Windows Expert/Windows Expert.iso/desktop/deus.zip/README

Text File | 1991-04-24 | 4KB | 81 lines

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//        deus ex machina (version 0.9999999999 +/- 0.0000000001)
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    Enclosed is a program that I wrote over the past couple of
weekends.  It is a mac-like interface for windows 3.0 that uses the
dos tree structure to emulate the finder.

    Here are some quick notes...

    You can click and drag icons(& folders) into and out of windows
and the appropriate move will take place.  (Holding down the control
key does a copy).  Also during any move/copy you can switch to
another program since it time slices on a per-file basis.  (So if you
copy lots of small files you'll have control most of the time.
Copying large files is done in one shot so it will yield much less.)
You can also cancel any move/copy in the middle and the program will
clean up what it has done.  The File Manager that ships with Windows
3.0 does not do this - it just halts and lets you pick up the pieces.
    Since there is no direct provision for binding resources to a
file as on the macintosh, d_ex will create a file called
"DESKTOP.DSK" to store the information it needs.  Right now I store
the file in each subdirectory.  The resources that are "bound"
include icons and descriptions.  There is a file stored on the root
of the drive which will store a list of icons.  You can point to a
file and then choose Use Icon...  Also, you can set up associations
so that an extension will automatically show a certain icon - this is
the main way I intended the program to be used.  You can bind a
description to a file so that the text on the screen has <= 40
characters instead of the 8.3 of DOS.  i.e. instead of Q4TH.123 you
can have "fourth quarter, (123)"
    You can automatically have a program run based upon the extension
of a file.  It's a two step process to do this.  First, go into the Icon
Association menu.  Create the extension you want with the add button.
(you can give it a default icon here)  Then go into the Run associate menu
(after pointing to the program you want to run in one of the windows).
A text box will ask for the extension to associate with the program.
Voila, - that's it.  Now when you double click on a file with the
appropriate extension, the original .EXE program will open with  the
data file.
    There are some bugs (known to me) that I have not
    cleaned up yet; most are fairly superficial:

    1. Moving a folder to another will not update the
       descendants of the source folder on the screen
       (there path changes and therefore they become
       invalid - the File Manager has the same problem
       and just says something like "Invalid directory..." )

    2. There is a limit to 555 files per folder.
       It's just an arbitrary number that I will change one
       day.

    3.  There is a limit of 50 associations

    4.  When you copy a file from one folder to another
        and it has an icon bound to it by hand, the icon
        will not show up in the destination folder.  This
        is because the icons are not bound to the file but
        rather to the DESKTOP.DSK file which does not get
        updated.

    5.  I don't know how to rename directories - only files
        work now.

    6.    If you delete the assoc or icons.all files, strange
        things will occur (like crashes) right now - unless
        you delete all of the DESKTOP.DSK files.

    Any comments will be appreciated.
    Send to compuserve # 72277,171 and address to scot.


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