OS/2 Shareware BBS: 16 Announce/16-Announce.zip/fm2.txt

Text File | 1995-09-01 | 7KB | 138 lines

File Manager/2 is a shareware 32-bit OS/2 Presentation Manager file,
directory and archive manager which you can use to manage all your file
system objects.  It is recognized by many as far and away the best
graphically oriented file manager in existence on any platform today,
and won a "1995 OS/2 Magazine Editor's Choice Award".

FM/2 provides the important bridge between the OS/2 WPS's strictly
object oriented approach and the strictly file oriented approach of
DOS/Windows, affording the new OS/2 user increased productivity
immediately.

All the basic file operations (copy/move/delete/rename/etc.) are simple
to perform by several methods -- you can pick the method that suits your
style best.  FM/2's context menus provide the right commands for the job
at hand, varying automatically by what type of file system object you're
working on at the moment.  For the convenience of those who prefer a
strictly keyboard approach, context menus are "mirrored" in the pulldown
menus for easy access, and accelerator keys are provided for most common
functions.

Renaming and/or moving file system objects can also be performed by
simple direct editing of the object's name, just as in the WPS.

FM/2 provides many OS/2-specific actions beyond the usual file
operations, however.  You can view and edit EAs, INI files, call
up a file or directory's Settings notebook, create objects from
the file system object, and so on.

Flexible default actions (what happens when you double-click an object)
allow FM/2 to perform the operation you want on a file without giving
any commands at all.  Both OS/2's associations and FM/2's own extended
associations are available to customize the default action.

Drag and drop, the most intuitive interface for manipulating objects,
can be used to copy and move file system objects (files and
directories).  But FM/2 takes drag and drop simplicity farther and also
allows you to compare objects via drag and drop.  Using drag and drop to
FM/2's toolbar buttons, you can perform almost any action on a group of
files using drag and drop.  With archives, you can drag files from the
archive to an FM/2 directory container to extract them, or drag files
onto the archive to add them to the archive.  Finally, FM/2 has an
optional pop-up dialog which can further extend the power of drag and
drop.

FM/2 recognizes archives of all types and allows you to view and
manipulate them with ease, translating the GUI actions you take on
archive objects and their members into commands that are passed to the
appropriate archiver (for example, you can move or copy a file into an
archive by dropping it on the archive).  You can customize FM/2's
knowledge of archives so you can use new archive types as they're
released by archiver authors, even without an update to FM/2.

Here's a very partial list of timesaving features contained in File
Manager/2:

o Unlimited number of Directory Container windows show the contents of
  directories in detail -- use as few or as many as you need.
  + Minimize seldom used windows -- they're still drag and drop targets.
  + Auto-tile, tile, reverse (horizontal emphasis) tile, cascade, window
    list dialog, menu access to windows.
  + TAB/Shift-TAB round-robin access to windows for keyboard-only users.
o Constant "at a glance" Drive Tree window -- see all your drives and
  directories at once, switch to or open one with a click or
  double-click.
o View directory contents in Icon, Name, Text or customizable Details
  views.
o View, create and manipulate archives as though they were directories.
o Use your favorite browser and editor to view and edit files (an
  internal editor and two internal viewers are also provided if you
  prefer).
o Direct tie-in to Andy Key's freeware GBM.DLL to view many raster
  picture file formats.
o Store directories you use frequently for quick access, and optionally
  have FM/2 track all directories you've visited for quick recall.
o One-click return to previous directory or parent directory.
o Store filters for quick retrieval.
  + Filters can be complex (contain more than one mask, include or
    exclude).
  + Filtering on attribute of files/directories supported.
  + Optionally exclude directories from filtering.
o Direct editing for rename and/or move.
o Drag and drop multiple files in an intuitive manner:
  + Contiguous or discontiguous selection supported, including
    wildcard selection and selections based on comparing directory
    contents with other open directory containers in addition to
    the usual simple point-and-pick, drag and box selections.
  + Optional popup dialog lets you select action after dropping.
  + Drag to toolbar buttons to perform commands like delete, edit, modify
    attributes, more.
o Accelerator keys for commonly used commands boost performance for the
  power user, while toolbars and menus accomodate the learning curve for
  novices and make seldom used commands easy to find.
  + Toolbar is customizable, and you can have more than one, organizing
    your buttons into "toolboxes" which you can switch between as the
    need arises.
  + Accelerator keys are listed beside their corresponding menu commands.
o Utilities included like Undelete, Kill process, view INI files and EAs,
  View bookshelf and help files, at no extra charge.
  + Transparently modular design -- as you advance in OS/2 savvy, use FM/2
    modules to creatively "extend" the WPS.
  + One-of-a-kind Collector lets you group files from different directories
    or drives for further manipulation.
  + Seek-and-scan dialog including text search (in file and in file's EAs)
    and duplicate file finding.  Handy for locating files when you have
    some idea what you're looking for.
  + Global file viewing -- show all files on one or more drives
    simultaneously.  Handy for locating files when you really have no idea
    what you're looking for.
o Dynamically monitor:
  + Swapper size
  + Disk free space available
  + System memory available (shared and total)
  + Minimize FM/2 to a databar showing the above plus drive space
    used/free, threads/processes, elapsed time, more -- or run the
    databar separately.
o Easily customize windows:
  + Colors
  + Fonts
  + Size of icons
  + Type of view
  + What is shown in details view
  + Toolbar buttons -- graphical or text or a combination -- can be
    customized by you.
  + Internal Settings notebook lets you customize FM/2's behavior to
    work the way you work.  Several predefined custom setups are also
    available at the touch of a button.
o Over half a meg (100+ pages) of detailed online help available.
o Supports HPFS, FAT, CD-ROM, Zipstream and network formats using
  standard OS/2 APIs.

The latest version of File Manager/2 is always available as FM2.ZIP in
the Compuserve OS2SHARE forum, library 1 (GO OS2SHARE), as is its
companion archive of command line utilities, FM2UTL.ZIP.  You can get
FM/2 via FTP from ftp.secret.com (/g/os2utl).  Registration is $40 for
personal users, $80 for commercial users.  A registration form
(REGISTER.TXT) is included in the archive.  Compuserve's SWREG service
can be used to place orders (#2859 personal, #4228 commercial).