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BINARY TOOLSHED GENERAL PRODUCT OVERVIEW MANUAL * * * * * * * The * * * * Binary * * * * Toolshed * * * * * ****** * * * * * * * Version 1.2 * * * July 2, 1992 * * * * * * ******** * TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Products From The Binary Toolshed ................................1 2.0 Packing List......................................................3 3.0 Installation and Setup............................................5 3.1 System Requirements...............................................5 3.2 Installation and Setup............................................5 3.3 Printing Manuals..................................................7 4.0 Recommended Start Procedure.......................................8 5.0 Program Conventions...............................................9 5.1 Overall Conventions...............................................9 5.2 Full Screen Program Conventions..................................12 5.3 Command Line Program Conventions.................................14 6.0 Sample Programs Provided.........................................16 6.1 ToolBOX Inferred Batch Files.....................................16 6.2.Sample Configuration Files.......................................19 6.3 DOS Batch Files..................................................20 6.4 MS Windows Data Files............................................22 APPENDIX A : Questions & Answers.....................................23 APPENDIX B : Glossary................................................26 General BTS Product Information Page 1 ____________________________________________________________________________ 1.0 Products From The Binary Toolshed The Binary Toolshed products include a number of programs for helping users work with DOS. Programs that are equally applicable to the novice as to the power user. They not only make using traditional DOS features easier, but provide features and facilities that are not available through DOS. This manual provides an overview of the aspects that are common to all of the programs. Discussions cover the suggested order for reading the associated documentation and generally becoming familiar with the material provided. Installation and setup procedures are described, as are conventions and features that are used throughout the products. The Appendices also provide answers to common operational questions, as well as a glossary. This manual covers both the shareware and registered versions of the product. Where differences exist, they are specifically identified. In the other manuals, this distinction is neither needed, nor provided. The registered product contains additional utilities that are not available with the shareware version, however those programs that are common to both products are functionally identical. The only differences being the cosmetic alterations required to identify one as the unregistered shareware version and the other as the registered version - feature wise the products are identical. The programs common to both the shareware and registered products are: TBOX The ToolBOX. The major program provided with the product. ToolBOX provides numerous features: file directory displays, point and shoot operations, single key activation of sets of commands, pass through DOS command line operation, reuse of command line text, quick access to recently entered directories, simultaneous directory and DOS window views, and much more. This shell program provides a platform for initiating other program operations, whether from the Binary Toolshed or other independent parties. TBOXCFG ToolBOX Configuration program. Configuration capability for the ToolBOX program including colors, directory display or sort formats, key bindings, title banner, and more. Configuration files are usable by the VIEW and TREE utilities as well as TBOX. BTSPATCH Provides the capability to set the default command line arguments for all Binary Toolshed programs. TOASCII Converts text files that use the extended IBM PC character set to use the standard 95 printable ASCII characters. General BTS Product Information Page 2 ____________________________________________________________________________ TREE Graphically displays the directory structure. The user can cursor through this structure to change directories or examine files. VIEW Displays the contents of text files for viewing or browsing. The following utility programs are provided with the registered product only: DIRS Displays disk space utilization for directory branches. It produces the cumulative totals for a directory and all of its descendants. DRIVES Displays disk drive parameters for all assigned drives. The presentation includes drive types, volume names, capacities, and free space available. MAKEBAT Creates batch files based on a template data file and a file match specification for applicable files. ONPATH Determines if specified files are accessible through the DOS PATH variable. WI A 'WhereIs' program. Finds specified files wherever they are located on the disk drive(s), and optionally carries out an operation on those files. The documentation for all the above programs, is included with the shareware product. All of the programs are independent and can be used without the others if desired. General BTS Product Information Page 3 ____________________________________________________________________________ 2.0 Packing List Files common to the shareware and the registered products: PROGRAMS TBOX .EXE The ToolBOX program TBOXCFG .EXE ToolBOX configurations program BTSPATCH.EXE Patch program for Binary Toolshed programs TOASCII .EXE Filter to convert extended PC characters to ASCII TREE .EXE Point and shoot directory traversal utility VIEW .EXE Text file browser DOCUMENTATION STRTHERE.DOC Quick introduction to program capabilities STRTHERE.BAT Invokes VIEW to present contents of STRTHERE.DOC. CHANGES .DOC Description of program changes for each version. GENERAL .DOC Discussion of common program aspects (this manual) ORDRINFO.DOC Product distribution and support issues ORDER .FRM Template for placing orders TBOX .DOC User Manual for the TBOX program TBOXCFG .DOC User Manual for the TBOXCFG program UTILS .DOC User Manual for BTSPATCH, DIRS, DRIVES, MAKEBAT, ONPATH, TOASCII, TREE, VIEW, and WI programs SAMPLE FILES (Contained in the self extracting SAMPLE.EXE file) SAMPLE-A.CFG Sample configuration file SAMPLE-B.CFG Sample configuration file TBX--xxx.BAT Sample deferred batch files for point and shoot operations ( <RETURN> ) on files with an xxx extension, where xxx is any of: ARC ARJ BAS CMF FLI GIF GL LZH PAK PCX SDN VOC WFW WK1 WP ZIP ZOO TBXA-xxx.BAT Sample deferred batch files for point and shoot operations ( <ALT-RETURN> ) on files with an xxx extension, where xxx is any of: ARC ARJ LZH PAK SDN ZIP ZOO General BTS Product Information Page 4 ____________________________________________________________________________ TBXC-xxx.BAT Sample deferred batch files for point and shoot operations ( <CTRL-RETURN> ) on files with an xxx extension, where xxx is any of: ARC ARJ LZH PAK SDN ZIP ZOO TIR .BAT Configures TBOX as a replacement for DOS DIR D1 .BAT Sample to limit DIRS display to first level CLEAN .BAT Demonstrates use of WI to delete temporary files WI-COPY .BAT Demonstrates use of WI to copy files WI-RUN .BAT Demonstrates use of WI to execute files WI-VIEW .BAT Demonstrates use of WI to view files ZRUN.BAT.BAT Simulate TBOX's unzip operation from DOS BTS .GRP MS Windows Group file BTS utilities BTS .ICO MS Windows 3.0 Icon - Binary Toolshed logo TREE .ICO MS Windows 3.0 Icon - Simulated TREE display VIEW .ICO MS Windows 3.0 Icon - Simulated VIEW display TBOX .ICO MS Windows 3.0 Icon - Simulated ToolBOX display TREE .PIF MS Windows 3.0 Program Information File - TREE VIEW .PIF MS Windows 3.0 Program Information File - VIEW TBOX .PIF MS Windows 3.0 Program Information File - ToolBOX BTS .PIF MS Windows 3.0 PIF - BTS Startup documentation TREE-F .PIF MS Windows 3.0 PIF - TREE (Full screen) VIEW-F .PIF MS Windows 3.0 PIF - VIEW (Full screen) TBOX-F .PIF MS Windows 3.0 PIF - ToolBOX (Full screen) The following files exist only with the registered product: PROGRAMS DIRS .EXE Directory branch space allocation display utility DRIVES .EXE Drive space allocation display utility MAKEBAT .EXE Creates batch files from a template ONPATH .EXE Determines if files(s) are accessible on the PATH WI .EXE Finds file(s) anywhere on one or more drives General BTS Product Information Page 5 ____________________________________________________________________________ 3.0 Installation and Setup 3.1 System Requirements The BTS program family requires: DOS : 3.0 or higher. Tested with DOS 3.0 through 5.0, DR DOS 5.0, and 4DOS. Memory : All programs will function within 100KB of free memory. Programs such as TBOX, TBOXCFG, and VIEW can, and will take advantage of additional available memory. VIDEO : MDA, CGA, EGA, or VGA. DISK : no specific requirements. 3.2 Installation and Setup Installation for the Binary Toolshed programs is essentially accomplished by moving the program and data files to the directories where they can be accessed. Place the: o executables and batch files (*.EXE, *.BAT) in a directory referenced by the PATH variable. o configuration files (*.CFG) in any directory that can be referenced later. o icon (*.ICO) and pif (*.pif) files in a directory where they can be referenced by the MS Windows program. o documentation files (*.DOC and *.FRM) where they can be referenced later. The following example demonstrates an installation for the self extracting version of the registered program. The compressed program is initially contained in the a:\BTS12.EXE file. The following example demonstrates a possible installation procedure: c: md \bts cd \bts a:\bts12 samples.exe del samples.exe rename strthere.bat strthere.tmp copy *.bat c:\bin copy *.exe c:\bin del *.bat del *.exe rename strthere.tmp strthere.bat General BTS Product Information Page 6 ____________________________________________________________________________ The example: o creates an empty directory (BTS) on drive C: and moves into it. This directory will ultimately just contain reference data; the programs will be copied elsewhere. o the distribution files are placed in this directory by decompressing the single distribution file. o except for the SAMPLE.EXE file, all of the decompressed files are usable immediately. The SAMPLES.EXE file is a self- extracting file containing the individual sample files. If you want these files, execute the SAMPLE.EXE program. o copies all of the executables to a directory on the PATH (C:\BIN assumed). SAMPLE.EXE is pre-deleted as it has already served its usefulness. o the *.BAT and *.EXE files are deleted as a general policy for eliminating duplicate files. This will not only reduce space requirements, but will ensure there are no problems later with identifying which programs have been updated or reconfigured. STRTHERE.BAT is temporarily renamed to prevent it from being copied and deleted with the other .BAT files. The installation is essentially complete. This leaves the *.CFG, *.DOC, *.ICN, and *.PIF files in the C:\BTS directory. These are all reference files that need not be on the PATH. Refer to Section 6 for examples on how to utilize these files. The product version and distribution method may alter this process slightly. For the shareware version of the product, the self extracting file referenced in the fourth line is TBOX12.EXE. If you received the shareware version from a bulletin board, the single distribution file is likely compressed. Use the appropriate decompression program in line four. Ensure that COMMAND.COM exists in a directory on the path (you can use the ONPATH utility to test). It is not sufficient that the COMSPEC environment variable simply be directed to it. No changes are required to the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files, however there are advantages with DOS 3 to using the ANSI.SYS driver. These advantages are discussed in the ToolBOX User Manual. Refer to your DOS User Manual for instructions on adding this driver to your CONFIG.SYS file. The ToolBOX program can use the TEMP environment variable to identify a disk swap directory. Use the DOS SET command if this is applicable. If desired, use the BTSPATCH and TBOXCFG programs to change the startup settings for the other programs. General BTS Product Information Page 7 ____________________________________________________________________________ The TREE program is the only utility that may need help during installation. As explained in the UTILITIES User Manual, if the data file created on the initial startup exists on a RAMDISK or in a directory that is not normally on the PATH, then move it to a permanent directory that is always on the PATH. Also, be aware that the TREE command name conflicts with DOS TREE command. To prevent the conflict either ensure that the directory with the Binary Toolshed TREE program precedes the DOS directory on the PATH, or simply rename the DOS program (for example to TREE-DOS.COM). Note that if both the BTS TREE.EXE and the DOS TREE.COM exist in the same directory, DOS will give precedence to the .COM version. 3.3 Printing Manuals All of the manuals provided are formatted for 60 lines per page, form feeds, and contain characters from the IBM PC extended character set. This is compatible with most laser printers and dot matrix printers. To print the ToolBOX user manual, use the DOS commands: COPY TBOX.DOC PRN or PRINT TBOX.DOC If your printer does not support the extended characters, use the TOASCII utility to convert the extended characters to standard ASCII equivalents. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for specifics. For example, to print the ToolBOX manual directly: TOASCII <TBOX.DOC >PRN or to create an intermediate temporary file first TOASCII <TBOX.DOC >TBOXTEMP.DOC COPY TBOXTEMP.DOC PRN General BTS Product Information Page 8 ____________________________________________________________________________ 4.0 Recommended Start Procedure This manual provides an overview of aspects that are common to all of the programs within the product. The programs themselves, however, are independent. Each has its own procedures and purpose. Each can function without the others. It is therefore possible to start with any of the programs. The following brief steps provide a logical order for examining each program. Note that the command line arguments and configuration capability available for most of the programs are optional. The factory defaults are adequate and suitable for most situations. a) start with the STRTHERE.DOC file to obtain a general appreciation for the capabilities of each program. b) read the balance of this manual to understand general concepts and procedures: how to select from menus, get Help, escape from operations, and so on. c) briefly try the following programs in order - TBOX, VIEW, DIRS, DRIVES, ONPATH, TREE, VIEW, and WI. The basic function of these programs is straight forward and fairly obvious without reading the documentation. d) read the Utilities User Manual. This will provide a deeper understanding of the utility programs already examined, as well as describe the purpose of the BTSPATCH, MAKEBAT, and TOASCII programs. e) read the ToolBOX User Manual. While ToolBOX is initially simple to use, there are an abundance of features available that are only apparent through reading the documentation. Use this information in conjunction with the sample files described in Section 6.0 to externally configure ToolBOX's point and shoot facility to incorporate applications that are specific to your environment. f) read the TBOXCFG program. Many users will never use the TBOXCFG program - the default settings are adequate. However, until you have read the TBOXCFG manual, you will not know the degree to which the ToolBOX program can be reconfigured, and the potential advantages in doing so. General BTS Product Information Page 9 ____________________________________________________________________________ 5.0 Program Conventions 5.1 Overall Conventions The programs and utilities can be categorized into two major classes: Full screen: TBOX, TBOXCFG, TREE, VIEW Command line: BTSPATCH, DIRS, DRIVES, MAKEBAT, ONPATH, TOASCII, and WI. As one would expect, the full screen programs present displays and menus through which the operator interacts to carry out a desired action or series of activities. The command line programs, however, receive all of their instructions through the initial command line arguments and proceed to completion based on this information. This section describes the conventions that are common to both types of programs. Those that apply specifically to the full screen or command line programs are described in Sections 5.2 and 5.3 respectively. COMMON CONVENTIONS ────────────────── documentation conventions [ | | | ] square brackets enclose optional items, of which one or none may be selected. <KEY STROKE> all keys to be struck simultaneously are enclosed in angle brackets. For example <ALT d>, <PG-DN> and <CTRL c>. command line arguments All programs accept command line arguments. Unless stated otherwise the rules are: o for the prefix character, either / or - may be used. Usually, as long as it doesn't lead to an ambiguity, the delimiting space between arguments and the leading prefix on the following argument can be eliminated. o order is not important except that if conflicting arguments are entered, priority is given to the last one entered. Where applicable, arguments from command lines within configuration files are assumed to occur at the spot the configuration file is referenced. General BTS Product Information Page 10 ____________________________________________________________________________ o case is not important unless specified otherwise, see [Xx] below. [Xx] command line arguments for turning features On/Off Many features are enabled or disabled by specifying an option in upper or lower case respectively. For example a number of utilities use: -P to request a pause at the end of each screen of information as it is presented. -p to disable pausing. This technique enables the setting of the defaults to either state through the BTSPATCH program. The settings have typically been selected so that the default is uppercase. That is, unless the defaults have been overridden, only the lowercase option need be entered on the command line. matchlist specification Virtually all programs accept a file match specification for selecting files for some purpose. In addition to the normal DOS file specification which employs wildcard characters (? to match any single character, and * to match 1 or more characters), BTS programs utilize an enhanced variation - matchlist specifications. These allow for multiple file inclusion and exclusion specifications within a directory. The matchlist specification is of the form: [d:][path][!]fileSpec [filespec]... As for a normal DOS file specification, the matchlist can accept an optional drive and path definition, and a file specification (which may contain embedded wildcards). The incremental features are: 1) multiple file specifications can be provided. 2) each file-specification can be preceded by an ! character. The ! identifies that files matching this specification should be excluded from files selected by previous file-specifications. If the ! occurs on the first specification, a leading *.* specification is assumed. This results in the selection of all files except those identified in the exclusion list. All file specifications pertain to the directory referenced by the initial path. General BTS Product Information Page 11 ____________________________________________________________________________ For example, to identify all the files in the DOS directory except the executables: c:\dos\!*.com !*.exe !*.bat Always refer to the specific documentation for each program to determine whether matchlist or file specifications are applicable. The context will determine whether the specification pertains only to files, or to files and directories. patchable by the BTSPATCH program The startup settings for the command line arguments for all utilities can be permanently altered by the BTSPATCH program. The defaults described throughout this manual assume the unpatched factory default state. filename extension defaults Where the matchlist specification is being used to simply select files for presentation purposes, the unstated file extensions are assumed to be equivalent to a .* extension. If no extension is desired, end the specification with a ".". The TBOXCFG program provides the only occurrence where a specific extension (CFG) is assumed for unstated extensions. Simply terminate the filename with a "." if no extension is desired. TBOX program usage To optimize processing, the factory default TBOX settings have override commands established for each of the Binary Toolshed utilities and most of the DOS commands which issue output. Typically this is to force a PAUSE on completion of command line utilities to retain the output data, and to establish the proper screen controls for the full screen utilities. program errorlevel return values All the Binary Toolshed programs return common program errorlevel values: 0 no file or directory changes, or matches 1 match found 2 unknown changes (typically DOS command executed) 3 change of directories 4 file changes 255 error condition. Problem not specified. These values can be used within the TBOXCFG flag settings for keybindings and command overrides. They can also be used within General BTS Product Information Page 12 ____________________________________________________________________________ DOS batch files. For example, the following batch file segment checks for at least 1 match (greater than or equal to 1) from a WI command: wi search.dat if errorlevel 1 GOTO GOTMATCH ... :GOTMATCH 5.2 Full Screen Program Conventions FULL SCREEN PROGRAMS (TREE, VIEW, TBOX, TBOXCFG) ────────────────────────────────────────────── error reporting For normal error conditions, the programs issue audible tones. The four tones used are described in detail below. For extremely serious violations (typically: Out of Memory) popup menus are generated which describe the problem and the available options. For many of these the only option is to terminate the program. For others such as "diskette drive not ready", simply use the retry option when the condition has been corrected. For memory violations where the user is allowed to proceed, it is still advisable to get out as quickly as possible as subsequent functions may encounter further and more severe difficulties. audible sounds Four different audible tones are used to reflect various error conditions: click signals attempts to cursor past the extremes of the window boundaries. chirp issued when program is unable to understand a keyboard request. Usually an unexpected character was entered. tribble indicates a requested operation could not be carried out. For example, a request to move to a drive that does not exist, insufficient memory to run program, etc. warble for serious problems that shouldn't have been feasible to fail or for which continued operation is questionable: a TSR program was run after ToolBOX, internal errors, etc. General BTS Product Information Page 13 ____________________________________________________________________________ These programs all have a -xa# command line argument through which any of the first three tones can be selectively disabled. The tree program has one additional tone: sproing occurs when the program detects that the actual directory structure differs from the recorded data file. An update is automatic- ally performed. standard cursor control and Help facility All programs use the traditional keys for entering text, or moving through menus and windows:, or other operations which are common across programs: <UP>, <DOWN>, <LEFT>, <RIGHT>, <PGUP>, <PGDN>, <END>, <END><END>, <HOME>, <HOME><HOME> - for cursoring through windows, menus and text. Note <END> moves to the last entry in the current window, while <END><END> moves to the last physical entry. <DEL>, <BACKSPACE>, <INS> - during entry of textual data, deletes the current character, the previous character, or toggles the insert/overstrike mode respectively. <RETURN> initiates an action on the selected entry, whether to select a menu option, change directories, etc. <ESC> cancels the current operation and returns to the previous state. <F1> produces a help screen. <CTRL c> and <CTRL BREAK> have no effect in these programs. Where possible, common functions across programs use the same keyboard codes. The general convention for most single key operations is to use ALT-letter keys, while CTRL-letter keys are reserved for customization by the user. alternate keys For user convenience, the Binary Toolshed programs use several keys that may not work under some circumstances - in particular for some lap tops, alternate BIOSs, or when working under MS Windows. Alternate keys are always available for the standard assignments as follows: General BTS Product Information Page 14 ____________________________________________________________________________ STANDARD KEY REPLACEMENT PROGRAM NOTES ════════════ ════════════ ════════════ ═══════════════════ <SHIFT LEFT> <CTRL LEFT> TBOX, TREE <SHIFT RIGHT> <CTRL RIGHT> TBOX, TREE <SHIFT UP> <CTRL HOME> TBOX, TREE <SHIFT DOWN> <CTRL END> TBOX, TREE <Mid Pad/5> <F5> TREE <ALT SPACE> <ALT = > TBOX reserved by windows <ALT RETURN> <ALT - > TBOX reserved by windows <CTRL RETURN> <ALT _ > TBOX video parameters All full screen programs are capable of operating with all varieties of video cards; adaptable for CGA, EGA, or VGA, for 25, 43, or 50 line modes, or with color, grayscale, or monochrome color tables. Each program has two command line arguments to set these attributes; -V to set the video format, and -C to choose the color table. Refer to the VIEW program documentation. configuration files The full screen programs (except TBOXCFG) can accept a config- uration file as created through the TBOXCFG program. The major component for the utility programs being the customized color tables, although the default-command-line-arguments and the banner data are also used. Data that is not applicable is simply ignored. The configuration file is specified as @cfgfile.cfg. The extension and directory path must be explicitly stated if applicable. 5.3 Command Line Program Conventions COMMAND LINE PROGRAMS (BTSPATCH,DIRS,DRIVES,MAKEBAT,ONPATH,TOASCII,WI) ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── command line redirection All programs direct their output to STDOUT. MAKEBAT and TOASCII receive their input from STDIN. The output from any of the utilities can be redirected to a file using the DOS redirection facility, i.e. appending the command line with: > filename.ext This is in fact the expected standard procedure for the MAKEBAT and TOASCII utilities. For these programs the input data can also be redirected, with: < filename.ext General BTS Product Information Page 15 ____________________________________________________________________________ errors and help All command line programs print a help screen showing their argument usage if any argument is entered that cannot be understood, or if the -? argument is entered. For errors during the execution phase, an error message (prefixed with "utility-name:") describing the problem is issued with the output data. sound The command line programs never produce sound, of any form. screen pauses By default, the WI and DIRS utilities produce paginated output and issue the industry standard "PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" message after each screenfull. If the response is <ALT P>, not only will this cause the output display to proceed, but it will also cancel all subsequent pauses. keyboard control Entering <CTRL c> or <CTRL BREAK> terminates the current program immediately and returns to the DOS prompt. General BTS Product Information Page 16 ____________________________________________________________________________ 6.0 Sample Programs Provided The self-extraction file SAMPLE.EXE contains a number of files that can be used in conjunction with the BTS programs. While each of these files is fully operational, their purpose is primarily to serve as examples. Each individuals requirements will determine if these files can be used as is, should be modified slightly, replaced with alternate files, or are simply not applicable. These files could have been created by any user. They were created using facilities that are available to everyone, and none of the BTS programs specifically expects or references these files. They demon- strate how each user can extend and augment the basic facilities of the BTS programs. 6.1 ToolBOX Inferred Batch Files Inferred batch files are DOS batch files that are invoked by ToolBOX during normal point and shoot operations. The referenced batch filename is a function of the keystroke used and some portion of the selected filename. Refer to the ToolBOX User Manual for specifics. As an example, if <RETURN> is used to select a file with a .GIF extension, then ToolBOX looks for the file TBX--GIF.BAT on the PATH. If it is found it is invoked, otherwise the selected file contents are displayed with the VIEW program. Inferred batch files are normally passed 6 arguments (the example assumes the selected file is C:\PICTURES\GERBILS.GIF in the current directory): Argument Description Example ──────── ──────────────────────────────── ──────────────────── %1 minimized pathname GERBILS.GIF %2 pathname C:\PICTURES\GERBILS.GIF %3 drive C %4 path \PICTURES %5 name GERBILS %6 extension GIF General BTS Product Information Page 17 ____________________________________________________________________________ BASIC POINT AND SHOOT OPERATIONS ════════════════════════════════ The following inferred batch files simply invoke a particular appli- cation program and pass it the selected filename. They themselves are invoked when a point and shoot operation using <RETURN> selects a file of the appropriate extension. For an extension of xxx, the batch file name is TBX--xxx.BAT. Extension Application Program (Vendor) Notes ───────── ──────────────────────────── ──────────────────────── BAS GWBASIC (Microsoft) Basic Program, [2] CMF PLAYCMF (Creative Music Labs) Sound Blaster music file FLI QUICKFLI (Dancing Flame) Autodesk animation files GIF VPIC (Bob Montgomery) Compuserve pictures [2] GL GRASPRT (Paul Mace) GRAphicS Animation interPReTer data files PCX PICEM (John Bridges) PC Paintbrush/Z-Soft pictures [2][3] VOC VPLAY (Creative Music Labs) Sound Blaster voice files WFW WINWORD (Microsoft) Word For Windows (invokes MS Windows) [4][5][6] WK1 123 (Lotus Development Corp) Spread Sheet files [6][7] WP WP (WordPerfect Corporation) Word processing docs [1][4][6] Notes: [1] extension may be used by other applications. [2] one of several possible application programs for this purpose. Change to suit availability or preferences. [3] requires customization for available hardware resources [4] extension established by convention and may therefore vary between users, i.e. is not enforced. [5] conventional extension is .DOC, .WFW is used to prevent ambiguity. Note invokes MS Windows, and then WINWORD. [6] requires customization for local directory organization [7] as 123 does not accept a file argument, the batch batch file simply starts the 123 program. Individual users may wish to modify the inferred batch files to insert specific paths for each application program, or add "change directory" commands. General BTS Product Information Page 18 ____________________________________________________________________________ POINT AND SHOOT OPERATIONS FOR COMPRESSED DATA FILES ════════════════════════════════════════════════════ This is similar to the above files except that all are related to working with one of the many forms of compressed files - whether zipped, arced, packed, etc. These batch files all function by extracting the contents of the selected data file into a pre-designated empty directory. From there, the files can be examined and used as desired. This technique makes it easy to store all seldom used applications, games, documentation files, etc. in a compressed form and only decompress when needed. It is never necessary to explicitly delete the individual decompressed files as they will be deleted by the next decompression operation. The steps performed by each of these inferred batch files (the predefined decompression directory is C:\EMPTY): 1) change directories to C:\EMPTY. 2) delete all of the files already there. 3) extract/decompress all the files within the selected compressed file into the current directory. 4) if the file START.BAT exists within the decompressed files, it is initiated. The inferred batch names are named TBX--xxx.BAT as above. Extension Application Program (Vendor) Notes ───────── ──────────────────────────── ──────────────────────── ARC PKXARC (PKWARE, Inc) arced ARJ ARJ (Robert K Jung) LZH derivative LZH LHA (Haruyasu Yoshizaki) Public domain PAK PAK (NoGate Consulting) packed SDN PAK (NoGate Consulting) packed, Shareware Data Net ZIP PKUNZIP (PKWARE, Inc) zipped ZOO ZOO (Rahul Dhesi) Two alternate forms of the above inferred files are provided; both without the START.BAT feature. If <ALT RETURN> is used rather than <RETURN>, then the corresponding batch file name is TBXA-xxx.BAT. This file functions in the same manner except that it does not pre-delete the files in C:\EMPTY. The new decompressed files are merged with the files already in C:\EMPTY. If <CTRL RETURN> is used rather than <RETURN>, then the corresponding batch file name is TBXC-xxx.BAT. This file just decompresses the selected file into the current directory. There is no attempt made to pre-delete files or change to the C:\EMPTY directory. General BTS Product Information Page 19 ____________________________________________________________________________ 6.2.Sample Configuration Files Two example configuration files are provided: SAMPLE-A.CFG and SAMPLE-B.CFG. They are identical except that SAMPLE-B.CFG uses the diamond () to designate selected files within the directory display rather than colors. This configuration may be more appropriate for grayscale or LCD screens. Since they are the same, only SAMPLE-A.CFG will be discussed. While primarily for ToolBOX, this configuration file can be used with the TREE and VIEW utilities as well. The sample file contains all items as described in the ToolBOX User Manual plus the following additions. BANNER NAME Changed to "SAMPLE-A" COLORS Changed for the COLOR table only. MONO and GRAYSCALE tables are unchanged. KEYBINDINGS ADDED (Note the programs referenced by these commands are not provided with the BTS product. These referenced programs are however, generally available and/or are replaceable by an equivalent program.) <CTRL D> Dumps the currently selected file in hex to a new file in the current directory with a .DMP extension. References the Borland TDUMP program. Serves as an example of re-issuing the keyboard command line for each selected file. <CTRL E> Edits the currently selected file. References the PC Magazine TED (Tiny Text Editor) utility. <CTRL L> Uses the LIST utility (from Vernon D. Berg) to display the contents of the currently selected file. While similar to VIEW, LIST has advantages for some requirements; the major ones being unlimited file size, wraps text lines, and can display files directly in hex. <CTRL M> Similar to <ALT C> for copy, this initiates a keyboard command line to move the selected files to another directory. Move operations differ from a copy in that the source files are deleted after the move operation is performed. The keybinding references the MV command. Many similar programs General BTS Product Information Page 20 ____________________________________________________________________________ exist. Normally the second parameter is the target directory. <CTRL U> Freshen ZIP file. Uses the PKZIP program to update (or freshen) the selected compressed .ZIP file with any changes that were made in the decompressed files in C:\EMPTY. Useful for applications which make minor changes to configuration or score files that should be retained. While implemented only for the .ZIP, format, this could be applied to any of the popular compression techniques. <CTRL V> Alternate facility to view the contents of the selected files. Whereas <ALT V> always uses VIEW to view the contents, <CTRL V> is provided to examine the file based on some knowledge of the format of the data contents. Three levels of viewing are provided: - if the file has a ARC, ARJ, LZH, PAK or ZIP extension, then the FV utility (from Vernon D. Berg) is used to provide a directory display of the compressed files. - if the above is not satisfied, the PATH is searched for the TBXV-xxx.BAT inferred batch file which will be invoked to perform the viewing that is specific to this file type. - failing the above, the traditional VIEW program is used to display the file contents. <CTRL Z> Compresses all the files in the display directory into a .ZIP file in the same directory. The 8 character name is selected from the filename at the current cursor position. Again, any compression format could have been used in preference to ZIP. 6.3 DOS Batch Files The batch files described here provide a shortcut to using the features of the BTS program utilities. Most utilize utilities that are only available with the registered version of the product. The expected arguments are shown in lower case. TIR [d:path][match-list] Uses ToolBOX as a replacement for the DOS DIR command. Starts ToolBOX so that if all files can be displayed on one screen, they will be displayed and ToolBOX exits immediately to DOS. If more screens are required, ToolBOX remains active, but in DIRECTORY mode rather than SELECT to General BTS Product Information Page 21 ____________________________________________________________________________ facilitate use as a directory display program. D1 Invokes the DIRS utility to display branch sizes for the first level only. This is probably the most common choice for day-to-day operations. The same effect could have been created by using BTSPATCH to modify DIRS so that the number of levels was one by default. CLEAN [d:] Using WI, deletes all of the files on the designated drive (or current if not specified) that are at least 4 days old and have a BAK, OLD, or TMP extension. WI-COPY sourceSpecification targetPath Using WI, copies all files corresponding to the match specification of the first argument, to the directory specified by the second argument. As the first argument is assumed to end after the first trailing space, it is not possible to use a match list specification for the sourceSpecification. WI-RUN filename [option]... Using WI, finds the first program matching the specified filename (.EXE extension assumed) and executes it. The optional arguments, such as -C, are passed to WI. WI-VIEW sourceMatchlist Using WI, finds the files matching the argument matchlist and displays their contents with the VIEW utility. ZRUN d:path\zipname Provides a mechanism for simulating from the DOS command line, what ToolBOX does when unzipping files: i.e. deleting all files in C:\EMPTY, unzipping the named file into C:\EMPTY, and then starting the START.BAT file if it is available. The full pathname for the ZIP file must be stated as it is referenced from the C:\EMPTY directory. The example batch file is provided for the ZIP format, but could have been included for any of the available compress formats. General BTS Product Information Page 22 ____________________________________________________________________________ 6.4 MS Windows Data Files The BTS programs are obviously not specifically designed for use with Microsoft Windows. They can however be used with the MS Windows 3.0 program. In fact under Windows the BTS facilities are generally much faster and more convenient than the Windows specific programs. Icons (.ICO) and pif (.PIF) files are provided for integrating the three full screen programs - TBOX, TREE, and VIEW. These files are not required for correct operation under Windows, they are simply a convenience. To include the BTS programs as a group, create a NEW group through the windows program manager. In the initial Program Group Properties window enter a Description name (such as Binary Toolshed), and for the Group File specify C:\BTS\BTS.GRP. This creates an established group with PIF files for ToolBOX, VIEW and TREE. Two versions of each are provided, a normal version and one that forces full screen operation (applicable to 386 enhanced mode only). General BTS Product Information Page 23 ____________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX A : Questions & Answers Q Can I use the executable compress programs such as LZEXE or PKLITE to reduce the program size. A Yes, but. These programs do work. Tests on the Binary Toolshed programs indicate a typical disk size reduction of 35% although there is a marginal increase in load time due to the required decompression time (this percentage will vary with each systems ratio of disk performance to processor speed). On the negative side, BTSPATCH cannot work on compressed programs. If you need to use BTSPATCH, use it on the normal version of the program, and then compress the patched version. Q In ToolBOX, what happens if I enter a program name that has the same name as a directory. A DOS won't actually let you create a directory and file with the same name, the second is always inhibited. However, the ambiguity can occur anyway since when the program name is entered, the extension isn't usually provided. ToolBOX takes this name (without an extension) and first checks if it matches a directory name. If a match occurs the directory change is made and ToolBOX will never attempt to see if an appropriate executable file exists. To prevent this, explicitly enter the extension when a potential problem exists. This is rarely a problem. The more common occurrence, which is not ambiguous, is to find executables within directories of the same name. Q With ToolBOX, when invoking an application through point and shoot operations, is there any real difference between using inferred batch files and specially configuring a keybinding. A Not in the basic sense; they both end up invoking the appropriate application and can optionally pass it the name of the selected file. The minor advantages of the inferred batch file are that it is probably easier to configure and, since it is external, ToolBOX's size isn't increased to hold the configuration data. The advantage of the configured keybinding is that several options are possible that are not available to the inferred batch file. You can specify more than one match specification and it can be based on something other than just the extension, any desired keystroke can be specified, flags can be set to pause/swap/ reformat/etc, and the command executes much faster since the PATH doesn't have to be searched. General BTS Product Information Page 24 ____________________________________________________________________________ Q Isn't there another ambiguity in ToolBOX if referenced filenames start with the "!". A Yes, ToolBOX is not able to tell whether !FILENAM.EXT is intended to exclude the file "FILENAM.EXT" or to include the file "!FILENAM.EXT". ToolBOX resolves this somewhat by using the second definition ("!FILENAM.EXT") if there are any files in the referenced directory with a leading "!". Obviously this is still a potential source of problems. The safest solution is to rename all files that start with "!". Q Why does <ALT p> use the DOS COPY rather than PRINT? A Primarily because the PRINT command establishes a small TSR the first time it is run. If you want to take advantage of the spooling capabilities of the PRINT command, change the SAMPLE-x.CFG file and ensure that PRINT is run once before ToolBOX is initiated (e.g. from your AUTOEXEC.BAT). Obviously any print utility program could be used here. Q What does it mean if ToolBOX just beeps when I try to initiate a program. A For some reason the program can't be run. Usually there is no memory available or the swap device is full. Q Are there any operational hints for ToolBOX? A Sure: a) to move up one directory (to ..) <HOME><HOME><RETURN> b) to change the directory display format or sort selection, the pop-up menu sequence corresponds exactly to the 'dir' command parameters. E.G.: /fd or /sx c) to refresh the display for the current directory, simply enter '.' - which ToolBOX interprets as a request to move to the current directory. d) if you have trouble remembering whether it's the ALT or CTRL key, remember that ToolBOX only uses the <ALT-letter> combinations for the factory defaults. <CTRL-letter> keys are left for the SAMPLE-x.CFG files or user configured General BTS Product Information Page 25 ____________________________________________________________________________ bindings. e) you may find that using the intrinsic DEL command to delete a large number of files takes a considerable period of time. Either be patient or enter the original command in mixed case to request the faster DOS version. Q Are there any limits one should be aware of? A Unfortunately there are always limits. The following are guide- lines; the available memory, the video card used, and other factors will influence the actual values. The programs will continue even if these values are exceeded. TBOX - 1200 files or subdirectories within a single directory VIEW - 500KB per file TREE - for each drive, 2700 directories - for each directory, file list is limited to 400 files DIRS - 1400 directories - 256 subdirectories in each directory Q Are there any known incompatibilities with other programs. A Only one currently. If using DOS 5, ANSI.SYS, and the DOS MODE command is used to establish 43 or 50 screen lines, there will occasionally be some confusion in the positioning of the cursor when switching between the split screen and DOS windows. While this is little more than an annoyance in that text will be overwritten, at this time we recommend that with DOS 5 you use any of the alternative mechanisms for establishing more than 25 screen lines. General BTS Product Information Page 26 ____________________________________________________________________________ APPENDIX B : Glossary argument an option field on the program command line. Note, the convention used within these manuals is that "arguments" refer to the initial startup command line, while "parameters" (see below) refer to options on command lines within the ToolBOX program. BTSPATCH.EXE a separate utility program that allows the user to set their own default startup command line within each of the supplied Binary Toolshed programs. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. command line a single processable line of text. This may be a DOS command line or if within ToolBOX - a ToolBOX intrinsic. command set a collection of command lines that are assigned to a keybinding for the ToolBOX program. This grouping is created through the TBOXCFG program. compressed file a file that has been created by one of the many available compression programs (ARC, PAK, PKZIP, etc.). Compression not only reduces the size of the original, but provide a means of collecting a number of individual files into one single file. This compression reduces storage and/or communi- cation time requirements. Each compression technique requires its own specific decompression program to restore the compressed files back to their original form. DIRS.EXE a BTS (registered version only) utility program that displays disk space utilization for directory branches. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. DOS Disk Operating System, the control program for IBM Personal Computers. The term refers to both the Microsoft (MS DOS) and the IBM (PC DOS) versions. Refer to your DOS User Manual for further explanations of DOS commands such as PATH, COPY, FORMAT, RD, and RENAME, as well as descriptions of wildcard characters, batch files, directories, environment variables, command line redirection, STDIN and STDOUT definitions, and so on. DRIVES.EXE a BTS (registered version only) utility program that displays disk drive parameters for all assigned drives. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. General BTS Product Information Page 27 ____________________________________________________________________________ environment variables also referred to as set variables, these are user defined names that can be associated with any desired text string. Programs can interrogate these strings and act accordingly. Use the DOS SET command to modify these variables - such as BTS, or PATH. errorlevel an exit code value (from 0 to 255) returned from all DOS programs. This can be tested by the IF statement within batch files or referenced by the keybinding processing within ToolBOX. All Binary Toolshed programs employ a standard convention for errorlevel values. factory defaults the initialization settings that were established by the Binary Toolshed and included in the distribution version of the product. The program defaults can be changed subsequently by the BTSPATCH or TBOXCFG programs. intrinsics command lines understood and processed directly by ToolBOX, i.e. they are not passed on to DOS. These command lines consist of a command word (e.g. "sel" or "del") and optionally one or more parameters. keybinding the attachment of a command set to a particular keyboard keystroke. These are configured by the TBOXCFG program, and used by the TBOX program. keyboard command a command line (DOS or intrinsic) entered manually through the TBOX command line as shown at the bottom of the directory display. keystroke a single identifiable entry through the keyboard. This may be one key or multiple keys. For example <a> or <CTRL ALT 9>. MAKEBAT.EXE a BTS (registered version only) utility program that creates batch files based on a template data file and a file match specification for applicable files. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. matchlist a file selection specification list that can specify a drive, path, and one or more file specifications. Each file specification can use the DOS wildcard characters and be preceded by "!" to indicate matching files should be removed from the selected list rather than added. For example: c:\dos\*.* !*.com !*.exe General BTS Product Information Page 28 ____________________________________________________________________________ ONPATH.EXE a BTS (registered version only) utility that determines if specified files are accessible through the DOS PATH variable. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. parameter separate option field(s) following the command word on a command line within the ToolBOX program; that is used for the entry of DOS or intrinsic commands through the keyboard command line or through command sets. Refer above to "argument". PATH the DOS reserved environment variable which designates alternate directories to be searched for program files. path a DOS directory specification consisting of an optional leading drive indicator and one or more directory names, e.g. d:\dos\5.00\ pathname a DOS file specification consisting of a filename with an optional leading path, e.g. d:\dos\5.00\command.com point-and-shoot the ability to cursor to an object such as a file (hence point) and when <ENTER> is pressed (hence shoot) have a particular operation carried out based on some characteristic of the selected object - such as the extension. popup menu a window of menu selections that appears in the "middle" of the current screen. The menu options may initiate actions directly or bring up further menus with more options. quickcommand line single command lines within ToolBOX that may be initiated separate from the command sets bound to particular keystrokes. redirection a DOS capability which allows the normal input or output of a command to be altered to come from or go to a specified file. Redirection can be used for the DOS command lines within ToolBOX. self-extraction file a compressed file that embeds the decompression facility within itself. These are usually .EXE files. Running the file (and program) extracts (or decompresses) the contained files into the current directory. TBOX.EXE The ToolBOX - the main shell program provided with the BTS product. These documentation files refer to TBOX as ToolBOX. Provides file directory General BTS Product Information Page 29 ____________________________________________________________________________ displays, point and shoot operations, single key activation of sets of commands, pass through DOS command line operation, reuse of command line text, quick access to recently entered directories, simultaneous directory and DOS window views, and much more. Refer to the ToolBOX User Manual for more information. TBOXCFG.EXE a BTS configuration program that allows extensive modifications to the basic ToolBOX operational capabilities. Refer to the TBOXCFG User Manual for more details. TOASCII.EXE a BTS utility program that acts as a filter for converting text files that use the extended IBM PC character set to use the standard 95 printable ASCII characters. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. toggle to switch between alternatives: ON to OFF, from INSERT to OVERWRITE mode, from the DOS display to the ToolBOX display, etc. TREE.EXE a BTS utility program that graphically depicts the directory structure in the form of a tree that can be traversed with the cursor keys. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. TSR a Transient and Stay Resident program. These programs permanently retain a small portion of memory while they lie dormant waiting for a particular action. These programs must be initiated before ToolBOX is run. verification window a prompt window issued by ToolBOX to ensure the requested operation is really desired. VIEW.EXE a BTS utility program that allows browsing through textual data files. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information. WI.EXE a BTS (registered version only) utility program that locates specified files wherever they are located on the disk drive(s), and optionally carries out an operation on those files. Refer to the Utilities User Manual for more information.