Amiga Collections: MegaDisc/MegaDisc 32 (1993-02)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).zip/MegaDisc 32 (1993-02)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).adf/Dir_Utes/Using_DirUtes/Using_DirUtes

Text File | 1993-02-11 | 17KB | 386 lines

                            Recommmended for Beginners


                   DIRECTORY UTILITIES: FUNCTIONS AND USE

                                    by

                               Leigh  Murray


   ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[


INTRODUCTION

   This is a companion article to the Directory Utilities Overview, which
  should probably be read (or skimmed) before this one.  Here I will describe
  the basic functions and the use of directory utilities in more detail, with
  an emphasis on what I consider to be The Big Three of directory utilities:
  SID2, DirWork, and Directory Opus.  These notes are primarily designed to
  be used with the Directory Utility Starter disk (START 2, from Megadisc
  PD), but they are independent of it.


COMMAND CONTROL

Basic Functions

   Below is a summary of the functions most commonly provided by directory
  utilities.  A function is not necessarily given the same name in the
  different utilities, so I have listed alternatives.  There is also a table
  of SID2, Directory Opus and DirWork button correspondences.


CopyCats

  COPY         Copy files/directories from one directory list to another
  COPY AS      Copy files/directories from one directory list to another,
                 giving them new names (eg COPY File.X AS File.Y);  a pop-up
                 requester will display the name of each selected entry so
                 you can rename it as it is copied
  MOVE         Copy files/directories from one directory list to another then
                 delete them from the source directory
  MOVE AS      Copy files/directories from one directory list to another,
                 giving them new names and then deleting them from the source
  DUP / CLONE  Make a Duplicate copy of a file (in the same directory),
                 giving it a new name


Make or Break

  DELETE       Delete selected files/directories
  RENAME       Rename files/directories to the new name(s) specified
  MAKEDIR      Make a new directory (with an optional default icon)
  NOTE/COMMENT Add or modify the filenote attached to all selected files or
                 directories (the Amiga lets you add a 79-character extension
                 to each file or directory, to further identify it)


Displayers

  READ / TYPE  Display a text file (double-click on its name does the same)
  VIEW / SHOW  Display an IFF picture or icon (or font in Directory Opus)
  PLAY / SOUND Play a sound file
  XREAD/HXTYPE Display a file in hexadecimal


Editors

  EDIT         Edit a text file (letter, startup-sequence, program listing)
  XEDIT        Edit a file in hexadecimal format


All or Nothing

  ALL          Select ALL the files in a directory list
  NONE / NO    Select NO files (ie, DESELECT any selected files) in the list


Find and Seek

  PATTERN /    Select files depending on specified pattern criteria which
    BY NAME      you supply in the requester that pops up (eg #?.info will
                 select all files in that list ending with .info)
  SEARCH       Search files for a particular text string
  FIND / HUNT  Search directories for a particular filename


Runs

  RUN          Run the selected programs
  NEWCLI       Open a new CLI window
  EXECUTE      Execute the selected batch files


Arcing

  ARC          Make an archived file of all selected entries
  LISTARC      List the contents of an archived file
  UNARC        Unarchive the selected files


Sizing Up

  BYTES / INFO Total bytes, files and directories (displayed in message box)
  FIT          Check if selected entries will fit on the destination disk


Print and Protect

  PRINT        Print selected files
  PROTECT      Display or modify the protection bits in files


SID, Directory Opus and DirWork Command Correspondences

  SID      DO        DW        Function

  MAKEDIR  MAKEDIR   MkDir     Make a new directory
  READ     READ      Type      Display an ASCII text file
  XREAD    HEXREAD   HxTyp     Display a file in hexadecimal format
  VOL      ASSIGN    Volms     List assigned volumes
  EXECUTE  EXECUTE   EScpt     Execute a script file
  BYTES    BYTE      Info      Size of all selected files/directories
  SEARCH   SEARCH    Serch     Search a file for a given text string
  FIND     HUNT        -       Search selected directories for a file
  NOTE     COMMENT     -       Add or modify a filenote
  PROTECT  PROTECT   Prote     Modify or display protection bits
  DUP      CLONE       -       Duplicate a file
  VIEW     SHOW      Show      Show a picture
  SOUND    PLAY      PlayS     Play a sound sample

  Ctrl +   ? then
   button   button     -       Online HELP


OF MICE AND METHODS

   The mouse is the predominant means of operating a directory utility: just
  point and click to perform most operations.  The only typing required is in
  requesters when, for instance, you need to specify the new name for a file.

Left Mouse Button

   CLICK ONCE on names to select files or directories for copying, renaming,
  deleting etc.  CLICK ONCE on buttons and gadgets: on Devices, Commands or
  special gadgets such as the Parent Directory gadget of SID or DirWork.

   DOUBLE-CLICK on a file name to perform instant actions such as READing a
  text file, VIEWing a picture, or PLAYing a sound file.  DOUBLE-CLICK on a
  directory name to display a listing of the contents of that directory.

Right Mouse Button

   CLICK ONCE on a directory list to ACTIVATE that list;  and SID, DirWork
  and Directory Opus each have additional uses for the right mouse button.
  For example, with SID2, clicking the right mouse button anywhere in the
  bank of command buttons, swaps to the next button bank;  clicking it
  anywhere in the message box cycles through file displays by size, date,
  note etc.  Similarly, the right mouse button can be used in Directory Opus
  to select the other device button bank.  And in DirWork, clicking with the
  right mouse button anywhere in either Path Field gives a display of devices
  and assigned volumes on that side of the directory display.

Starting Up

   SID, Directory Opus and DirWork can all be started by clicking on an icon,
  or from the CLI, or automatically via the startup-sequence.

Getting on with the Job

   When the directory utility has started, click on a device button to
  display the first directory list.  Then for DirWork or SID, which have two
  sets of device buttons, click on the device button in the other list to
  display a second directory list;  for Directory Opus, which has only one
  set of device buttons, click first on the other directory list to activate
  it, then click on the device button.

   After a directory list has been displayed, select an entry or entries
  (files or directories) and then click on commands, such as COPY or DELETE
  or RENAME;  these commands will operate only on those selected files.

   To Delete, Rename, Read or Show files, only one directory list need be
  displayed:  the one containing the files those commands are to act on.

   But before issuing a Copy or Move command, two lists must be displayed,
  one the source directory you are copying from, and the other the
  destination directory you want to copy to.

Iconifying and Quitting

   Click on the SHRINK gadget (SID), SLEEP (DirWork) or the ICONIFY gadget
  (Directory Opus) to iconify.  The iconifying process is a handy feature of
  these programs;  this shrinks the directory display to a tiny bar (or
  becomes invisible in the case of DirWork), frees chip RAM, and sits waiting
  for you to reactivate it whenever you want to do some more work with it.

   To reactivate SID, click on the Shrink gadget again;  for Directory Opus,
  click on the small title bar, once with the left mouse button and then once
  with the right mouse button;  and to wake DirWork up from its sleep, press
  the 3 left hand keys (Ctrl, Shift and Alt) and the D key at the same time.

   To Quit any of these utilities, click on the CLOSE gadget.

Multiple Selections

   Commands generally apply only to selected files or directories.  You can
  select files or directories one at a time, or whole swags of files and/or
  directories (by holding down the left mouse button and dragging it down
  the list, or by selecting the ALL button to select all files etc).  When
  more than one file or directory is selected, the command you click on will
  apply to all selected entries.

   Some commands, such as Rename, View or Play, apply to selected entries one
  at a time;  if you select multiple picture files, and then select the view
  command, each picture will be displayed one after another -  similarly,
  text and sound files.

   Other commands apply to the whole group of selected entries;  for example,
  Info in DirWork will give you the total size of all the selected entries.

Requesters

   For any commands that require a new filename or directory name to be
  supplied, a requester will pop up after you have selected the file (or
  files) and clicked on the command.  Such commands include Rename, Delete,
  Copy As, Move As, Makedir, Duplicate and Pattern.

   The requester will give you the option of typing in a new name or
  cancelling the operation.  If you have selected multiple entries, a
  requester will pop up for each entry (file or directory) one at a time, and
  you can abort the process on any one of these.


LEARNING TO USE A DIRECTORY UTILITY

Make BACKUPS and a TEST disk

   You should make a backup copy of any disk on which you'll be changing or
  replacing files, and work off the backup until you become more experienced.
  Then you can fall back to using the original disk if you find the new files
  don't work properly, while you figure out what is wrong (don't get
  distressed if this happens; it can help you to learn).  (And if you can't
  figure it out after trying for a while, ask for help from someone suitable,
  such as experienced members of your local user group or MegaDisc.)

   The safest way of learning to use a directory utility is to make a TEST
  disk.  You could create such a disk by formatting a new disk (say, via the
  Workbench command Initialise), renaming it TEST and then copying a bunch of
  different directories and files to it from any issue of MegaDisc.  (If you
  first make sure the MegaDisc is write-protected, you could safely use a
  directory utility to copy the files.)  Or you could Diskcopy a MegaDisc,
  and rename the copy TEST.

Practice Makes Perfect

   Practice on the TEST disk by using one of the directory utilities for
  copying, moving, renaming and deleting files, making new directories
  (drawers), viewing pictures or icons, and displaying text files.  Because I
  think DirWork is probably the best of The Big Three for beginners (very
  easy to use, and suitable for those with only one drive or without great
  gobs of memory), I will use it in the following examples;  these functions
  would also be available in SID and Directory Opus (but many are disabled in
  the Demo of Directory Opus).

   Double-click on the icon for DW in the DirWork drawer to activate it;  you
  can stop it by using the close gadget on the top LHS of the window, or put
  it to Sleep by clicking on that gadget (to wake it up again, press the
  Ctrl, Left Shift, Left Alt and D keys all together).  Use the front/back
  gadgets on its title bar to go to and from the Workbench screen.

The Most Useful Commands

   The functions I found most useful initially were COPY, MOVE, RENAME,
  DELETE, MAKEDIR, TYPE and SHOW.

   DirWork is the type of directory utility that displays two file lists side
  by side.  The great benefit of this is that you can have, say, a directory
  list of df0: on the right side, and a directory list of df1: or RAM: on the
  left.  Or two different directories from the one disk on each side.  One
  listing can represent the source listing (the directory you are copying
  from, for example) and one the destination (the directory you are copying
  to), and you can see both at the same time.

   For example, you may want to copy a file from the disk in df0: to RAM:.
  Using the left mouse button (LMB) for selection, click once on the RAM:
  button on the left side, then once on the df0: button on the right side
  (you could use the opposite sides if you prefer), highlight the file you
  wish to copy in the df0: list (by a single click on it with the LMB), and
  click once on the right hand COPY button.  The file will be copied to RAM:,
  and you will see it appear in the RAM: file list on the left side.

   If you had wanted to copy the file to a particular directory on the RAM
  disk, you would need to display that directory first (by double-clicking on
  its name), before selecting the file to be copied and clicking on the COPY
  button.  Or you could make a new directory on RAM: by clicking on the left
  MKDIR button, then nominating the name of the directory you wish to create.

   By highlighting a directory, you can copy or move or delete that entire
  directory.  Or if multiple files are highlighted in a list, all those files
  are copied, renamed etc.

   You can use the AL button (short for 'all') to highlight all the files in
  a listing, and the NO button (short for 'none') to remove all highlights.

   The MOVE command is handy for shifting files from one directory to
  another. (Note the difference between COPY and MOVE:  MOVE deletes the
  source files after they have been copied, COPY doesn't.)

   A text file can be displayed either by double-clicking on it or by
  highlighting it with a single click and then clicking on the TYPE button
  above it.  Similarly, any picture in IFF format (or an icon) can be viewed
  by double-clicking on it, or by highlighting it then selecting the SHOW
  button above.

   Note that if the device buttons don't contain all the device addresses
  that exist on your system, you can still display the directory entries for
  any device.  First click on Volms (DirWork), or VOL (SID2), or S (Directory
  Opus - use the right mouse button for this one) to display the Devices and
  Assigns on your system.  Then click on the entry for the device you want.


ONE-DRIVE SYSTEMS

   If you only have a one-drive system, then you won't be able to use a
  directory utility to copy files directly from one disk to another, but such
  a utility will still provide the easiest way of making directories,
  deleting and renaming files.  (Seriously consider buying a second drive if
  you can possibly afford one; at less than $150, I doubt you'll regret it.)

   On a one-drive system, you could use a two-stage process (which would be
  quite quick and easy) to copy files with a directory utility.  As the first
  stage, copy files from df0: to the RAM disk.  Then, as stage 2, remove the
  source disk from df0:, replace it with the destination disk, and copy the
  files from the RAM disk to your destination disk.  (Don't forget that all
  files will be deleted from the RAM disk if you have to reboot, so copy them
  back to df0: as soon as possible.)

   Also, all Workbench 1.3 users should routinely make the AmigaDOS Run
  command resident after each boot, to save on disk-swapping (open a Shell
  and type resident c:run    then   endcli).  The Run command is tiny, so
  making it resident won't devour your RAM but this can certainly save a lot
  of swaps.  Try it and see.


BEST FOR BEGINNERS

   Probably the easiest of the three utilities for beginners (and one-drive
  users) is DirWork;  just double-click its icon and it's ready to go.  It is
  small, fast and intuitive to use, and has all of its functions available.
  I found the full DirWork documentation a bit daunting, but you shouldn't
  need to read that initially.  To get started, just skim the Directory
  Utilities Overview and this document, make a test disk, and try DirWork.

   The next easiest-to-use utility on the Starter disk is probably SID;  see
  the notes provided in Read_Me_First in the SID2 drawer.

   To use Directory Opus, arp.library must be in the libs: directory on your
  system if you don't have Workbench 2; it is quite an easy task to copy it.
  But many functions have been disabled in the Demo, making it less useful
  and more difficult to evaluate.


FINALLY

   I found it well worth the trouble to learn to use a directory utility;
  file maintenance tasks became miles easier, and my knowledge of the Amiga
  expanded greatly.  And my Amiga computing became much more enjoyable once I
  understood it better.



© Leigh Murray
  Queanbeyan NSW

  January 1993



   ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[ ]] 32 [[