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DF - Directory Freedom 4.00 (c) Copyright 1989, 1990 by Gordon Haff and Bit Masons Consulting. All rights reserved. Command: DF Syntax: DF [d:][source-path][file-mask] [d:][destpath]] [/O,N,E,D,or S][/F][/V] Prereqs: 100% IBM Compatible PC running DOS 2.0 or higher (DOS 3.0 or higher recommended and required for certain functions, e.g. directory creation) Purpose: DF provides a fast, compact alternative to both the DOS 'dir' command and large, unwieldy hard disk managers. DF displays all files in a directory in sorted order (name, date, size, or extension) and provides an easy way to copy, delete and rename marked files. The directory structure on the disk can be quickly traversed by simply selecting a directory name from the displayed list. A wide range of user-defined functions and SmartViewers enables DF to work with and augment existing customer software. DF is very simple to use. A menu of DF's basic functions is displayed next to the list of files; no need for the novice or infrequent user to refer to a manual or a complex set of help screens. There is on-line help, however, and it can be customized by the user! DF is also advanced. A wide range of functions such as directory creation, file date/time alteration, archive file creation, and directory printing are available on alternate menus which are displayed merely by pressing the Alt, Control, or Shift key. In addition to the many functions which are intrinsic to the program, a companion program, DFCONFIG allows users to add their favorite program's to DF's menus or file viewers. DFCONFIG also makes it easy to change operational features such as the default color. Archive Name: DF400 +---------+ +---------+ | (tm) --| |o |------------------ | +------+--+ | Association of | | |-+ Shareware +---| o | Professionals ------| | |-------------------- +----+----+ MEMBER Directory Freedom 4.0 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DISCLAIMER iv LICENSE iv GUARANTEE iv REGISTRATION v DISTRIBUTING Directory Freedom vi TECHNICAL SUPPORT vi 1.0 History and Program Philosophy 1 2.0 Installing Directory Freedom 2 2.1 Quick Installation 2 2.2 Detailed Installation Instructions 2 2.2 COMSPEC variable 3 3.0 Using Directory Freedom 4 3.1 About this Manual 4 3.2 Manual Conventions 4 3.3 Starting up Directory Freedom 5 3.4 Key by key Summary of Commands (by category) 6 Exiting DF 6 Marking files 6 Copying, Moving, and Deleting files 6 Changing the active source and destination directories 7 Re-sorting the working directory 7 DOS Shell functions 7 Directory functions 7 Miscellaneous additional ALT menu commands 7 View Commands 8 Attribute Commands 8 User-defined Commands 8 View Mode commands 8 3.5 File Marking 9 3.6 Mouse Support 9 4.0 Program Feature Information 9 4.1 Built-in Viewer 9 4.2 Shell functions and SmartViewers 10 User-defined functions 10 Viewers 10 Run a Program 11 DOS Shell 11 4.3 Attribute Functions 11 4.4 Ultravision Compatibility 12 4.5 DESQView Compatibility 12 4.6 Hints and Suggestions 12 5.0 Customization 13 5.1 DFCONFIG Command Line 13 5.2 DFCONFIG Usage Notes 14 5.3 DFCONFIG Main Menu 14 5.4 Commands Modification 15 Example 15 5.5 Attributes Modification 17 Color 17 Switch 17 Verify Default 18 Beep Default 18 Snow Check 19 Sort Option 19 Directory Freedom 4.0 iii Secondary Menu Key 19 Extended Keyboard 20 Startup Video Mode 20 Exclude Attributes 20 Printer Port 21 6.0 Supplementary Programs 21 6.1 Included Programs 21 ZipView 21 ND 21 6.2 Non-Included Programs 22 RF 22 PRUNE 22 FV or RV 22 SLED or TED or QEDIT or ... 22 LIST 22 7.0 Technical 23 8.0 Acknowledgements 23 9.0 Revision history 24 10.0 Appendix A: User-defined Commands 28 11.0 Appendix B: Patching Instructions 30 RN.COM 30 PRUNE.COM 30 12.0 Appendix C: Site Licenses 31 13.0 Appendix D: Keystrokes for Data-entry Screens 32 13.0 Index 33 Directory Freedom 4.0 iv DISCLAIMER The author hereby disclaims all warranties relating to this product, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author cannot and will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if the author or an authorized agent has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form and/or extent of the claim. The user of this program bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software. LICENSE Directory Freedom is a Shareware product. As such, it is made available to the general personal computing public for evaluation. Users are licensed to operate this program on their personal computers for the purpose of test and evaluation on a trial basis for a limited trial period. It is not possible to reasonably define the limits of a fair and equitable time period for evaluation; therefore it is left to the user's judgment and sense of fair play as to the time required to make a decision as to its usefulness. If the user decides the program is not of sufficient merit to warrant purchase through registration with the author, he/she should remove the program from his/her personal computer. Otherwise, if the program is deemed useful and is in regular use on the user's computer system, registration with the author is required. Registered users are those users who elect to pay for Directory Freedom and register that payment with the author. By virtue of registration and payment for the program, registered users are granted a license to continue to utilize the program on their personal computer for as long as they choose. This license authorizes the user to use the program on any personal computer system he or she may own or use so long as the program is operated on only one computer system at a time. GUARANTEE Directory Freedom is offered with an unconditional 30-day money- back guarantee. If you become dissatisfied with the program for any reason within that period, just let me know and your registration fee will be refunded. If you purchased a registration package which included a diskette and/or a manual, please return these when requesting a refund. This guarantee is unconditional. I would ask, however, if you are having a problem to let me know before giving up on DF since your problem may be something I can solve. Finally, if you order a registration package which includes a diskette or manual and either of these items are defective -- Directory Freedom 4.0 v either through my error or through postal service "processing", let me know and I will send replacements promptly. REGISTRATION The registration fee is $20, payable to: Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro, MA 01581 The payment of this registration fee to the author entitles the user to full use of the product for an unlimited period of time in addition to product support. The distribution of diskette copies of Directory Freedom and future upgrades is not included as part of the basic registration fee. See the ORDER.FRM file for the charges associated with these services. Directory Freedom is the sole property of Gordon Haff. The program may be freely copied and transferred to individual parties for evaluation purposes. It may be posted on Bulletin Board systems (BBS) for electronic access as long as NO FEE is charged for its distribution except for private BBS operations that charge a regular user subscription fee. Computer information services such as Compuserve (CIS), Genie, and Byte Information Exchange (BIX) are authorized to post this product for subscriber access. Directory Freedom may be distributed on diskette only by 1) disk distributors/vendors who are associate members of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP) or 2) users groups which do not charge more than a nominal fee ($5) to cover the costs of distribution. Any changes to these policies must be made in writing by the author. Directory Freedom is a fully functional Shareware product. Shareware is a computer program distribution/marketing method that permits potential buyers to thoroughly try the program prior to purchase. It is NOT free and it is not in the Public Domain. If, after evaluating the program, you find it useful enough to use on a regular basis, you are expected to pay for it by registering with the author. Attractively-priced site licensing is available for commercial users. Pricing for "typical" site licensing is given later in this manual. If you have needs which are not met by the standard license terms, please call or write for a quote which addresses any unique support or product update requirements. Customization is also available on a contract basis. Please note that the registration fee is specifically limited to Directory Freedom (DF.COM), the configuration program (DFCONFIG.EXE), and their associated documentation. Other copyrighted "Freeware" (i.e. copyrighted software for which no fee is asked) and public domain software is distributed with Directory Freedom only for the convenience of users. The copyrights for such software remain with the original authors. In addition, various software is mentioned in this documentation in conjunction with DF's user-defined functions and SmartViewers. Much of this software is Shareware and a registration fee must be paid to the Directory Freedom 4.0 vi individual authors to use their programs past an initial trial period. There has been some confusion in Shareware circles recently about upgrade/update policies for certain pieces of software. Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to spell out my policies. First, some definitions: I define upgrade as the RIGHT to use a later revision of a piece of software. I define update as the physical media on which the upgrade resides. I'll further define an update as not including hard-copy documentation unless specifically defined. With that out of the way, I'd like to spell out my current upgrade/update policies: There are no upgrade charges associated with DF 4.0 and I do not have any plans at present to institute such charges with future revisions. I do reserve the right to do so, however, if in my sole opinion the nature and magnitude of DF changes to such a degree as to constitute an essentially new product. I currently do charge for updates and plan to continue to so charge. The content and pricing for specific update packages is contained in the ORDER.FRM file. Pricing is subject to change without notice, however, to accommodate postage, printing, and other price increases. This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via Easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536 DISTRIBUTING Directory Freedom DF may be freely distributed (subject to the for-charge distribution restrictions detailed in the Registration section). Therefore, please feel free to distribute copies of this program to friends, co-workers, bulletin boards, and users' groups. I do ask, however, that you please distribute all of the original files and not modified copies. The main reason for this is that modified (with DFCONFIG) versions may have different default attributes or other settings from those specified in the manual and will have different CRC values from those files in the standard distribution. The former could confuse new users. The latter may cause someone to conclude that DF has a virus. If you have come up with command- line settings which you would like to share with others, please do so by describing them in a separate file rather than distributing a modified version of DF. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. TECHNICAL SUPPORT Registered Users: Full technical support is available to registered users of Directory Freedom. I have found that the most effective product support can be delivered through the electronic services Directory Freedom 4.0 vii listed below. If this option is not open to you, however, I also offer full product support through the mails, or, if the problem absolutely cannot wait, the telephone (no collect calls please). I will do my best to resolve any software bugs in a timely manner and I am always open to incorporating new features or changes which are appropriate to the nature of the product. Unregistered Users: I will attempt to respond to software trouble reports made by non-registered users if the problems affect the general functionality of the program. Such users should not, however, expect product support beyond initial aid to determine if the program is suitable for their needs. If you have a problem: I ask that, before calling or writing, you take the following steps: 1) Check the manual. We all sometimes approach a piece of software with preconceived ideas about how it ought to work which may not correspond to how it actually does work. (Of course, I'm interested in your input if you have this sort of experience.) 2) See if you can duplicate the problem with your original, unmodified version of DF. (You do still have an original, unmodified version, don't you?) 3) If you're still stuck, please make a note of a) your hardware and software environment; b) your attribute and command settings. DF is a very configurable program and, unfortunately, one of the downsides of this configurability is that user-defined settings can sometimes interact in unexpected ways. I try to test a broad range of configurations and settings, but obviously can't try every one.; and c) the sequence of actions which lead to the error. If I can't reproduce the error, it will be very difficult to correct it, so your help is vital in isolating the problem. If you follow these steps, it will help me to solve your problem in a more efficient and timely manner. Contact via: Channel 1 BBS (617) 354-8873 Compuserve User ID# 72561,2637 (See Note 1) InterNet 72561.2637@compuserve.com U.S. Mail 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro MA 01581 Telephone (508) 898-3321 (after 6pm Eastern time) I usually check Channel One daily and Compuserve weekly. In addition, I monitor the Ilink and RIME Shareware relays through Channel One. Note 1: When contacting me via Compuserve, please use the Easyplex mail system since I do not regularly monitor any of the IBM SIG message bases. Directory Freedom 4.0 1 1.0 History and Program Philosophy The Directory Freedom of today originally grew out of a variety of programs which owe their "look and feel" to Michael Mefford's DR and CO utilities in PC Magazine Volume 6, #17 and #21. DF was most directly adapted from Peter Esherick's DC (Directory Control) version 1.05B. Peter helped get DF started by making the source code for DC available to me and has also shared some fixes which he has made in subsequent revisions of his program. DF came into being because, while DC became a staple in my utilities subdirectory, it still lacked a few features which I would have found useful. Some of these were included in Brad Stephenson's modifications to DR; others didn't exist at all. At the same time, more conventional DOS shells usually lacked these features as well plus they tended to be rather big clunky things by comparison. The initial revisions of Directory Freedom represented minor enhancements to DC. As time went by, users suggested more and better features, many of which were incorporated into DF. With Revision 3.0, I made DF shareware. I felt that, at this point, DF had achieved a unique identity and was substantially different from the software on which it was originally based. Furthermore, by making DF shareware, I was able to commit to a significantly higher level of ongoing development and support than would have otherwise been possible. So what uniquely defines DF? Some of the major features are listed below. These are just a sampling but should help to give the user of one or more of the earlier programs mentioned a flavor for how DF has been extended from its original roots. The usual file copying, moving, deleting, and renaming Directory creation, deletion, and renaming Ability to run external programs from a menu (and to pass them file names) SmartViewers (external file viewers calls keyed to file extension) File and directory attribute manipulation Send a directory listing to a printer Change file dates On-line help Support for 43/50 line modes with EGA/VGA High degree of configurability: colors, beep type, verify flag, exclude attributes and more Command-line file mask Create file archives (e.g. with PKZIP) A user-friendly configuration program Yet, for all the above, the main DF program is still less than 20 KBytes in size! (As you might guess, it's written 100% in assembly language.) Directory Freedom is designed to provide what one user called "a rational alternative to the DOS 'dir' command." While, at this Directory Freedom 4.0 2 stage in its development, DF has grown far past the point where it merely provides DOS directory services, I have tried to stay true to one fundamental philosophy of design. This philosophy is that DF should stay sufficiently small and fast that the user does not feel that he is bringing up an applications program every time he types "DF". Rather, it is the intent that the user will find it faster and easier to just type "DF" that typing DIR, or COPY, or whatever other DOS command is required. Along the way, additional functionality has been added, but with the intent of never compromising this basic design goal. 2.0 Installing Directory Freedom Installing Directory Freedom is straightforward. If you obtained the program from a bulletin board or other source which stores all distribution files in a compressed "archive", you may first have to "de-archive" DF using the appropriate software. If you don't know how to do this, consult with the disk vendor or the bulletin board from which you obtained this software. 2.1 Quick Installation 1) Make a backup of the distribution disk 2) Copy the files on the distribution disk to a working diskette or a hard disk. Only DF.COM is required to run Directory Freedom.. 3) Make sure that you have a COMSPEC environment variable defined per Section 2.3. (Now that wasn't hard, was it?) 2.2 Detailed Installation Instructions Copy the files DF.COM and (optionally) DFCONFIG.EXE to a working floppy diskette or a subdirectory on your hard disk. If you've got a hard disk, the easiest thing is probably just to copy these files to whatever subdirectory you normally keep your utilities in. Since DF is nice and small and simple, there's really no need to go off creating a separate subdirectory for it. To be most useful, whatever subdirectory DF ends up in should be part of the PATH setup in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You can also go ahead and copy any of the associated utilities distributed with DF to the same location if you like and do whatever you normally do with the documentation. In addition to the main files listed above you have received, either as part of the DF archive or on diskette, a variety of other utilities such as ZipView (ZV) and ND. These utilities can be used to enhance DF but are in no way required for its operation. After you've done all this, put your original files in a safe place! Having the original files will allow you to start over again if something happens and your modified files are lost or Directory Freedom 4.0 3 corrupted. Please also use the original files if you ever have an urge to distribute copies of this program to a local bulletin board or user's group. At this, or any other point, you can also run the DFCONFIG customization program. Full instructions for doing so are given in Section 5.0 of this manual. DFCONFIG.EXE allows you to easily configure DF, however, so you'll probably want to keep it handy as well [unless you are in an environment in which you are setting up DF in a standard manner for the use of others and don't want that standard setup to be customizable by the users]. Revision 4.0 Note: CONVERT no longer exists and its function is replaced by the READ SETTINGS menu item in DFCONFIG. Because of the major changes made in DF 4.0, however, the settings cannot be read from earlier revisions, so the Attribute and Command settings from earlier revs of DF will require manual entry into 4.0. Finally, you MUST make sure that you have a COMSPEC environment variable defined. This is explained below. 2.2 COMSPEC variable When DF shells to another program, it uses something called the COMSPEC variable located in its environment block. This variable tells DF what command interpreter it should use when it shells and where that command interpreter is located. Now in the good old days, most programs didn't bother to look for this variable. They just assumed it was COMMAND.COM and that it was located in the root directory of the current drive. Nowadays, fortunately or unfortunately depending upon your point of view, things aren't so simple. Some people use software such as J.P. Software's excellent 4DOS as a COMMAND.COM replacement. Others don't want to put COMMAND.COM in the root directory of every drive they use. The result is that good software doesn't go around making assumptions any longer. It looks to see what the user actually wants. How does the user tell the software what she wants? By setting the COMSPEC variable. How do you set it? In the following manner: At the DOS prompt (or more commonly in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file), type or include a line like the following: SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM The above example tells your software to look in the root directory of your C: drive for the COMMAND.COM interpreter. This is probably the most common setting for users with hard disks. Other common settings include the following: SET COMSPEC=\COMMAND.COM (look in root of current drive) or SET COMSPEC=C:\4DOS.COM (Use 4DOS in root of C:) You can check your COMSPEC (and other environment settings) at any time by typing SET at the DOS command line. Directory Freedom 4.0 4 If you found this whole section hopelessly confusing, just use one the COMMAND.COM settings listed above. Use the first if you have a hard drive and the second if you have only floppies. Ask a friend to modify your AUTOEXEC.BAT file if you don't know how to do so. 3.0 Using Directory Freedom I'm tempted at this point to offer a monetary reward to anyone who has actually read this far into the manual. (But I'm not going to -- sorry.) If you're still with us and awake -- Congratulations! (but no cash prizes). DF is so easy to use that many feel they don't need to read the manual. I suggest reviewing the full manual; DF has many advanced features and shortcuts which even experienced users can overlook. 3.1 About this Manual This documentation was written at a level which, I hope, is appropriate to the level of computer sophistication of most DF users. This level assumes a degree of familiarity with keyboard usage on an IBM-PC/AT compatible and a basic understanding of how DOS is employed to run programs and execute commands. DF attempts to make life easier for the person who knows how to use the command line but, unlike a DOS shell, does not try to insulate the user from the underlying system. If the above scares you a bit, don't let it. We have all been beginners at one time and I'm sure you can borrow a book or friend who will help you through any rough spots you run into. (And feedback on any spots of opaqueness in this manual is always welcome as well.) This manual does go into some depth explaining the hows and whys of certain functions. These explanations exist largely to satisfy the curiosity of the more technical users of this program and therefore the beginning user should not feel put off if he does not understand every concept mentioned in these supplementary discussions. 3.2 Manual Conventions The commands on the main alternate menu are designated throughout this manual as Alt-Fx commands for simplicity and consistency with previous revisions of this program even though they can be alternately defined as LeftShift-Fx. Which, by the way, suggests that I'd better say what I mean by expressions such as Alt F1. It means that you should press on the Alt key with one finger and (while continuing to hold down the Alt key) press the F1 key with another. Directory Freedom 4.0 5 The Source or Working directory refers to the directory which is being displayed on the screen by DF. The Destination directory is the default destination for copies and other operations. It is also the current DOS directory. 3.3 Starting up Directory Freedom The basic syntax of the DF command line is: DF [d:][source-path][file-mask] [d:][dest-path] [/O,N,E,D,or S][/F][/V] All parameters are optional. If no pathnames are entered, both the source and the destination directories default to the current DOS directory. If only one path is entered, this path is taken to be that of the source directory and the destination directory defaults to the current DOS directory. (Pathnames can be a maximum of 63 characters long, starting at the drive letter and including the filename.) The file-mask is a wildcard specification such as *.EXE which allows for the display of a subset of files in a directory. Options, specified by a "/" followed by a letter, may appear either before or after the pathnames and override any settings made with the DFCONFIG program. The options are as follows: /N Sort directory by filename /E Sort directory by extension /D Sort directory by date and time /S Sort directory by file size /O Use original order, i.e. do not sort directory at all. /V Turn on DOS Verify switch for disk file writes /F Fast display on IBM Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) -- i.e. no snow check Examples of valid command lines: DF Use default settings. Source directory = Destination directory = Current DOS. DF c:\util Use default settings. Source directory = c:\util. Destination = current DOS. DF c:\util\*.com As above, but display only files with a .COM extension. DF .. Source directory = Parent (directory above current). Destination = current DOS. DF . c:\util Source directory = current. Destination = c:\util. DF c:\util d:\foo Source directory = c:\util. Destination = d:\foo. DF c:\util /N Source directory = c:\util. Display files in name order. DF c:\util /N /V As above, but force verify ON for all disk file writes. DF comes up displaying the "source" (also referred to as the "working") directory. A brief menu of optional commands is displayed to the right of the directory display. You may move up Dir of C:\ Default dest D:\TD\PROGS\DF\DF4REL DOC <DIR> 6-13-90 10:39p +-----------------------+ DOWN <DIR> 6-13-90 10:39p | Directory Freedom | DV <DIR> 6-13-90 10:41p | Version 4.00 | HID <DIR> 12-04-90 8:44p | Copr.Gordon Haff,1990 | ME <DIR> 11-26-90 7:32p |-----------------------| MYSYS <DIR> 6-13-90 10:42p | F1 Protected Copy | QEMM <DIR> 6-13-90 10:45p | F2 DOS Shell | QMAIL <DIR> 6-13-90 10:43p | F3 Forced Move | SYS <DIR> 6-13-90 10:44p | F4 Refresh | TELIX <DIR> 6-13-90 10:45p | F5 Run Program | UTIL <DIR> 6-13-90 10:45p | F6 Create Dir | UV <DIR> 6-13-90 10:52p | F7 Size of Dir | AUTOEXEC BAT 833 12-02-90 7:45p A | F8 Swap Video Mode | COMMAND COM 25307 3-17-87 12:00p | F9 Touch | CONFIG SYS 367 9-25-90 6:53p A | F10 Create Archive | HIMEM SYS 11304 5-01-90 3:00a | F11 Edit Volume Name | IBMBIO COM 22100 3-18-87 12:00pHSR | F12 Print File List | IBMDOS COM 30159 3-17-87 12:00pHSR | Sort: N,E,D,S,O | TREEINFO NCD 683 6-11-90 11:38p | Add attribute:A,R,H,Y | Z FLS 974 1-04-80 11:41p +-----------------------+ Volume: DRIVE C 1359872 bytes free Destination disk has 1124352 bytes free Row 20 of 26. 100352 bytes/ 8 files Figure 1: Typical DF Main Screen This screen displays a typical Directory Freedom file listing. The displayed directory is referred to throughout this manual as the Source or Working directory. The Destination directory is shown on the second line of the display. This directory is the default destination for copies and moves; it is also the current DOS directory -- and hence the default directory for many user-defined commands. The main menu is shown on the right. Other menus are brought up my pressing the Alt (or Left-Shift), Control, or Right-Shift keys. Directory Freedom 4.0 6 and down the directory list with the up and down arrow keys on the cursor keypad. Files may be individually copied, deleted, moved or renamed by pressing the function keys F1 through F4, respectively. Alternatively, a number of files may be selected, or "marked" using the Grey + and Grey - keys on the right side of the keypad. After marking, pressing the appropriate function key will apply the chosen operation to the entire group of files. New directories can be displayed in one of two ways. You can press the F9 function key and enter a new drive and path name. Alternatively, if you want to move to different subdirectories on the same drive, you simply press the <Enter> key after using the up or down arrow keys to high-light the desired subdirectory. Note that as always within DOS, ".." denotes the parent of a given subdirectory, i.e. the level above the currently displayed directory, and "." denotes the current directory. 3.4 Key by key Summary of Commands (by category) Exiting DF Esc Exit program and return to original directory. Alt-Q Exit program leaving the currently displayed dir as the current default drive and directory for DOS. Marking files Grey + Mark current file entry, if not a subdirectory or Ins or hidden file, and advance cursor to next line. Grey - Remove mark on current file, and advance cursor to next or Del line. Space Swap marking of highlighted file. Same as Grey + (Mark) unless currently highlighted file is already marked in which case it is the same as Grey - (Remove Mark). F5 Clear all marks. F6 Mark all remaining files, i.e. those not marked with an *. F7 Swap marked and unmarked files. Most functions operate on the marked files, if any, otherwise they operate on the currently highlighted file. If the operation is successful the mark is replaced with an asterisk (*), if unsuccessful the file is passed over, leaving the mark, and the program proceeds on to the next marked file. Copying, Moving, and Deleting files F1 or Alt C Copy file(s) via a read/write sequence to requested target Directory Freedom 4.0 7 Alt F1 Protected Copy -- similar to F1 except that an error is generated if the target file already exists F2 Delete file(s) or directory after asking for confirmation (unless empty directory) F3 or Alt M Move file(s), i.e. Copy to requested target, delete source. Where possible this function is performed using an across directory rename instead of a file read/write sequence. Alt F3 Forced Move -- Unlike a regular move (F3), this option will overwrite the target file if it already exists. (This command has the same relationship to MOVE as COPY has to PROTECTED COPY.) F4 Rename file(s) or directory within the currently displayed directory. Changing the active source and destination directories F8 Swap the Working (source) Directory and the Destination Directory. F9 Prompt for a new Working (source) Directory. F10 Prompt for a new Destination Directory. ] Make the Destination Directory equal to the Working (source) Directory. [ Make the Working (source) Directory equal to the Destination Directory. Re-sorting the working directory Alt-N Sort by filename. Alt-E Sort by file extension (e.g. .COM vs .DOC). Alt-D Sort by date and time. Alt-S Sort by file size. Alt-O Re-read and display dir in original DOS order (unsorted). DOS Shell functions Alt F2 Invoke DOS Shell. Alt F5 Run a program. Parameters may be added after the program name. Directory functions Alt F6 Create a directory. Creates a new subdirectory under the working (displayed) directory using a name provided by the user. Alt F7 Returns the size of the highlighted directory in terms of disk space used both on the working drive and on a typical floppy diskette (512 byte sectors). Miscellaneous additional ALT menu commands Alt F4 Re-read working directory. Required after changing diskettes in a floppy-disk drive. Also useful if a copy or shell command has changed the current directory. Directory Freedom 4.0 8 Alt F8 Swap video mode between 25 lines and 43 lines (EGA) or 50 lines (VGA). Only operational if you have an EGA or VGA display adapter. Alt F9 Set file date/time. Prompts for new date and time for marked files. Uses the system date and time by default. Alt F10 Creates an archive file (e.g. ZIP file) from marked files using a command line specified through DFCONFIG. Alt F11, Ctrl L Edit Volume name of Working (source) Volume. Alt F12, Ctrl P Prints the Working (source) directory listing to your printer. Alt Z Show Help screen. View Commands <Enter> (i.e. the <Enter> key on the central portion of the keyboard). or If file highlighted: SmartView -- uses the external viewer specified for the extension of the Alt V highlighted file. If the extension is not defined, the default viewer is used. If directory highlighted: Change to highlighted directory. Grey <Enter> (i.e. the <Enter> key on the numeric keypad) or Force default viewer. Ctrl <Enter> Attribute Commands Alt A Add Archive bit Ctrl A Remove Archive bit Alt R Add Read-Only bit Ctrl R Remove Read-Only bit Alt H Add Hidden bit Ctrl H Remove Hidden bit Alt Y Add System bit Ctrl Y Remove System bit User-defined Commands Ctrl-F1 through Ctrl-F10, RShift-F1 through RShift-F6 plus external file viewers. Ctrl-F11 and Ctrl-F12 can be optionally configured through DFCONFIG if you are using an extended (101-key or equivalent) keyboard. The Create Archive function can also be customized. View Mode commands These commands are ONLY applicable when using internal viewer W Toggle word wrap/horizontal scroll. A Toggle ASCII string display. B Toggle blanking of non-ASCII characters. Grey * Toggle Wordstar bit mask (shift non-ASCII high-order characters (from 128 to 255) down into the displayable ASCII range of 1 to 127. In addition, the cursor control keys act as you would expect. The <Enter> key duplicates the <PgDn> key. Directory Freedom 4.0 9 3.5 File Marking Entries may be marked, as explained above, with the following exceptions. The marking keys will NOT operate on the following: -- Subdirectories -- Hidden files 3.6 Mouse Support As of Revision 4.0, DF directly incorporates mouse cursor emulation -- functionality which had previously been provided by the companion memory-resident program, DFM. This mouse cursor emulation provides for the following: Mouse up/down movements emulate <up arrow> and <down arrow> Mouse left button emulates <Enter> Mouse right button emulates <esc> Mouse middle button (if present) emulates <space> In addition to using the mouse in the main directory listing, the Mouse button emulation is also active in the internal viewer. I realize that the above mouse support is relatively limited. I do not, however, have plans to significantly increase the level of this support since I believe that doing so would tend to decrease the ease-of-use of DF from the keyboard. 4.0 Program Feature Information 4.1 Built-in Viewer (Note that this section applies ONLY if an external file viewer is NOT configured. The internal viewer obviously has a speed and size advantage over external viewers -- especially on a floppy disk system. On the other hand, an external viewer such as Vern Buerg's LIST has a wider array of features (e.g. text searching). DF is shipped with the internal viewer preconfigured although the user can, of course, change this easily by adding a command line such as LIST ~ from within the DFCONFIG program.) Just as pressing <Enter> lets you view a new directory, pressing <Enter> when a filename is highlighted lets you view the contents of the file. In the default mode the display is wrapped at the edge of the screen if a line is more than 80 characters wide. This option can be toggled by pressing W. Display of non-ASCII characters can be toggled with the ASCII and Blank options by pressing A or B. In ASCII mode only strings of 5 or more normal ASCII characters (including tab or space) are displayed. This is useful for viewing the messages contained in an .EXE or .COM file. With the Blank option, non-ASCII characters are replaced with a Directory Freedom 4.0 10 blank or space. A final option, Grey *, masks the high-order bit of non-ASCII characters to make Wordstar files readable. 4.2 Shell functions and SmartViewers DF allows the user to significantly build on the internal program functions by accessing external programs in a variety of useful ways. While this functionality has existed in DF from the start (in fact, it was the major added feature of DF 1.0), with version 4.0 I've added a wide new array of methods to access external programs. User-defined functions These functions are the same as in previous revisions of Directory Freedom, but you can now define even more of them through the addition of an RShift menu. (Those of you wondering how someone could ever have a need for this many user-defined functions might want to take a look at Appendix A which contains some of the clever things which users have done with these functions.) Up to 16 (or 18 if the F11/F12 keys are enabled) external shell functions can be assigned to the CONTROL-F1 through CONTROL-F10 and RShift-F1 through RShift-F6 keys. (Why not all the RShift keys you ask? Answer: We're reserving the rest of the RShift keys for DF's own use in future versions.) Functions such EDIT and UNARCHIVE can be added to the user-defined menus to correspond with the programs which you use, not to some arbitrary set of functions which we've set up. To illustrate the use of these functions, DF comes configured with a few typical external programs predefined, but these can be easily added to or changed through the use of the DFCONFIG program. As mentioned earlier, Appendix A contains additional examples. An important note: The user-defined functions (and SmartViewers) depend on external DOS programs. If a defined program cannot be found (either by specifying its full path in the command line or by having it in a directory contained in your DOS PATH), the corresponding user-defined function will not work. Viewers DF has both a default viewer and SmartViewers. If you wish, the default viewer can be left in its shipped configuration of using DF's internal viewer. Alternatively, a program such as Vern Buerg's LIST or PC Magazine's SMOOTH can be substituted by entering the appropriate command line for the default viewer in DFCONFIG. (For example, to use LIST, enter LIST ~ as the default viewer command line.) The default viewer will be used to examine the contents of the highlighted file if 1) the file's extension has not been configured for a SmartViewer or 2) one of the default viewer override keys (e.g. Ctrl <Enter>) have been pressed. Directory Freedom 4.0 11 SmartViewers (new with version 4.0) allow you to automatically use the external viewer most appropriate to a given file's type (as reflected in its extension). For example, you can configure ZV (the author's ZIP file viewer) for files with a .ZIP extension and a program such as VGIF or VPIC for a file with a .GIF extension. As with all the other user-defined functions, customizing the settings for your personal preferences is easy with DFCONFIG. Run a Program The Run-a-Program function (Alt-F5) allows you to run an executable program from within DF. The program under the highlight bar will be executed when you press this key combination. You will then be prompted for the command-line parameters to pass to the executing program. Press <Esc> to abort the operation or <Enter> to continue without parameters. Use this option with caution on programs you haven't tried out before. For one thing, DF has no way of testing a program's memory requirements. If a program doesn't do its own testing it may hang your system. Also, some programs seem to be allergic to being run in shells. NEVER execute a Terminate-And-Stay-Resident (TSR) program from a shell. You'll end up creating a hole in memory which will, at the least, cause you to lose memory and, at worst, will cause a system crash. DOS Shell The DOS Shell (Alt-F2) allows you to temporarily exit to DOS. You should be able to do anything in this shell which you would normally do from the DOS command line subject to the constraint that the DF parent is using approximately 64KB of memory. Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to DF. 4.3 Attribute Functions DF incorporates functions which allow you to add or remove file attributes. The ALT-attribute functions allow you to set attribute bits while the CTRL-attribute functions allow you to remove the bits. The A, R, H, and Y keys control the Archive, read-Only, Hidden, and System bits respectively. (An S-key would have conflicted with the sort function, so the system attribute was assigned a different key since it will be seldom used anyway.) In general, attribute functions can be performed using standard marking just like all other functions. The exception is un-hiding hidden files. Hidden files can be unhid one-by-one, but hidden files cannot be marked. This is because the ability to mark must carry over to all program functions and I thought that, in general, users would want hidden files to be automatically skipped since most DF functions are illegal on hidden files. (On a broader note, DF intentionally forces a few extra steps to delete or otherwise disrupt both Read-Only and Hidden files. I believe that this philosophy represents reasonable, if conservative, practice. Files Directory Freedom 4.0 12 are generally made Hidden or Read-Only for a reason and, therefore, I don't believe it should be too easy to tamper with them.) 4.4 Ultravision Compatibility Directory Freedom Revision 4.0 and later is compatible with Personics' Ultravision. Ultravision is a very nice program which allows for an expanded range of screen modes on EGA/VGA systems as well as providing for alternate palette sets. DF will respond to Ultravision in the following ways: If the screen mode is 80 columns by n rows (where n is any number), DF will come up in that mode, whether n is 25, 43, 50, 63, or whatever. The Swap Video Mode (Alt-F8) will, however, alternate between 25 lines and 43/50 lines only. If the screen mode is j columns by n rows (where j is any number not equal to 80 and n is any number), DF will come up in 80 column by 25 row mode. The Swap Video Mode will work as above. In all cases, DF will, upon exit, restore the screen to whatever mode was in effect on entry. In other words, DF can display any number of rows but requires an 80 column display and will act accordingly. 4.5 DESQView Compatibility While Directory Freedom is not fully "DESQview-aware," the LShift key can be substituted for the Alt key as the "hot-key" for the secondary menu. This solves a problem encountered in older revs in which pressing the Alt key caused the DESQView menu to pop up. This addition, in conjunction with the following setup information, should allow you to effectively use DF in a DESQview environment. When configuring DESQview to add DF to its program list, the following characteristics should be specified in the advanced program setup: Writes directly to screen Y Uses its own colors Y Maximum height/width 25,80 Starting Row/Column/Height/Width 0,0,25,80 4.6 Hints and Suggestions The following techniques, explanations, and hints have proven useful to myself or to other users. They may help you to get more out of your copy of Directory Freedom. To "re-mark" a group of files (i.e. mark the same group of files which have just been operated on and which now have a * next to their entries) press F6 and F7 in sequence. Directory Freedom 4.0 13 One of the PC Magazine utilities is called SWEEP and allows you to automatically repeat the execution of a command through multiple directories. If you type 'SWEEP DF' from the root directory, therefore, DF will be executed in succession in each directory on the hard disk. Ben Stock suggests that this "is the best thing for housekeeping, reclaiming disk space, and preparing for major backups." SWEEP should be available on most major bulletin boards. To pop up a directory level, highlight the '..' entry and press <Enter>. The DF Destination directory is also the current DOS directory. Hence user-defined commands which send output files to the default directory regardless of the directory of the source file (e.g. PKUNZIP) will send their output to the DF Destination directory -- NOT the (displayed) Working directory. 5.0 Customization User customization is carried out through the DFCONFIG program which is menu driven and includes its own help screens. You MUST use the matching rev of DFCONFIG with DF. The matching revision requirement is enforced by the software and DFCONFIG will give you an error message if you attempt to use it to modify a mismatched revision of DF. 5.1 DFCONFIG Command Line There are three possible permutations of the DFCONFIG command line: a) DFCONFIG If you do not specify a path and filename on the DFCONFIG command line, DFCONFIG assumes that the program you wish to modify is called DF.COM (the name for the Directory Freedom program file as shipped) and is in the current directory. The current configuration settings will be initially read from this file and any modifications made will be saved to this file. b) DFCONFIG [path\filename] The specified filename will be used for both input and output as specified in a). c) DFCONFIG [path\in_file] [path\out_file] The current configuration settings will be initially read from in_file. Any modifications will be saved to out_file. If you do specify any path\filename(s) on the command line, you must give a full legal pathname from either the current directory or a root and the full filename with extension. (This allows you Directory Freedom 4.0 14 to rename DF.COM if you wish -- always preserve the .COM extension, however, else DOS will get confused.) 5.2 DFCONFIG Usage Notes A mouse is supported in DFCONFIG's menus. The <Left Mouse Button> button is equivalent to <ENTER> on the keyboard, the <Right Mouse Button> button to <ESC>. If you make changes to DF's parameters, make sure that you tell DFCONFIG to save them; i.e. changes are not automatically saved. DFCONFIG operates by reading in DF, making changes to the memory image of the program, and then saving the memory image back to disk if told to save the changes thereby overwriting the original. This modification procedure may alert certain anti-viral programs such as Flushot+ and will alter the CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) value of the DF.COM file. For the above reason, DFCONFIG cannot work on a DF.COM file if it has been compressed with a program such as LZEXE or PKLITE. DF.COM is compatible with these programs, but it cannot be modified in its compressed state since DFCONFIG depends on data being in specific locations in the program. DFCONFIG is compatible with Ultravision from Personics. If Ultravision is detected, DFCONFIG will set an 80x25 screen mode, but will restore the initial screen dimensions upon exit. If you have a monochrome monitor attached to a graphics card (CGA/EGA/VGA), DFCONFIG will automatically map the screen colors to their monochrome equivalents (with minor changes to make it easier to recognize the "quick selection characters" in the menus). The best results will be obtained, however, if you issue the "MODE MONO" command prior to invoking DFCONFIG. 5.3 DFCONFIG Main Menu Attributes: Accesses the Attributes sub-menu for changing DF settings such as color and Printer Port. This menu item is described in detail in Section 5.5. Commands: Accesses the Commands sub-menu which allows the specification of user functions such as SmartViewers. This menu item is described in detail in Section 5.4. Info: Gives registration information. Read Settings: Allows the settings to be read in from another copy of DF (revision 4.0 and later). These settings replace those currently in memory and will be output to the current out_file as specified on the DFCONFIG command line. The out_file cannot be changed except from the DFCONFIG command line. Directory Freedom 4.0 15 Filenames: Displays the full path and filenames, together with the revision, of the in_file and out_file. Save and Quit: Saves the current settings in memory to the current out_file. These settings could have been read in from another copy of DF and/or could have been entered by the user through the Attributes and Commands sub-menus. Quit w/o saving: Quit the program without making any alterations to the out_file. 5.4 Commands Modification DFCONFIG can be used to modify the user-defined shell functions accessed by the following menus: Control Keys (Ctrl F1 through Ctrl F10) Extended Keys (Ctrl F11 and Ctrl F12) Right Shift Keys (RShft F1 through RShft F6) Viewers (SmartViewers) Archiver (Command line used by 'Create Archive') See Appendix D for the edit keystrokes used in these data entry screens. At the simplest level, the shell functions can merely be used to run an external program with no arguments (or at least no variable arguments). Thus, if you had a program called CPUTYPE which you would ordinarily run just by typing: CPUTYPE at the DOS prompt, you would just enter the same thing as one of the command lines within the DFCONFIG commands modification screen. There may indeed be situations where you want to access such a program from within DF, however, this usage does not take full advantage of the DF user-defined shell feature. Since the DF highlight cursor is always resting on a file or directory, it might seem useful to be able to pass that information to a shell command line. DF can do exactly this. By entering a ~ (tilde) as part of a defined command line in DFCONFIG, the user tells DF to "Insert the full path and filename of the file or directory under the highlight at this spot in the command." Along with this feature, beginning with Rev. 3.50, a dynamic customization feature has been added. Together with the ~, a ` (grave -- the backward accent under the tilde on most keyboards) can be added to the command line in DFCONFIG. If a ` is present in the command line, DF will prompt the user for parameters to insert at its location at runtime. Example Directory Freedom 4.0 16 All the above is really a whole lot more complicated to read than it actually is to do, so let's go through an example. Let's suppose that we want to define a key for Phil Katz's PKUNZIP program which views or extracts the archives found on many electronic bulletin board systems. Although we would normally set this program up on two different keys (one to view and one to extract), let's assume for the purposes of the example that this is a seldom used function and we only want to use one key for it. We go into DFCONFIG and the Commands menu. We then enter the desired command line. (We'll assume we've programmed CTRL-F3): PKUNZIP ` ~ (Enter whatever you like for the menu name -- it's only for your own reference. Don't worry about the Pause?, Refresh?, and Multi? fields for now. They're described later.) We save the modified data entry screen with a <CTRL-Enter>, return to the main menu, and choose Save and Quit from the main DFCONFIG menu. When we next run DF, you'll notice that, when pressing the Control key, the new item has been added to the menu. We now select a file to operate on. Just move the cursor down until the desired file is highlighted and, while holding down the Control key, press F3. DF will prompt you to enter parameters. Let's assume you want to view the archive. In this case, type -v and then hit the <Enter> key. If the highlighted file were called ARCHIVE.ZIP and was in the DOWNLOAD directory on the C: drive, DF would expand the command line to the following: PKUNZIP -V C:\DOWNLOAD\ARCHIVE.ZIP Command-line data entry summary A tilde (~) indicates that the file name under the cursor is to be inserted at that point. Only one tilde should generally be entered per command line, else the command line may well get too long (note that DF expands the ~ to the filename PLUS its entire path) A grave (`) indicates that a string entered dynamically by the user is to be inserted at this point. More than one grave may be entered per command line, BUT the user is only prompted for parameters once and this same set of parameters will be entered for each grave. The Pause? value is asking whether you want a "Press any key to return" after exiting the program. You probably don't want a pause for things such as editors and do for programs which place information on the screen without inserting their own pause before exiting. The Refresh? value is asking whether you want DF to reread the directory before returning from the shell. You will generally want to set this value to 'Y' when performing functions such as Directory Freedom 4.0 17 extracting archives. There is a minimal performance penalty attached to performing such a reread on hard disks unless the directories are very large. If a function is regularly used on a floppy diskette directory, however, you may wish to perform Rereads manually (Alt-F4) only when you need them. The Multi? value is asking whether or not you want the function to operate on Marked files (if any exist) or the highlighted file. If Multi? is set to 'N', the function will operate only on the currently highlighted file -- whether or not other files in the directory are highlighted. If Multi? is set to 'Y', the function will operate SEQUENTIALLY on the marked files in the directory (or the highlighted file if no files are marked). In the customization screen, you save your work by either typing CTRL-<Enter> at any point, or <Enter> when positioned on the last field of the screen. Exiting with<Esc> DOES NOT SAVE THE CONTENTS OF THE SCREEN! All the movement and edit commands for the data screen are available through on-line help in DFCONFIG. 5.5 Attributes Modification In addition to DF screen colors (NORMAL, INTENSE, MENU, MENU2, BORDER, and INVERSE), the following attributes can be changed by the DFCONFIG program: -- Switch [Default: / (Standard DOS) -- Snow check [Default: Off] -- Sort Default [Default: Name order] -- Verify Default [Default: Floppy only] -- Beep tone [Default: Standard DOS Beep] -- Secondary Menu Key [Default: Alt] -- Extended Keyboard [Default: Auto] -- Startup Video Mode [Default: 25 lines] -- Exclude Attributes [Default: N for all attributes] -- Printer Port [Default: LPT1] Each of these options are explained below. Color Both the foreground and background settings of the six color combinations used in DF can be modified through DFCONFIG's Attribute modification. To aid you in this process, a sample color screen changes dynamically based on the currently set and currently highlighted colors. Switch / ("Standard" DOS switch) - ("Unix" switch) Directory Freedom 4.0 18 For the UNIX hackers, the switch character is used to identify an option entered on the DOS command line when you first call up DF. Normally this is '/', so that options would be specified by /d or /o. By changing the byte to '-', options can be entered as -d or - o. This lets you use '/' in your path names, so that instead of entering command lines like: DF C:\COMM\DOWN D:\UTIL /D You can now enter: DF C:/COMM/DOWN D:/UTIL -D or DF C:\COMM\DOWN -d D:\UTIL or DF -d C:/COMM\DOWN D:/UTIL -D But not: DF C:\COMM\DOWN D:/UTIL /D (This will confuse DF) (Note that since the confusion results from the option switch, and since there are no options entered with pathnames once the program is running, you can use either / or \ as a path delimiter when entering a destination or changing the path with F9 or F10 keys.) Verify Default No Change Yes No Floppy Only From the DOS command line, you can type VERIFY ON or VERIFY OFF to change DOS's write-verify status. If Verify is on, MS-DOS performs a series of checks following each disk-write operation to attempt to verify that the data just written can be read without error. The downside of such checking is that write operations are slowed down significantly and the enhanced security provided by VERIFY ON is questionable, at least with hard disks. In any case, DFCONFIG allows the write-verify status within DF to be set in one of four different ways. It can be set ON, in which case all affected DF commands will operate with write-verify status enabled. It can be set OFF, in which case all affected DF commands will operate with write-verify status disabled. It can be set to NO CHANGE, in which case DF will use the write-verify status which was in use by DOS prior to running DF. Or it can be set to FLOPPY ONLY in which case verify is set on if the target is a floppy diskette and set off otherwise. Using DF's /V command-line switch will force write-verify status ON no matter how this switch is set. Beep Default DOS Beep Beep 1 If an error is made when using DF (e.g. an illegal operation such as deleting a Read-only file is attempted), the program beeps to alert you of the error. By default, the standard DOS beep (ASCII 07) is used. Some users find this standard tone rather obtrusive Directory Freedom 4.0 19 and grating on the ear so DFCONFIG allows an alternative "soft beep" to be chosen instead. (This alternative tone is generated by programming the timer chip directly instead of using standard DOS or BIOS services. Therefore it may not work on some computers which are not 100% IBM PC/AT hardware compatible.) Snow Check Yes No When DF starts up it determines the primary display type. If it isn't monochrome, EGA, or VGA, then DF can query the display adapter before writing a character to the display memory to see if it is ok to do so. This procedure is necessary to avoid spurious dots or "snow" on old IBM Color Graphics Adapters (CGA's) caused by the CPU and the display-refresh circuitry simultaneously accessing the video buffer. Unfortunately, this check also slows things down quite a bit. If you prefer speed over a clean display update, or if you have a (relatively) modern Color Graphics Adapter that doesn't need to do this checking, choose No for the snow check option. Otherwise, choosing Yes will enable snow checking (unless a monochrome, EGA, or VGA has been detected -- in which case snow checking is neither performed nor necessary). Using DF's /F command-line option switch forces snow checking off and will override the setting of this switch. Sort Option Name Ascending order by filename Extension Ascending order by filename extension Size Descending order by file size in bytes Date Descending order by file date/time stamp Original Unsorted A new default sort order can be chosen from within DFCONFIG. The choices (Name, Extension, Size, Date, and Original) are the same as those which can be specified on either the DF command line or by pressing the appropriate Alt-key. If a sort order is specified as a command line switch, this default setting is overridden. If (O)riginal is chosen, no sort takes place and the filenames are displayed in the same order as they are displayed when typing the 'dir' command at the DOS prompt. If (N)ame or (E)xtension is chosen, the sort is in ascending (i.e. alphabetical) order. If (S)ize is chosen, the sort is in descending order to allow for more efficient packing when copying to multiple floppy diskettes. (D)ate also sorts in descending order to place the most recently created or modified files at the top of the directory listing. Secondary Menu Key Alt Left-Shift (i.e. the Shift key on the left side of the keyboard) Directory Freedom 4.0 20 This switch chooses the "hot-key" used to bring up the secondary menu of "hardwired" DF functions. (This is the menu which includes the Directory-specific functions and items such as "Run a Program.") The choice is offered because pressing and releasing the Alt key also brings up the DESQView menu if DESQView is active. Since Alt has been the secondary "hot-key" in all versions of Directory Freedom to date, however, it has been left as the default for backward compatibility. Choosing Left-Shift as the hot-key will also lessen the chance of keystroke conflicts with memory resident programs. Extended Keyboard Yes No Auto On systems with extended keyboards (101-key or equivalent), selecting Yes will allow the user to program two additional function keys on the Control menu (and use the function key commands Alt-F11 and Alt-F12). The status of this switch does NOT affect the ability to program these keys in the DFCONFIG command line editor. Unless this switch is set to Yes, however, those programmed keys cannot actually be used (nor will they be displayed) within DF. New with revision 4.0, a new default setting (Auto) has been added to this menu. The Auto setting will attempt to automatically detect the presence of a BIOS which supports a 101-key keyboard. Unfortunately, this sort of detection is a kluge, at best, and 101- key support will NOT be detected on all systems. Furthermore, simply having a 101-key keyboard does not guarantee that the BIOS of your system will support the extended function keys. If you do not have an extended keyboard BIOS, enabling F11/F12 may hang your system. Startup Video Mode 25 line 43/50 line The setting of this item will determine whether your system starts up with a 25 row display or a 43 row (EGA) / 50 row (VGA) display. If you do not have an EGA or VGA display adapter, this switch setting will have no effect and you will start up with a 25 line display. Exclude Attributes Read-Only Y/N Hidden Y/N System Y/N By default, DF will display all files in the Working (source) directory regardless of their file attribute bits. This menu item allows you to exclude the display of one or more of the "special" attribute settings. (There is also an archive bit which is most Directory Freedom 4.0 21 commonly used to handle backups as well as subdirectory and volume bits -- the latter two are already handled in a special manner by DF.) If , for example, Read-Only were set to 'Y', files with a Read-Only bit would not be displayed by DF. This switch settings allows a person such as a PC manager to protect files which would be hidden from normal DOS displays or protected from normal DOS functions such as ERASE but which would normally be accessible by DF . Printer Port LPT1 LPT2 This item selects the printer port which will be used by the Print Directory Listing command. 6.0 Supplementary Programs With version 4.0, major changes have been made to the contents of the DF archive. For a variety of reasons (licensing/copyright restrictions primarily), only programs written exclusively by the author are now included with the DF archive distributed on electronic BBS's and by disk vendors. 6.1 Included Programs The programs described in this section are not part of DF and are distributed with DF only for the convenience of users. ZipView ZipView provides a scrollable environment for examining the contents of .ZIP (a type of archive) files and allows the user to view those contents by piping them to LIST. In other words, you can read a text file contained within a .ZIP file without extracting the archive. In combination with the SmartViewer functions in DF 4.0, ZipView makes the examination of .ZIP files almost automatic (just highlight a .ZIP file and press <Enter>). ZV is "Freeware" but requires PKUNZIP and LIST to function. Latest revision: 1.11; Archive name: ZIPV111 ND This program can be programmed to a function key and will rename the highlighted file to a new name which is derived from the current date. For example, FILENAME.TXT would be renamed to 891015.TXT if the date were Oct 15, 1989. It append a letter to the base name (e.g. 891015A.TXT, 891015B.TXT, etc.) if the "dated name" already exists. I find this very useful for handling message-base files from BBS's. (Besides, I wrote it and figure that no one can keep me from distributing it with DF if I want to.) ND is "Freeware." Latest revision: 1.0; Archive name: ND100 or NEWDATE Directory Freedom 4.0 22 6.2 Non-Included Programs The programs in this section are NOT included with the DF distribution, but I have found these programs (or programs fulfilling the same functions) to complement DF well for certain applications. RF RF, a slightly modified version of PC Magazine's RN.COM which provides a higher-level "tree-style" directory program, is no longer included in the DF archive. It will be included on disk for those who order a disk with their DF registration or who order an update disk. RN is available in the PCMAGNET forum on Compuserve and on many bulletin boards. Instructions on patching RN to support DF are in Appendix B. Note that only RN 2.0 and later supports disk partitions of greater than 32MB. PRUNE A more recent Michael Mefford creation which also appeared in PC Magazine is PRUNE. PRUNE shows two disk drives simultaneously and contains powerful functions for manipulating entire directory trees. I personally prefer PRUNE to RF as a high-level disk management program. Like RF, PRUNE is available on PCMAGNET and can be patched with the instructions in Appendix B. FV or RV Vernon Buerg's FV can be used to cut down on the number of function keys needed to deal with archives. FV will basically allow you to view any kind of archive (.ZIP, .ARC, etc.) by programming only a single function key. DF is shipped configured for use with FV. You'll still need a different function key for each archive extraction function, but consolidating all the view functions should help those users who were running out of keys. (ZV is a more powerful program, but it only deals with .ZIP files.) Robert T. Kaya's RV serves a similar function. Most recent revisions as of this writing: FV 1.33; RV 2.13 SLED or TED or QEDIT or ... Since I do not want to start a religious war, I won't even begin to suggest which editor people should configure. SLED is a small shareware editor which many people like and is very sophisticated for its size. TED is a simple editor from PC Magazine which is free copyrighted software. While lacking such features as word- wrap, it is very compact (~ 12K bytes) and more than sufficient to edit batch files and perform similar tasks. QEdit is a very good shareware programmers' editor. Personally, I have my working copy of DF setup to use Multi-Edit (a programmer's editor) and WordPerfect. LIST As mentioned earlier in this documentation, I recommend Vernon Buerg's LIST in place of the built-in file viewer for many Directory Freedom 4.0 23 applications. Vernon has been making significant enhancements to LIST recently (current version is 7.5f) and is well worth a look in the event you don't already have a copy. 7.0 Technical Compiled using Borland's Turbo Assembler 2.0 and debugged using Turbo Debugger. The vast bulk of the code is custom although some modified routines from Base Two's Spontaneous Assembler libraries were also used. Multi-Edit from American Cybernetics was used as an editor. DFCONFIG was compiled using Turbo C++ 1.0 with the help of many routines from TCXL rev 5.5. [A sidebar: TCXL was formerly Mike Smedley's CXL. The libraries were purchased by Innovative Data Concepts and Chip Rabinowitz who now own the rights. TCXL 5.5 represents a major rewrite of the entire system. IDC can be contacted at 215-884-3373.] Documentation was prepared using Microsoft Word for Windows, Word for DOS, and the aforementioned Multi-Edit. DF was developed on a homebrew 386 (named Dejah Thoris) based on an AMI 20MHz full-size motherboard with a Micropolis 160MB ESDI disk and Ultrastore 12(F) ESDI controller. It is a dual monitor system with an Orchid Prodesigner 512KB VGA board and an IBM MDA board. The system runs DOS 3.3, QEMM, and Windows 3.0. While it is not possible to test with all possible configurations, test systems have included a DG/One 2T laptop, a Northgate 486, a DG Dasher/286 with EGA, and an Intel 386/25 with VGA. Testing included both DOS 3.3 and DOS 4.01. 8.0 Acknowledgements For Directory Freedom 4.0, special thanks go to my beta testers: Don Dougherty, Robert Ramsdell, John Windhorst, and Jack Lupic. Blame me for any bugs you find, but rest assured that there would be many more without the efforts of these testers. I would also like to thank the many other users whose suggestions have contributed greatly to the advancement of DF and, of course, those who have registered their copies and made the Shareware concept work. In addition to the above testers, the "inhabitants" of the Ilink Shareware Relay have been especially forthcoming with many suggestions for improvements and new features. Finally, I would like to thank the sysops of my "home" BBS (Channel One), Brian Miller and Tess Hedder, and Bud Napier of the Future Technology BBS. DF 1.00 was based extensively on Peter Esherick's source code from DC rev 1.05b with the additional help of some code from Brad Stephenson's DR26 program. Peter has also been kind enough to share some DC code fixes with me for incorporation into DF. Peter can be contacted at the following: Albuquerque PC Users' Group Albuquerque RBBS 296-7672, John Maio, sysop ARPANET: esheric@SANDIA.GOV Directory Freedom 4.0 24 9.0 Revision history DF VERSION 4.00 DF Enhancements: Time / Date change functions added (current or user-entered) Switch added to user-defined commands which allows for multiple sequential execution against multiple files Mouse cursor emulation integrated (DFM no longer used) Command line (and Change Directory) now accept a wildcard file mask Significantly improved critical error handling Personics Ultravision compatibility Edit Volume Name function Print directory function Minor changes to the display -- primarily to improve readability on monochrome systems Right-Shift Menu added for additional user-defined keys SmartViewers added -- Viewing a file (<Enter>) runs a user-defined program as a function of the file extension Menu displays dynamically change from Alt to LShift depending upon the Secondary Menu key defined User-defined Create Archive function added Option to disable viewing of user-defined attributes (e.g. Hidden) 25 line and 43/50 line display toggle added Various changes made to the shell routines (including File Control Block support). This should increase shell reliability with an even greater range of programs. On-line help added Confirm of Moves/Copies of multiple marked file to other than a directory added Autosense for extended keyboards added Second menu color added Destination <- Source and Source <- Destination functions added Separate program (ZIPVIEW [ZV]) written to allow the viewing of text files within ZIP files. This is a separate program, but fits well with DF's new SmartViewers. DF Bug Fixes: Expanded user-defined command lines were being truncated at 43 characters (actually fixed in DF350B, but this was not a general release) Problem with deleting default destination directory finally fixed (hopefully) Problem with sort routine in some long directory sorts corrected Some continuing problems with the Alt-F7 (Directory Size) function corrected Various changes made to memory sensing so program doesn't run if there isn't enough memory (and vice versa) Grey <Enter> key now works properly when extended keyboard enabled Command line critical errors are now handled properly Refresh on empty disk no longer causes a hang Volume label display bug fixed (not all volume labels were displayed correctly) Fixed bug which caused unnecessary destination directory access when Verify On Floppy Write was set DFCONFIG changes: Directory Freedom 4.0 25 Note: In addition to the changes explicitly listed here, others were made to support features explicitly listed above and are not repeated in this section. Rewritten for TCXL 5.51 libraries Critical error handler added Improved display for monochrome monitors Ultravision compatibility Ability to read in settings from older DF (4.0 and later) files. This obviously doesn't do much for you right now, but it brings the functionality from CONVERT into DFCONFIG. As part of the general rewrite and junking of CONVERT, previous problems of occasional DF file corruption by one or the other program should be eliminated. Administrivia: Lots of changes to the archive contents. ZV and ND are included. The PC Magazine high-level shell (RN/RF) is not. I now recommend Prune from PC Magazine as the high-level shell. Patch instructions to allow Prune to call DF are included in the documentation. Users who order a disk will receive all software. These changes were made for either archive size, licensing, or need (i.e. the functionality has moved into DF or DFCONFIG) reasons. Significant documentation rewrite DF VERSION 3.50A DFCONFIG problems with LShift/Alt and Extended keyboard support fixed Volume label display -- period eliminated for names over 8 characters User-defined command lines -- The character after the ~ was being skipped. Corrected. New RF adapted from RN 2.0 to address problems with >32MB partitions under DOS 4.0. DF VERSION 3.50 General cleanup of shell routines should result in more reliable operation for a wider range of programs (user-defined and Run a Program) Parameters can be inserted at runtime in user-defined functions Optional support for F11/F12 added to user-defined functions Checks added to path length (63 characters max) and length of user command lines when expanded (i.e. file names filled in, etc.) to prevent overruns Menu moved to avoid conflict with long destination path names Information added to display: number of highlighted entry, total number of entries, bytes in subdirectory, and volume name of the working drive Some problems with cursor positioning and other oddities in empty directories, along with cursor problems when deleting directories, eliminated Problems when default directory was deleted eliminated >10MB of tagged files now display properly Internal file viewer finally fixed properly (Thanks to Peter Esherick for sharing his fix in DC with me) Additional Verify option (ON when copying to floppy only) Directory Freedom 4.0 26 The left-shift can optionally replace Alt as a hot key for improved interoperability with DESQView Date/Time sorting fixed (Time wasn't sorting in most descending order within a particular date) P-Copy message fixed Major documentation rework. Also the printed manual is now "desktop publishing quality" Various changes in included programs (for license and other reasons) Message added when shelling to DOS CONVERT has been updated and will also bring over color modifications from earlier revisions DF VERSION 3.01 Made modifications to the DOS EXEC functions which should allow a wider range of programs to run from the shell (Control-Fn functions) without problems Eliminated problem with changing to and operating on directories with extensions Corrected problem which caused viewer to PgDn one too many lines Directory attribute changes now work properly Cursor positioning (and associated problems) which occurred when all files in a root directory were deleted is now fixed A potential problem with the Directory Size function which would result in not popping back up to the parent directory if the parent were not sorted at the top of the subdirectory was eliminated The latest FV (1.22) for viewing archives has been added to the DF archive CONVERT has been made more general purpose and can convert either Rev 2.20 or 3.00 to the current rev. This will be continued with future DF revs DFCONFIG has been relinked with the latest revision of Mike Smedley's CXL function library (5.1). This should be transparent to the user. DF VERSION 3.00 DIRECTORY FREEDOM is now SHAREWARE (fully functional) Added directory functions -- create, size, delete, rename, change attributes Space bar will function as Mark/Unmark for greater consistency with the way other similar programs operate Added a "soft" beep option (configurable in DFCONFIG) Added a Verify On/Off/No Change option (configurable in DFCONFIG) The full path and name for DF.COM can now be specified at the DFCONFIG command line (i.e. the name of DF.COM can be changed and DFCONFIG does not need to run from the same directory) Corrected bug which caused attribute changes to sometimes not "catch" on the first try Moved menu to avoid overwrites by long destination path names Fixed shell bug which could cause DF's attributes to be used by programs run in a shell Added "forced move" option (i.e. a move which will overwrite even if the destination file name already exists) Fixed the wording of the shell return Returns from shell to re-read directory -- cursor will now sit on the original file if it still exists Directory Freedom 4.0 27 Sort by size order is now sorted in descending order (so that files can be more efficiently copied to multiple diskettes) Added two more auxiliary programs to the archive: Buerg's FV: View all types of archives with one command DFM: A PC Mag MOUSEKEY derivative to allow the use of mouse movement and mouse buttons with DF Major rewrite of the documentation "Cleanup" of DFCONFIG to warn of exits without saving, etc. DF version 2.20 Added some memory management fixes from Peter Esherick to GET_MEM and the MAIN initialization routine Added Reread Directory switch to DF and DFCONFIG Modified DFCONFIG to accommodate significant changes in Michael Smedley's C function libraries (TCXL 3.3 to CXL 5.0) Added mouse support for menu selection to DFCONFIG Added sample color window when configuring DF's colors in DFCONFIG DF version 2.11 Fixed problem introduced by longer user-defined command lines in version 2.10. User functions can now be defined properly. DF version 2.10 Fixed shell problem with the CTRL-F5 key (Prompt to continue appeared before the execution of the shell rather than after) Added configuration (through DFCONFIG) of a default sort option - name, extension, size, date, or original (unsorted) Lengthened allowable command line which can be configured DF version 2.00 User defined shell commands are now configured through DFCONF2.EXE including user defined names for menus and user defined pause after shell execution; environment variables no longer used Attribute modification functions added CONTROL-key menu added to accommodate all this new stuff, along with other modifications to the existing menus; user-defined commands are now separate in the CONTROL menu Fixed bug with reading parameters when Running a Program DF version 1.00 Alternative ALT-key menu added Shell to List, Edit, Unarc, Unarc view, and run program added with program information specified in environment variables Directory Freedom 4.0 28 10.0 Appendix A: User-defined Commands This section shows just a sample of some of the command lines which myself and other users of DF have come up with to make our computing a bit easier. As stated earlier, many of the programs listed in this Appendix are Shareware. As such, you can fully try out these programs (subject to the limitations, if any) in their individual license agreements. If you find them useful, however, you are expected to register them with the individual authors. Most of these programs should be readily available from private electronic bulletin boards, Information Services such as Compuserve, and disk vendors such as PC-SIG. If you can't find a particular program, I may be able to help, but some of the command lines in this Appendix were contributed by other users so I do not have all (or the latest versions of) some of the software listed here. Thanks to Don Dougherty, Robert Ramsdell, and Shakib Otaqui for contributing to this section. Editors and Word Processors pe ~ [IBM Professional Editor ?] me ~ [Multi-Edit] q ~ [Qedit] word ~ [Microsoft Word] wp ~ [Word Perfect] Virus Detection chk4bomb ~|list/s scan ~ /nomem Listing Files These programs tend to have complicated switches; you may well want different settings than in these examples] 4print ~ -h -s [Print 2 to a page on Laserjet] cl -!i~ > prn: [Clist] lp ~ lpt1: /N /132 [Norton Line Print] Other lzeshell ~ [Create compressed executable file] fv ~ /p [View any archive] pkunzip ~ [Extract archive to default directory] pkunzip ~ s:\ [Extract archive to s: drive] 4dos [Execute 4DOS command shell] cs ~ [Run Telix script compiler] Viewers list ~ [LIST for general-purpose viewer] smooth ~ [SMOOTH for general-purpose viewer] zv ~ [ZV for .ZIP] vpic ~ [VPIC for .GIF] Directory Freedom 4.0 29 wpdraw ~ [Word Perfect Draw for .WPG] playrol ~ bank.bnk [Plays Adlib sound files (.ROL) with bank.bnk instrument file) Archiver Command The default command line for the archiver is: pkzip -a @dfzip998 ' The @dfzip998 is a temporary file which DF creates to hold the filenames to be archived. You shouldn't mess with this. The -a switch can be changed to -ao to create an archive, the time/date stamp of which is equal to the time/date stamp of the most recent file in the archive as opposed to the current time/date. Directory Freedom 4.0 30 11.0 Appendix B: Patching Instructions As noted earlier, RF and PRUNE are no longer included in the general distribution archive. This section describes how to patch PC Magazine's RN and PRUNE to call DF instead of the default DR. An alternate method of achieving the same effect is to rename DF.COM to DR.COM. The instructions in this section are valid as of the specified revs of the RF.COM and PRUNE.COM which were downloaded from Compuserve on 20 November 1990. This section is not intended to be a tutorial on patching programs. The changes detailed in this section can be made with any byte- level editor such as DISKEDIT or NU in the Norton Utilities or even DEBUG. As always, make sure that you have a backup of the original program before you start messing around with its bytes! RN.COM Instructions apply to RN.COM, Revision 2.0 (4676 bytes). At offset 029Ah old: 52 2F 45 0D 00 new: 46 0D 00 00 00 At offset 043Bh old: 52 new: 46 The above changes alters DR references to DF and changes the command line which spawns DR/O to a command line which spawns DF with no arguments. PRUNE.COM Instructions apply to PRUNE.COM, Revision 1.0 (7388 bytes). At offset 0093h: old: 52 new: 46 At offset 0633h: old: 52 new: 46 The above changes DR references to DF references. I also have patched versions of these programs which will call DF by pressing the <Enter> key. These patches required modification of the source code and I will include them on any update disks I distribute. Directory Freedom 4.0 31 12.0 Appendix C: Site Licenses Site Licenses are available for DF. The rates below are for a "basic" site license. This includes registration for the specified number of copies and support through a single specified individual. I will, however, be happy to address specific requirements such as update subscriptions and support through multiple persons. $20 1 registration $18 2-5 registrations $16 6-9 $14 10-19 $12 20-29 $10 30-99 $8 100 and up Unlimited $2500 The above schedule means that the first copy is $20, the 2nd through 5th copies are $18, and so forth. (The exception is the unlimited license which represents the total license cost.) My terms read support through a single person, though I'm flexible within reason. (i.e. I won't hang up the phone on anyone who isn't the "official" contact, but I would start to get unhappy if I were to start getting dozens of calls with setup questions.) DF is currently licensed by a wide range of companies and government agencies. I'd like to add you to the list! For more information, contact Gordon Haff at: Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westboro, MA 01581 Tele: (508) 898-3321 Compuserve: 72561,2637 Directory Freedom 4.0 32 13.0 Appendix D: Keystrokes for Data-entry Screens LeftArrow.........cursor left RightArrow........cursor right UpArrow...........cursor up DownArrow.........cursor down Ctrl-LeftArrow....word left Ctrl-RightArrow...word right Tab...............field right Shift-Tab.........field left Enter.............process field Ctrl-Enter........process all fields Decimal (.).......move to right side of decimal point Home..............beginning of field End...............end of field line / end of field Ctrl-Home.........beginning of first field Ctrl-End..........end of last field Ins...............toggle field insert mode Del...............delete character at cursor BackSpace.........delete character left Ctrl-BackSpace....delete word left Ctrl-R............restore field to original contents Ctrl-T............delete word right Ctrl-U............delete to end of field Ctrl-Y............delete to end of last field Esc...............abort data entry Directory Freedom 4.0 33 13.0 Index Refresh field 16 Registration iv, v .. 6, 13 Rename file 7 Attributes 8, 11, 14 RF 22, 30 Attributes (switches) 17 RN 22, 30 Attributes, displaying 20 Run a program 7, 11 AUTOEXEC.BAT 2, 3 RV 22 CGA 5, 19 SET command (DOS) 3 CO 1 Set file date/time 8 Color modification 17 Settings, reading in 3 Command line 5, 17 Shareware iv, v COMSPEC 3 Site licenses 31 Copy file 6 SmartViewers 8, 10, 14 Create a directory 7 Snow 5, 19 Create archive 8 Sort 5, 7 CXL 23 Sorting 19 Data entry 15, 32 Sound 18 Data fields 16 Subdirectories 6, 9 DC (Directory Control) 1 Support vi Delete file 7 Swap video mode 8 DESQView 12, 19 TCXL 23 DFCONFIG 3, 5, 10, 11, 13 Technical support vi Directory size 7 TSR programs 11 Distribution vi Ultravision 12, 14 DOS Shell 7, 11 User-defined Commands 8 DR 1 Verify 5, 18 Editors 22 Video mode 20 Environment variable 3 ZipView (ZV) 11, 21 Exit 6 Extended keyboard 8, 20 Filename insertion 15, 16 FV 22 Help screen 8 Installation 2 Internal viewer 8, 10 Keyboard, extended 20 Keystrokes 15, 32 LIST 9, 10, 22 LZEXE 14 Mark 6, 12 Mouse support 9, 14 Move file 7 Multi? field 17 ND 21 Parameter inserion 16 Parameter insertion 15 Path 2 Pathnames 5 Pause? field 16 PCMAGNET 22, 30 PKLITE 14 PKUNZIP 16 Print 8, 21 PRUNE 22, 30 Registration for Directory Freedom 4.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To register, please return this form with your registration check or money order (Purchase orders are also accepted) to : Gordon Haff Bit Masons Consulting 3205 Windsor Ridge Dr. Westborough, MA 01581 Phone: (508) 898-3321 Name ____________________________________ Address _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Phone (_____)_____-______ Where did you get DF 4.00 from: BBS / Service Name ______________________ Number (_____)_____-______ ____ DF 4.00 Registration w/ diskette........... @ $ 25.00 ea $ _______ (Includes a license for one user, diskette w/ DF and all associated files, and product support.) ____ DF 4.00 Registration ...................... @ $ 20.00 ea $ _______ (Includes a license for one user and product support; No diskette or hard-copy documentation.) ____ DF 4.00 Registration w/ diskette/docs/upd.. @ $ 40.00 ea $ _______ (Includes Registration and product support plus: A diskette with DF and all associated files Laser-printed documentation One free update diskette) ____ DF Update w/ diskette only................. @ $ 5.00 ea $ _______ (Includes diskette with latest DF and all associated files REGISTERED USERS ONLY) ____ DF Update w/ diskette and docs ............ @ $ 15.00 ea $ _______ (As above plus laser-printed documentation. REGISTERED USERS ONLY) (*) Non-North American shipping ............... @ $ 5.00 $ _______ (Payments must be in US Dollars) TOTAL Enclosed ......................................... $ ____________ If a diskette is being ordered: 3.5" ____ 5.25" ____ (*) Non-North American orders should please include $5.00 extra to cover additional shipping and handling charges ONLY if a diskette and/or manual is being ordered. Please send all payments payable in U.S. Dollars. Canadian customers may use Canadian postal money orders in dollar denominations. We regret that we are unable to accept credit cards at this time. Feel free to attach any other comments or instructions (e.g. program features you'd like to see, or don't send a copy of the program until the next major rev, etc.) Note that the update options are: 1) Only available to users who have registered a previous revision of Directory Freedom and 2) Only required of registered users if they wish a copy of the latest revision on disk and/or a printed manual. In other words, this is a Materials/S&H charge for sending out the latest revision. Registered users of DF who have obtained the latest rev from other sources (e.g. a BBS) are under no obligation to pay an upgrade fee for the use of that rev. (Of course, this revision will be mailed out automatically to those users for whom it represents their free update.) If you or your organization would like a Software Subscription Service so as to receive the latest copies direct from the author as soon as they become available, you may pay for multiple updates at the time of the initial order and, by so doing, will be automatically placed on the list for the appropriate number of future update mailings. If you have special requirements in this area, please call or write. We will try our best to accommodate your needs.