Internet Publisher's Toolbox 1.0

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Directory_Help To locate a current directory listing, select the arrow button in the directory box. Use the scroll bar to locate the name of the entry you wish to access. Select the entry and the information the entry contains will be displayed in the different boxes on the right side of the panel. To edit the selected entry, first click the 'Edit' button. After the edit job is complete, select 'Save'. To add a new listing, first select the 'Add' button. Complete all the all the information required and select the 'Save' button when done. To delete a entry, first select the entry from the directory box, then select the 'Delete' button. NOTE: When adding or editing, after each edit box has been completed you may press the tab key to move to the next edit box in line. Start_Batch When selecting a dos batch job, simply click on the button indicating the batch job you wish to do. The process will start dos and start the batch job that has been assigned to it. Within a couple of seconds the button panel will disappear and allow the task to run at a faster pace. If you have a computer that is quite fast you can restart the panel and select other batch jobs to be accomplished at the same time. Mulitasking if you will. To setup a batch job, enter the configuration screen and select the Batch button. See the help for that area or consult your manual. Batch_Help Configuring the buttons to run dos .bat files is quite simple. First in the edit box type in the name of the batch.bat file or a reference name of some type to indicate that particular batch job. The name will echo to the button directly to the left, spaces are allowed. Next click the Load button. This will allow you to select your way through the directory tree to the location of the batch.bat file. Select the file and then select OK from the location panel. When you have finished assigning the different buttons to different batch files, select SAVE. If you wish to remove the contents of a batch file button, select the DELETE button, this will clear the edit box, button, and the data base that contains the path to the batch file. Select SAVE afterwords to make it permanent. The small S button when selected will pop up a small window that shows the current path to the batch file that you have previously set up. File_Status The File Status Panel shows the current status of the selected file including the attributes of that file. To change the attributes of a file check the attribute check box you want and then select the 'Change' button. If the attributes are allowed, the file will adopt the new file attributes. If need be check your MS_DOS manual for definitions concerning the different file attributes. Printer_Drivers The 'Printer Driver Defaults' feature is to aid you in adjusting the default values that are transmitted to your printer as it sends a page of standard text. This feature does not in any way change your existing printer driver but creates a database of how you would like the driver to respond as it sends output to the printer. Once a database of different drivers has been established, when using File Magician's print features (when Print Manager has been disabled) File Magician will detect on the fly what the current default printer driver is in use and adjust the output accordingly. If there is not a record of the driver in the data base then the default printer drivers specs will apply. It amazes me how many incompatable drivers are being used with different printers! With this feature you can custom a non-compatable driver to suit your printer and you may even increase the printing speed as well. A lot depends upon your printer. The box on the left panel contain the current printer drivers default settings in pixels, these are unchangable but will give you a guideline of sorts to adjust the changeable items in the right box of the panel. The box on the lower left side shows the default driver which is currently active. This is the driver you can add to the data base. To change to a new driver you must use the Sys Control "printers", and load a new default driver. Changeable Items - CPI, this controls the size of the font as far as 'characters per inch', the larger the number the smaller the font and the more text columns you can place on a single line. The larger CPI will also allow more lines of text per page. Next you can change the total lines per page, this must match with the number of lines that are capable of being put on that page, so some testing must be done to figure out exactly what that printout page will really contain! You may also set the lines from the top of the page that the printing will start, this will also need to be experimented with because each driver has its own opinion on where starting paper position really is! Each driver can be different. Lines from Bottom of page only applies to already correct printer drivers, or if your total page lines don't exceed the limit of the page, then this setting won't take effect. Left margin pix controls the starting pixel from left side of the page. "Pix Per W in." tells you how many pixels there are per inch and you can calculate from there. Each driver also has its own set rules as to margin size and starting pixels, so only experimentation will allow you to set the margin where you really want it to start, if neccessary. Having a right margin setting would be unproductive and if text justification is required then a DTP program should be used instead. Once your selections are made, select Save, this will add to, or create a new database of driver modifications. Once a driver has been saved it may be reloaded and altered without changing your current driver setting. Once again your original printer driver is NOT changed in any way. DoubleClick_Task The Double Click Task Selector configures File Magician's ability to understand the binary header of any given file. This will then give you the ability to double click any non-executable file and have the correct program load the double clicked file for your use. As an example, MS's write.exe will load any file that has been created and saved under write.exe's file format. As an indicator the .wri is the extensions. Winhelp.exe will load any file that uses its header format and has the extension .hlp, but if the .hlp file doesn't have the correct binary header then the file won't load and there are many different types of .hlp files. The same goes for .bmp, .gif, and many others. So in reality an extension means nothing, only the correct file header works for the correct loading program. File Magician unlike the File Manager and others, works with the file header only and ignores all extensions. With nearly all files the filetype is located in the first 4 bytes of the file. All this sounds pretty complicated but its not for you to worry about, let the Magic of File Magician take care of that for you. As the Magician's assistent all you need to do is to select a number of files with the same extension, we'll use .hlp as a example. Then select this function from menu, your selections will appear in the large box. Next click on the 'Learn' Button, this will display a list of numbers 4 wide for each file you have selected. A group of 4 buttons will also appear below the large box labeled 1-4. Now examine the number by each file listing and see how many numbers from the left to right are the same, if only the first two numbers are same then select the number 2 button. If there are three the same select the number 3 button, etc. Now, in the edit box under 'Task Name' if you know the exact location of the executing program you can just type in the full path name of the program in the box. If not, then use the 'Browse' button to find your way through the directory tree to locate the correct executing program. Select that and then ok, this will write the correct path and filename in the box for you. You may at this time, if you haven't already click the OK button that also appeared with the 4 numbered buttons, to remove all the excess controls in the panel. Now, select 1 of the files in the big box and then Select 'Save'. Thats all there is to it. When you double click on a .hlp file for windows, File Magician will automatically load that file into winhelp.exe and display it for you. The 'Task List' button displays all the current double click settings you already have. The 'Del Entry' button will delete any selected setting that you have hilighted in your task list. 'Show Sel' will re-display the previously selected files before entering this function. Queue_Controls The Queue Controls are for saving a preset container from Spool Queue. This means that all the files you wish to reside in a container must first be picked before choosing Queue Controls. Once selected you should click on the box that is next to the button you wish to assign that Container to. Enter a relative name for the button to indicate the files within the container. As you enter the name the button will display it as it will be shown from the Print Queue Screen. Up to 12 containers can be stored here. You may also delete a container by choosing the delete button. This will delete all the information stored in that container plus the buttons name. This action WILL NOT delete the files that were in the container, just the container's information. You may also 'Load' a container to the Spool Queue by selecting the load button. This will load all the information the container has to the spool queue without altering the contents. There you may edit or add to the container. If any editing is done then you must resave that container just as if it was a new container which was described above. Spool_Container The 'Spooling Container' is a storage place for a list of text files that can be sent to the printer in one operation. The files can be from multiple drives and/or directories. To operate the container first select the drive that the text files are located on. Once this is done all the root directories will be listed under the Directory column and all the files in the root directory will be displayed in the Files column. To enter a directory, simply double click on that directory name. All the files and directories residing in the directory you selected will appear in the directory and file columns. Select the files you wish to place in the container and then click the 'Add' button. The files you selected will appear in the 'Print Spool Container' box, these will be the files that will be sent to the printer whenever you select 'Print Container' from the menus. To remove a file from the Container, select it and press the 'Remove' button, this does not delete the file but simply removes it from the container. Once your selections are made, select the 'Queue Controls' button. This will bring up a screen where you can select a button to save the Container to and give that container button a relative name for that print operation. To load up am existing container select the 'Queue Control' and click the container you wish to view or edit from the Spool Queue. To move the directory tree back one directory you may either double click the [..] in the directory box or select the 'Parent' button. When Printer Manager is disabled for faster printing, some printers default to a certain font pitch size when the software is dealing directly with the printer driver. To counter this, adjust the printer driver database. Auto_Dirs This Button when checked will automatically create a directory for each archive you uncompress. The directory name will be the first segment of the archive filename. This mode will effect all de-compression methods that File Magician Contains, even the Archive Commander, where single or group files can be decompressed from a archive. The only exception is the 'Compress While Copying' mode when copying files. Help_Topics A List box will display all the different help topics in the FM.HLP file. To display a help file, hilight, then click the "GoTo" button to display the help listed for that topic. Menu_Help Actually there isn't too much help concerning how to use the menus, you select the item of your choice and let go. The Macro Menus are for display purposes only, for a quick reference as to what macro is assigned to what function. Window_Help The Main View Screen of File Magician is divided into two view sections with a double row of push buttons between the sections. Each view section, called 'View Windows', contains its own seperate tree listing of files and directories. In default color mode the directories are colored Yellow and the files are colored White. The View Window with the Red box drawn around it is the "Active View Window". The Active View Window is the Source window and the View Window with the Black Box, or opposite View Window, is the Destination Window. Source and Destination windows can be interchanged by clicking the mouse button within the View Area. The small square rectangle above each View Window shows the current path location of what is displayed within each View Window. The Red/Black rectangle at the top middle part of the screen indicates also which View Window is Source and which View Window is the Destination. Each View Window has vertical rectangles along their entire length. These rectangles indicate how much drive space is currently occupied with data. The Bottom horizonial rectangle indcates how much free resources are remaining during the current session. To open a directory listings contents you would double click on the directory listing and the contents of that directory would be displayed and that new directory would then become the current directory for that View Window. Double clicking on a file will activate outside programs that have been preconfigured to use that file as an argument, or opening work file. Without configuring FM, FM will recognize .zip, .arj, .lzh, .exe, and 99% of most text files and act on those files with the correct response. You may teach FM to recognize any file by using the DlClk Task Controller, this means FM will learn the binary headers of any file and load the program you setup to operate on it. Configuration_Check If you haven't hit the 'Check It Out' button you might just as well go ahead and do so. Once this is done, FM will not only do a little memory scanning but actually check your drives for such things as Pkzip and its location and how you have it set up. FM will then issue you a report on its findings. One thing should be kept in mind at all times while configuring FM is that windows sometimes has a hard time following the path environment as it is suppose to. So to counter this you might keep such programs as Pkzip, Lha, etc. in your dos or windows directory. According to all documentation for windows, it is documented, that windows when executing other programs will locate them in the path environment, but I've found this not always to be the case, so the above practice on stand alone programs is sometimes best observed. The CMD buttons and menus as well as the panel buttons will show as INCORRECT if they have not been configured yet. Ignore this if you don't really need them. The Configuration strings should be paid attention to and be set up correctly. Incorrect settings for the archive programs will cause unknown results when dealing with archives. The correct settings are suggested when FM is first installed before the configuration has been saved. From that point on it is the User's responsibility to apply the settings which best suit their needs. File_Text_Search Two methods of searching for file and text within files may be used. The first is selecting the files and or directories you wish FM to search. The second way is to select a drive letter from the far upper right list box where FM will search the entire contents of that drive. The two radio buttons "Use Selected", means to use the selection of files and directories method, "Use Drives", means to search the contents of the drives, these buttons must be selected to your desired action. If 'Use Drives' is set then you must also select a drive or drives from the list box to search. If 'Use Selected' is set then you must have previously selected directories and files to search before loading the Text/File Search Panel. Next you must decide if you wish to search just binary files or text files and you do have the option of searching both. Select one of these. If doing a Text Search it is highly recommended you select Text Only for the sake of speed while searching. When searching for text within files, FM opens and reads while comparing the entire body of the file, whereas a simple file search, just the names of the files are read. The final options are "Text Search" and "File Search". As stated above FM will open and read while comparing the text string you have fed it through the entire body of file. Depending on the amount of files you have selected and the length of the text string you are searching for determines the speed FM travels through the file list. So it is wise to keep the search string for the Text option as small as possible. The File Search will match any filenames that match your filename string you have entered. All matches will be displayed in the list box with their complete filename paths in the upper left list box. Wild Cards are allowed but a extension always must be added. As a example. auto*.bat , auto*.*, autoexec.* , is the proper procedure. A Wild Card substituting a letter is not allowed. example. auto*xec.bat. And finally the only Wild Card that is recognized is the * . "Save To File" button will save the contents of the Located files to a file of your choice. The button will bring up a standard Save File Panel where you may select or create this file in whatever location you choose for later viewing. Macro_Config To set up a Macro Key it takes the combination of either the two selection boxes, 'Macro Key', 'FM Commands', or the combination of, 'Macro Key', 'Command'. First select the desired Macro Key, then select either 'Command' or a function in 'FM Commands', then select the 'Accept' Button. After the 'Accept' Button is pushed the new command will display itself in the 'Key List' Box along with the Macro key. This box is for display purposes only, this way you can see previously or newly selected Macro Keys. After making all the macro selections you wish to do during the session, click the 'Save' button and the configuration will be saved to disk. Remember each macro must be accepted seperately and be displayed under the key list before saving, otherwise the save will not be effective. Now, you are not LIMITED to the functions listed in the 'FM Commands' box, you may enter in your own .EXE program within the Command box instead of choosing a FM Function. The program you choose must reside within your windows directory or within your dos directory. Pathing within the config.sys file is not satisfactory. Another method is to give the complete pathname of your .exe file, examp.. C:\games\shootem.exe .. The Command box will accept up to 80 characters in your path string. Note_Config This panel contains two columns of edit boxes. The first is labeled 'Menu Name'. Under this column will be the actual menuitem names of notes or items 1 - 15. The Second column is the Search Header word. This column must contain 1 word that can be of your choosing but must not exceed 15 characters in length and NOT contain any spaces. This function is identical in format as the Help function and the text file FM.NOT must be in the same format. The search header word must start in column 1 of the file and all other lines under header MUST start in column 2 or higher. To edit or create a FM.NOT file select either the menuitem 'Edit Notes' or the push button within the Notes Configuration panel which is located by clicking on the 'Note' button in the main configuration screen. See: About Help Mouse_Config The MouseButton Configuration Panel will allow you to program the right and middle mousebutton to perform 1 of 5 functions. 1) Parent Dir - This will cause FM to do a Parent function on the current Active View Window. 2) First Panel - This will activate the First Panel of programable buttons 3) Second Panel - This will activate the Second Panel of Buttons 4) Third Panel - This will activate the Third Panel of Buttons. 5) Menu Panel - This activates a panel that contains many of the current menu functions that can be activated with a mouse click. 'Save' will write the configuration to disk. 'Cancel' will leave the configuration as it was before. Exchange_Help The purpose of the Exchange function is to allow people to exchange different portions of File Magician's Configuration such as the palette and archiving sections. With the Exchange you may either save or load different configuration segments. The easy way to load a segment is first click on its filename from either window then invoke the Exchange. Click on 'Use Selected', then on load. The affects will be immediate. To save either use the above procedure or enter a file name in the 'File Name' box. Watch the bbs boards for professional configuration files for FM!! Panel_Config Configuring the three panels is quite easy, more so actually then the CMDs. Here you must supply a button name of the program you wish to have FM execute, the name can be other than what the executable is. Next you click on the Loadx button, here a windows directory box will open and you may run through the directory tree to seek and select the file you wish to execute. Selecting OK on the directory box will shut down the box and automatically fill in the path name of the file in the 'Path Name' edit box. If you wish to supply your own path name you may do so BUT leave off any trailing '\' at the end. For the button program to interact with any selected file place a '%s' (without the quotes) after the Path Name. Be sure to leave a space between the pathname and the %s . FM will, when the button is pushed, insert the selected file into the %s slot and then execute the entire line as one command. This means you can add additional arguments to the pathname string as well. Once you have finished configuring a panel, choose the 'Save' button to save any changes to disk. CMDLoader_Config The CMD Loader has been changed to Configure CMDs just like Panel Buttons Here you must supply a CMD name of the program you wish to have FM execute, the name can be other than what the executable is. Next you click on the Loadx button, here a windows directory box will open and you may run through the directory tree to seek and select the file you wish to execute. Selecting OK on the directory box will shut down the box and automatically fill in the path name of the file in the 'Path Name' edit box. If you wish to supply your own path name you can do so BUT leave off any trailing '\' at the end. For the button program to interact with any selected file place a '%s' (without the quotes) after the Path Name. Be sure to leave a space between the pathname and the %s . FM will, when the button is pushed, insert the selected file into the %s slot and then execute the entire line as one command. This means you can add additional arguments to the pathname string as well. Once you have finished configuring all of the CMDs, choose the 'Save' button to save any changes to disk. Drive_Config The upper 12 pushbuttons in the Drive Button Configuration panel are for show only. They will indicate which Drive Button will be changed when you reconfigure within the left edit boxes. Click on any of the left edit boxes to your drive button. End the letter with a ':' (minus the quotes). Then MOST IMPORTANT!!!! the edit box to the right must contain the correct drive device number!! The device numbers are A: = 1, B: = 2, C: = 3, etc. Otherwise File Magician WILL NOT function properly in keeping track of its current location which would lead to all kinds of function failure!!!!! So REMEMBER A: - Z: would equal 1 - 26. Originally I was planning on keeping this ability strictly FM controlled but due to many requests here it is. Once you have made any changes choose the 'Save' button, this will update your main FM screen and the changes will be saved to disk. Cancel will reset the drive buttons to what they were before. Keep in mind there is no default button here to reset the buttons when FM was first installed. The worst thing that could probably happen here is you would have to delete the Magic.Dat file and completely reconfigure FM again. There would be no disk damage or file loss. Config_Paths The Paths Box currently contains three items, the work directory, and the right and left boot startups. The Work Directory defaults to c:\temp\ when File Magician is installed for the first time. The work directory is the location where FM writes and deletes files and directories in its course of operations. Any files that FM by chance leaves after termination are not important and may be removed if you so desire. Also if you don't wish to have a directory called temp you can name any directory you want to act as a work directory but be sure to save the configuration after you have changed the path. BUT FM MUST HAVE a work directory to function properly. This is one of the First items that should be configured. The Left Boot and Right Boot slots are paths FM will display in its view windows when FM first boots up. You can have it display a directory as well as just the root directory of a drive if you wish. If nothing is specified in the slots, FM will boot and display its own directory. When you change the boot drive you must also change the Drive number. Drive numbers follow the letters, A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc. This is most important when booting from a different drive. Config_Warn The Warn Boxes are for danger commands, meaning a function that will either copy, move, or delete, a file or directory. When these boxes are in a checked state, you will be presented with a "Are you Sure" box before the procedure continues. Config_Commander The Commander in later versions of FM will contain its own configuration strings which you will be able to configure to suit your needs. This feature is still in the experimentation stage and its possible its existence will not be necessary. Config_Pkzip Clicking this button will engage the configuration panel for Pkzip. Here you may change the setting for Compressing .zip files using Pkzip. You will need to consult the manual that accompanies the Pkware utilities to determine what settings suit your needs. Config_PkUnzip Clicking this button will engage the configuration panel for PkUnzip. Here you may change the setting for UnCompressing .zip files using PkUnzip. You will need to consult the manual that accompanies the Pkware utilities to determine what settings suit your needs. Config_Arj Clicking this button will engage the configuration panel for Arj. Here you may change the setting for Compressing or UnCompressing .arj files using Arj.exe. You will need to consult the manual that accompanies the release version of Arj.exe to determine what settings suit your needs. Config_Lzh Clicking this button will engage the configuration panel for Lha. Here you may change the setting for Compressing or UnCompressing .LZH files using Lha.exe. You will need to consult the manual that accompanies the release version of Lha.exe to determine what settings suit your needs. Config_Names The Names column of the Configuration screen is one of the many hearts for File Magician. The program names indicated here are the work engines for such things as reading, compressing, uncompressing, and editing files. The 'Read' name will be the program that is called when a text file is double clicked. The 'Editor' is the text editor that is called when a macro or Help/Note editor is required. These program names maybe substituted with which ever program utility you favor. Config_Config The configuration screen is basically the heart of FM. FM will auto- matically load default configurations if FM does not detect the config- uration file "Magic.Dat" located in the FM's origin directory. FM will also inform you of this on boot up and keep doing so until you save a configuration manually. If upgrading from a previous version of FM and the configuration file is different, FM will attempt to rebuild the new configuration from your old settings and new defaults will be filled into the area that has been newly released. If any problems are crossed while using FM its best to check the configuration of that item to see if it is set correctly for that operation. The configurations are basically simple and the only thing one needs to know when naming programs is that programs with the extendsion .com, need to have their full name typed in or windows will reject it. Examp. dotype.com , dotype would be rejected unless it was a .exe file. I'm sure future versions of Windows will have a lot of the oversites fixed!!!! Fingers crossed. Drive_Buttons FM will reach in to the far depths of your computer and discover what drive devices you have connected to your system, partitions also count. FM will support up to 12 such devices and display them in upper 12 small buttons. Clicking on these buttons will cause a directory listing to be performed within the current active window. The Current Active window is the window with the Red Box around it. To swap the current drive buttons to an addtional twelve buttons, click once on the 'S D' bar above the drive buttons. This may be needed if you are connected to a network that has more then 12 devices. See: Window Help Parent_Button The Parent button, when clicked, will move the directory tree listing back one sub directory and redisplay that subdirectory. Double clicking on '..' will also obtain the same results. The parent button will only act on the Current Active Window. See: Window Help, Double Click All_Button The All button will select all files and directories that are in the directory tree of the Current Active Window. Files and directories that don't show within the view window will also be tagged as selected. So caution should be used when using this function along with deleting and copying. See: Window Help Clear_Button The Clear button is the reverse of the All button, the function will de-selected all files and directories within the directory tree of the Current Active Window. When a file or directory is de-selected, no action by any function can take place. See: Window Help Copy_Button The Copy button is for copying files from the Current Active Window (source) to the Non-Active window (destination) which has the black box around it. Files or directories to be copied must be selected and only those selected will be copied to the destination window. Directories that are selected will have all their nested files and directories copied as well. There are three methods of copying files. Standard Copy, which copies the file or directory in its natural state (also the fastest). Compress While Copying, which will copy any file that has not been compressed by FM previously. As the file is being copied it will compress the file before it writes it to the destination area. If the file has already been compressed with another archiver it is advisable to use standard copy on it. Any archiver will add bytes to an already compressed file as does FM. The unique thing about this method is the directory tree and files will remain the same in compressed form where they are open for a directory listing. These files will retain their ability to execute or readability until they are de-compressed. 50 to 80 percent compression rate is obtained. The third method is DeCompress Any File (MS), this method will decompress any file FM has previously compressed while copying and will copy the decompressed file to the destination window. This method will also sometimes decompress files that have been compressed by MicroSoft's compress utility. If a file is not compressed while using this function it will recognize this fact and switch to standard copy for that file operation. If you wish FM to check to be sure there is enough room on the destination area before copying a file, click the 'Check For Disk Space' gadget and FM will check the space left before each file is copied. When your ready to copy press the 'Do It' button. To Abort the copy process, press the 'Cancel' button or to abort before copying you can press the cancel button. See: Window Help Rename_Button Before using this button you must first select a file or directory to rename. After making a selection you will be prompted for a new name. Enter just the name of the file or directory, NOT the path to the listing. FM will take care of that. Click the OK button and the deed is done. Cancel button will abort the process. This process works only on the Current Active Window. See: Window Help Move_Button The Move function will move (copy) all the selected files and directories from the Current Active Window to the Non-Active Window after which the files and directories that were selected will be removed (deleted) from the Current Active Window (source). The Configuration screen has settings that can be set for giving you a "Are You Sure" message before the function does it work. All files and directories nested in the selected directory will also be moved. See: Window Help, Config Button, Config Help Delete_Button Files and directories that are selected within the Current Active Window will be deleted when the 'Delete' button is clicked. All selected directories that have nested files and directories within them will also be deleted. This means a directory need not be empty of files or other directories before it can be deleted. The configuration screen has settings that can be set to warn you of your action before the actual deletion takes place. See: Window Help, Config Button, Config Help Read_Button The read button activates a text viewer program that will display the selected file. The default configuration for the read button is notepad.exe which is supplied with MS Windows. Notepad has a 32k file size limit and I highly recommend FView by Maze Computer Communications. It is an excellent program that will display text in either hex or ansi format. You may use whatever text viewing or even editing program you wish on any selected files in the Current Active Window. To specify which program you wish to use activate the config button and in the 'Names' box is a heading called Read. To the right of the heading is a small edit box, here is where you enter the viewing program's name. The viewing program should reside in your dos directory. After you are satisfied with your current viewer FM will use it when you double click a file FM believes to be a text file. You also may first select a file then click on the read program button for the same results. See: Window Help, Config Button, Config Help, Double Click Command_Button The command button is used to activate the Archive Commander. First click on an archive file (.zip, .arj, .lha) to hilight it, several may be loaded at one time. Then click on the Command button. This will load all the selected files into the Commander where they may be operated on from there. If no files have been selected you will get an error message telling you of such, and then the Commander will start empty. The Commander was left to start empty so people could get a look and feel without really doing anything concerning archives. The Commander can also be loaded by double clicking the last archive to load, then click the view button on the action requester. See: Double Click, Glossary ByteReq_Button This neat little feature will tell you how many files, directories and bytes used on any selected files or directories. If you select a directory ByteReq will add up all the files, directories, and bytes that are nested in that selected directory. You might be surprised on how much space is used up in some root directories! MakeDir_Button Clicking the MakeDir button will present you with a requester asking for a directory name. After supplying a name, FM will create a directory with that name in the Current Active Window. Supply just the name of the new directory, not the path, FM will take care of that. You may abort the action by clicking the Cancel button. See: Window Help Config_Button This button activates the Configuration Screen for FM. Inside the configuration screen is additional help information. Run_Button The Run button will execute nearly any type of .exe, .com, .bat file either dos or windows. Select the file you believe is the main starting program and then click the run program. FM will change the current working directory to that of the selected file so that any additional files that the executable file needs can be found for its progress. After the termination of the program FM will automatically switch back to its current directory. Double Clicking will bring the same results provided that FM recognizes the BINARY header of the file as a executable. In some instances, it is best to use the run button. See: Double Click, Glossary Maxi_Split The Maxi-File Split|Join feature gives the ability to split any size file into multiple chunks that will span multiple floppy disks or to any specified device. Then re-assembled again on any specified device or floppy in the exact form of the original. The original file is left intact. The orginal file can be of any size from really small to 40 or 50 megs or whatever, there are no limitations. There are no limitations as to the size of the chunks that will be split from the original file as well, other then the size of the container that is to receive the chunk segments. To split a file the program insists you load the original file first, before any other operations can proceed. Click the 'Load File' button from the panel, then select the file you wish to split. After this has been done the program will allow you to select a destination drive, 'A', 'B', or 'Specify'. The Specify would be a HD destination. Now if you have selected floppy drives A: or B:, you must then select the removable disk size, this is the size of the floppy disk you are using that the drive supports. After destination has been selected the program will allow you to select the size of the chunk segment you wish to create on your destination device. You may choose 1.4 meg to 360K standard disk size chunks or you can specify any size chunk you desire. To specify a chunk size, enter in the number of bytes. As an example 100K = 100000 as an entry number. Once the chunk size has been defined the program will calculate how many segments will be created and how many floppy disks will be required. It will also calculate the number of disks required to span the file. Once you are ready, click on the 'Split' button, which will become visible once you have made the correct entries. The Split button remains invisible until all the settings are correct. Once selecting the Split button, the program will pop up a status window informing you of what is taking place and will prompt you for all disk changes. The program does expect you to have on hand pre-formatted disks for the procedure. You also may abort the process at any disk change operation. To re-assemble a file, first select the drive that will contain the split segments, this will be the 'Source Device'. The program will allow you at this time to choose the 'Destination Device'. Specify would be the HD that would contain the assembled file. The device you specify must be a Directory ONLY! You do not specify the name of the assembled file, the program will do this for you. If you have used the Specify, an 'ok' button will appear, and after you have specified the drive and/or directory for the destination area select the ok button. If your entries are correct a 'Join' button will appear. Click the Join button and follow the prompts for the disk requests. Disk 1 must always be inserted first! This way the program can obtain the filemap of the split segments, number of disks required, etc. A Status window will also appear and inform you of the progress taking place. Note: I've made several comments on "If your entries are correct". The program will not allow you to make incorrect entries and inform you if you do. The program also guides you through each proceedure as it should take place and then allows you to continue to the next correct action. The process is very delicate, I've insured that the program insist that you do it correctly. The program will also calculate memory requirements for both functions. It is most advised you let the program be its own judge on which memory option to use. If Maximun memory can be obtained the process is extremely fast and is accomplished in one single chunk size sweep. On the last disk provided there is enough room, a dos program called 'FMJoin.exe' will be copied. This program is run from dos to rejoin the the split file disks back to the orginal file. The program is provided for people that do not have File Magician to reassemble the orginal file. Duplicate_Button The Duplicate button will make an exact copy of a file in the current directory with the new extension .dup, which can later be renamed to some- thing else. This has been changed to a Menuitem. Please note that the 'Duplicate' Button has been added to the 'Utilities' menu and no longer exists on the main button controls. Add2List_Button This button will create or add to a file list the full path names of selected files. When archiving mulitiple files from mulitiple directories and drives you have the ability with this button to create a list of these files, and archive them in one easy shot. After creating a list, just use the 'Use List' flag in the archive requester. Also, the Add2List function is used when setting the Double Click Task Dispatcher. Other functions that FM has will make large use of this feature also. Caution, before using this feature be sure to delete any previous list you might have made by using the DelList button. Add2List will create a list file if one doesn't exist, but if a list does exist it will append or add onto the already existing list. DelList_Button The DelList button will delete any list the Add2List button has created. It is important to use this button before starting a new file list for a different project. Add2List will append or add to any existing list previously created. See: Add2List CopyAs_Button This feature gives you the ability to copy a file or directory to the destination window or any other drive or directory that you name for a path and you may change the name of the selected file or directory to something else before it is copied. The original source file or directory will retain the same name as it had, only the new destination will be changed. See: MoveAs MoveAs_Button The MoveAs button will allow you to move a file or directory to a different drive or directory under a different name of your choosing. A requester will prompt you for a new name of the selected listing and move it under that name to the destination window. You may, if you wish, change manually the path name to a different drive or directory by adjusting the edit box within the requester. See: CopyAs, Move Dos_Button Clicking on the dos button will start a dos shell. The file Bull.pif must reside in the same directory as FM before this command will work. Bull.pif is supplied either on disk or with the FM archive. The startup directory is set for C:\ . If you wish to start a dos shell at a different directory or drive you must edit this pif file to show that directory. EntCom_Button This button is used for entering a command, just like you would from the dos line. This feature will allow you to use most dos commands and any window program that is within the path environment. The program must be a stand alone program that does not require additional files from its own private directory to run. Print_Button The Print button for File Magician will work with or without Print Manager being engaged. With Print Manager being engaged, all files that have been selected in any view window will be spooled out to Print Manager. If Print Manager is Not engaged, File Magician will load the default printer driver, then check the 'printer driver database' for any reference to that driver, then ask you if you wish to have the printed pages numbered and dated. Once your choices have been made, File Magician will send the documents to the printer in a top/down order. CMD_Buttons The bottom 10 buttons located in the lower right button column, are user definable buttons. They can be set up either in the Configuration Screen, which is recommended for advanced users, or in the CMD Loader, located under the utilities menu. CMDs allow you to quickly start outside programs you most commonly use by simply clicking a button. CMD programs that work on other files can also be use by selecting a file and then the CMD. Extract_File_To The extract file dialog box for the Archive Command will extract one or more files that have been hilighted within the Archived Files window. The check mark boxes indicate where the file(s) are to be extracted to. You may extract the file(s) to one or all of the indicated paths. The first two boxes indicate the directory path to your left and right view windows of the main FM screen, the third box points to an edit box where you can fill in your own directory path. After you have made your choices click the 'DoIt' Button to complete the extraction. The 'Cancel' Button will abort the operation. Commander_Help The Archive Commander contains three display windows and 29 pushbuttons for working with .zip, .lha, and .arj files. Files that are loaded into the Commander must be pre-selected from the main FM work area before the Commander is invoked. These files will be displayed in the "Selected Archives" window. Only one file may be worked on at a time. To view the contents of the archive select the archive then click once on the 'Process' Button or double click the archive. The Archive's contents will be displayed in the 'Archived Files' window and if the archive itself contains a comment it will be displayed in the large edit window in the center of the screen. The Buttons are as follows.. Process - Displays the contents and comment of the selected archive. Extract - Extracts one or more selected files of an archive. Delete - Deletes one or more selected files within the archive. Run - Executes an archived file IF it is a stand alone program. Test - Tests the structure and files of the selected archives and reports. All - Selects all of the files in the 'Archived Files' window. Clear - De-selects all of the files in the 'Archived Files' window. Quit - Exits the File Commander. Clr Comment - Clears the Edit window of any text. Load Comment - Loads a file into the edit window. Load Last - Clears Edit window and loads the last contents the window had. Save Comment - Saves content of the Edit window to a file of your choice. Insert Comment- Adds the contents of the Edit window to the selected archive as a comment. Print Comment - Sends the contents of the Edit window to the printer. Show Comment - Forces a re-read of the selected archive's comment. Convert 2 Zip - Duplicates the selected archive to a Zip Archive. Convert 2 Lha - Duplicates the selected archive to a Lharc Archive. Convert 2 Arj - Duplicates the selected archive to a Arj Archive. Add Description - This requests a filename, then takes the contents of the Edit window and inserts it into the archive with that name. Add Files - This command will add files to the selected archive but is unusal in its useage. First click on 'Del List', then select the files you wish to add to the archive, select 'Add2List'. You may then move to an additional directory or drive and add more files to the list. When you have completed your selection click "Do It", this will add all the files to the selected archive and display them under 'Archived Files'. Click Cancel to exit the function. Make Zip - Will archive all selected files as a Zip File. Make Lha - Will archive all selected files as a Lharc File. Make Arj - Will archive all selected files as a Arj file. Make .EXE - Will duplicate the selected archive into an .EXE archive. Repair Zip - Will attempt to repair the selected Zip File. Print File - Sends the contents of the selected archive files to the printer. Read File - Views the selected text file. Double-Clicking- When double clicking a file the Commander will determine the filetype if possible and commit whatever action that has been described for that filetype in the double click control utility. About_Help As you have noticed I have chosen to go with a non-standard method of displaying help for the different functions then what is recommended by MS. There are several reasons for this, one of them is memory useage. This method requires very little by not calling winhelp.exe every time help is needed. Another is that a user of FM can add their own comments to a help block with ease using any text editor as long as they follow the guide lines set up below. Another large reason is that FM is growing in popularity across the world and the FM.HLP file can be translated to whatever language used for that country. Unforunately I or anyone I know cannot make the translation and some bright person of that country would have to do so for the users of FM in that country. I would hope that any translations would be sent here to the support board that is listed in the program. FM.HLP is a formated text file. This means the help blocks like 'About_Help' start in column 1 and all lines that belong to that block start at column 2 or above, tabs are not allowed. The block ends at the end of the file or at the start of the next block. The help block names cannot be changed but anything under them can. Lines cannot exceed 78 columns and the entire body of text cannot exceed 8190 characters including spaces. All lines should also end with a carriage return. Also Block headers are word block and are case sensitive. A comparison of the first word is simply used. I do hope this feature adds to your useage of FM, FM has grown so large it is impossible to remember the hundreds of things it does. (even for me!) Manager_Lock The 'Lock Program Manager' is a seperate security feature which will lock all access to the Program Manager or any of its features. This feature should only be ran while File Magician is iconic. The feature is intended to allow the operator of the system to maintain a tight security while the computer is unattended. The password is required to start and stop the operation. Also, the feature can only be started while File Magician is iconic.