <*> Press Any Key To Continue <*> ║ ╙─────────────────────────────────────────────────╜ - Note that the above info compares the number of bytes found in files (as measured by the DOS file size) against the number of bytes contained in clusters. Be aware that DOS allocates your disk space in cluster-sized chunks (a file 10 bytes long occupies 1 entire cluster, or 2,048 bytes (512 per sector times 4 sectors per cluster) in the above example). - The only thing you have available for new files is the item labelled above as "# Bytes in avail. clusters" (in the above example, 9,060,352). - By comparing the "# Bytes unused on disk" to the "# Bytes in avail. clusters", you can a quick-and-dirty handle on the "slack" space on your disk (i.e., the space allocated to files by DOS which is not filled by the files themselves). F10 - LOAD - This causes TW.EXE to invoke the FILE MANAGER, and load all the files in the currently hilited directory. See "FILE MANAGER" section, below. Page: 15 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER: ---------------------- Unlike V1.2A, the current V2.01 is sensitive to the DOS "COMSPEC=" environment variable. This variable is normally set by DOS whenever you start up your system, and exists to inform DOS how to execute a DOS SHELL. If you are curious, just type the command SET <enter> at the DOS prompt to see how many other things are being stored as ENVIRON variables. Regular PC-DOS and MS-DOS normally set the COMSPEC= to be "COMSPEC=[d:\path\]COMMAND.COM", indicating that COMMAND.COM is to be invoked in response to any request for a DOS shell. On the other hand, 4DOS and NDOS set COMSPEC=[d:\path\]4DOS.COM or COMSPEC=[d:\path\]NDOS.COM. TW V2.01 reads this COMSPEC variable when it starts up to determine what features are to be available to the user. If it finds 4DOS or NDOS in the COMSPEC variable, it will automatically activate the special TW features which deal with file commenting. NOTE: - TW relies on the functionality inherent in the 4DOS / NDOS programs to provide its own extra features, and changing your COMSPEC variable manually won't alter this. You cannot obtain file commenting capability by simply changing you rCOMSPEC= variable! Keeping this in mind, the following section outlines TW functions for FILE MANAGEMENT, and will clearly label the functions which are available ONLY under 4DOS / NDOS. Page: 16 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation The following is an example of the screen display shown when you invoke the FILE MANAGER section of TW.EXE: *** Running Regular DOS *** ............................................................................... [*] C:\QB\*.* contains 21 file(s) [*] UFiles Marked - COUNT: 0 Files Marked - BYTES: 0 . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 / / / /DIR . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 / / / /DIR INCLUDE . 0 11-06-1990 12:18 / / / /DIR LIB . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 / / / /DIR PROGS . 0 11-06-1990 12:18 / / / /DIR BC .EXE 77175 02-27-1991 14:40 ARC/ / / / BCOM45 .LIB 220919 09-28-1988 01:43 / / / / BQLB45 .LIB 24789 09-28-1988 01:07 / / / / OPT .CFG 281 06-27-1991 14:50 / / / / OPT .EXE 84764 11-15-1989 11:30 ARC/ / / / PP .CFG 136 11-17-1989 08:24 / / / / PP .EXE 75048 11-10-1989 16:02 ARC/ / / / PREQLB .EXE 80817 06-12-1991 10:44 ARC/ / / / F1 │ F2 │ F3 │ F4 │ F5 │ F6 │ F7 │ F8 │ F9 │ F10 Help │ Copy │ Move │ View │ Mark │ Mask │ Delete│ Print │Change │ Sort =============================================================================== *** Running 4DOS / NDOS, and the hidden file "DESCRIPT.ION" exists *** ............................................................................... [*] C:\QB\*.* contains 21 file(s) [*] UFiles Marked - COUNT: 0 Files Marked - BYTES: 0 . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 INCLUDE . 0 11-06-1990 12:18 LIB . 0 11-06-1990 12:17 PROGS . 0 11-06-1990 12:18 BC .EXE 77175 02-27-1991 14:40 Command line QB compiler BCOM45 .LIB 220919 09-28-1988 01:43 QB Library for stand-alone .EXE files BQLB45 .LIB 24789 09-28-1988 01:07 Support module for QuickLibs DESCRIPT.ION 737 01-21-1992 15:28 OPT .CFG 281 06-27-1991 14:50 Config file for "OPT.EXE" OPT .EXE 84764 11-15-1989 11:30 QB Source file optimizer PP .CFG 136 11-17-1989 08:24 Config file for "PP.EXE" PP .EXE 75048 11-10-1989 16:02 Pre-Processor for QB source files PREQLB .EXE 80817 06-12-1991 10:44 See info in "PREQLB.DOC" F1 │ F2 │ F3 │ F4 │ F5 │ F6 │ F7 │ F8 │ F9 │ F10 Help │ Copy │ Move │ View │ Mark │ Mask │ Delete│ Print │Change │ Sort ............................................................................... Page: 17 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): ---------------------------------- In both cases above, the following is shown on the screen, starting at the top: - The name of the current drive and path which TW is displaying, along with a count of all files TW found. - On the far left of the next line, the letter "U" indicates that the file listing is Unsorted (you can change this using the F10 function - see below). - Next is the number of files you currently have MARKed (see the F5 function, below) and the sum of bytes in all the files you have MARKed. - Following this is a complete listing of all directory entries contained in the drive and path (mainly files, but also includes sub-directory names). Note that the file listing displays information on ALL files, including Hidden, Read-Only, etc files presented in a format which is similar to the DOS DIR format, but the right side also tells you the either the current status of each file's attribute byte (under regular DOS) or the contents of the file's 4DOS / NDOS comment. Note that, under 4DOS / NDOS, you can toggle the display to match the one presented under regular DOS if you wish (press the "." key). Under the regular DOS file listing format, the right-hand side of the listing is a literal representation of the file's current attribute byte (you can change the attribute byte using the F9 function, below. Also, the F5 file MARKing function can key in on this value). If a file had all attributes set, the righthand side of the line would read "ARC\R-O\HID\SYS". You can interpret this as follows: - If ARC appears, the ARCHIVE attribute is SET - If R-O appears, the file is READ ONLY - If HID appears, the file is HIDDEN - If SYS appears, the file is a SYSTEM file (like IBMBIO.COM) - If DIR appears on the far right, then the entry is not a file at all, but is rather a DIRectory entry. The hilite bar can be moved in the same way as in the TREE MANAGER section, above. Page: 18 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): ---------------------------------- The FKey menu appears again on the bottom two screen rows, offering the following functionality: F1 - HELP - on line help (brief descriptions of what functions are available in this FILE MANAGER section of TW.EXE). - Note that contents of the actual HELP screen will vary depending on whether you are running regular DOS or 4DOS / NDOS. - Note that the help screen also contains information on other TW functions which are not attached to FKeys. F2 - COPY - allows you to copy either a single file or a group of files (see F5 file MARKing function, below) to another directory and / or drive. You will asked to input the desired destination, which will be checked to insure that it is a valid destination, and that the destination is not the same as the source. - As each file is copied, the destination is checked to be sure that enough space exists to safely copy the file. In the case of a hard disk, there almost always is; if there isn't, the copy operation will be aborted. - If the destination is a floppy diskette (i.e., drive A: or B:), you will be given the option of replacing the diskette if it becomes "full" rather than simply aborting the whole copy procedure. - HINT: You may wish to sort the file listing (see F10 below) to control the order in which files are copied so as to minimize the number of floppy diskettes needed. F3 - MOVE - same as the F2 COPY operation, above, except that after the file(s) are successfully copied to the destination, the source files are deleted (you will NOT be asked to confirm this deletion before it occurs). Page: 19 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): ---------------------------------- F4 VIEW - same as using the ENTER key - this will invoke the external file viewing program named "LIST.COM" by Vern Buerg (or any other file viewer if you rename the executable file to "List.Com") and pass it the name of the currently hilited file as an argument. - Note that Vern Buerg's LIST.COM is highly recommended and widely available from any BBS in the country (just about) but is not included with TW. F5 - MARK - be aware that all file operations (i.e., COPY, MOVE, DELETE, etc) within TW can act on either a single file (the currently hilited file name) or on a group of files which you define. - Within TW, there are several ways to MARK a group of files. The simplest is to move the hilite bar to each filename you want and then press the "+" key. If you make a mistake, hilite the file name and press the "-" key. - But TW offers you several other ways to MARK a group of files. When you press the F5 function key, the FKey menu on the bottom two screen rows changes to offer you the following functionalities: F1 - on line help describing what the other keys do when you are MARKing files. F2 - ATTRIB - allows you to MARK all files which share a common file attribute (see above page 18). You will be asked to specify which attribute you want to use as a MARK criterion. F3 - DATE - allows you to MARK all files which have a file date within a given range of dates that you will be asked to specify (between START and STOP date). F4 - SIZE - allows you to MARK all files which are within a range of files sizes that you will have to specify (lower size limit -> upper size limit). Page: 20 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): ---------------------------------- F5 - NAME - allows you to MARK all files which CONTAIN a string of characters which you will specify. - This is NOT the same as DOS, since if you specify the string "THE", for example, TW will MARK files named: THEO.FIL OTHER.FIL SSSTHES.FIL - Note that wildcards are NOT allowed here. - Note that the EXTENSION is ignored here, so that in this example, the file "XXXX.THE" would NOT be MARKed (but see below F6). F6 - EXT - allows you to mark all files which match the three letter EXTENSION which you will specify. F7 - CURRENT - toggles the MARK state of the currently hilited filename (same as "+" and "-"). F8 - +ALL - MARKs all files F9 - -ALL - UNMARKs all files F10 - REVERSE - toggles the MARK state of all files - all files which are currently MARKed will become UNMARKed, and vice versa. F6 - MASK - Allows you to control which filenames are displayed. You will be asked to specify a legal DOS filespec (wildcards are allowed) and then only the matching files will be displayed in the FILE MANAGER screen window. - This is helpful is have a *lot* of files in your directory and you want to see all matching files on the screen at one time. - If you just press ENTER here, the file mask will revert to its default of *.* (show everything!). Page: 21 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): --------------------------------- F7 - DELETE - Allows you to delete a single file or group of MARKed files (same as DEL key) - NOTE: TW.EXE can and will delete any file regardless of whether it is Hidden, Read-Only, etc. However, this DEL (F7) function cannot delete a sub-directory entry. - CAUTION: If you press this key, the currently hilited file will be deleted WITHOUT ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION. On the other hand, if you have MARKed any number of files (even one), you WILL be asked to confirm the delete. F8 - PRINT - sends the currently displayed list of filenames to the printer. - HINT: Use the F6 MASK function to control which filenames go to the printer. - NOTE: The file listing will be numbered on the left hand side of the printout IF you are not printing the 4DOS / NDOS file comments. I like this, but again, if enough of you dislike it, I can change it. F9 - CHANGE - Invokes the Fkey menu of file change functions (all of which except for F10 operate on either the single, currently hilited filename, or on the currently MARKed group of iles), defined as follows: F1 - on line help of what the other keys do within the File Change function F2 - SET the Archive attribute for the file(s) F3 - SET the Read-Only attribute for the file(s) F4 - SET the Hidden attribute for the file(s) F5 - SET the System attribute for the file(s) F6 - CLEAR the Archive attribute for the file(s) Page: 22 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): --------------------------------- F7 - CLEAR the Read-Only attribute for the file(s) F8 - CLEAR the Hidden attribute for the file(s) F9 - CLEAR the System attribute for the file(s) F10 - change the name of the currently hilited filename F10 - allows you to SORT the displayed listing of filenames in the following ways (which you will be asked to specify): ASCENDING order by File NAME ASCENDING order by File EXTENSION DESCENDING order by File Date DESCENDING order File Size UNSORTED (the original DOS directory order) Those of you using 4DOS / NDOS will also find the following keys active (and they also appear on your F1 help screen): TAB - Allows you to create / edit / delete the current 4DOS / NDOS file comment. " - The QUOTES key alows you to copy the file comment from the currently hilighted filename to any other file(s) you wish. Simply press the " key (no need to use the SHIFT) and a popup box will appear to tell you that you are copying a file note. At the same time, a blinking letter "C" will appear in the upper right hand corner of the screen to remind you that a file comment has been copied to the TW internal clipboard. - Bring the hilight bar down to the file name to which you wish to copy the note, and press the " key again. If the file to which you are copying the file comment already has an existing comment of its own, you will be asked to confirm the overwrite. If no comment currently exists, the file comment will be immediately copied to the chosen file. Page: 23 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Using the FILE MANAGER(continued): --------------------------------- - Be aware that the TW file comment clipboard retains its contents so that you can copy the file note to more than one file if you wish. To clear out the clipboard, try to copy the clipboard note to any file which already has an existing file comment, and press the " key. You will be asked to confirm the replacement of the existing file comment with the new one - press [Q] to erase the clipboard, or just [N] to cancel the file comment copy but retain the TW file comment clipboard contents. "." - The PERIOD key allows you to toggle the format of the file listing from the 4DOS / NDOS comment format to the "regular DOS" format (which displays the file attribute byte values). Page: 24 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Program Limitations: ------------------- In version 2.01, the following limitations are known (and if you find any others, please let me know - if there's enough interest, I'll be happy to revise and / or customize TW.EXE. Remember, feedback is everything!): <> SORTing the list of files in the FILE MANAGER is slow, *especially* when you sort by date. I just don't know of a better sort algorithm for a series of ASCII text dates in the format "MM/DD/YY". <> Not enough different options on the FILE SORT menu. <> If your hard disk contains more than 100 directories / subdirectories, you're out of luck! <> If any single directory contains more than 750 files, you're out of luck! (But why would you DO this to yourself?) <> All printing routines make no assumption as to printer and are formatted at 60 lines per page and 80 characters per line. This provides a more-or-less plain vanilla print style, but it's more likely to work on all printers. <> No Mouse support (yet!) <> Certain screen scroll operations tend to get too slow as the number of files with 4DOS / NDOS file comments increases. I'm working on it, since I use TW (and 4DOS) every day! Page: 25 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Tech Notes: ---------- TW.EXE was written primarily using Microsoft QuickBASIC V4.5, but includes 32 separate (original) sub-routines written entirely in assembler which provide functionalities lacking in QuickBASIC. I used Microsoft MASM V5.1+ to assemble all these routines. I do not distribute source code except in extremely unusual circumstances (I can't say "how unusual" since I've never yet distributed any source code). However, I'll happily answer any specific questions you may have about the program code / logic / etc - please use CompuServe electronic mail, or send me a letter / postcard. Please do NOT call me on the telephone. The TW.EXE file distributed herein has been compressed using the "LZEXE.EXE" program. This compression conserves space on your hard disk, and reduces your download time, but in certain instances can present problems (or so I hear). Do not hesitate to uncompress TW.EXE (use UNLZEXE.EXE) if you wish. ==========================[ END OF TW.DOC ]========================== Page: 26 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92 TreeWalker.EXE - V2.01 - User Documentation Revision History: ---------------- Version 2.00 ------------ was first released to the public on 01/27/92, and was hastily withdrawn following user feedback that it *really* didn't work on their machine. This lead to the discovery that MS-DOS INT 25h does not result in standard responses on certain machines (notably COMPAQ 386, ZEOS 386, etc - thanks Dianne and Mark!). After fixing this "bug", V2.00 was re-released on 02/06/92 with revised documentation. I found out that the DOS INT 25h "bug" still persisted under somewhat more rare conditions. Version 2.01 ------------ was first released to the public on 02/11/92, and hopefully that DOS INT 25h problem is now squashed once and for all. V2.01 first included the ability to set program parameters from either the command line or from a DOS ENVIRON parm. Next version: ------------ What, exactly do YOU want to see TW do? Page: 27 of 27 --------------------- Last Revised: 02/11/92