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OS/2 Help File | 1994-03-14 | 46.7 KB | 1,339 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File Commander/2 is intended to be an OS/2 2.x version of the popular Norton Commander(tm) DOS file manager / shell. It implements most of the features provided by Norton Commander V3.0 and adds some features of its own that are only possible under OS/2 and some others that many people think NC should have had. If, as an OS/2 user, you find yourself running NC in a DOS session to do your file manipulation, File Commander/2 will change all that, providing many benefits over NC. File Commander/2 can also be used as an alternate shell if you don't like GUI shells like WPS (or don't have enough memory to run it) but want something a bit better than the command line. The philosophy of the program was once described as a 'supercharged CLI' which I think sums up FC/2 quite well (Thanks Kurt :-). For all those who've asked, I do intend to continue working on FC/2 for a while yet so there should be several more versions to come. So feel free to send me your suggestions for improvements and please report any bugs you encounter. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Features ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The following are some of the major features of File Commander/2: o Mouse support. o Full HPFS long file name support. o Online help. o Many configuration options. o Built in file viewer and editor. o Screen saver. o Tree views for quick and easy directory changes. o Ability to start OS/2 text mode, PM, DOS and Windows applications. o User definable menu. o Enhanced wildcard handling. o Flexible file name filtering. o Support for 4DOS/4OS2 descriptions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Shareware ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File Commander/2 is copyrighted software. However, you are encouraged to copy and share the software with others according to the following requirements: File Commander/2 may be freely copied and shared with others, so long as no charge is made for the software, and it is unmodified and copied in its entirety, including program documentation. It may be distributed by electronic means (modem, ftp etc), provided that all files are transmitted (archived) together. Notice that ShareWare is copyrighted software. It's not "Public Domain" software, nor is it "free" software. If you continue to use this program beyond a reasonable "trial period", not to exceed 30 days, you must pay for it by registering. See Registering for how to register. o Your registration fee makes it possible for me to continue to improve the program and increases the likelihood that I will provide useful, cheap software in the future. o IF YOU USE THE PROGRAM FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, YOU MUST REGISTER. o Your registration fee buys you the right to use the program beyond the trial period of 30 days. Your registration covers ALL VERSIONS of File Commander/2, past, present AND future. ie You'll only ever have to register File Commander/2 once. o As a registered user, you'll be notified as new versions are released. Also, when possible, I'll send registered users new versions electronically. You may NOT charge anyone for a copy of this software other than a small copying fee. You may NOT include this software with any commercial software without the consent of the author. This software is supplied WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. In no event shall the author be liable to you for any consequential, special incidental or indirect damages of any kind arising out of the performance or use of the software, even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. By using the software, you agree to these terms. Norton Commander is a trademark of Symantec Corporation. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Registering ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The registration fee for File Commander/2 is $29 Australian. If you are not an Australian resident you can pay by one of the following means: 1. An international draft made out for $29 Australian (Beware, some banks charge huge fees for these, check first). 2. A cheque made out in your local currency for the equivalent of $35 Australian (It costs me to cash foreign currency cheques at this end). I can't accept "Euro cheques" though. 3. If you trust the postal service you can send cash in your local currency to the value of $29 Australian (example US$20 note). Registered mail recommended. Send payments to the address given in Contacting the Author. Please make cheques payable to 'Brian Havard' (and please spell it correctly when writing the cheque to keep my bank manager happy). Please include a Registration form (or note containing same information). Once you have registered, you will be sent a serial number that, with your name, will allow you to 'register' the copy of the program you have. Once you have done this your name will appear in the 'Info' panel and you will not see any shareware reminders. If you have an email address, include it on the registration form for fastest response. The next best alternative is a fax number. If you would like a site licence for a number of computers, you can get a bulk discount on the following scale: Number 1-9 10+ 50+ 100+ Price $29 $25 $20 $15 The pricing is not cumulative so, yes, it's actually cheaper to get 10 than 9. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Registration Form ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File Commander/2 Registration Form ---------------------------------- Name:................................................... Address:................................... ................................... ................................... ................................... Fax: ................................. Email: ................................. [ ] Email uuencoded binaries of new versions (tick if required) I would like to register [ ] copy/copies of File Commander/2 at $29 Australian per copy. Total A$ : _______________ Comments: ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Where to find FC/2 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To find the latest version of FC/2, try the following places: o If you have access to internet ftp, try one of the following sites: 1. ftp.cdrom.com:/pub/os2/2_x/diskutil/fc2_xxx.zip 2. ftp.luth.se 3. ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de 4. archive.latrobe.edu.au o Compuserve in the OS2USER forum section 4 (Applications). o Fidonet sites can often get new versions fairly quickly. o The Hobbes OS/2 CD-ROM from Walnut Creek. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Online Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ FC/2 has an online help facility that may be called up using the F1 key. The text called up will depend on what state FC/2 is in when F1 is pressed. There are separate help texts for the following: o The main FC/2 screen o Each of the 5 Menus o The Configuration window o The internal viewer o The internal editor o The history window o The help window When there is more text than will fit in the window, you can use the Up / Down arrow, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End keys to move around or you can click the mouse in the top or bottom thirds of the window to scroll it (like in the Internal Viewer). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. The File Panels ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The file panels are central to most operations in FC/2. They allow you to browse through the files on your drives, copy, move, rename and delete files you select from them as well as view, edit or execute any file. Normally, one panel will be active and the other will be inactive. The active panel is indicated by having its title highlighted. To change the active panel, press the TAB key or click the mouse on the panel you wish to become active. At any time, either or both panels can be hidden, allowing you to view the screen behind which will contain the output of any programs you've run. Press Ctrl-O to hide / re-display all visible panels or Ctrl-F1/F2 to switch the Left/Right panel on or off. If you feel that the information in a panel is no longer up to date, you can press Ctrl-R to re-read the information displayed in the panel. Note that this may take some time for Tree view panels if you have a large number of directories on your drive. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. Panel View Modes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The panels can display a list of files in several different ways. To change the style of view, select it via the Menu (Left or Right, depending on which panel you wish to change). You have the choice of: Brief Displays three columns of file names with no details. The status line at the bottom of the panel displays the details in as in Full view for the current file. Full Displays file names with their size and the date and time of last modification. The status line is devoted entirely to displaying as much of the file name as possible allowing you to see more of a long file name than in the main section of the panel. Wide Displays file names with their size, providing much more space for the file name. This mode is most useful when viewing HPFS directories with many long file names. Tree Views the overall directory structure of the current drive of the opposite panel. Unlike in the above modes, when a panel is in tree mode, it is linked to the opposite panel in that selecting a directory on the tree and pressing ENTER causes the opposite panel to view that directory. Info The Info panel displays drive summary information for the current drive of the opposite panel. Details listed include total space, free space, label, file system and serial number. You can quickly activate an Info panel using Ctrl-L. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Moving Around the Current Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ When you have a list of files showing (which is most of the time) you can move around the list using the following keys: Up Arrow Move up one file name. Down Arrow Move down one file name. Page Up Move up one screenful of file names. Page Down Move down one screenful of files names. Home Move to the first file name End Move to the last file name. Alt-[printable char] Move to the first file starting with [printable char]. If you continue to type with Alt held down, FC/2 will look for a file starting with the string you've typed. Alt-Up Move to the previous file name matching the partial name entered using the above. Alt-Down As above but moves to next match. When the current panel is in Brief mode, The left and right arrow keys move across one column. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. Navigating around your drives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ When moving to a particular dirctory, the first step is get the correct drive showing. Press Alt-F1 for the left panel or Alt-F2 for the right panel to display a simple dialog box showing the currently available drives. Select the drive you want by pressing the appropriate letter, using the left / right arrows to move the highligt and press ENTER or clicking on the letter with the mouse. You can also change drives by entering a command in the form "d:" on the command line. Once you have the right drive, you can move around your directories by moving the cursor to a directory you want to change into and pressing ENTER. Selecting ".." moves to the parent of the current directory. Moving the cursor around the list of files in the current directory is achieved using the Up / Down arrows, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End. Double clicking the mouse on a directory name has will also change into that directory. The full path of the current directory is always shown on the top line of the panel. Other useful keys for navigating around your drive are: Ctrl-\ Move to the root directory of the current drive. Ctrl-Page Up Move to the parent of the current directory (same as selecting ".."). Ctrl-Page Down Move into the currently highlighted directory (same as pressing ENTER except that the contents of the command line is ignored). A number of other methods can be used to find the directory you want, including: o Change directory tree o Find File o Recall stored path o Tree view panel ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3.1. Change Directory Tree ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Change Directory Tree can be used to quickly locate and display the directory you're looking for. To activate it, press Alt-F10 or select it from the Commands Menu. You can then either browse through the tree structure using the same keys as used to browse through a file panel, or you can start typing the name of the directory you are looking for. As you type, the view will jump to the first directory name matching what you have typed so far. You can either keep typing until the directory you're looking for is located or you can use Ctrl-Enter to find the next match of what you've typed. When you've found the directory you want, press ENTER to make it the current directory of the current panel. You can exit the Change Directory Tree at any time by pressing ESC. If you have not previously viewed the tree of the current drive it must be read and this may take some time on a large drive. Once it has been read, the tree structure for the drive is saved to a file for future reference. Normally this file (fc2tree.dat) is written to the root directory of the drive the file describes. If you don't like this or if it's not possible (eg CD-ROM drives) you can make FC/2 store all tree data files in one directory of your choice. To do this, edit your FC.INI file and change the line treedir= to specify the directory where you want the data file. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3.2. Find File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Find File function can be used to search the entire drive for a particular file. To activate it, press Alt-F7 or select it from the Commands Menu. Type the name of the file you're looking for and press ENTER to begin the search. The name can contain any of the wildcard characters described in Tagging. As matches are found, they are listed with their full path in the Find File window. You can stop the search at any time by pressing ESC. You can do this to save time if the file you're looking for has been located but much of the drive has yet to be searched. Once the search is over, the list of matches is displayed from which you can choose one using the Up / Down arrows clicking with the mouse. Pressing ENTER or double clicking the mouse on a file name will return to the file panel with its current directory changed to that of the selected file and with the selected file highlighted. If you do not want to see any of the files found you can press ESC to exit Find File (or click Cancel) or press 'n' (or click New) to start another search. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3.3. Storing and retrieving Paths ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To make directory navigation easier, you can store the current directory path in one of ten 'slots'. At a later point in time you may recall the directory which causes the current panel to instantly move to the stored directory. o To store the current directory, hold down Ctrl and Shift then press one of keys 0-9 on the numeric keypad. o To retrieve a directory, hold down Ctrl then press one of keys 0-9 on the numeric keypad. If you forget which directories you've assigned to which keys, you can view the contents of the slots using Alt-F5. This lists all ten stored paths from which you can select one to change to using the Up / Down arrow keys and ENTER or clicking on one with the mouse. If you do a 'Save Setup' before exiting FC/2, the directories you've stored will be remembered the next time you start it up. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. Copying, Moving and Deleting Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ These three operations are all performed in a similar way. All can be performed on either a single file or a group of files. To operate on a single file, simply move the highlight bar to the file you want to copy/move/delete using the keys described in Moving Around the Current Directory and press F5 to copy, F6 to move and F8 to delete. These keys (along with the rest of the function keys) are listed at the bottom of the screen so you don't have to memorize them. If you want to operate on a number of files at once, you should tag the files you wish to be affected (See Tagging) If you select copy or move, you will next be presented with a dialog box that allows you to specify the destination directory and file name. The default destination is the directory showing in the opposite panel. If this is what you want, just press ENTER to proceed, otherwise use the arrow keys, Delete, Backspace etc., to alter the path to what you want. You can also change the file name if you wish. You can rename several files at once using wild card characters '*' and '?'. For example, to change the extension of several files to .bak you would specify the destination file as '*.bak'. The wildcard characters represent characters taken from the source file name. If you select delete, you will be prompted with a confirmation dialog. If you're sure you want to go ahead with the delete, press Enter, 'y' or click 'OK'. To back out, press ESC, 'n' or click 'Cancel'. If there are files tagged you will be warned and asked a second time to confirm the delete. This is to make sure you haven't forgotten that some files are tagged which can happen if the tagged files have been scrolled off the panel. Either or both of these confirmations can be disabled if you wish (See Confirmations). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.5. Tagging Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ There are several commands available to tag files. These are: Insert Pressing the Insert key toggles the tag for the currently highlighted file and moves the highlight down to the next file allowing you to repeatedly press Insert to tag multiple files. Grey + Pressing the '+' key on the numeric key pad pops up a dialog into which you can enter a file name mask to specify which files should be tagged. The following types of wildcard can be used in the mask: * Substitutes for zero or more characters of any value. ? Substitutes for one character of any value. [a-d] Substitutes for one character of value a, b, c or d. [^a-d] Substitutes for one character of any value except a, b, c or d. [a-d^c] Substitutes for a, b or d. Grey - This is just like Grey + except that it untags files that match the file mask. Grey * Invert tagging. All untagged files become tagged and all tagged files become untagged. Compare directories Selecting Compare Directories from the Commands Menu tags all files that do not exist in the directory of the opposite panel or are newer than the copy there. Mouse Clicking the right mouse button on a file name toggles the tagging for that file. Holding the right button down and moving the mouse will tag / untag all files touched. When any files are tagged, a summary of the tagged files is shown on the status line of the panel. This shows the number of files tagged and their total size. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.6. Creating a Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To create a subdirectory in the current directory, press F7 and enter the name of the subdirectory you want to create into the dialog. If the current panel is in tree view mode, the directory will be created in the directory the highlight is currently on. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.7. Creating Workplace Shell Objects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File Commander/2 provides a quick and easy way to create Workplace Shell Objects that is much easier than opening up your templates folder, dragging an object out and filling in all the details for it. All you have to do is locate the file you want an object for and press Alt-F6. There is a simple confirmation dialog to make sure you mean what you've pressed. If the file is an executable (.exe .com .bat .cmd) a Program object is created. For all other file types (including directories) a shadow object is created the same as if you created a shadow of the file from the Drives object. Note that if you have tagged any files, objects will be created for all tagged files. All objects are created on the desktop ready for you to drop them into whichever folder you want them in. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.8. Starting Programs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ There are several ways to start a program using FC/2. 1. Move the highlight bar to an executable file (.exe .com .cmd .bat) and press ENTER. 2. Move the highlight bar to a file which matches a defined Association and press ENTER. 3. Select a program from the User Menu. 4. Enter the program name on the Command Line. With all these methods, except the User Menu, you can start the program in a separate session by pressing Alt-Enter instead of just Enter. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.8.1. Associations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ An association is used to link data files to the program that uses them. To create an association, add a line of the following form to your fc.ini file. This file is created the first time you use Save Setup (See the Options Menu). mask : program You can also use the following when specifying the program: ! Name of current file. !p Path of current panel. !P Path of opposite panel. !f Name of current file with full path. !s Path of current panel with trailing '\' !S Path of opposite panel with trailing '\' !n Nothing, but prevents automatic appending of current file name If none of the above are used, the name of the current file is appended. EG *.dsk:loaddskf ! a: *.zip:pkunzip ! !P *.inf:view *.ico:iconedit *.zoo:zoo x *.tif*:pmview (matches both x.tif and x.tiff) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Command Line ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The command line provided by FC/2 operates in much the same way as your normal OS/2 command prompt with a few extra features. The following keys are used to operate the FC/2 command line: Pasting file names Ctrl-J or Ctrl-Enter Pastes the file name of the currently highlighted file into the command line. Note that if the character to the left of the cursor is alphanumeric, a recall from History will be performed instead. Ctrl-F Pastes the file name of the currently highlighted file with its full path into the command line. Moving the cursor Left/Right Arrows Move the cursor around the command line. Note that these keys do not operate the command line if the current panel is in brief view. Use Alt-Left/Right Arrows instead. Alt-Left/Right Arrows Move the cursor around the command line regardless of which mode the current panel is in. Ctrl-Left/Right Arrows Move the cursor one word left or right. Ctrl-Home Move the cursor to the start of the line. Ctrl-End Move the cursor to the end of the line. Deleting characters Backspace Delete the character to the left of the cursor. Delete Delete the character under the cursor. Ctrl-Backspace Delete the word to the left of the cursor. Esc Clear the entire command line. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. History ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Command history is used to save you re-typing a command that is the same or similar to a command you've entered before. There are several ways to locate the command you wish to repeat: Ctrl-E Recall previously entered command. Repeated use steps through command history from newest entry to oldest entry. Ctrl-X Steps forwards through command history. Useful if you overshoot using Ctrl-E Ctrl-J or Ctrl-Enter Recall previously entered command that matches the text to the left of the cursor. Can be used repeatedly to find successive matches. Note that this function only operates when the character to the left of the cursor is alphanumeric, otherwise a file name paste occurs as described in Command Line. Alt-F8 Displays a window containing a list of previously entered commands from which you can choose. Once you've highlighted the command you want using the Up / Down arrow keys or the mouse, you can press: Enter Re-execute command now. Alt-Enter Re-execute command now in a separate session. Ctrl-Enter Place command on the command line for editing. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ FC/2 includes a menu system to provide easy access to a range of functions. Most of the functions on the menu can be activated by short-cut keys which are listed on the menus. The menu system can be operated by keyboard, mouse or a combination of both if you like. Keyboard 1. Activate the menu bar by pressing F9 or Ctrl-N. 2. Select which menu you want by pressing the first letter of its title or by using the Left / Right arrows and pressing Enter. 3. Use the Up / Down arrows to select the menu item you want and press Enter to activate it. Alternatively, you can press the key that is highlighted in the menu item's name. 4. You can press Esc to back out. Mouse 1. Activate the menu bar by clicking the right mouse button on the top line. 2. Click on the title of the menu you want to use. 3. Click on the menu item you want ot activate. 4. To dismiss the menu, click anywhere away from the menus. These should be taken as examples only. The menus operate in much the same way as OS/2 PM menus. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Left / Right Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Left and Right menus contain exactly the same functions but apply them to the appropriate panel. Brief Set panel to view files in Brief mode. Full Set panel to view files in Full mode. Wide Set panel to view files in Wide mode. Info Set panel to show drive summary information. Tree Set panel to view directories as a Tree. On/Off Toggle the visibility of the panel. Turning a panel off allows you to see the output of previously executed commands. Name Sort panel by file name Extension Sort panel by file name extension. The extension of a file name is from the last '.' onwards. Files with the same extension are ordered by name. Time Sort panel by file modification time and date. Files are listed from newest to oldest. Size Sort panel by file size. Files are listed from largest to smallest. Files of the same size are ordered by name. Unsorted Files are listed in the order provided by the file system. Re-Read Refresh the contents of the panel. Useful if another process has modified the contents of the panel's directory or if removable media has been changed. Filter Display a dialog that allows you to modify the file name Filter Drive Change the drive being viewed. A small dialog is displayed showing the currently available drives from which you can choose. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1.1. Filters ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The file name filter can be used to define which files you want to see and which files you don't. It may contain up to 40, space separated file masks that are tested from left to right. The first mask that matches a file name will determine that file's visibility. To indicate an exclusion file mask, precede it with a '!'. If a file name doesn't match any of the masks, it will not be shown. EG *.exe *.com *.cmd *.bat Show only executable files !*.obj * Show all files except object files. foo* !*.obj * Show all files except object files unless they start with foo. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. Files Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Manual View User Manual. User Menu Display the User Menu. View View the current file. Edit Edit the current file. Copy Copy Files. Rename or Move Move Files. Make Directory Create a Directory. Delete Delete Files. File Attributes Display a dialog to alter File Attributes. Select Group Tag a group of files by file name mask. Unselect Group Untag a group of files by file name mask. Invert Tagging Toggle the Tagging status of all files in the current panel. Quit Exit File Commander/2. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2.1. File Attributes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The File Attributes dialog allows you to modify the 'Read Only', 'Archive', 'Hidden' and 'System' attributes of a file or a group of files. To activate it select it from the Files Menu. If no files are tagged, you'll be presented with a dialog displaying the attributes of the currently highlighted file. You can use the Up / Down arrow to move the cursor and Space to toggle the attribute the cursor is on or you can click on the check boxes with the mouse. If you have any files tagged, you'll be presented with a slightly different dialog. For each attribute, you can set, clear or leave alone that attribute for all the tagged files. When you've set all the check boxes the way you want them, press Enter (or click OK) to proceed or ESC (or click Cancel) to exit without changing anything. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Commands Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Tree Pop up the Change Directory Tree. File Find Locate a file using Find File History View the Command Line History. EGA Lines Toggle 50 line mode. Swap Panels Swaps the positions of the left and right panels. Panels On/Off Removes or replaces the panels allowing you to view the output of previously executed programs. Compare Directories Tags files according differences between the two panels. See Tagging for details. Register Turns a shareware copy of File Commander/2 into a registered version. Once you have entered your name and serial number, you will not see any reminder messages and your name will appear on the Info panel. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Options Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Configuration Display the Configuration dialog allowing you to alter a number of options. Colours Edit the Colour Scheme Confirmations Display a dialog that allows you to disable some of the Confirmations. Hidden Files Toggles whether files with their hidden attribute set will be shown on the file panels or not. When hidden files are displayed, they are denoted by a 'Γûæ' character. Path Prompt Toggles the display of the current path on FC/2's command line prompt. Full Screen Toggles whether the panels occupy the full screen length or just half the screen. Clock Toggles whether a clock will be shown in the top right hand corner or not. Save Setup Saves all current settings to the file 'FC.INI' so that all FC/2 options will be set the same the next time you start it up. This can be performed automatically on exit if you wish by setting the autosave option (See Configuration). ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4.1. Configuration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To view the configuration options, select 'Configuration' from the Options Menu. Any options you change take effect as soon as you click OK (or move the highlight to OK and press Enter). If you use Cancel, all changes you've made are forgotten. To select an option to change either click on it with the mouse or use the Up / Down arrow keys to move to it. The current option is denoted by a '()'. To alter non-string options, use the space bar to toggle the value. Moving up from the first option or down from the last option will highlight one of the buttons at the bottom of the dialog. You can then use the Left / Right arrows to move the highlight onto the button you want and Enter to activate it. It's usually easier to use the mouse. If you want the changes to still be in effect the next time you start FC/2 you need to select 'Save Setup' from the Options Menu otherwise the changes will be lost when you exit. Alternatively, you can switch on 'Autosave Setup' seen below. The options are: Viewer The file name (with full path if not in a directory on your PATH) of the file viewer to be used when you press F3. All the '!' substitutions described in Associations can be used when specifying a viewer or an editor. If this field is left blank, the Internal Viewer will be used. Viewer2 As for Viewer but specifies the viewer used when Alt-F3 is pressed. Editor Similar to Viewer but specifies the editor used when F4 is pressed. If left empty, the Internal Editor will be used. Editor2 As for Editor but specifies the editor used when Alt-F4 is pressed. Help Name of an Information Presentation Facility file (*.inf) that is to be viewed when 'Manual' is chosen from the Files Menu. The default is fc.inf (this file). If your fc.inf file is not in a directory on your LIBPATH, you can give the full path of where it is with this option. Left The directory the left panel will display on start up. If left blank, the current directory for the session will be shown. Right The directory the right panel will display on start up. If left blank, the current directory for the session will be shown. Background String added at the start of a command that causes it to be executed in a separate session. Default value is 'start /f'. See the OS/2 command reference for more options for the 'start' command. Autosave Switching Autosave on causes FC/2 to automatically perform a 'Save Setup' just before exiting the program. Lines Sets the number of lines on screen or in window. Can be 21, 25, 28, 43, 50 or 60 for full screen sessions or any value of at least 21 for a windowed session. Using a number that is not one of those listed for a full screen session will result in the number of lines being set to the next value up. Saver The number of minutes of idle time before FC/2 activates its screen saver. If set to 0, the screen saver will not activate. Note that the screen saver only operates when in a full screen session. Numlock Specifies if numlock should be fixed on or not. Affects both FC/2 and any program started by FC/2 unless it is in a separate session. Note: This does NOT work for a windowed session as PM keeps its own idea of key lock status. However, it seems that v2.1 of OS/2 does take some notice in that the keyboard operates as though numlock was on but the light stays off. Mouspeed When FC/2 is running in a full screen session, this option specifies the sensitivity of the mouse. The default value is 8 with smaller values giving a faster mouse and larger values slowing it down. Scrolldelay The time (in milliseconds) that FC/2 waits between scrolling each line when the mouse has been used to scroll a panel or window. Only used when FC/2 is running in a full screen session. Use of this option stops the text flying past before you've had a chance to look at it. Timemode The type of time display used on the clock and when file time stamps are viewed in the files panel (Full mode). Codepage If non-zero, FC/2 will switch to the specified code page. Otherwise the default code page for the session will be used. Can be used to change to a code page that supports the graphics characters used by FC/2. For example, if your CONFIG.SYS file contains the statement CODEPAGE=850,437 you should enter 437 for this option. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4.2. Colours ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Colours dialog allows you to alter the colour scheme used by FC/2. To activate it, select 'Colours' from the Options Menu You will be presented with a list of items in the colour scheme. Use the four arrow keys to move to the item you wish to change and then use F to cycle through forground colours and B to cycle through background colours. Holding SHIFT at the same time will cycle backwards. There are a total of 16 foreground and 8 background colours to choose from. When you're done, press Enter to use the changes you've made or ESC to forget them. Note that the changes will only be remembered for next time if you use 'Save Setup' or have Autosave enabled. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4.3. Confirmations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Before doing anything significantly destructive, FC/2 will ask for confirmation from the user to prevent accidental loss of data. If you are confident in your use of FC/2 and don't want to be asked for confirmation all the time, you can disable some of the more common confirmation prompts by selecting 'Confirmations' from the Options Menu. A dialog displaying a list of confirmation types is then displayed with a check box next to each one. An 'X' in a check box indicates that the confirmation is enabled. To disable a confirmation, click its check box with the mouse and click OK. The keyboard can also be used (Up / Down arrows and Space, Enter when done). The confirmations you can alter are: Delete File/Empty Directory The first prompt you see after pressing F8. Delete Tagged Files The second prompt you see after pressing F8 when there are files tagged. Delete Non-empty Directory The prompt that asks you to type "YES" before doing a tree delete. Quit FC/2 The prompt shown when you press F10. With this disabled, F10 causes immediate exit. "YES" prompt for Non-Empty Directory Similar to Delete Non-empty Directory but instead of disabling the "YES" prompt altogether, it is replaced by an OK / Cancel choice, the default being Cancel. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Viewing / Editing Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ FC/2 allows you to view the current file with a choice of two viewers or to edit the current file with a choice of two editors. To view a file, use F3 or Alt-F3. To edit a file, use F4 or Alt-F4. The program used to view or edit is specified in the Configuration dialog. By default, the built in Viewer and the built it Editor If you wish to specify the file to view or edit by typing its file name, use Shift-F3 for view or Shift-F4 for edit. If you specify a file to edit that does not exist, you will be given the option to create it. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.1. The Internal Viewer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The file viewer built into FC/2 is a basic text viewer that is perfect for taking a quick look at your text files. You can use the mouse or keyboard to scroll the text up and down (Keys: Cursor-Up/Down, Page Up/Down, Home, End). To scroll the text using the mouse, click the mouse in the top or bottom thirds of the screen. Using the right mouse button pages up or down. When the mouse is being used to scroll the text, the speed of scrolling is determined by the 'scrolldelay' Configuration directive. o If a line is longer than 80 columns it will be chopped off at that length and the remainder placed one the next line unless you use F2 to select Unwrap mode. With the text unwrapped, you can use the Left / Right arrows to scroll the text horizontally. o You can search for a string using F7 (or Shift-F7 to find next). The search is case insensitive. The searching is much faster than the NC internal viewer (though that's not hard....). o Will correctly interpret UNIX, PC or MAC line terminators (LF, CR/LF, CR) or even a mix of all three. o F4 will toggle between ASCII and Hex view. o I think I've got all the bugs out of it but if you ever think it has become confused, pressing Ctrl-L will repaint the screen. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10.2. The Internal Editor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The built in editor is a very simple editor that allows you to make quick changes to any plain text file. o Like the viewer, the editor will read a file using any type of line terminator. When the file is written, however, all lines will be CR/LF terminated. o Although there is no limit on the size of file you can edit, keep in mind that the whole file is loaded into memory so opening a multi-megabyte file may strain your swapper.dat file. The following keys are implemented: o Left/Right/Up/Down - As you'd expect o Home - start of line o End - End of line. o Page Up/Down - Up/Down one page o Ctrl-Home - Top of screen o Ctrl-End - Bottom of screen o Ctrl-Page Up/Down - Start/End of file o Ctrl-Y - erase line o ESC or F10 - exit editor (prompts to save if changes made) o F2 - Save now without exiting o F3 - Save now with prompt to change file name. o F7 - Search for a word in the text (case insensitive) o Shift F7 - Search for the same word again o Ctrl-Q - Quote next character. This enables you to enter control character into the file that would normally be rejected. For example, pressing Ctrl-Q ESC would insert the ESC character into the text. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. The User Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The user menu is a list of functions defined by you to help you carry out common tasks. To create a user menu you need to create a plain text file (using an editor like the OS/2 System editor "e.exe" or FC/2's internal editor) named fc.mnu in the same directory as fc.exe. Here is an example user menu file: S:Scan for viruses os2scan c: d: D:Dos Window start /dos F12:Pulse start pulse U:Unzip to opposite panel cd !P unzip !f cd !p A line that starts in the first column is a description line. The key used to activate the function is first and may be any single letter or number or one of the function keys F1-F12. After a separating colon comes the description that will appear in the menu when it is displayed. Any line that starts with a space or tab is a command and will be executed when the preceding description is chosen from the menu. It may contain the same '!' substitutions as associations. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Using the Mouse ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can use the mouse to perform the following operations: o Select a file by clicking button 1 on a file name. o Tag/Untag a file by clicking button 2 on it. o Execute a file or change into a directory by double clicking button 1 on it. o Scroll the files up or down by clicking button 1 on the line directly above or below the files. o Tag several files by holding down button 2 and moving the mouse. If, while button 2 is pressed, the mouse is moved onto the line above or below the file list, the panel will scroll, tagging all files that pass by. o Select a function to perform by clicking on the function bar at the bottom of the screen. Using button 2 Selects the Alt function. This is particularly handy for changing drives (Alt-F1/F2). o Activate the menu by clicking button 2 on the top line of the screen. The easiest way to make a selection is to hold button 2 down after activating the menu, "pull down" the menu you want and release button 2 when you have the correct item highlighted. Clicking outside the menu area will dismiss the menu. o Whenever a dialog popup appears that contains push buttons that look like "[ OK ]", you may click on these with mouse button 1 to select the indicated choice. Clicking button 2 will select the highlighted button. o Whenever a dialog popup appears that requests a string input (eg Make Directory), button 1 may be used to position the cursor on the line and button 2 is equivalent to pressing ENTER. Clicking button 1 outside the dialog box or on a Cancel button, cancels the operation. o When the results of a 'Find File' operation are showing, double clicking button 1 on a file name will cause FC/2 to jump to the directory the file is in (like pressing ENTER). The window can be scrolled by clicking on the top or bottom lines of the window. o When using the internal file viewer, clicking button 1 in the top or bottom third of the screen scrolls the screen up/down. Using button 2 pages up or down. o When using the internal editor, the mouse may be used to position the cursor on the currently displayed page. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Notes, Hints and Tips ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ o If you use 4os2 as your command interpreter, try to keep the contents of your 4start.cmd to a minimum as it is run every time you execute an external command in FC/2. o The fastest way to select a new drive for a panel using the mouse is to click the right mouse button on F1/F2 in the help bar at the bottom of the screen. o FC/2's tree information is kept up to date if you create and delete directories using FC/2. The only exception to this is if a directory tree is copied or moved between drives. o If you attach 4DOS/4OS2 descriptions to your files, they will be preserved if you copy or move them using FC/2. o If you want your viewer or editor to run in a separate session (or want FC/2 to be able to operate while using a DOS viewer / editor) add the 'start' keyword before the name of your viewer / editor. o If you don't get the blue FC/2 icon when you install FC/2 onto your desktop, you've probably lost the EAs attached to fc.exe. Use InfoZip's unzip when unzipping the FC/2 distribution. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Contacting the Author ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ If you have any comments, questions, suggestions or bug reports, you can contact me by either of the following means: Internet: s902150@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (at least until mid 1994) Snail Mail: Brian Havard 16a Rennison St, Mordialloc 3195, Victoria AUSTRALIA ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Release History ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ o 13/04/93 v0.1 Initial Release o 28/04/93 v0.11 o 24/05/93 v0.12 o 07/06/93 v0.13 o 21/07/93 v0.14 o 12/08/93 v0.15 o 13/10/93 v0.16 o 17/01/94 v0.17 o 14/03/94 v1.00 o Future ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.1. Version 0.17 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ New Features o In associations, !p gives path of current panel, !P, opposite panel and ! by itself can be used any number of times in one association. o Ctrl-F3-F7 change sorting of current panel. o Hex view mode added to internal viewer o Added WPS object creation for file under cursor (Alt-F6). o History window (Alt-F8) added. o Added tree view in panels. o Added Directory change tree popup (Alt-F10 & F10 when copying / moving). o The filter can now exclude files. Minor enhancements o When tagging files by holding down mouse button 2, files are no longer skipped if mouse is moved quickly. o When a file is 'executed' via an association, the whole command is entered into history. o FC/2 can now optionally set which code page it uses. o Internal editor can now update hidden files. o Ctrl-J & Ctrl-F now quote file names that contain spaces. o The clock & timemode directives are now more sensibly organised o Alt-Up/Down can be used to seek to previous/next matching filename when using Alt-letter/number to locate a file. o Alt searching now works with all symbols, including shifted ones like ! @ { } _ + o Alt-Backspace removes a character from the search string. o Directory reading slightly faster. Bug fixes o Pressing enter in editor now counts as a change. o Function bar now correct after Shift-F4 o When going up directory, after directory in parent has been added/removed, cursor is placed correctly. o When full screen, when Ctrl-Break is pressed during file operation, mouse cursor does not disappear. o When full screen, when Ctrl-Break is pressed at normal prompt, "Terminate FC/2?" prompt doesn't disappear immediately. o When changing number of lines and cursor is lower than the new number of lines, it is now correctly positioned. o In editor, decimal value of char in status line now unsigned. o Can now rename directories so that only case is changed. o Commands like "cd\blah" (no space) now work properly. o Chars greater than 127 can now be searched for in viewer & editor o Internal editor no longer trashes EAs when updating file. o Stopped editor losing blank lines when several occur together. o Fixed problem editor had moving into tabs from above or below. o 4DOS descriptions on files with spaces in their names are now handled properly. o Fixed problem with Alt-F1/F2 and network drives. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.2. Version 1.00 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ New Features o Popup of stored paths o File Attribute change added. o Directories can now be tagged for copy/move/delete operations. o Online, context sensitive, text mode help. o Auto save setup option. o Will now work under Tshell. Minor enhancements o Added quote next key (Ctrl-Q) to internal editor. o Added more '!' substitutions which can now be used in User Menu functions. o Panel on/off status now saved in fc.ini o Tree is now updated with information seen by reading file panels. o The need to type "YES" to delete tree can be disabled. Replaced by OK, Cancel choice. o When a match is found in the internal viewer, it is now shown several lines from the top of the screen. o Unwrap in viewer. o 'Save As' in editor. o Create Object fills in 'Working directory' o Create Object now works for tagged files. o A value of 0 for the 'lines' configuration causes FC/2 to use the number of lines already showing. o Find File will now find hidden files if hidden option enabled. o Repeated use of same command only entered into history once. o Home and End now work on command line if panels are off. Bug fixes o Fixed trap when using Page-Down in tree popup. o Should no longer trap on exiting editor. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.3. Planned for future versions ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ o Some form of archive handling. o 132 column support for full screen sessions. Suggestions for what the extra space should be used for welcome. o Ability to choose command when more than one association matches. o Calculate total size of a tree. o Maybe: Cut & paste in editor. o Anything else I get around to doing......