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OS/2 Help File
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1994-10-08
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2,581 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. How to use FM/2's help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The best way to use FM/2's help is to look at the Contents (which you'll get if
you press CTRL+F1 at the main window).
To find something on a specific topic, click the Search button at the bottom of
the help window and enter some text. For a couple of examples:
To find out about changing a volume label, enter "Label" as the "Search for:"
text, check the "All sections" checkbox, then press [Enter].
To find out how to open a new FM/2 window, enter "Open" as the "Search for:"
text, check the "All sections" checkbox, then press [Enter].
If you'd like a printout of any of the topics in the online help, click the
Print button at the bottom of the help window.
If you're stuck in a dialog, click that dialog's Help button. That will
usually take you directly to appropriate help. One note of caution: if you
call up help for a dialog, be sure to dismiss the help before dismissing the
dialog. Many of the dialogs run in threads other than thread 1, and there's a
long-standing OS/2 bug that causes weird behavior if you do it the other way
around to a dialog run in a thread other than thread 1. Trust me.
So, if you're totally new to FM/2, how to get started? First, run the OS/2
Tutorial if you need help on the basics of using a mouse in general or using
one with OS/2 in particular. Next, read the help section titled Terminology so
we'll understand each other a bit better. Then plunge into the General Help
topic to find out how to look at, Move, Copy, Rename and Compare files and
directories (the basics). That will get you started, and we'll give you hints
along the way about other places you might like to look (like Hints :-) when
you're ready.
Command line help is in the READ.ME file that accompanied the archive, since
you should have read that before trying to start FM/2. You did, didn't you?
There is one thing you should keep in mind about FM/2. FM/2 is extremely
powerful and has a lot of features, but you don't have to use or even know them
all. Most people will use only a few of FM/2's features on a regular basis
(and not everyone will use the same combination), and that's fine -- find what
works best for you and use it. If you find yourself needing some other
feature, call up the help, find it, and use it -- it'll be there whenever you
need it. But don't feel that, somehow, by not using every little nook and
cranny of the program that you're missing out on something. The idea is to use
what you need; pick your tools from the arsenal and get some work done.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Terminology ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Some definitions:
GUI = Graphical User Interface
WPS = WorkPlace Shell, OS/2's GUI
PM = Presentation Manager, OS/2's graphical supersystem
B1 = Mouse button 1, usually the left button
B2 = Mouse button 2, usually the right button
B3 = Mouse button 3, usually the middle button. Not all mice have three
buttons. OS/2 will let you redefine the buttons using the WPS' Mouse object in
the System Setup folder.
Chord = Pressing B1 and B2 simultaneously
Context menu = a popup menu obtained directly on an object of interest by
clicking B2 while the mouse pointer is over the object. Context menus usually
have options tailored for the specific object.
Pulldown menu = the action bar menu just under the title bar of a window. If
you don't know what a title bar is, run the OS/2 tutorial.
System menu = the icon at the top left of most PM main windows. You can close
a window by double-clicking the System menu icon with B1. Click once and you
get a menu (called, oddly enough, the system menu).
Toolbar = an array of buttons, usually with pictures on them, that you can
click with your mouse to cause commands to be activated -- a sort of menu for
illiterates.
Toolbox = a collection of buttons in a toolbar. FM/2 allows you to have
several toolboxes which you can load into the toolbar as desired.
Dialog = a specialized input or informational window that's transient. You use
it, then it goes away. Dialogs generally have their own specialized help
available via a Help button.
Direct Editing = a method of changing the text of an object, as when you change
the name of an object on the WPS by pointing at it, holding down the ALT key
and clicking the text with B1. FM/2 supports direct editing of file system
object names as well as Subject and Longname fields in Details view.
Default action = what happens when you double-click an object in a container
(or put the cursor on it with the arrow keys and press [Enter]).
Accelerator keys = key combinations that allow you to quickly give a program a
command without going through menus or toolbars. For example, FM/2's
accelerator key to get help is CTRL+F1 (usually written ^F1 -- ^ is shorthand
for CTRL).
Drive Tree = the special window that's always open in FM/2 displaying your
drives in "tree" format. If subdirectories are available, there will be a "+"
sign to the left of the drive which you can click to show the subdirectories.
Note that floppy drives (A: and B:) aren't checked for subdirectories until you
access them. Double-clicking a drive or directory in the Drive Tree opens a
Directory Container or switches the current Directory Container to "look" into
that directory.
Directory Container = a special window that "looks" into a particular directory
and shows you what's in it.
Archive Container = another special window that "looks" into an archive file
and shows you what's in it.
Collector = yet another special window that serves as a temporary storage place
for file system objects you place into it. Objects in the Collector are a
little like WPS Shadows in that they take up no additional space on your drives
-- they just represent the objects so you can manipulate them.
Filter = what you do when you selectively remove some of the file system
objects from a container by giving filemasks and/or attribute masks to "filter"
what's displayed. Filtering affects only what shows; the files and directories
remain on the drive.
Mask = a filemask that can contain wildcard characters (* and ?) and select one
or more files. In FM/2, filemasks can usually contain multiple masks separated
by semicolons.
Current object = the object upon which commands will act (also called the
cursored object). The current object in a container is indicated by a dotted
outline around the object. The current object may or may not also be
highlighted. There can only be one current object in a container.
Highlighted objects = objects in a container which are indicated by a different
color (usually darker) background. If the current object is also highlighted,
commands affect all highlighted objects.
Tree view = a container view similar to an inverted tree, with roots at the top
and leaves at the bottom. The FM/2 Drive Tree is an example of this sort of
view, as is the default view of an OS/2 WPS Drive object.
Icon view = a container view showing the object's name below the object's icon.
Name view = a container view showing the object's name beside the object's
icon.
Text view = a container view showing only the object's name.
Details view = a container view showing full object information in rows. A
detail container is split into two sides with one vertical scrollbar serving
both sides, and two separate horizontal scrollbars.
MLE = Multi Line Edit control. This is something like a text editor. They can
(and do) come in all sizes.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. General Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2's main purpose is to show you what's on your file system and let you sling
what's there around.
Here we'll cover the basics. Some familiarity with OS/2's WPS (WorkPlace
Shell) is assumed. If you need refreshing, run the OS/2 Tutorial.
There are several ways to view a directory with FM/2, just as there are with
the WPS. Icon, Name, Text and Details views all offer different perspectives
into the directory being "looked at" (see Terminology). Views showing icons
can use full-sized icons or smaller "mini-icons" to save space.
Details view can show a great deal of information about file system objects,
and you can customize what is shown with the Details Setup submenu (under the
Views menu or a Directory Container window's context menu).
You can also place some limits on the amount of detail that FM/2 loads from the
file system with the Toggles page of the Settings notebook. This can speed up
FM/2's scanning of directories but can also make for duller screens and less
information being presented to you. My advice to you is to enjoy the bells and
whistles OS/2 and PM provide.
Take a moment to set up the look of your Directory Container windows to match
your taste -- everyone likes something different. Then meet me back here and
we'll talk about manipulating those objects you see...
As we talk about manipulating objects, keep firmly in mind the concepts of
"current object" and "highlighted objects" (see Terminology). The current
object is the one on which commands act (it has the dotted outline around it).
If the current object is also highlighted, all highlighted objects will be
affected.
Renaming file system objects: The simplest way to rename a file system object
is to point at it with the mouse cursor, hold down the ALT key, and click the
text of its name. OS/2 produces a mini MLE text entry field where you can type
in a new name (this is Direct Editing). When finished, click the object and a
rename is performed. Note that you can even move the object to another
directory when you do this. (Also note that in Details view you can
direct-edit the Subject field to change an object's Subject and the Longname
field to change an object's Longname.)
Using this method will not allow you to overwrite an existing file. You can
use drag and drop (as detailed below for Move) or the menu command Rename or
the toolbar to allow overwriting.
Moving file system objects:
There are several ways to move a file system object. The best and most
intuitive is drag and drop. Using this method, you "grab" the file system
object by pressing and holding B2 while the mouse pointer is over the object,
then begin to move the mouse (still holding B2). The object's icon should
begin to move with the mouse pointer. " Drag" this icon to where you want to
move it (for instance, if you want to move a file from C:\ to D:\, drag the
file to the Drive Tree's D: object). When the object is where you want it,
release B2 and the move is done.
When dragging an object into a Directory Container, remember that to place it
into the directory into with the Directory Container "looks" you need to drop
it on container "whitespace" (a part of the container not occupied by an
object). For convenience, the two recessed status areas at the top of the
container are considered whitespace.
If you get confused when dragging object(s), press the F1 key. This will give
you some information about what you're doing. Pressing the Escape key will
abort the drag.
Note that you can't move a file or directory onto another file, only into a
directory (moving into container whitespace in a Directory Container window is
the same as moving into the directory the Directory Container "looks" into, and
a minimized Directory Container window is "all whitespace"). Also note that
the object you grab becomes the current object, and if it's also highlighted
you'll drag all highlighted objects (you'll see visual feedback to this
effect).
You could, of course, also select "Move" from the Files menu or a context menu,
or click the Move toolbar button, or type the accelerator key ^m (hold the
control key down and type "m"). In this case, you'll get the Walk Directories
dialog where you can enter a target directory.
Copying file system objects:
The procedure for copying file system objects is very similar to that for
moving them. When you begin to drag the object, and until you release it, hold
down the control (CTRL) key. You'll notice that the dragged icon is "ghosted"
to give visual feedback that a copy, not a move, is being performed. Note that
you can copy a file onto an archive file as well as into a directory. You can
also "clone" a file by dropping it into the directory where it already resides
-- you'll get a rename dialog that will allow you to change the name, creating
a file exactly like the other with a different name.
As for move above, there is a "Copy" menu item and a toolbar button, and ^c is
the accelerator key.
There is one other type of drag and drop operation called a "link drag." To
link drag, hold down the control and shift keys while dragging. You'll see a
"rubber band line" extend from where you grabbed the icon to the mouse pointer
as a visual cue. Link dragging is usually used within FM/2 to do compare
operations (see also Link Sets Icon toggle). What you drag will be compared to
what you drop it on. Note, however, that if you drag to a WPS object (like the
desktop or other folder), OS/2's version of a link drag is performed, which
usually results in a shadow object being created.
Double-clicking an object in a Directory Container window causes a default
action to take place. What that action is depends on the type of object and
how you've configured FM/2. Here's a breakdown: If the object is a directory,
the Directory Container switches to look into that directory. If it's a file,
FM/2 first checks to see if you've assigned any Associations that match the
filename and signature (if applicable). Next, FM/2 tries to view the file as
an archive. If it's not an archive, FM/2 checks to see if the file's an
executable and runs it if so. Then INI and HLP files are checked by extensions
and viewed as such. If all else fails, FM/2 views the file using the
configured or internal viewer.
Other commands are accessed via pulldown or context menu commands or toolbar
buttons. You can read about them by selecting the highlighted words "context
menu" in this paragraph. But you now know how to perform the file system
maintenance basics: Move, Copy, Rename and Compare. You are now, as the
Smothers Brothers said, educated.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Files Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Files pulldown menu displays the same menu that would be obtained as a
context (popup) menu over the current object in the current window. If you
select the Files menu when a window that doesn't use it is active, you'll see
"n/a" (not applicable).
Generally speaking, it's best to leave the Files menu for folks who either
don't have a mouse or don't really understand how OS/2 works, and instead work
from the context menus.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Commands submenu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Commands are programs that can be run on selected objects by picking the
programs by an assigned title from a dynamically built submenu of FM/2's Files
pulldown menu.
When commands are displayed in the submenu, visual queues are given as to the
behavior of a given command. Commands that are checked will run once for each
selected file. Commands that are framed will prompt the user to edit and
accept the command line before running.
FM/2 provides accelerator keys for the first twenty commands in the submenu.
The accelerators are listed beside the command's title for reference. This
provides a "macro key" capability.
Don't overlook the power of Commands. This is a simple way of extending FM/2
to do things that it can't do on its own, to automate things, and to merge
those old command line utilities with a PM selection shell (FM/2).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Views Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Views pulldown menu displays the same menu that would be obtained as a
context (popup) menu for the current window (but not for any objects in the
window -- in other words, a context menu requested over whitespace). If you
select the Views menu when a window that doesn't use it is active, you'll see
"n/a" (not applicable).
Generally speaking, it's best to leave the Views menu for folks who either
don't have a mouse or don't really understand how OS/2 works, and instead work
from the context menus.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Utilities Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 offers several utilities to make your life a little easier:
Collector
Undelete Files
Kill Processes
Instant Batch File
Command Line
INI Viewer
View Bookshelf
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1. Collector ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Collector is a temporary place to hold objects that you want to manipualate
later; it allows you to temporarily group objects regardless of where they're
physically stored in the file system. No physical (disk) storage is used; the
Collector just holds the objects (something like WPS shadows) until you're
ready to do something with them. You might think of it as an additional
clipboard containing names of file system objects. Note that objects in the
Collector, unlike objects in main tree and directory containers, show their
full pathnames.
You can drag file system objects from and to the Collector. Be careful where
you drop the objects; directories and files already in the Collector are
"targets." If you drop on a directory, the files are moved or copied to the
directory, not into the Collector.
The Collector allows you to manipulate the files it contains just as you would
in a main tree or directory window. Popup menus are available just as they are
in a main window. The popup for the collector container obtained over
container whitespace allows clearing the container and collecting files from
the clipboard (a good way to import a selection from some other program that
might save a list of files, one file per line).
Additionally, the pulldown menu gives you access to a Seek and scan function.
This leads to a dialog that lets you search for and Collect files based on
filemasks and text content.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.1.1. Seek and scan ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to search for files (by filemasks and, optionally, text
within the files) and Collects the files found.
In the Filemasks entry field you can enter one or several filemasks. To enter
multiple masks, separate them with semi-colons. Example: "C:\*;D:\*.TXT".
In the Search text entry field you can enter text that must be found for the
file to match. All files matching the filemask(s) are searched for this text.
If no text is entered, a simple file find is performed.
Simple regular expressions are supported. These can be briefly summarized:
'*' matches any string
'?' matches any single character
'['XYZ']' matches any of X, Y or Z
' ' matches 0 or more whitespace characters
C matches C
The Include Subdirs checkbox controls whether the search extends into
subdirectories. If the box is checked, subdirectories are searched.
The Absolute checkbox disables regular expressions in the Search text entry
field.
The Case Senseitive checkbox, if checked, makes text searches case sensitive.
Otherwise they are not ('c' matches 'C' and 'c').
The Say files as found checkbox tells FM/2 to display the filenames it finds
based on the filemasks as it encounters them, if checked.
The Search files checkbox, when checked, tells FM/2 to look inside files for
the text in the Search text entry field. This has no effect if no search text
was entered.
The Search EAs checkbox, when checked, tells FM/2 to look at the text EAs of
files for the text in the Search text entry field. This has no effect if no
search text was entered.
The Larger entry field can be used to find files larger than the number of
bytes input (zero means all files). The k button next to the entry field
multiplies the value by 1024 for you to make kilobytes instead of bytes. The
Smaller entry field works the same except that it causes files smaller than the
number of bytes input to be found. When used together (both fields are
nonzero), files found will be greater than the Larger field's value and less
than the Smaller field's value.
The Newer and Older entry fields work similarly. When non-zero, these fields
cause the search to find only files newer or older than the number of days
entered. The m buttons multiply the value by 30 for you to make "months"
instead of days.
The AllHDs button prompts you for a single simple filemask (one without a drive
or path) then builds a Filemasks string that will search all hard drives for
that mask.
The file search is performed using the current Collector Filter's attribute
values.
Click Okay when ready to search, or Cancel to exit without searching.
Quicky instructions: type a mask into the Filemasks entry field (for example,
"C:\*.BAK") and press [Enter].
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.2. Undelete Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This leads to a dialog that interfaces with UNDELETE.COM to allow you to
undelete files. The drive that will be operated on is determined by the
highlighted object in the directory tree. This dialog filters out files that
already exist on the disk.
You can always go directly to UNDELETE.COM if you have the need for more
control. This is provided only for convenience.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.3. Kill Processes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This leads to a dialog that allows you to kill most renegade processes. If you
run into a window that just won't close, or one that hides itself but doesn't
quite go away, this may let you kill the hung process.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.4. Instant Batch File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This leads to a dialog that lets you quickly hack together a batch (command)
file and run it (the currently highlighted tree directory will be its default
directory). The command file isn't saved; think of it as an "extended command
line" which allows you to enter more than one line at a time (for instance,
when several tests must be made).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.5. Command Line ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This brings up a windowed OS/2 command line. F9 is the accelerator key for
this command.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.6. INI Viewer ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
INI files are a form of data file that OS/2 provides to applications and
utilizes itself. This viewer dialog allows you to take a peek inside them.
Two special INIs are used by the system. They are the User INI (usually
OS2.INI) and the System INI (usually OS2SYS.INI). Both are usually located in
the \OS2 directory of your boot drive. FM/2 will tell you where they are when
you view them.
Applications normally use private INI files named after the application. For
example, FM/2's INI is FM3.INI and its executable is FM3.EXE.
A record in an INI is composed of three parts: An application name, a keyname,
and data. This three-part format is represented in the dialog by three
listboxes. When you choose an application name and a keyname, you see the data
associated with them.
This dialog allows you to delete an application name from an INI (deleting all
keynames and data associated with it) with Edit->Delete Application, or to
delete individual keynames, deleting the data associated with them with
Edit->Delete Keyname.
The Files->User Profile command loads the user INI (usually OS2.INI) and the
Files->System Profile command loads the system INI (usually OS2SYS.INI). The
Files->Other Profile command allows you to pick an INI file to load. The
Files->Refresh command will refresh the contents of the listboxes from the INI
file on disk; handy if a background process might modify it.
The Utilities->Backup Profile creates a backup of the current profile. You get
to specify the filename. The Utilities->Change System Profiles command lets
you change the User and System profiles that OS/2 uses. The Utilities->Replace
System Profiles command lets you replace the default system profiles with new
profiles; the old files are physically overwritten.
You can also drag from and to the top two listboxes in this window. If you
drag from the left window, you drag the current application name, all its
keynames, and all the data associated with the keynames. If you drag from the
right window, you drag the current application and keynames, and all the data
associated with the keyname. You can either move or copy the record(s) using
the standard key modifiers (you did read the General Help topic, didn't you?).
This window is reached via the Utilities pulldown menu on FM/2's main window,
or by selecting (double-clicking) an INI file in a directory window, or by
starting it from the FM/2 folder. The double-click behavior can be changed by
specifying an association for *.INI under FM/2's main Config->Edit Associations
pulldown. You may wish to do this, as FM/2's INI Viewer isn't meant to be the
sort of full-featured dedicated INI maintenance application that, for example,
INIMaint is. You can alternatively specify a Command using FM/2's main window
menu Config->Edit Commands to run a more powerful INI editor against selected
files as desired, using this internal viewer for browsing.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.6.1. Adding an INI record ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To add an INI record, fill in the three entry fields on the screen. The appname
and keyname pair, together, should form a unique ID, or you'll end up replacing
existing data rather than adding new data. Then click Okay. Click Cancel to
abort.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.6.2. Changing OS/2's INIs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 lets you change the INIs that OS/2 uses while OS/2 is still active. This,
together with the Backup Profile command, allow you to create and use alternate
profiles. Note that this doesn't change the physical INI files, it just points
OS/2 at the new files; when you reboot, the files specified in CONFIG.SYS are
used.
There are a couple of potential uses for this function. You might use it to
maintain different desktops and switch between them. You might use it to allow
you to copy backed up profiles to OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI (the default OS/2
profiles -- do this by first switching to a different set of profiles, then
copying your backups onto OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI, then restoring OS2.INI and
OS2SYS.INI as the system profiles. You can't do this normally as the system
profiles are readonly and can't be overwritten.).
Note that when the change occurs, OS/2 will restart the WPS. It's recommended
that you back up your system INIs before using this and shut down all other
running processes first.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.6.3. Replacing OS/2's INIs ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog physically replaces the OS/2 system INIs with the INI files you
select. The change is permanent.
Note that when the change occurs, OS/2 will restart the WPS (twice). It's
HIGHLY recommended that you back up your system INIs before using this and shut
down all other running processes first. (Use of this after having used the
Change System Profiles command probably won't do what you expect unless you
first change back to the system defaults.)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.7. View Bookshelf ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 presents a listbox containing all the .INF files found in the directories
listed in your BOOKSHELF environment variable (see SET BOOKSHELF= in
CONFIG.SYS). You select the .INF file(s) you want to view, then click the View
button.
If you selected more than one .INF file, FM/2 calls VIEW.EXE in such a way that
all the files are presented at once (a single contents page appears listing the
contents of all the .INF files). Warning: Don't select more than one filename
with the same title (left column of listbox) -- View.exe will choke if you do,
and be unable to read any of the files.
You can enter text into the entry field below the listbox, and FM/2 will try to
find the first listbox entry with matching text as you go. If you click Select
FM/2 will highlight all matching entries (hint: empty the entry field and click
Select to unhighlight everything). If you click Filter FM/2 will remove all
but highlighted items from the listbox (Rescan will refill the listbox).
The AddDirs button will copy the contents of the entry field and add it to the
directories listed in the BOOKSHELF environment variable. It should be in the
same format as the HELP environment variable uses, fully qualified directory
names separated by semi-colons. The next time you use the Bookshelf Viewer,
FM/2 will remember this input and use it. This is an internal addition; your
CONFIG.SYS and environment are not modified.
When you're done with the dialog, press [ESCape] or click Cancel. Any open
.INF files remain open until you close them (hint: F3 will close an .INF file).
Note: this dialog is shared by the View Bookshelf and View Helpfiles commands.
If you click on either while this dialog is up, the dialog is simply brought to
the foreground. Close it if you want to switch function. (This doesn't apply
if you started this from the Bookshelf Viewer object in the FM/2 WPS folder.)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6.8. View Helpfiles ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 presents a listbox containing all the .HLP files found in the directories
listed in your HELP environment variable (see SET HELP= in CONFIG.SYS). You
select the .HLP file you want to view, then click the View button.
You can enter text into the entry field below the listbox, and FM/2 will try to
find the first listbox entry with matching text as you go.
The AddDirs button will copy the contents of the entry field and add it to the
directories listed in the HELP environment variable. It should be in the same
format as the HELP environment variable uses, fully qualified directory names
separated by semi-colons. The next time you use the Bookshelf Viewer, FM/2
will remember this input and use it. This is an internal addition; your
CONFIG.SYS and environment are not modified.
When you're done with the dialog, press [ESCape] or click Cancel. Any open
.HLP file will remain open until you close it.
Note: this dialog is shared by the View Bookshelf and View Helpfiles commands.
If you click on either while this dialog is up, the dialog is simply brought to
the foreground. Close it if you want to switch function. (This doesn't apply
if you started this from the Helpfile Viewer object in the FM/2 WPS folder.)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Config Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 can be configured as you like it using the commands under this submenu.
It is highly recommended that you step through the items in this submenu when
you first begin to use FM/2, both to familiarize yourself with the available
configuration options and to make FM/2 work the way you like it to work.
To change fonts and colors, FM/2 uses the WPS Font and Color Palettes. The
Config menu contains commands to call up these objects for you.
This submenu affects general FM/2 behavior. Each class of container has its
own configuration menu that allows you to set the type of view, filtering, and
so on. To get the popup menu that controls the container's appearance, request
a context menu while the pointer is over an empty area of the container, or
select the Views pulldown submenu.
Toolbar
Associations
Commands
Edit Archiver Data
Settings notebook
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. Toolbar ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The toolbar is a collection of buttons that invoke some of the commands in the
pulldown or popup menus. Placing the mouse pointer on a button and pressing
and holding B2 displays brief help for the button on the titlebar.
Some of the buttons will allow objects to be dragged onto them; for example,
you can drag objects onto the trashcan to delete them. Note that the hotspot
of the mouse pointer itself should be over the button before releasing, not the
icon being dragged (icons are slightly offset from the mouse pointer to give
better target visibility). Target emphasis is provided in the form of a black
outline around the button, and the arrow pointer turns into a hand when above a
toolbox icon.
This toolbar submenu is a conditional cascade menu, meaning that if you click
other than on the boxed arrow a default command is executed (the toolbar is
toggled off and on), but if you click on the boxed arrow you get a submenu of
items you can select (the other choices are Text Toolbar, which will cause the
toolbar to appear as "normal" buttons with text on them, or Toolbar Titles,
which will cause text to appear below the toolbar bitmap buttons).
Toolbar buttons are user-configurable. To change the toolbar, click mouse
button two (usually the right button) while the mouse pointer is over a button
to pop up a context menu. You can get the "Load Toolbox" dialog by clicking B2
on a blank area of the toolbar, and the "Add Button" dialog by chording on a
blank area of the toolbar.
For advanced/curious users: Information on what buttons are in the toolbar is
kept in a file named FM3TOOLS.DAT. This file is an ASCII (plain text) file
that contains information defining the toolbar. The file contains comments
that explain its format.
FM/2 allows you to create customized toolboxes that can be loaded as required
to provide toolboxes for specific activities.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.1. Reorder Tools ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog, accessed from the context menu of a tool button, allows you to
rearrange the order of the toolbar's tool buttons. You take selected items
from the left listbox and Add them to the end of the right listbox with the
Add>> button. When you've moved everything to the right listbox, click Okay.
Click Cancel if you change your mind.
In reality, you don't need to move everything to the right listbox. You can
move only what you want moved to the top of the list, then click Okay.
Anything remaining in the left listbox is added to the end of what's in the
right listbox.
The <<Remove button can be used to move selected items from the right listbox
to the bottom of the left listbox.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.2. Edit Tool ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to change the help and text strings and flags associated
with a button. Edit as desired, then click Okay. Click Cancel if you change
your mind.
The Help field should contain text to remind you what the button's command
does. For example, a button that deletes files and directories might have help
reading "Delete files and directories".
The Text field should contain very brief text that will be placed on the button
(if the tool id has no bitmap associated with it).
The Droppable checkbox determines if the tool can have objects dropped on it or
not. See list below.
The Visible checkbox determines if the tool is visible or not.
If the Separator checkbox is checked, FM/2 puts a bit of whitespace after the
button (separates it from the next button).
The ID field cannot be changed here.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.3. Add Tool ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog is accessed from the context menu of a tool button, or if you turn
on the toolbar when there are no tools defined.
To add a tool, fill in the fields as appropriate and click Okay. Click Cancel
if you change your mind.
The Help field should contain text to remind you what the button's command
does. For example, a button that deletes files and directories might have help
reading "Delete files and directories".
The Text field should contain very brief text that will be placed on the button
(if the tool id has no bitmap associated with it).
The Droppable checkbox determines if the tool can have objects dropped on it or
not. See list below.
The Visible checkbox determines if the tool is visible or not.
If the Separator checkbox is checked, FM/2 puts a bit of whitespace after the
button (separates it from the next button).
The ID field should be assigned a number that tells FM/2 what the command
associated with the button is. Here's a list of supported commands:
ID Command Droppable?
==== ================================================= ==========
1023 View Files Y
1024 Edit Files Y
1026 Make Directory N
1010 Object Information Y
1005 Rename Files/Directories Y
1004 Delete Files/Directories Y
1006 Permanently Delete Files/Directories Y
1009 Set Attributes and Date/Time of Files/Directories Y
10002 Walk Directories N
10008 Select All Files N
10007 Deselect All N
1029 Archive Files/Directories Y
1030 Extract From Archives Y
1022 Create Objects Y
1021 Create Shadow Objects Y
1002 Copy Files/Directories Y
1001 Move Files/Directories Y
2003 Kill Process N
2004 Undelete Files N
2006 Instant Command File N
2007 OS/2 Command Line N
5001 Filter Container N
3001 Edit Associations N
1048 Edit Commands N
5021 Rescan N
1007 Print Files Y
1008 Extended Attributes Y
2001 View INI Files Y
1027 Save List to Clipboard Y
1028 Save List to File Y
1011 Collect Files/Directories N
2010 Bookshelf Viewer N
4001 First Command Y
4002 Second Command Y
Note: Other Commands can also be used; just add to 4000 as required to get the
number of the command. For instance, Command 4 would be ID 4004. Command
buttons use the text field; others shown have bitmaps associated with them in
FM/2's resources. Remember that if you change your Commands around, you need
to resync the tools to the Commands...
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.4. Save Toolbox ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 allows you to save toolboxes (groups of tools) for later recall with the
Load Toolbox command.
Type the name of the file to hold the toolbox definitions into the entry field
below the listbox, or select a file displayed in the listbox (it will be
overwritten). FM/2 saves the toolbox definitions into the file.
The files are given an extension of .TLS if you don't specify an extension.
The listbox shows files in the FM/2 directory that have the extension .TLS
(which is my way of suggesting that you follow this convention).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1.5. Load Toolbox ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 allows you to load toolboxes (groups of tools) which were saved with the
Save Toolbox command.
Type the name of the file that holds the toolbox definitions into the entry
field below the listbox, or select a file displayed in the listbox. FM/2 loads
the toolbox definitions from the file and updates the toolbar.
This allows you to have groups of specific-purpose buttons which you can load
for different types of activities. You don't have to use it, but it's there if
you would like to do so.
Clicking Okay without typing in or selecting a filename results in FM/2
reloading the default toolbox from FM3TOOLS.DAT.
If I may, here's how I'd recommend using this facility:
First, save the full toolbar under a new name. Next, delete any buttons that
you don't want in your customized toolbar. Finally, add any Command buttons
that you do want in the customized toolbar. By starting with the full toolbar,
you'll spend more of your time deleting buttons you don't want (a trivial task)
and less adding buttons.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Settings notebook ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2's internal Settings notebook lets you fiddle with some of the global
toggles and variables used to control how FM/2 behaves. This is called up via
the Config->Settings... pulldown menu item.
Some container types have their own individual settings, usually available via
a popup menu requested on container whitespace (or the Views pulldown menu).
Note that settings changes don't take effect unless and until you close the
notebook by clicking the Okay button.
See also:
Toggles page
Window toggles page
External programs/paths page
Directory Container views page
Directory Container sort page
Collector Container views page
Collector Container sort page
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.1. Toggles page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The checkboxes on this page are on/off switches. The items are checked if they
are on, not checked if they are off. Following is a description of the
available toggles:
Confirm delete controls whether FM/2 will ask you to confirm the deletion of
files (deleting directories always requires confirmation). It is recommended
that you leave this option on; FM/2 will let you confirm all files on which
you're acting from one dialog, so it has minimal impact and provides a safety
net.
Uppercase names and Lowercase names control how FM/2 pretreats filenames before
inserting them into the container. The default is not to change the case of
the filenames at all. Changing these toggles will have an effect on the next
rescan.
If Unhilite after action is on, highlighted objects in the container are
unhighlighted after you perform some command on them.
The Verify disk writes toggle turns system-level write verification on and off.
This is like typing VERIFY ON or VERIFY OFF at a command line.
Normally FM/2 updates the container as things change; for instance, if you're
deleting several files, the container is updated after each file is deleted.
If you uncheck Immediate updates, FM/2 updates the container after an atomic
action completes (i.e. after all files moved by one operation have been moved).
This speeds up processing but allows the container to be temporarily "out of
synch" with the real state of affairs.
If Load Subjects is checked, FM/2 loads object descriptions from their standard
WPS .SUBJECT EAs during scans. If you change the state of this toggle, you'll
need to rescan to get the change to show up in FM/2's containers. Note that
only the Details view shows Subjects. Subjects may be direct-edited when
showing in the container. You can also pick Subject from a context menu,
whether Subjects are being loaded during scans or not, to view and optionally
change the object description. You can turn this off to marginally increase
scanning speed.
If Load Longnames is checked, FM/2 loads the .LONGNAME extended attribute for
non-HPFS drives. This attribute usually contains a long name for objects that
should be restored if the object is moved to an HPFS drive. As for Subject,
Longnames are only shown in the Details view. You can turn this off to
marginally increase scanning speed.
If Don't load file icons and/or Don't load directory icons are checked, FM/2
won't load the icons of objects from the file system but instead uses defaults.
Although this can speed up scanning, it makes for boring containers. This is
PM, folks, enjoy the bells and whistles!
The Follow Drive Tree toggle causes FM/2 to "follow" the current selected
directory in the Drive Tree (when you move the cursor in the tree, the
directory container changes to show the files in that directory without you
having to press [Enter] or double-click the directory).
The Don't move my mouse! toggle keeps FM/2 from moving your mouse (to place it
in the center of a popup menu or over the Okay button in some dialogs). Some
people like the help, others don't. Take your pick.
The Double-click Opens toggle, if on, causes FM/2 to always open a new
Directory Container window when a Drive Tree directory is double clicked.
Link Sets Icon changes the action of a link-drag. If this toggle is set, a
link drag causes FM/2 to try to set the icon of the target to the icon of the
first dropped object (if the first dropped object has no .ICON EA and is not an
icon file, the target's icon is reset. Note that OS/2 sometimes buffers this
info and an icon change may not show up immediately). If not set, a link drag
causes FM/2 to do a compare of the target with the dropped objects.
If Default action Copy is checked, FM/2's windows perform a copy rather than
move by default (note the highlighting on the mouse pointer as your cue).
Instead of pressing the CTRL key to change a drag from a move to a copy, you'll
need to press the Shift key to change a drag from a copy to a move (don't ask
me why). Note that this is the opposite of the standard OS/2 behavior, so know
what you're doing. I remind you that pressing F1 when you have a target in an
FM/2 window will display some help on what the drag command would have
performed.
FM/2 usually performs copy and move actions at the lowest "normal" priority
available. If you'd like FM/2 to use a true "idle" priority, check the Idle
Copy toggle. Warning: if a DOS program is running, even in the background,
idle priority threads slow way down. Performance at true idle with DOS
programs running may not be acceptable.
If the Show archiver activity toggle is checked, FM/2 runs archiver windows in
the foreground. Normally it runs them in the background, minimized, so you'd
have to use the task list to pull them to the foreground if you want to see
them.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.2. Window toggles page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Save state of dir windows toggle, if checked, causes FM/2 to "remember" the
directory windows that are open when you close FM/2 so that it can open them
again when you restart FM/2. If you turn this on, be sure to play with the
Free Tree and Autotile toggles under the Windows menu to acheive the desired
effect (everyone will want a different effect). You'll probably want to omit
any directories from the command line if you turn on this toggle.
If you turn on Autotile (it's on by default), FM/2 will retile the windows in
many cases to try to keep things neat.
If you check the Free Drive Tree toggle, FM/2 will allow you to move the Drive
Tree Container. Otherwise it "pins" it in the upper left corner of the client
window.
If Split Status is checked, you get two status lines at the bottom of the FM/2
window instead of one. The left status line typically contains information
about the current container, the right about the current object in the
container.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.3. External programs/paths page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page allows you to set the generic external programs that FM/2 uses to
view files, edit files, compare files and scan archives for viruses. It also
has a couple of other fields discussed below.
The Find button can be clicked to bring up a dialog that will let you
point-and-click on a file or directory name that will be imported to the
current entry field. For example, if you're in the Editor entry field and
click Find, you'll get a standard OS/2 open dialog which you may use to find
your editor executable.
FM/2 uses an internal MLE viewer/editor if you have no viewer or editor
configured here. It's recommended that you fill these fields in with whatever
viewer and editor you like rather than use the internal.
The Ext. Path Otherwise, FM/2 assumes you want to place extracted files into
the same directory in which the archive resides (though it'll let you override
manually).
The Printer field lets you specify the device to which FM/2 will print text
files. By default it is PRN (LPT1). You can also just drag a file to a system
printer object; the FM/2 printer is really intended only for situations where
the WPS printers are unavailable. (The Find button doesn't work for this
field.)
Examples:
Editor: "EPM.EXE %a"
or "Q.EXE %a"
or "E.EXE %a"
or "CMD.EXE /C START /C /FS EMACS.EXE %a"
Viewer: "LSTPM.EXE %a"
or "LIST2.EXE %a"
Compare: "COMP.COM %a"
or "CMD.EXE /C MYCOMP.CMD %a"
Virus: "OS2SCAN.EXE %p /SUB /A"
The following replaceable "metastrings" can be used in command lines:
%$ drive letter
%a full pathnames
%c command processor specified in %COMSPEC%
%f filenames, no paths
%e extensions
%p path (d:\directory)
%% a percent sign
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.4. Directory Container views page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This settings page lets you set the type of view that will be used in new
Directory Container windows. Directory Containers that are already open won't
be affected.
Icon In Icon view, the object's name appears below its icon.
Name In Name view, the object's name appears beside its icon.
Text Text view is the fastest view for a container to maintain, but provides
the least information on the objects it contains.
Detail Details view shows a great deal of information on the objects it
contains, including file sizes, dates, and times, but it is the slowest view
for a container control to maintain.
Mini Icons is a toggle controlling whether icons are shown full size or in
miniature in views that show icons.
The Field Titles group (analogous to the Views->Details Setup submenu) allows
you to control what is shown in a Details view. Each possible field in the
details view is shown. If the field is checked, FM/2 will show it. If not, it
won't.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.5. Directory Container sort page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page lets you set the type of sort for Directory Containers. Directory
Containers that are already open won't be affected immediately (see Resort
context menu command), but will use the new sort type the next time they're
resorted or rescanned.
You can also tell FM/2 to always display directories ahead of or behind files.
Note that Last access date and Creation date are only meaningful for HPFS file
systems; FAT file systems do not track this information. The difference
between Pathname and Filename is only apparent in the Collector. With the
former, the entire pathname of the object is used to sort. With the latter,
only the filename portion is used to sort. FM/2 maintains separate sort
criteria for Drive Tree, Collector, Directory Container and Archive Container
windows. This page affects only Directory Container sorting. The Collector
has its own page; use a context menu or View pulldown menu for other container
types (like the Drive Tree).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.6. Collector Container views page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This settings page lets you set the type of view that will be used in new
Collector windows. If the Collector is already open it won't be affected
unless you close and reopen it.
Icon In Icon view, the object's name appears below its icon.
Name In Name view, the object's name appears beside its icon.
Text Text view is the fastest view for a container to maintain, but provides
the least information on the objects it contains.
Detail Details view shows a great deal of information on the objects it
contains, including file sizes, dates, and times, but it is the slowest view
for a container control to maintain.
Mini Icons is a toggle controlling whether icons are shown full size or in
miniature in views that show icons.
The Field Titles group (analogous to the Views->Details Setup submenu) allows
you to control what is shown in a Details view. Each possible field in the
details view is shown. If the field is checked, FM/2 will show it. If not, it
won't.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2.7. Collector Container sort page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page lets you set the type of sort for the Collector. If the Collector is
already open it won't be affected immediately, (see Resort context menu
command), but will use the new sort type the next time it's resorted or
rescanned.
You can also tell FM/2 to always display directories ahead of or behind files.
Note that Last access date and Creation date are only meaningful for HPFS file
systems; FAT file systems do not track this information. The difference
between Pathname and Filename is only apparent in the Collector. With the
former, the entire pathname of the object is used to sort. With the latter,
only the filename portion is used to sort. FM/2 maintains separate sort
criteria for Drive Tree, Collector, Directory Container and Archive Container
windows. This page affects only Collector sorting.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. Associations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Associations are programs that are run when files matching specified filemasks
(and optional file signatures) are selected (double-clicked).
You can use this facility to cause editors specific to different datafile types
to start when the datafile is selected. For instance, if you associate "*.ICO"
with "ICONEDIT.EXE %a" the icon editor will be started with the selected icon
file when you double-click an icon.
Signatures provide a mechanism to further test a matching file to determine
that it is the proper type. For example, all OS/2 .INF (information) files
have the string "HSP" at position 0 of the file. By using signature "HSP" at
offset 0 for the filemask "*.INF" and assigning the commandline "VIEW.EXE %a"
to the association, any OS/2 .INF file will be read using VIEW when selected,
but non-OS/2 files that have an .INF extension will not match this association.
To add an association, fill in the entry fields and set the radio buttons and
checkboxes that control session type as desired (these are explained in more
detail in the help for Editing Commandline except for Prompt, which causes a
dialog to appear that allows editing the command line before it is run), then
click Add.. To delete an association, select it in the listbox, then click
Del. To change an association, delete it, edit the entry fields, radio buttons
and checkboxes, then add it.
The Find button brings up a standard OS/2 open dialog that you can use to
point-and-click at the desired executable file. It's pathname will be entered
into the command line entry field.
The Environment MLE control lets you enter environment strings for the program
to inherit. Generally speaking, this is only for running DOS programs as any
strings entered here are interpreted as DOS settings. For example,
IDLE_SECONDS=5 would adjust the DOS setting IDLE_SECONDS to 5. Names of DOS
settings are as shown in the Settings notebook for a DOS program.
The following replaceable "metastrings" can be used in command lines:
%$ drive letter
%a full pathnames
%c command processor specified in %COMSPEC%
%f filenames, no paths
%e extensions
%p path (d:\directory)
%% a percent sign
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. Editting Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to edit the commands that are available in the Commands
submenu. To add a command, fill in the entry fields and set the radio buttons
and checkboxes that control session type as desired (these are explained in
more detail in the help for Editing Commandline except for Each, which means
that the command will be run once for each selected file, and Prompt, which
means that the command will display a dialog that allows the user to edit the
command line before running), then click Add.. To delete a command, select it
in the listbox, then click Del. To change a command, delete it, edit the entry
fields, radio buttons and checkboxes, then add it.
The Find button brings up a standard OS/2 open dialog that you can use to
point-and-click at the desired executable file. It's pathname will be entered
into the command line entry field.
The Environment MLE control lets you enter environment strings for the program
to inherit. Generally speaking, this is only for running DOS programs as any
strings entered here are interpreted as DOS settings. For example,
IDLE_SECONDS=5 would adjust the DOS setting IDLE_SECONDS to 5. Names of DOS
settings are as shown in the Settings notebook for a DOS program.
The following "metastrings" can be used in command lines:
%$ drive letter
%a full pathnames
%c command processor specified in %COMSPEC%
%f filenames, no paths
%e extensions
%p path (d:\directory)
%% a percent sign
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4.1. Reordering Commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog, accessed from the Edit Commands dialog, allows you to rearrange
the order of Commands. You take selected items from the left listbox and Add
them to the end of the right listbox with the Add>> button. When you've moved
everything to the right listbox, click Okay. Click Cancel if you change your
mind.
In reality, you don't need to move everything to the right listbox. You can
move only what you want moved to the top of the list, then click Okay.
Anything remaining in the left listbox is added to the end of what's in the
right listbox.
The <<Remove button can be used to move selected items from the right listbox
to the bottom of the left listbox.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Windows Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Windows submenu lets you control FM/2's child windows. In addition, you
can select child windows to give the focus from the bottom of the menu.
Following is a discussion of the "permanent" commands on the menu.
Tile:
Causes child windows to be tiled.
Cascade:
Causes child windows to be cascaded.
Arrange Icons:
Causes any minimized icons at the bottom of the screen to be arranged neatly.
Dialog:
Brings up a dialog that lets you minimize, restore or close selected child
windows. You can also chord the mouse on a blank portion of the main client
window to call up this dialog.
Restore:
Restores any minimized child windows.
Minimize:
Minimizes child windows.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Context menus ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Context menus are used extensively in FM/2, just as they are in the WPS.
Context menus are requested by placing the mouse pointer over a desired object
in a container (or over container whitespace) and clicking mouse button two
(usually the right button).
Commands that affect the container as a whole are found in context menus
requested over whitespace (any empty area of the container). Commands that
affect the objects within the container are requested over the object of
interest. If an object is highlighted when a context menu is requested, the
commands will usually affect all highlighted objects; otherwise, any commands
will affect only the object over which the menu was requested (you'll see
visual feedback to this effect).
FM/2's Files menu shows the same menu that would be obtained if you requested a
context menu over the current object. FM/2's Views menu shows the same menu
that would be obtained if you requested a context menu over the current
window's whitespace.
When a menu command leads to a dialog, the command name is followed by dots
(i.e. "Attributes..."). In cases where commands have accelerator key
equivelants, the accelerator key is listed after the command (i.e. "View ^v",
where ^ indicates that the CTRL key must be pressed with the 'v' key, or
"Archive... ^A" which indicates that both the CTRL and SHIFT keys must be
pressed with the 'a' key).
Context menu commands affecting objects:
(Note that not all commands are available for all objects on all drives)
Attributes leads to a dialog that sets all selected objects' attributes and
(optionally) date/time en masse.
Rename allows you to rename objects. You are notified of conflicts as they
occur. An easier method for renaming one object is to point at its text, hold
down the ALT key, and click mouse button one.
Delete deletes objects. If the Confirm Delete toggle is on or one or more
directories are among the selected objects, you get a dialog showing the
selected objects and asking you to confirm that you really meant what you said.
In that dialog you have a chance to remove some of the objects. If you have
Undelete enabled for the drive on which the objects reside, they may be
recoverable.
Permanent Delete deletes objects as above, but they will not be recoverable
(which may make the deletion faster). It should be noted that when deleting
directory objects, the file objects within the directory can never be
recovered, but deleting all the file objects inside a directory (rather than
the directory itself) allows things to be recovered if you use the Delete
command above rather than this Permanent Delete command and have Undelete
enabled (type HELP UNDELETE at a command line for more information on enabling
Undelete).
View views objects through the configured viewer.
Edit edits objects with the configured editor.
Print prints text files. It'd be a good idea to have a printer to which to
print, and have configured it first, before trying to use this. If using the
standard WPS, be sure you have a printer object configured for the device
you've told FM/2 to use, or you may wind up with FM/2's printing thread blocked
for eternity awaiting access to a nonexistent or inaccessible device.
Actually, if using the standard WPS, it's recommended that you simply drag
files to the printer object and drop them instead of using this command.
Hide temporarily hides objects in the container. This is purely an appearance
and convenience thing; nothing happens to the file/directory represented by the
object.
Move and Copy move or copy objects. Drag and drop is recommended over using
the menu commands for moving and copying. When using the menu commands, the
Walk Drives dialog appears to allow you to select a target.
Play multimedia attempts to play the objects via MMPM/2 using FM2PLAY.EXE
(included with FM/2). Obviously, the objects must be multimedia objects (sound
files, movies, midi files, etc.) for this to have the desired effect, and
MMPM/2 must be installed in your system.
Shadow builds WPS shadow objects on your desktop (or other selected folder) for
selected object(s). You can also create Real Objects. Both these options are
in a submenu called Create Objects.
The Open submenu allows you to open an object's Settings notebook, open
directories as WPS Folders, or open a new FM/2 Directory Container window for
directories (the default for directories). Note that when WPS Folders are
opened, they come up in the background. This is an OS/2 bug, and IBM has been
notified.
Archive allows you to build an archive containing the selected object(s).
Extract allows you to extract files from selected archives.
Save to clipboard allows you to save selected objects to the clipboard as a
text list, one per line. This is a good way to transfer selections of files to
other programs; for instance, you might copy a list of files to the clipboard
and feed it to a terminal program to send the files over a modem or network.
Save to list file lets you save selected objects as a list to a text file.
Lists can include file sizes, subjects, etc.
Extended Attributes allows you to view an object's extended attributes (EAs)
and to edit and add text attributes.
Subject allows you to give an object a description. This makes use of the same
EA (.SUBJECT) that the WPS uses for object descriptions.
Information brings up a dialog telling you everything you ever wanted to know
about a file system object but were afraid to ask. If you select this from a
drive object (root directory) in the Drive Tree container, you get a "drive
information" dialog that lets you change the drive's label. Otherwise, you get
a comprehensive dialog that, besides showing you all the pertinent information
about the object, shows the object's icon. That icon is important. You can
get a context menu on it, and you can drag other objects onto it to change the
object's icon. If the object is an icon or pointer file (*.ICO or *.PTR) you
can use it to change a system pointer (for instance, you could change OS/2's
usual arrow pointer to a finger).
Quick Tree appears in Directory Containers. You can use this to quickly select
a subdirectory into which to switch the Directory Container.
Context menu commands affecting containers as a whole:
Icon switches the container to Icon view; the object's name appears below its
icon.
Name switches the container to Name view; the object's name appears beside its
icon.
Text switches the container to Text view. Text view is the fastest view for a
container to maintain, but provides the least information on the objects it
contains.
Details switches the container to Details view. Details view shows a great
deal of information on the objects it contains, including file sizes, dates,
and times, but it is the slowest view for a container to maintain.
Mini Icons is a toggle controlling whether icons are shown full size or in
miniature in views that show icons.
The Details Setup submenu allows you to control what is shown in a Details
view. Each possible field in the details view for the drive type is shown. If
the field is checked, FM/2 will show it. If not, it won't. Set the current
view to Details view and you can see the changes as they occur.
Rescan rescans the directory associated with a container, or the drive from the
current object down in a tree container. FM/2 tries very hard to keep all its
windows up to date, but things outside FM/2 can cause changes that FM/2 cannot
know about automatically. This command will ensure that your display is
current.
The Sort submenu allows you to control how objects are sorted based on several
criteria. You can also tell FM/2 to always display directories ahead of or
behind files. Note that Last access date and Creation date are only meaningful
for HPFS file systems; FAT file systems do not track this information. The
difference between Pathname and Filename is only apparent in the Collector.
With the former, the entire pathname of the object is used to sort. With the
latter, only the filename portion is used to sort. FM/2 maintains separate
sort criteria for Drive Tree, Collector, Directory Container and Archive
Container windows.
Resort resorts items in a container. If you have more than one Directory or
Archive Container window open, selecting a new sort type only causes the
container in which you requested the context menu to resort itself (although
the change will affect all future rescans, resorts and insertions in that type
of container). This command lets you resort a container so that the new sort
type is reflected in the display.
Filter leads to a dialog that lets you set filemasks and attributes for objects
to include in the container's display.
Parent moves directory containers to the previous (parent) directory.
Previous Directory returns the container to the last directory. This is sort of
like a one-step "undo." When you close FM/2, its containers remember what
directory they were in and it becomes the "previous" directory.
Walk Directories leads to a dialog that lets you walk through your directory
structures, or recall user-defined directories.
The Select submenu gives you many ways to highlight objects in a container.
This lets you quickly build sophisticated selection sets of objects upon which
you can perform tasks.
Context menu commands specific to the Drive Tree container:
Check Disk runs PMCHKDSK.EXE on the selected drive. This tests the drive and
can correct some deficiencies. This is available only in context menus
requested on drives (root directories).
Format Disk runs PMFORMAT.EXE on the selected drive. Formatting a disk will
destroy any information already on the disk. This is available only in context
menus requested on drives (root directories).
Expand expands the tree from the point where the context menu was requested to
the bottom of the branch.
Collapse collapses the tree from the point where the context menu was requested
to the bottom of the branch.
Make Directory allows you to create new directories. The name of the directory
where you requested the context menu is filled in as a starting point for
convenience. Directories may be created many levels deep in one pass.
Sizes brings up a dialog showing how many bytes are in the selected directory
and its subdirectories.
Eject ejects removable media from drives (for instance, opens the door of a CD
ROM drive).
Partitions calls up FDISKPM.EXE to allow you to modify the partitions on your
hard drives. Extreme caution should be exercised; read the help!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.1. Save list to file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This command allows you to save the list of selected files to a disk file (or
to a printer; enter PRN for the file name to which to save the list).
The Save as entry field contains the name of the file to which the list will be
saved. The Find button calls up a standard OS/2 open dialog to let you point
and click at a file. If the file exists, it will be appended.
The listbox below this contains patterns you've saved in the past (use the Add
button to add the current pattern (the one in the entry field), and the Del
button to remove the currently highlighted pattern from the listbox). You can
select one of the patterns in the listbox to avoid retyping it (as you
highlight a pattern in the listbox it'll appear in the entry field). The
patterns are saved in a file named PATTERNS.DAT, one per line.
The Pattern entry field contains a pattern that will be used to format the
list. Metastrings may be used to cause parts of a file description to be
written where desired (see below). Also note that the pattern is run through a
more-or-less standard C string interpreter, so that \x1b would be interpreted
as an ESCAPE character, \r\n as a carriage return and linefeed "newline," and
\\ is required to get a single '\' character.
When everything's set as you want it, click Okay to save the list. Click
Cancel if you change your mind.
Metastrings and their meanings:
%s = subject (description)
%S = subject padded to 40 chars
%z = file size
%Z = file size padded to 13 chars
%e = EA size
%E = EA size padded to 5 chars
%d = last write date
%t = last write time
%l = longname
%L = longname padded to 40 chars
%f = filename (no path)
%F = filename (no path) padded to 13 chars
%p = full pathname
%P = directory only (no file)
%$ = drive letter
%% = percent sign
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.2. Renaming ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
When you rename a file sytem object other than by Direct Editing, or a naming
conflict arises, you get the Rename dialog.
The dialog displays the Source filename and proposed Target filename, along
with information about both objects. Below these two fields is a recessed box
that attempts to give you directions on what to do (usually to change the
target filename -- when renaming, the target name is initially the same as the
source name).
After entering the new target name, click Okay. If the new target name exists,
the display will be updated to reflect the new information. You can, at that
point, enter a new name to avoid the conflict or click Overwrite (which will
destroy the old target file, keeping in mind that you can't overwrite a file
with itself). Skip can be used to skip one file when you are renaming several
in one action; nothing will be done for that file. Click Cancel if you change
your mind and want to abort the whole thing.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.3. Filter container ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to filter what's shown in a container. A filemask or
filemasks can be used to filter, and so can file attributes (except for archive
listings where attributes are not applicable). In addition, you can set
attributes that _must_ be present on the objects to be shown (for instance, if
you check Hidden in the "Must-have Attribs" group, only objects with their
hidden attribute set will show up).
As you enter filemasks they're saved for later redisplay in this dialog's
listbox. If a filemask desired is in the listbox you can use it by selecting
it (double-clicking it).
Multiple filemasks can be used by separating the masks with semi-colons.
"No filemask" can be quickly entered by just clicking the Okay button, or "*"
can be used.
Wildcard matching is not case-sensitive.
If a filename does not have a period, an implicit one is automatically appended
to the end during matching operations.
Some characters have the following special meaning:
? A question mark matches one character, unless what it would match is a
period, slash or backslash, in which case it matches no characters.
* An asterisk matches characters from the source to the target until it finds
a filename character that matches the non-wild character following it in the
filemask, or a period, slash, backslash or the end of the filename and/or
filemask.
Therefore, "*.f?o" matches "anything.foo" but not "anything.foe".
Up to 24 masks may be "cascaded" by separation with semicolons. When specifying
multiple filemasks, you can use '/' as the first character of a mask to mean
_don't_ match this filespec. Exclusions should usually be listed before
inclusions to attain the desired effect.
Filemask examples:
/*.obj;/*.res;* (Show all but *.obj and *.res files)
*.c;*.h (Show only C source and header files)
*.ico (Show only icon files)
* (Show everything)
A reminder: CD-ROM files are marked ReadOnly and will not appear in your
containers unless you have the ReadOnly attribute on (checked). If you copy
these files to your hard drive the ReadOnly attribute goes with them; use the
menu command Attribs to reset it.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.4. Drive Info ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 will show you information about the drive from which you chose the Info
command in a context menu.
For writeable drives, you can change the drive's label here by changing the
text in the entry field and clicking Okay.
The dialog box shows you the type of file system, volume label, total and
available sizes of the drive (megabytes, kilobytes and units), tells you how
the drive's resources are parceled into units, gives the drive's serial number
and some flags. These flags indicate special properties about the drive, like
Removable (the drive allows its media to be removed and changed) or Not
Writeable (the drive does not allow changes to be written to it).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.5. Object Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This comprehensive dialog tells you just about everything there is to know
about a file system object.
Note particularly the object's icon. That icon is important. You can get a
context menu on it, and you can drag other objects onto it to change the
object's icon. If the object is an icon or pointer file (*.ICO or *.PTR) you
can use it to change a system pointer (for instance, you could change OS/2's
usual arrow pointer to a finger). Request a context menu on the icon (click B2
while the mouse pointer is on the icon).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.6. Attributes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to set the attributes and (optionally) date and time of
all objects in a selected group from one popup dialog. The dialog presents you
with spinboxes to change the date and time (defaults to current time and date)
and checkboxes to set the attributes (ReadOnly, System, Hidden and Archived).
You can also modify the selected list of objects by pushing the Select button.
If you only want to change the objects' attributes and not their date and time,
uncheck the Use Date/Time checkbox.
The initial state of the checkboxes and date/time spinbuttons has no
relationship to the actual state of the objects being manipulated. This command
affects all selected objects at once.
The attribute checkboxes are "3-state" checkboxes. This type of checkbox can
have three different meanings: reset attribute (cleared box), set attribute
(checked box), or ignore attribute (greyed box, "indeterminate state," meaning
leave this attribute unchanged).
Note that checking the Use Date/Time checkbox and leaving the attribute
checkboxes greyed results in a "touch" of the file system objects, bringing
selected for the command (making the objects' dates the current date).
Click Okay when done, or Cancel to abort.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.7. Shadow ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 has the ability to create shadows of objects on your WPS desktop (or in
other WPS folders). To create shadows, select objects in an FM/2 window, then
select Shadow from a context menu or the Files pulldown submenu (Create Objects
submenu).
If only one shadow is being created, the shadow is placed directly into the
folder you specify. If more than one shadow is being created, FM/2 first
prompts you for the name of a folder. This folder is then created on the
desktop and the shadows are placed inside that folder. You can move the shadows
or folder elsewhere after that.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.8. Real Objects ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 has the ability to create objects on your WPS desktop (or in other WPS
folders). To create objects, select objects in an FM/2 window, then select
Real Objects from a context menu or the Files pulldown submenu (Create Objects
submenu).
If only one object is being created, the object is placed directly into the
folder you specify. If more than one object is being created, FM/2 first
prompts you for the name of a folder. This folder is then created on the
desktop and the objects are placed inside that folder. You can move the objects
or folder elsewhere after that.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.9. Compare Directories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Compare Directories dialog shows you a comparison breakdown of two
directories. You can highlight files here and Collect them for later
processing.
The dialog presents two containers side-by-side. Vertical scrolling of the
containers is synched so that scrolling one scrolls both. The files are listed
so that they are in alphabetical order, with gaps in the containers where a
file exists in one but not the other. This provides easy, at-a-glance
comparison of the directories' contents.
Several selection/deselection techniques are available via the first row of
pushbuttons to enable you to select files based on their comparison. The
pushbuttons operate on both containers. You can also select and deselect files
in the containers manually with the mouse and/or keyboard. Hint: mouse
selection works slightly differently when you hold down the CTRL key while
clicking.
It is possible to change the directory of a container by direct editing of the
container title, and to drag files from the containers.
This dialog is reached by link-dropping a directory object onto another
directory object.
Suggestions:
Position the dialog so that FM/2's toolbox is showing. Drag files to the
toolbox to edit, delete, etc.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.10. Extract from archives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To extract from an archive, select the archive(s), then select Extract from a
context menu.
FM/2 presents you with a dialog that allows you to select the method of
extraction, add masks for files to extract, tweak the command line for exotic
settings, and select the extraction directory (the directory to which the
files will be extracted.
Click Okay to begin extracting from the archive, or Cancel if you change your
mind.
You can also extract files from the archive in the Archive Container window
using that window's menus; double-click an archive file in an FM/2 main window
to view the archive listing.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.11. Build an archive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To build an archive, select some files, then select Archive from a context
menu. You can add files to an existing archive by link-dragging them onto the
archive object, or dragging them onto an Archive Container window.
FM/2 will ask you for the type of the archive by presenting you with a
listbox from which to pick an archiver. After that, another dialog appears to
let you modify how the archive will be created. Additional masks may be
entered, the archiver command line tweaked, and so forth. Click Okay to create
the archive, or Cancel if you change your mind.
Note that the archive name may be an existing archive, in which case it's
modified by adding the new files. If some of the files are already in the
archive, they're replaced.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.12. Extended Attributes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to view and edit text Extended Attributes (EAs) for an
object. Binary EAs may be viewed but not edited.
There are three types of EAs that FM/2 can view and edit (the only three types
that have meaning to humans):
ASCII EAs are shown in an entry field.
Multi-value single-type EAs are shown in an MLE control if the type is text.
Each line represents one 'record' of the EA.
Multi-value mult-type EAs are also shown in an MLE control if all types are
text. Each line represents one 'record' of the EA.
In general, if you don't know the purpose of an EA you shouldn't change it. In
particular, EA names beginning with a period (i.e. .TYPE), as these EAs are
used by the WPS. An exception is the .SUBJECT EA, for which FM/2 provides a
special context menu item. This EA is used to store a simple text description
of an object. FM/2's details views can show this description and allow you to
direct-edit it.
To view a particular EA, select it in the listbox at the top of the dialog. The
EA type will be shown on a text field toward the bottom of the dialog, and if
it's a human-editable type the appropriate control will appear to display it;
otherwise, a hex dump is shown in a listbox. If you edit the EA, a Change
button can be clicked to save your changes. You can delete EAs, but do so with
extreme caution and at your own risk. Otherwise, click Okay when done. Clicking
Cancel will abort any further dialogs that might be pending from a single
context menu command.
See EAUTIL in OS/2's Command Reference for more information on EAs and how to
manipulate them. Note that this dialog is not meant to be a full-featured
super-powerful EA editor. You can use Config->Edit Commands to add such an
external EA editor to a list of commands that you can run on selected files, if
desired.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.12.1. Adding an Extended Attribute ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To add an extended attribute (EA), enter its name in the top entry field, then
select a type for it from the radio buttons. Click Okay to create it, Cancel
to abort.
OS/2 defines several Standard Extended Attributes (SEAs):
.ASSOCTABLE is a multi-value multi-type (MVMT) EA. FM/2 will not create one of
these.
.CLASSINFO is a binary attribute. FM/2 will not create one of these.
.ICON is an icon attribute. FM/2 will not create one of these.
.CODEPAGE is an attribute (don't know the type). FM/2 won't make one.
.TYPE is an MVMT attribute (see a file object's Type Settings page).
.SUBJECT is an ASCII attribute (see a file object's File page). This describes
the object. FM/2 makes use of these for you.
.COMMENTS is an MVMT attribute (see a file object's third File page).
.KEYPHRASES is an MVMT attribute (see a file object's third File page). OS/2
documentation incorrectly describes this as an MVST, but the WPS objects create
MVMTs.
.HISTORY is an MVMT attribute (see a file object's third File page).
.LONGNAME is an ASCII attribute that give the full name of a file when stored
on a file system that doesn't support long filenames (like FAT).
.VERSION is an ASCII attribute that gives some sort of version information.
When creating attributes of your own, you should _not_ begin them with a
period. Try using a convention like "JOES.ATTRIBUTE" (yourname.attribtag) to
make sure it doesn't conflict with the WPS or any apps you may run.
.SUBJECT, .COMMENTS and .KEYPHRASES can be modified, deleted and added by the
user without problem. The other standard EAs are the domain of apps and the
WPS and should be left alone.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.13. Total size of directories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog's container contains a breakdown of disk usage for a directory and
its subdirectories. The container is reached by selecting Totals from a tree
directory's context menu.
The container displays a tree view of a directory and all its subdirectories.
Expand and Collapse buttons allow you to quickly open and close branches of the
tree. After the container has completely filled, each record displays the
object's name and two numbers in parentheses, as in:
D:\ADIR (4096k / 32768k)
The first number indicates the total number of kilobytes occupied by the
directory and any files and subdirectories it contains. The second number
indicates the total number of kilobytes occupied by all subdirectories and
their files and subdirectories.
It is possible for either number to be larger than the other, and possible for
both to be 0.
The totals reflect the size of files and extended attributes. Due to minimum
allocation units on the disk, more space may be physically allocated than is
accounted for in the totals. The text field just above the pushbuttons gives
you stats that _do_ take allocation units into account. Also be aware that
directories containing more than 0 bytes but less than 1024 bytes will be
displayed as containing 1k (1 kilobyte, equal to 1024 bytes) so that you know
that a 0k figure denotes a truly empty directory.
This is a quick way to see where most of your disk space has gone.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.14. System Pointer Manipulation ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog is reached from the context menu of the icon in a file system
object Information dialog.
Set the radio button of the system pointer you want to change. Then click
Okay. Click Cancel to abort if you change your mind.
Changes to system pointers are persistent (they stick around even when FM/2 is
no longer running).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.15. Object Container ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog allows you to select a new folder (directory) to hold objects that
FM/2 creates. By default it is <WP_DESKTOP>. FM/2 tries to find the directory
being used as the desktop folder first in the OS/2 system INI, and if that
fails, uses the directory \DESKTOP on your boot drive as the "desktop window
object" directory -- this is the OS/2 2.1+ default. I suppose future versions
of OS/2 could break this and make an update necessary, but IBM seems to think
(though won't guarantee) it should always work.
A button labelled Desktop allows you to restore the default <WP_DESKTOP>
setting. This will work whether the above fails or not.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9.16. Quick Tree ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The Quick Tree dialog displays a container showing all the subdirectories of
the directory currently displayed by a Directory Container window (or one of
its subdirectories, depending on how you picked the command).
If you select one of these subdirectories, the Directory Container window will
switch to look into that directory. You can click Cancel if you change your
mind.
This might be useful when you want to move to the bottom of a long subdirectory
chain in one step.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Folder Button ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Folder buttons appear on directory and archive containers at the top center of
the window (below the title bar). They provide several shortcuts for their
containers.
Behavior for each type of container is as follows:
Directory containers:
B1:
Go to parent directory
B1+CTRL or B2:
Go to previous directory
B1+SHIFT:
Walk directories
B1+ALT:
Child window dialog
B3 or Chord:
Rescan directory
B2+CTRL
Quick Tree
Archive containers:
B1 or B2:
Walk directories
B1+ALT:
Child window dialog
B3 or Chord:
Rescan archive
You can also drag a file or directory object onto the folder button. In
directory containers, the directory "switches" to "look at" the directory of
the dropped object. In archive containers, the extract directory changes to
that of the directory of the dropped object.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Archive Container ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Archive Container windows presents you with a list of an archive's contents.
The menus available here present you with commands which you can perform on
selected files and the archive as a whole, as well as the usual configuration
of the window's appearance. You get here by double- clicking an archive file
in an FM/2 Directory Container window.
Archive Container windows have their own sorting method, accessible via a
context menu requested over whitespace (the Views menu).
Besides the container showing the archive contents and a couple of
informational fields above that, there's an entry field at the bottom of the
window that shows the current extract directory. This is the directory in
which any extracted files will be placed. (Extraction refers to copying files
from the archive onto your disk as normal files.) To change the extract
directory, enter a new directory into the entry field (if it doesn't already
exist you'll get an option to create it), drag a directory onto the entry
field, or click the folder button with B1.
You can drag files onto the Archive Container's listing to add them to the
archive, and you can drag files from the archive to an FM/2 directory window.
OS/2's drag and drop "rendering" mechanism would make this painfully slow for
any other application's window, as each file is processed individually (imagine
extracting each file in an archive by typing a separate command line for each
to get an idea how slow it would be). The menu extract items allow optimizing
extraction so that only one "pass" needs to be done (note that Files->Extract
must also deal with the OS/2 command line length restriction of 1024 bytes, so
if you want to extract all the files in a large archive, Files->Extract All is
a superior choice), and the internal drag to an FM/2 Directory Container window
... well, cheats, to get around it.
You can get a popup menu in the container by pressing B2.
Following is a discussion of the pull-down menus:
Files Menu
View causes FM/2 to extract the file(s) to a temporary directory and display
it/them. If, for some reason, the files don't appear when you attempt to view
them, try Testing the archive.
Extract causes FM/2 to extract the selected file(s) to the extract directory.
Extract w/ Dirs causes FM/2 to extract the selected file(s) to the extract
directory in such a way that, if directories have been included with the
filenames, the directories are recreated.
Delete causes FM/2 to delete the selected file(s) from the archive.
Exec causes FM/2 to extract all selected files to a temporary directory and
then runs the cursored file. If you pick this from a popup menu, that would be
the file under the mouse pointer when you requested the popup. This allows you
to select DLLs, help files, data files, etc. required to get the application to
run correctly as well as the executable file.
Print causes FM/2 to extract and print selected files. This uses the FM/2
printing method, not the OS/2 printer objects (see Config->Printer in an FM/2
main window's pulldown menu).
Find causes FM/2 to scan the extract directory for any files matching the names
of the selected files within the archive and Collect them if found.
Virus Scan causes FM/2 to extract the selected files and then run the
configured virus checker. See the Program Setup menu option.
Extract All extracts all files from the archive to the extract directory.
Extract All & Exit does the same thing but closes the archive listing window
after starting the extraction.
Extract All w/ Dirs does the same thing including any enclosed directories
(i.e. files are extracted into the directories they were archived "with," if
any, rather than all going into the extract directory). Extract All w/ Dirs &
Exit does the same thing but closes the archive listing window after starting
the extraction. (Note that if all you want to do to an archive is extract from
it, you can do so without ever opening a contents box; just pull up a context
menu on the archive in an FM/2 main window and select Extract. This is the
fastest and most efficient method of extracting files from an archive.)
Test tests the archive's integrity.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.1. Editing Archiver Details ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog box allows you to edit the details of an archiver. Entry boxes are
present for all the twenty one fields represented in ARCHIVER.BB2 (the text
file that contains control information about your archivers which FM/2 uses to
interface with the archivers).
NOTE: The simplest method to ensure that your archivers work properly with
FM/2 is to make sure they're in a directory named in your PATH= statement, and
check the names of the files to make sure they match what's on your system
(i.e. UNZIP.EXE in both ARCHIVER.BB2 and on your hard disk, not UNZIP.EXE in
one and UNZIP32.EXE in another). Also note that I don't support DOS archivers,
period.
In the event that you attempt to list an archive and FM/2 feels you've probably
bungled the entry in ARCHIVER.BB2, you'll be given an opportunity to use this
dialog to fix the entry. In this case, you'll see the listbox at the right of
the dialog filled with the listing of the archive that your archiver made. You
can highlight a line and click the << button next to the Start List or End List
fields to move the line to that entry field (these are the most common
mistakes, and FM/2 cannot find any files if the Start List string is wrong).
You can double-click on a listbox line to have FM/2 "parse" it into the Fld#
text boxes for you, to make it easier to judge field positions for sizes,
dates, and filenames. The filename field in particular is extremely important.
If it's too high, FM/2 finds no files. If it's "in range" but wrong, FM/2 gets
the wrong fields for filenames.
You may still need to refer to your archiver's documentation, or run it to get
the help on its command syntax. FM/2 can't do everything for you, but it holds
your hand as best it can.
Refer to the ARCHIVER.BB2 file that came with FM/2 for additional information
and an example.
When you've completed editing the archiver's details, click Okay. FM/2 will
ask you if you want to rewrite ARCHIVER.BB2 (be sure you save the original copy
for its complete notes; FM/2 will back it up one version to ARCHIVER.BAK). If
you don't rewrite ARCHIVER.BB2, changes are good only for the current session
(handy for testing).
You can also get to this dialog box from Select Files' Config submenu.
See also:
Archiver Details Fields
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11.1.1. Archiver Details Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
ID This field contains an ID for the archiver; something for human
consumption. It's a good idea to include the version number of the archiver
for reference. An example might be "LHArc 2.11".
Add This field should contain the command that creates and adds files to an
archive. An example might be "PKZIP.EXE -a" (NOTE: This example assumes the
file is on your PATH (see PATH= in CONFIG.SYS). If it's not, you'd need to give
a full pathname, like "C:\UTILS\PKZIP.EXE -a".) Note that commands should
include the extension so that FM/2 can check them without guessing. Above this
field is a button labeled "See." If clicked, the program named in this field
will be run (you'll be given the opportunity to add arguments to the command
line) in another window. This lets you check command syntax and archiver
version, as well as assuring that FM/2 can find your archiver executables.
Move This field should contain the command that moves files to the archive
(adds then deletes the file). An example might be "ARC.EXE mwn".
Extension This field contains the extension normally associated with files
created by this archiver. An example might be "ZOO" for files created by the
Zoo archiver.
Extract This field contains the command that extracts files from the archive.
This command should not delete the files from the archive when it extracts
them, and *must* be present for FM/2 to show you a member of the archive
(commands other than Extract and List may be left blank if necessary). An
example might be "PKUNZIP.EXE -o". Note the "-o" option given; this tells
PKUNZIP to automatically overwrite any existing files (FM/2 will check to see
if any of the files exist and warn you if so). It's important to always
include your archiver's "don't stop for user input" option; some things occur
as detached processes and you can't interact with them; the program would be
hung, which is uncool. Above this field is a button labeled "See." If clicked,
the program named in this field will be run (you'll be given the opportunity to
add arguments to the command line) in another window. This lets you check
command syntax and archiver version. Note: It may be necessary, in the case of
broken archivers like some UNZIPs, to make this the same as the following
"Extract w/Dirs" field to get viewing of archive members to work. This is
because some archivers will not extract a file that is stored with paths
without the path when you ask it to do so.
Extract w/Dirs This field contains the command that extracts files from the
archive and places them into directories embedded in the archive. An example
might be "LH.EXE x /o /s".
Signature This field contains the signature for the archive type. There is
usually a byte or few in a particular place in any archive that indicates that
it is, indeed, an archive of that type. FM/2 uses these signatures to "sniff
out" which archiver is used to manipulate the archive. Since these signatures
sometimes contain characters which are "unprintable," you can use \x<hexnum> to
represent any "strange" characters. A side effect of this is that two
backslashes are required to represent a single backslash ("\\" == "\").
To determine what an archiver's signature is, either ask the archiver's author
or check several different archives of the type for one or more bytes present
in each at the same location, usually near the beginning of the file.
This field must be entered and valid for FM/2 to detect this type of archive
(see also Sig(nature) Pos(ition)).
List This field contains the command to list the archive's contents. This
command *must* be present and correct for FM/2 to work properly with this type
of archive. An example might be "ZOO.EXE v".
Test This field contains the command to test the archive's integrity. An
example might be "PKUNZIP.EXE -t".
Add with paths This field contains the command to add files to the archiver
with their paths (i.e. \FM3\FM3.EXE instead of just FM3.EXE). This can be
omitted if the archiver doesn't support the command. An example might be
"ZIP.EXE" (Zip defaults to adding paths).
Move with paths As above, but moves the files instead of just adding them. An
example might be "PKZIP -m -P".
Add and recurse Adds files to the archive, with paths, and recurses into
subdirectories. An example might be "LH a /s".
Delete This field contains the command to delete files from the archive. An
example might be "LH.EXE /o /d".
Sig(nature) Pos(ition) This field contains a number indicating how many bytes
into the file the signature is located. If this number is negative, FM/2 looks
from the end of the file instead of the beginning.
F(ile)Name Pos(ition) This field tells FM/2 which field on the line of an
archive listing is the filename. Fields are numbered from 0. This field must
be present and correct for FM/2 to get the right filenames from the archive
listing.
To understand what "field on the line of an archive listing" means, think of a
text line as being broken up into tokens, or words, separated by spaces. These
tokens, or words, are fields. Therefore,
I like Ike.
contains three fields. Field 0 is "I", field 1 is "like", and field 3 is
"Ike."
OldS(i)z(e) Pos(ition) This field tells FM/2 which field on the line of an
archive listing is the old (uncompressed) size of the file. If this isn't
available or you don't care about it, you can enter a -1 to disable detection
of this field entirely.
NewS(i)z(e) Pos(ition) This field tells FM/2 which field on the line of an
archive listing is the new (compressed) size of the file. If this isn't
available or you don't care about it, you can enter a -1 to disable detection
of this field entirely.
Date Pos(ition) This field tells FM/2 which field on the line of an archive
listing is where the time/datestring is. If this isn't available or you don't
care about it, you can enter a -1 to disable detection of this field entirely.
NumDateF(ie)lds This field tells FM/2 how many fields comprise the
time/datestring.
Here's an example of an ARC listing (5.12mpl, command "ARC l"; you may need to
widen the help windows for this to look right...):
Name Length Date
============ ======== ========= <--this line is start-of-list
MAKEFILE 374 28 Nov 89
QSORT.C 14279 29 Nov 89
QSORT.EXE 24629 29 Nov 89
STUFF.H 371 29 Nov 89
==== ======== <--this line is end-of-list
Total 4 39653
Note the filename is in position 0, old length in position 1, and the date
starts in position 2, with 3 parts, and there's no new length field (so it'd be
-1). Compare that to the archiver entry for ARC 5.12mpl in the "stock"
ARCHIVER.BB2 and you should get a feel for what all those fields mean.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Editing Commandline ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Enter any optional arguments to the program here as you would on the command
line. Remember that, when passing commands to a command processor such as
CMD.EXE, like DIR, it's CMD.EXE /C DIR, not just CMD.EXE DIR.
Full Screen, Maximized, Minimized, Invisible, Default: control how the program
will be run. Default is usually in a window with OS/2 controlling the size of
the initial window. Note that PM programs will always run on the desktop in a
window and programs marked full screen only will always run in a full screen
session. This corresponds to START /FS, /MAX, /MIN, /I or just START.
Keep when done: determines whether the window will remain until you close it,
or go away when the command completes. It's like START /K. For reasons of
safety (too complex to explain briefly) you aren't allowed to Keep a DOS
session; this flag is ignored for DOS executables.
The Environment MLE control lets you enter environment strings for the program
to inherit. Generally speaking, this is only for running DOS programs as any
strings entered here are interpreted as DOS settings. For example,
IDLE_SECONDS=5 would adjust the DOS setting IDLE_SECONDS to 5. Names of DOS
settings are as shown in the Settings notebook for a DOS program.
See also (in the online Command Reference CMDREF.INF):
CMD.EXE
START command
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Walk Drives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This dialog lets you pick a directory by "walking" through the directory
structure of your drives. It also lets you save and recall user-defined
directories.
On the left is a listbox containing all your drive letters. If you select a
drive, the directories on that drive fill the center listbox.
If you double-click one of these directories, any subdirectories of that
directory are displayed, as well as a special directory named ".." which is
actually the previous (parent) directory. In this manner you can walk to any
directory on any drive.
The listbox on the right of the window (User List) contains only directories
that you add to it. To add a directory, click Add when the desired directory
name is displayed in the entry field at the bottom of the window. To delete a
directory, highlight it and click Delete. To switch to one of these
user-defined directories, highlight it and click Okay or double-click the
directory. You can add up to 50 directories.
When the desired directory is displayed in the bottom entry field of the
dialog, click Okay to exit. Click Cancel to exit without selecting a
directory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Checking Lists ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
On occasion you may be asked to check a list of objects. You'll be presented
with a list of highlighted objects in a listbox. To remove an object from the
list, unhighlight it (hint: hold down the CTRL key while clicking to
unhighlight a single item). When you've got the list the way you want it,
click Okay. Click Cancel to abort the action.
Since this dialog may appear for more than one reason, additional information
is provided in a multline text field below the listbox.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Internal Viewer/Editor ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
The internal viewer/editor is an extremely simplistic MLE window. It is
strongly recommended that you replace it with a better one via the
Config->Program Setup dialog available at any main window.
The internal viewer/editor creates a window for each file being viewed/ edited.
The Windows->Dialog dialog can be used to quickly close several windows at once
or find a particular window and bring it to the front.
Note that when saving files the editor formats the file so that it appears as
it does in the MLE. The appearance of a file can be different in the MLE or in
the created disk file depending on various settings under Config->Format
Control, notably Wrap. Be sure you have these settings right for the way you
want the resultant file to look.
When the viewer/editor is in readonly mode (viewing), several menu items are
disabled to prevent you from changing the file by accident.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15.1. Codepages ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
FM/2 will allow you to change the codepage (character set) in use in the
internal viewer by selecting a codepage from the listbox. The codepage must be
one of those supported in your CONFIG.SYS (see CODEPAGE in the online OS/2
command reference).
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Hints ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To set the icon of a file or directory, pick Files->Info, then drag an icon
file onto the icon in the Information dialog and drop it. (Alternatively, check
the "Link sets icon" toggle and link-drag icon files (or files with .ICON EAs)
onto the object you want to change.) To change a system pointer, pick
Files->Info to get the Information dialog for the file containing the new
pointer, then request a context menu on the icon in the Information dialog.
To open a new directory container, try Files->Open on any directory object (^o
accelerator), or check the "Double click opens" toggle and double-click a
directory object in the tree.
To set the label of a drive, pick Files->Info on the root of the drive in the
Drive Tree container (you'll find Format and Chkdsk in that menu, too).
Remember, when using the internal editor (but don't, use your favorite editor
instead), FM/2 saves the file as it appears in the MLE. If you don't want long
lines wrapped (such as when editting CONFIG.SYS), turn wrap OFF before saving.
If you want to change the fonts used in the Walk Directories dialog, drop a new
font from the Font Palette onto a blank area of the dialog (not a control).
The new font will be used in the directory listboxes and path entry field the
next time you use the dialog.
If you want to use FM/2 fast, I mean really fast, the best way to do it is to
learn the accelerator keys and drag and drop, then keep one hand on the mouse
and one on the keyboard.
If you'd like FM/2 2.x to look like 1.x, you can get close. From a virgin
installation, open FM/2 and then open two Directoy Container windows
(Open->FM/2 Window from a context menu on a directory object in the Drive Tree
window). Open the Settings notebook (Config->Settings) and check the "Save dir
window state" toggle on the "Windows" page. Adjust Drive Tree height and width
as desired. Close FM/2. The next time you open FM/2, it'll have the Drive
Tree and two open Directory Containers set to the same directories they were
when you left it, similar to FM/2 1.x in Split view. When you double-click on
a directory object in the Drive Tree, the last Directory Container you used
will switch to that directory.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
To register FM/2 (required after an initial 30 day evaluation period), send
$40.00 US for a personal registration, $80.00 US for a commercial registration
to:
M. Kimes
542 Merrick
Shreveport, LA 71104 USA
(BBS Number: (318)222-3455)
(Fidonet address: Fidonet#1:380/16.0)
(Compuserve: 74601,1327 or GO OS2SHARE for FM/2 support)
There's a REGISTER.TXT file in the distribution archive to help you make sure
you provide the right information to get your personalized registration as you
like it. Registration involves a registration number generated from the
information you provide and a few other variables you'll receive along with it.
You can then use the online registration dialog to register your copy of FM/2.
Registration entitles you to free upgrades for at least one year from the time
your FM/2 registration number was mailed. If you order the optional diskette
package ($10.00 more), you also get a copy of the newest verison of FM/2 and a
registration program you can run to avoid having to fill in the online
registration dialog (this registration is retained even if you accidentally
delete FM3.INI!). However, I do not recommend that overseas users order the
new disk, as the postal service seems to quickly lose anything that's not in a
standard sized envelope if it crosses a large body of water -- perhaps it makes
the planes too heavy (grumble).
Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery via Snail Mail if you order the diskette; serial
numbers can be sent almost immediately if you include a Compuserve address.
Feel free to use the unregistered version while you wait, without guilt.
FM/2 may also be registered on CIS (go SWREG). It's database number is 2859.
Note that only personal registrations may be obtained from CIS.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17.1. Online Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If your copy of FM/2 is unregistered, the main window has a Register command.
Selecting this command leads to a dialog that allows you to apply the
information that you sent in when registering FM/2.
In the mail you received a registration number, date and version number. Insert
these into the appropriate fields (Reg. Number:, Date: and Version:
respectively). The Name: and Address: fields are identical to those you mailed
in with your check when registering; fill them in exactly as you did when
registering.
The Nodes: field is how many copies you registered; normally this would be one
(commercial users who ordered multiple registrations may be able to fill in
more than one for this to allow more than one copy to run concurrently). If
you ordered a commercial registration, check the Commercial checkbox.
Finally, press the [Enter] key or click Okay. If you filled in the fields
appropriately, FM/2 tells you that you are now registered and the Register
command vanishes from the main menu. Check the About box under the Help menu.
And thanks for registering FM/2!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. OS/2 error list ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Following are a list of errors you might occassionally see from OS/2, and what
they mean:
2 ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND
File not found.
3 ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND
Path not found.
4 ERROR_TOO_MANY_OPEN_FILES
Too many open files
(no handles left).
5 ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED
Access denied.
6 ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE
Invalid handle.
11 ERROR_BAD_FORMAT
Invalid format.
15 ERROR_INVALID_DRIVE
Invalid drive specified.
16 ERROR_CURRENT_DIRECTORY
Attempting to remove
current directory.
18 ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES
No more files.
19 ERROR_WRITE_PROTECT
Attempt to write on
write-protected diskette.
20 ERROR_BAD_UNIT
Unknown unit.
21 ERROR_NOT_READY
Drive not ready.
23 ERROR_CRC
Data error (CRC).
25 ERROR_SEEK
Seek error.
26 ERROR_NOT_DOS_DISK
Unknown media type.
27 ERROR_SECTOR_NOT_FOUND
Sector not found.
28 ERROR_OUT_OF_PAPER
Printer out of paper.
29 ERROR_WRITE_FAULT
Write fault.
30 ERROR_READ_FAULT
Read fault.
31 ERROR_GEN_FAILURE
General failure.
32 ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION
Sharing violation.
33 ERROR_LOCK_VIOLATION
Lock violation.
34 ERROR_WRONG_DISK
Invalid disk change.
35 ERROR_FCB_UNAVAILABLE
FCB unavailable.
36 ERROR_SHARING_BUFFER_EXCEEDED
Sharing buffer overflow.
50 ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED
Network request not supported.
65 ERROR_NETWORK_ACCESS_DENIED
Access denied.
80 ERROR_FILE_EXISTS
File exists.
82 ERROR_CANNOT_MAKE
Cannot make directory entry.
84 ERROR_OUT_OF_STRUCTURES
Too many redirections.
85 ERROR_ALREADY_ASSIGNED
Duplicate redirection.
88 ERROR_NET_WRITE_FAULT
Network device fault.
99 ERROR_DEVICE_IN_USE
Device in use.
107 ERROR_DISK_CHANGE
Insert drive B disk into
drive A.
108 ERROR_DRIVE_LOCKED
Drive locked by another
process.
110 ERROR_OPEN_FAILED
Open/create failed due
to explicit fail command.
112 ERROR_DISK_FULL
Not enough space on the disk.
113 ERROR_NO_MORE_SEARCH_HANDLES
Cannot allocate another
search structure and handle.
118 ERROR_INVALID_VERIFY_SWITCH
Invalid value passed for
verify flag.
123 ERROR_INVALID_NAME
Illegal character or bad
file-system name.
124 ERROR_INVALID_LEVEL
Non-implemented level for
information retrieval or setting.
125 ERROR_NO_VOLUME_LABEL
No volume label found with
DosQFsInfo command.
130 ERROR_DIRECT_ACCESS_HANDLE
Handle operation invalid for
direct disk-access handles.
131 ERROR_NEGATIVE_SEEK
Attempting seek to negative
offset.
132 ERROR_SEEK_ON_DEVICE
Application trying to seek
on device or pipe.
133 ERROR_IS_JOIN_TARGET
Drive has previously joined
drives.
134 ERROR_IS_JOINED
Drive is already joined.
135 ERROR_IS_SUBSTED
Drive is already substituted.
136 ERROR_NOT_JOINED
Cannot delete drive that is
not joined.
137 ERROR_NOT_SUBSTED
Cannot delete drive that is
not substituted.
138 ERROR_JOIN_TO_JOIN
Cannot join to a joined drive.
139 ERROR_SUBST_TO_SUBST
Cannot substitute to a
substituted drive.
140 ERROR_JOIN_TO_SUBST
Cannot join to a substituted
drive.
141 ERROR_SUBST_TO_JOIN
Cannot substitute to a joined
drive.
142 ERROR_BUSY_DRIVE
Specified drive is busy.
143 ERROR_SAME_DRIVE
Cannot join or substitute a
drive to a directory on the
same drive.
144 ERROR_DIR_NOT_ROOT
Directory must be a
subdirectory of the root.
145 ERROR_DIR_NOT_EMPTY
Directory must be empty
to use join command.
146 ERROR_IS_SUBST_PATH
Path specified is being
used in a substitute.
147 ERROR_IS_JOIN_PATH
Path specified is being
used in join.
148 ERROR_PATH_BUSY
Path specified is being
used by another process.
149 ERROR_IS_SUBST_TARGET
Cannot join or substitute drive
having directory that is target
of a previous substitute.
154 ERROR_LABEL_TOO_LONG
Volume label too big.
161 ERROR_BAD_PATHNAME
Bad path name passed to exec.
166 ERROR_UNC_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED
Default redir return code
167 ERROR_LOCK_FAILED
Locking failed.
168 ERROR_SWAPIO_FAILED
Swap IO failed.
169 ERROR_SWAPIN_FAILED
Swap in failed.
170 ERROR_BUSY
Busy.
192 ERROR_EXE_MARKED_INVALID
EXE marked invalid - link
detected errors when
application created.
193 ERROR_BAD_EXE_FORMAT
Bad EXE format - file is
DOS mode program or
improper program.
206 ERROR_FILENAME_EXCED_RANGE
File name or extension
greater than "8.3" characters.
211 ERROR_INFO_NOT_AVAIL
File system information not
available for this file.
212 ERROR_LOCKED
Locked error.
250 ERROR_CIRCULARITY_REQUESTED
Renaming a directory that
would cause a circularity
problem.
251 ERROR_DIRECTORY_IN_CDS
Renaming a directory that is
in use.
252 ERROR_INVALID_FSD_NAME
Trying to access nonexistent FSD.
253 ERROR_INVALID_PATH
Bad pseudo device.
254 ERROR_INVALID_EA_NAME
Bad character in name, or
bad cbName.
255 ERROR_EA_LIST_INCONSISTENT
List does not match its size,
or bad EAs in list.
256 ERROR_EA_LIST_TOO_LONG
FEAList > 64K-1 bytes.
259 ERROR_NO_MORE_ITEMS
DosQFSAttach ordinal query.
260 ERROR_SEARCH_STRUC_REUSED
DOS mode findfirst/next search
structure reused.
263 ERROR_INVALID_ATTR
Invalid attribute.
266 ERROR_CANNOT_COPY
Cannot copy.
267 ERROR_DIRECTORY
Used by DOSCOPY in doscall1.
268 ERROR_OPLOCKED_FILE
Oplocked file.
270 ERROR_VOLUME_CHANGED
Volume changed.
275 ERROR_EAS_DIDNT_FIT
EAS didnt fit.