Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/011/gwhiz.arc/G-WHIZ.DOC

Text File | 1986-01-20 | 7.9 KB | 178 lines

G-WHIZ   Copyright (c) 1985, Gordon Waite


This program has been distributed to you through the "SHAREWARE"
concept.  If you like this program, and find it useful, please send
a contribution of $10 to the author.  This money, pooled with
other users' contributions, allows the author to continue writing
more programs for YOU!  Also, feel free to share copies of this
program with your friends and associates, provided that you do not
charge for those copies.  Thanks for your support!


G-WHIZ is a multi-function program which expands on the capabilities
of its forerunners, GCOPY and GDEL.  G-WHIZ allows you to perform four
functions: file copying, deletion, movement, and printing.  You are
shown a menu of files on the selected drive, or directory.  You mark
those files that are to be "processed" and G-WHIZ proceeds to perform
the selected task on all of those files.

G-WHIZ can be invoked with command line parameters.  Its usage
follows:

 g-whiz [/b] [/action] [source path specifier] [target path specifier]

The /b option is for users with a special hardware configuration.
G-WHIZ detects what kind of video card your computer is running by
examining internal switch settings.  If it finds a color graphics
card, G-WHIZ sends color out to your screen.  If it finds a monochrome
interface, only monochrome attributes are sent out.  Some users are
running monochrome monitors with a color graphics interface.  (For
example, the Compaq portable is like this!)  With this combination,
G-WHIZ would send out color attributes, and some of those colors won't
be visible on the monochrome screen.  To get around this problem, the
/b option forces G-WHIZ to send out only monochrome attributes, even
though the computer has a color graphics interface.  So if you try to
run G-WHIZ, and it seems like part of the text is missing, try using
the /b option when you run the program.

Valid action options are /c to copy files, /m to move files, /p to
print files, and /d to delete files.  The source and target specifiers
may include full path names.  The source specifier may contain
wildcards which define the files that will be displayed.

In all cases, the parameters are optional.  If G-WHIZ is executed with
an incomplete parameter list, the program will prompt for all of the
information that is needed.  If the action option is left out, you
will immediately be given a menu, allowing for selection of one of the
four actions.  The action option may appear anywhere in the argument
list, but the source path specifier must precede the target path
specifier.


Examples of G-WHIZ usage:

1.  g-whiz ?

    This will cause G-WHIZ to display a screen which shows a summary
    of correct usage for the program.

2.  g-whiz

    This will cause G-WHIZ to first display a menu of the four
    actions.  After choosing an action, the program will prompt for a
    source path/file specifier and, if needed, a target directory.
    After this information is given, the program will display the list
    of specified files, allowing you to mark those of interest.  Then
    the program will perform the desired action on the files.

3.  g-whiz a:*.* b: /c

    This will immediately display all of the files in the default
    directory of the A: drive.  After you mark the files, they will be
    copied to the default directory on the B: drive.

4.  g-whiz /p c:*.txt

    G-WHIZ will display all of the files on the C: drive which end
    with a .TXT extension.  After you mark the files, each will be
    printed on the currently selected system printer.

5.  g-whiz c:\develop\*.bas c:\archive /m

    G-WHIZ will display all of the .BAS files from the directory
    C:\DEVELOP. After you mark the files, they will be copied to the
    directory C:\ARCHIVE, then deleted from the C:\DEVELOP directory.

6.  g-whiz /d

    Since you failed to specify a source directory and file specifier,
    G-WHIZ will first ask for that information.  Then the program will
    display the names of those files, allowing you to mark those files
    which are to be deleted.  You will be given an opportunity to exit
    without actually deleting the files.  If you really want to delete
    the files, G-WHIZ will go ahead with the deletion process at your
    command.

7.  g-whiz /b

    G-WHIZ will run with menus, and all displayed characters will be
    sent out with monochrome attributes only.



The File Marking Process:

After G-WHIZ presents the file list, you may do any of several things.
Pressing the F1 key will bring up a HELP SCREEN, which describes these
possible actions.  Pressing the F3 key will cause the program to sort
the file names and re-display.  The F4 key causes a file name sort on
just the extension.

You can move the highlight bar around in the file list by using the
cursor keys, and the HOME and END key.  When the highlight bar is over a
file that you want to process, the file can be marked by pressing any
alphabetic or numeric key.  When the file is marked, a little double
arrow will be displayed next to the file name.  If a file is to be
unmarked, just position the highlight bar over the file name, and press
the space bar.  The mark will disappear.

If you are examining a large directory, not all of the files may fit
on one screen.  In this case, G-WHIZ will display a message telling
you that more files are available on further screens.  Use the PgUp
and PgDn keys to move between the screens of a large directory.

For certain actions, such as copying the files to another disk, it is
handy to see how much space your marked files take up.  To see this,
just press the F2 key at any time.  If you decide you want to
terminate the program at any time, just press the ESC key.

During file copying, the files will be copied in the order that they
appear on the screen.  If the F3 key is used to sort the file names
prior to copying, the files can be transferred to the new disk in
alphabetical order.


Other Notes:


The first screen that comes up contains a copyright notice.  The
program pauses at this time, and won't continue until you press a key.
This pause gives you a chance to change the disks which you have
loaded in the drives.  This allows you to run G-WHIZ from one utility
disk, then change disks to work with your files.

At any time, during any action, the program may be stopped by pressing
the ESC key.  This is especially handy when printing or moving a large
number of files!

During the copy process, the file dates are not changed in the new
copies.  That is, the newly created files will show the same date as
the original files.

The file printing function is very simple.  Each file is printed with
blank lines at the top of the page.  Then the program will print
information including the full path name of the file, the file's time
and date stamp, and the current date.  Then comes the body of the text
file.  At the bottom of each page, the program will leave three blank
lines.  Each page of the file will have this format.  The program will
do a form-feed between files.  If you terminate action during the
middle of the printing, the program will move the paper to the top of
the next page.

You should remember to set up your printer mode (compressed, boldface,
etc.) prior to running the G-WHIZ program.  If you try to print a
binary file, or a file with lines which extend past the edge of the
page, the results of the printing may be strange!

The program has numerous HELP SCREENS to remind you of what you can do
at any point.  These are available by pressing the F1 key or the
Alt-F1 combination.  To return from a help screen, just press any key.

If G-WHIZ encounters an error during execution, the program will
display an error message.  Typical errors are specifying a path or
directory that doesn't exist, or giving a file specifier that doesn't
match any files.  The program will terminate gracefully if you try to
copy or move files to a full disk.