CD Shareware Magazine 1997 January

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D I R M A N A File Manager and File Viewing Program Version 1.60 (c) Copyright Ron Weiner 1993-96. All rights reserved. D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ Dirman is a copyrighted program. Dirman is NOT Public Domain. However you may copy and distribute this Shareware version as long as, no fee is charged for the service, and the program is supplied in its original unmodified archive with all documentation intact. You are free to evaluate Dirman without cost or obligation for a reasonable period of time. Then should you decide to continue using it, you are obligated to register by sending $15.00 per copy to: Ron Weiner 11 Canal Road Levittown, PA 19057 Your contribution will assure you a peaceful night sleep for many years to come. Otherwise dreaded demons of the night will invade your bedroom at midnight ruining your sleep, eventually taking over your mind, and making you do nauseating things with food. Since the consequences of your actions could be great, you should choose carefully. Registered users get the latest version of the program without the beg boxes and a guilt free conscience. P U R P O S E Dirman is a file and directory manager that includes Viewman, a file viewer/browser which allows you to peruse the contents of any file. This program was originally written to enhance my productivity at work. Every day I have to deal with plain text files that are downloaded from our suppliers. I have discovered after many years that these files contain only two kinds of information, absolutely critical and totally useless. The trick has always been to figure out which is which. My personal PC environment at the office is Windows for Workgroups 3.11 on a Pentium 90 with 16mb of ram. Even with this kind of horsepower, Windows applications suck for handling plain text files. It takes a lifetime to open a file, printing is a nightmare, and proportional type faces screw up the formatting beyond belief. I was tired of writing macros for Word and Excel just to be able to work with these files, so I started this project at home in my spare time. The first version of the program went to the office more than a year ago. Since then, it has turned into a weekend time killer as I have continued to find ways to enhance its capabilities. Version 1.60 is the sixth general release of Dirman. The program has been enhanced with many new features and has had all known bugs fixed. L E G A L D O G M A There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied, or otherwise. The author is NOT responsible for any damage or loss caused by the use of this program, no matter what! This program can erase files from your disk. By using this program you agree to this and assume total responsibility for everything (except of course for world war, floods, and invasion by aliens from Alpha Centuri). Should you choose to register Dirman, I assume you are doing so having tested the shareware version and determined that it is suitable for your needs. I can not provide a refund should you subsequently change your mind. Page 2 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ W H A T Y O U N E E D Dirman is a real mode DOS character based program which needs at least 256KB ram and DOS 3.3 or higher to function. It does not need, nor does it make use of extended memory, expanded memory, a mouse, a modem, or a beer! It supports a plenitude of video configurations and video modes. Installation of the program requires only that you copy the file DM.EXE to your hard drive. Actually you don't even have to copy it to the hard drive as it will work fine from a floppy. There are no installation programs, configuration files, DLL's, INI's, help files, and it is 100% cholesterol free. In short, if your computer can boot up to the DOS prompt you can probably run Dirman! H O W T O Assuming Dirman is installed in a sub directory that is in your path (this really is the best place to put it) or you are logged in the sub directory where Dirman resides, type DM and hit the <ENTER> key. A beg box will pop up and hang out for a few seconds so you can jot down my name and address. OK I admit it, I just like seeing my name on the screen! Registered users do not need to know where I live so they never suffer this indignity. In any case, hitting any key will end this annoyance immediately and bring you to a screen similar to the one below. ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ DIRMAN V1.60 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-96 [MS-DOS_6] C:\PSDWIN\*.* ╔════════════════════════════╗ .. <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- ║ DIRMAN ║ LIBS <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- ║ Directory & File Manager ║ PROJECTS <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- ╟────────────────────────────╢ READY <DIR> 4-11-94 6:15a ---- ║ C (C)opy ║ AI88 EXP 25,484 6-16-93 2:17p A--- ║ D (D)elete ║ BC30RTL DLL 143,802 10-05-92 12:00a A--- ║ M (M)ove ║ BWCC DLL 130,224 10-05-92 12:00a A--- ║ R (R)ename ║ CGM EXP 23,025 1-22-93 3:50p A--- ║ K ma(K)e new directory ║ CHKLIST MS 324 7-21-95 10:15p A--- ║ A Set (A)ttributes ║ EPS EXP 8,523 6-16-93 2:11p A--- ║ S Change (S)ort order ║ EPSDSPLY DLL 27,190 7-20-93 11:56a A--- ║ V Change dri(V)e ║ EXPORT EXE 40,044 1-04-94 2:28p A--- ║ * Re-read directory ║ EXPORT ICO 766 10-11-92 12:00a A--- ║ E Execute BAT,COM,EXE ║ EXPORT PIF 545 4-11-94 6:16a A--- ║ T Change (T)ime/date ║ IBS DLL 3,844 7-02-92 12:35p A--- ║ F1/? Additional commands ║ METAFILE EXP 23,105 10-05-92 12:00a A--- ║ SPACE Tag & Untag files ║ OWL31 DLL 154,240 10-05-92 12:00a A--- ║ ENTER Change Dir/View file ║ PCX EXP 3,897 6-16-93 2:15p A--- ║ ESC/Q Exit Start/This dir ║ PSDCWIN EXE 1,311,392 1-28-94 5:08p A--- ╟────────────────────────────╢ PSDCWIN HLP 97,547 8-05-93 1:00a A--- ║ Use: Up Down PgUp PgDn ║ PSDWIN EXE 1,124,256 1-28-94 5:24p A--- ║ Home End ^Home ^End ║ ╚════════════════════════════╝ Files 28 Used 3,402,180 Free 222,298,112 F1 or ? Help - ESC Exit ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Dirman Page 3 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ Windows 95 users will see a similar screen, except the short command menu on the right hand side has been removed to make room for long filenames. Below is an abbreviated example of a typical Windows 95 screen: ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ DIRMAN V1.60 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-96 [MS-DOS_6] C:\WINDOWS\DESKTOP\*.* .. <DIR> 7-02-95 7:35p ---- .. BC PIF 995 9-04-95 12:32p A--- BC.PIF CALCUL~1 LNK 271 8-26-95 8:58a A--- Calculator.lnk DM PIF 967 9-04-95 12:17p A--- DM.pif DOS PIF 995 9-03-95 9:39p A--- DOS.pif NEWTEX~1 TXT 3,323 9-01-95 8:05p A--- New Text Document.txt POWERB~1 LNK 269 8-27-95 8:32a A--- Power Builder.lnk ..................... ............... Files 7 Used 6,820 Free 222,232,576 F1 or ? Help - ESC Exit ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The Windows 95 layout displays the long filenames the same way as does the DIR command from a Windows 95 DOS box. Filenames that start with the "" up or "" down symbols are sub directories. Files are displayed in the same format as the DOS DIR command. First the 8 character Filename, the three character filename extension, the file size, and the date and time the file was last modified. The next four characters show the state of the "attribute" flags for the file. DOS allows a file to have any combination of four attributes, (A)rchive, (S)ystem (H)idden, and (R)ead Only. Dirman displays the first letter of an attribute when its flag is set (on) and a '-' dash if the flag is unset (off). I digress for a short discussion of file attributes. The (A)rchive attribute is used by backup programs to determine if the file was changed since the last backup. If the archive attribute is set, your backup program knows the file was modified since the last back up. Back up programs turn off the archive attribute after it backs up the file. DOS turns on this attribute every time it modifies an existing file or creates a new one. The (S)ystem attribute is reserved for special files used by your operating system. You will find at least two system files in the root directory of your hard drive. Do NOT mess around with these files unless you know exactly what you are doing! The (H)idden attribute makes the file invisible to the normal directory commands. The DOS directory command, DIR, and most programs do not display files or directories that have their hidden attribute set. However, hiding a file or directory is not a great method to keep prying eyes out of your important stuff as Dirman and most other file management utilities have no problem seeing these files. Files who have their Hidden attribute set may be invisible to the DOS DIR command and other programs, but they are normal in every other respect. Page 4 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The (R)ead only attribute is probably the most useful for the majority of us. When the Read only attribute is set, the file can not be erased or modified by DOS or any application. The file may be used by any program that needs to read information, but the operating system will refuse to allow the file to be modified. Normally it is best to set this attribute on files which rarely or never are changed. A good example might be the COMMAND.COM file in your root directory. A bad example might be the data base file used by your personal contact management program. File selection is accomplished by using the UP and DOWN arrow keys to move the highlight cursor bar. You can also navigate through the file list using other cursor positioning keys. PGUP and PGDN move the file list to the previous or next screen full of files. HOME and END move the cursor to the first and last file in the directory. CTRL HOME and CTRL END key combinations position the cursor to the top or bottom file on the current page. Dirman expects you to move the highlight cursor bar to the file or sub directory of your choice, then select a command by typing the key associated with the command. Hit either the <F1> or <?> keys to display a complete list of commands and the keystrokes associated with them. Several of Dirmans commands can work with more than one file at a time. Use the <SPACE BAR> to tag a group of files that you want to perform some action on. D i r m a n C o m m a n d s <A>ttribute changes the attribute for the currently highlighted file or a group of tagged files. A dialog box will pop up allowing you to use the left and right cursor keys to select the attribute you want to change. Typing the first letter of an attribute (Archive, System, Hidden, or Read only) in the position indicated by the dialog, will set (turn on) that attribute. Placing any other character in the position indicated by the dialog unsets (turns off) the attribute. <C>opy makes a new copy of the currently highlighted file or a group of tagged files to any location you specify. The original file(s) are unchanged and the new file(s) are identical copies. If you are running under Windows 95 your Long Filenames are persevered. A dialog box will pop up asking you to enter a destination. The destination can be a drive letter and colon, a directory name, or a combination of the two. When you are copying a single file you may also specify a new file name for the destination. If the file you are copying already exists on the target drive/directory you are given the option to abort the copy and preserve the original file, or to continue the operation and replace the original with the new file, or cancel the operation. When copying a group of tagged files there is also an option to overwrite all of the destination files without additional prompts. If you enter a bad destination, or if the destination is the same as the source, the command will fail and you will notice a slight tightening in your chest. This command can also be used to print Dirman Page 5 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ plain text files. Enter the printer port (LPT1, LPT2, PRN, etc.) instead of a filename in the dialog, and your printer will erupt in a cacophony of action. Dirman can sense when it is copying to a file or hardware device such as your printer. When it detects you are copying to a hardware device it will supply a form feed at the end of each job to kick out your final page. In this manner you can tag multiple files using the <SPACE BAR> and print them all with one command. <ALT_C> (Hold down the ALT key and push "C") express Change directory jumps directly to any directory on the current drive by entering its fully qualified pathname in the dialog. This command can save much cursoring around if you know exactly where you want to go. Express Change Dir assumes you will enter a pathname as an offset from the root directory of the current drive. For example typing "FOO\BAR" or "C:\FOO\BAR" in the dialog will produce the same result. If you attempt to log on to a different drive using this command, the command will fail, and your under arm hair will begin to curl due to sudden increased odoriferous perspiration output. <D>elete erases the currently highlighted file, sub directory, or group of tagged files. If you attempt to delete a sub directory that is not empty, or a file that is Read only, the command will fail and your visual acuity will diminish due to uncontrollable crossing of your eyes. The delete command always asks for a confirmation before proceeding. This is a good time to go back and re-read the Legal Dogma section. <ALT_D> (Hold down the ALT key and push "D") unrecoverable delete command deletes the currently highlighted file, or group of tagged files so that they can not easily be recovered. This command works by overwriting every byte in the file(s) to be deleted with a junk character (10101010 binary) just before actually deleting the file(s). Use unrecoverable delete when you want to delete file(s) that have sensitive information you don't want anyone to ever see again. The DOS undelete command and other similar utilities may be able to recover the file but the reconstructed file will contain only the junk binary character. NOTE!! "This command may NOT be 100% reliable in every conceivable environment." A serious knowledgeable user with a LOT of time may still be able to recover your file. This is especially true in networked drives where the Network OS may keep backup copies of your files around for a long time waiting for the system administrator to come along and purge them. Please re-re-read the Legal Dogma section. <E>xecute the currently highlighted file. This command is inactive unless the highlight cursor is on a filename whose extension is BAT, COM, or EXE. A dialog will pop up allowing you to enter any command line arguments the program needs to function. Simply hitting RETURN at this prompt will run the program with no command line parameters. When your program has ended you will be prompted to hit any key to return to Dirman. <ALT_E> (Hold down the ALT key and push "E") invokes your favorite text editor using the highlighted filename as the last argument on the Page 6 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ command line. Virtually all text editors use this convention to open a file for editing on startup. The default editor is Microsoft "EDIT" that came as standard equipment with recent versions Microsoft DOS and Windows 95. See the <ALT_I> and <ALT_S> commands if you want to change the default editor to your favorite. Dirman can invoke a Windows based text editor if you are running Windows 95, but not under Windows 3.xx. <F>ilespec change from the default (*.*) pattern, which displays all files, to something that displays a subset of the files. For example if you type "*.DOC" in the dialog, the file list will display only files whose extension ends with ".DOC". The filespec pattern has no effect on the display of sub directories. All sub directories are displayed regardless of the filespec pattern. Use this command as a work-around when you need to work with a sub directory that exceeds Dirmans 1024 file limit. The filespec pattern stays in effect for the remainder of the session. <G>raft Directory Tree copies the contents of the directory the highlight cursor is sitting on with all of the files and directories contained therein to anywhere you specify. A dialog box will pop up asking you to enter a destination. The destination can be a drive letter and colon, a directory name, or a combination of the two. All of the files and sub directories in the source directory are recreated on the destination preserving the original directory integrity and structure. If Dirman can not create a directory (already exists) or runs out of disk space the command will fail, and the elastic band of your underwear will begin to decompose into belly button lint. <ALT_I> (Hold down the ALT key and push "I") is used to change the name of the editor from the default (EDIT) to one of your choosing. Enter the name of your favorite editor in the dialog and bada-da-bing Dirman will happily use your editor for the remainder of the current session. If your editor is not in a directory that is in your path, you may enter the fully qualified file name in the dialog for example "C:\BIN\EDITORS\FAVORITE". Dirman limits you to a maximum of 48 characters. Use the <ALT_S> command should you wish to make this change permanent. <J>ump to filename allows you to quickly get to the area in the directory that starts with a letter you select. Hit the <J>ump to filename key and then the first letter of the filename you want to land on, and the cursor is placed on the first filename that starts with that letter or the next higher letter. This command is active only when the directory listing is sorted by filename in ascending order. ma<K>e creates a new directory. Type any legal directory name in the dialog, and a new directory will be created in the currently logged directory. A new directory can be created anywhere on any drive by typing a fully qualified pathname in the dialog. For example, typing "C:\KITTY\CAT" in the dialog will create a new sub directory "CAT" in the directory "KITTY" that is one level down from the root directory of the "C:" drive. Only one new directory level can be created at a Dirman Page 7 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ time. If in the above example, the "KITTY" directory did not exist the command would fail, and your left ear will generate 2cc's of ultra fast hardening ear wax in less than 10 seconds, making your stereo headphones monaural. <M>ove will move the highlighted file or a group of tagged files to a location you specify on the current drive. The original files are GONE! If you are running under Windows 95 Long Filenames are persevered. Move is equivalent of a file copy followed by a file delete. Because the move command really just renames the file(s), and doesn't actually move any of the data, it works many times faster than a copy and delete. However the destination must be on the same drive as the source. A dialog box will pop up asking you to enter the destination for the file(s). You may enter either a fully qualified pathname or a relative pathname for the destination. If you enter an invalid destination, if the destination is the same as the source, or if the destination is on a different drive, the command will fail and a single strand of hair will fall out of your head. <N>uke Tree deletes the highlighted directory. Nuke works by deleting every file and directory contained in the highlighted directory. Similar to the DOS DELTREE command, it is the inverse of the <G>raft command. This is a very efficient command for eliminating all remnants of unused programs or data. When you invoke this command you are asked to confirm your selection. The nuke command does not pay attention to the attributes of the file(s), and happily deletes everything that gets in its way. Needless to say a moments inattention with this command may make you VERY sad one day. Please take a moment and read that dog gone Legal Dogma section again. rint makes a hard copy of the current directory listing. This command sends a complete listing of ALL the files in the same format as is currently being displayed on the screen to whatever is the currently defined printer device. By default the standard printer device is "LPT1". This can be changed to any device you like by using the <ALT_P> change printer device command. <ALT_P> (Hold down the ALT key and push "P") allows you to change the printer from Dirmans default of "LPT1" to a different device or file. You may enter the device name of any printer attached to your system, or you can direct the output to a file by supplying a file name in the dialog. When the target of the print command is a file, each print job is appended to the end of the file and the final form feed is omitted. This is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. <Q>uit ends Dirman and leaves you in the drive / directory you are currently viewing. See the <ESC> command to if you want to quit to the drive / directory you were in when Dirman started. <R>ename allows you to change the name of the currently highlighted file or sub directory. A dialog will pop up allowing you to modify the files current name. If you attempt to rename the file to an existing filename the command will fail, and the acid level in your Page 8 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ stomach will increase by a factor of two. This command disregards tagged files and works only on the currently highlighted file. See the s<W>eep command for a method of renaming a group of files. <S>ort order allows you to change the order in which the files are displayed. The default is to display files in alphabetical order by Filename. You can also display files in alphabetical order by file Extension, oldest to most current Date, smallest to largest Size, by the file attribute, or Unsorted (the natural directory order). You can also sort the file list in reverse order by hitting the <R>everse before selecting the first letter <F>ile, <E>xtension, <D>ate, <S>ize, or <A>ttribute, of the sort ordering you desire. The sorting order stays in effect for the remainder of the session. If you are running Windows 95 sorting by <F>ilename uses the long filename. The <S>ort order is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command should you want to change default sorting order. The <ALT_S> (Hold down the ALT key and push "S") command "Set and Save Preferences" allows you to customize Dirman/Viewman to more closely meet your specific requirements. In addition to changing text colors, you may change any of the following from their original distribution defaults. Dir/File sort order (Filename) Ruler toggle (Off) Tabs toggle (On) Hex toggle (Off) Wrap toggle (Off) Tab length value (8) 7/8 Bit toggle (8) Default editor (EDIT) Default printer (LPT1) Upon invoking the <ALT_S> command a menu will pop up allowing you to select and change the colors for all of the different text fields used in Dirman and Viewman. Highlight the text category you want to change and hit <ENTER>. A color selection box will pop up with the current color for the selected text item highlighted. Use Up, Down, Left, and Right cursor keys to select a new color and hit <ENTER> to accept it. Hitting <ESC> cancels the change. The display will be updated so you can get an idea of what the new color scheme will look like. Warning, it is possible to create some truly ugly looking screens. If the colors get really bad select "Default Colors" from the menu and all of the colors will change back to their original distribution defaults. Selecting "Default Options" from the menu sets all of the other options back to their original distribution defaults. Selecting the "Save Colors only" option will alter (clone) the currently running copy of Dirman so that in all future Dirman Page 9 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ sessions your current color scheme will be the default. If you select "Save ALL Options" the currently running copy of Dirman will be modified to use your current color scheme and all of the other current settings in all future sessions. Make sure all of these options are set to the values you want before selecting "Save ALL Options". If you are using a memory resident anti-virus program it may alert you that a change is about to be made in an executable file. This is a normal operation and you should allow it to proceed! Selecting "Return" from the menu or hitting <ESC> will take you back to wherever you were with all of your changes in effect. <SPACE_BAR> is used to tag or untag the currently highlighted file. The <SPACE_BAR> is a toggle, tagging an untagged file and vice versa. The right hand side of the bottom status line changes to display the number of files and the number of bytes contained in them. Tagging makes it possible to perform an action on an entire group of files using a single command. Only the <A>ttribute, <C>opy, <D>elete, <ALT_D> unrecoverable delete, <M>ove, <T>ime, and s<W>eep commands can work on a group of tagged files. All other commands ignore the tags and work only on the currently highlighted file. <T>ouch file date / time allows you to modify the file creation date and time for the highlighted file or group of tagged files. Have you ever wondered when time began? Was it the big bang, or as written in Genesis on the first day when God created heaven and earth? As far as the files on your PC are concerned time officially began at the stroke of midnight January 1, 1980. <ALT_T> and <ALT_U> (Hold down the ALT key and push "T" or "U") commands are used to either Tag or Untag all of the files in the current directory. <CTRL_T> (Hold down the CTRL key and push "T") shows file Creation, Last Access, and Last Write times for highlighted file. This command is available only when Dirman is running under Windows 95. Change dri<V>e changes the currently logged drive. When you want to work with the files on a different drive push the "V" key a dialog will pop up asking you type the letter for the drive you want to work with. As soon as you type in the drive letter you are logged on to the new drive. If you type in an invalid drive letter (one that is not available on your system) the command will fail, and your bladder will instantly go to full capacity necessitating an immediate trip the nearest bathroom. Use this command to navigate through all of the drives available to your system, including networked drives, removable hard drives, CD ROM's, floppies, ram disks, etc. <ALT_V> (Hold down the ALT key and push "V") set Video resolution. This command pops up a list of screen resolutions supported by your system. Select the number corresponding to the video resolution you want and the screen will change instantly. The <ALT_V> functions have Page 10 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ ONLY been tested with VGA and Super VGA display hardware. If your computer does not have this type hardware installed proceed at your own risk! If you have VGA hardware as a minimum you will be able to select from three resolutions 80X25, 80X28, and 80X50 columns and rows. If your video card is VESA compliant you may also be able to select from some or all of the following resolutions, 80X60, 132X25, 132X43, 132X50, and 132X60 columns and rows. Dirman/Viewman interrogates your video card and only allows you to select from the resolutions your hardware supports. s<W>eep allows you to run a DOS command, batch file, or a program against a tagged file or a group of tagged files. In order to use this command you must be familiar with command line syntax of the program you wish to execute. When you mash on the "W" key, and you have at least one file tagged, a dialog will pop up asking you to enter a command to be run against the tagged file(s). Type the command that you would enter at the DOS prompt but, use a CTRL_T character (signifies put Tagged filename here) to mark the spot in the command where you want Dirman to substitute the name of the tagged file(s). You enter a CTRL_T by holding down the CTRL key and typing a "T". For example the command to Zip a group of tagged files would look like this: "PKZIP -A NEWZIPFL.ZIP @" This command will compress the tagged files into NEWZIPFL.ZIP. Note the CTRL_T "@" character at the end of the command. Another example is if you wanted to rename a group of files to something with the same file extension. The following command will rename all of the tagged files to the same old filename but with the new extension .BAC: "RENAME @ *.BAC" Dirman uses memory lavishly in order to get acceptable performance on modestly powered computers. Depending on the screen resolution and the number of files in the current directory, Dirman could be using as much as 140K of memory. Your application must be capable of running in whatever memory is left. <Z>ip directory list display, allows you to view a listing of the files that are stored in a ZIP file archive. Move the highlight cursor to the ZIP file you are interested in and hit the "Z" key. A directory listing all the files in that ZIP archive with information about each file will be displayed in Viewman. See the <Z>ip command in Viewman for instructions on how to expand and view the contents of compressed files within the ZIP archive. ZIP files have become the standard for archiving and reducing the size of files for transmission by modem or floppy from one computer to another. Files stored in this format must be expanded before they can be used. The program used to expand ZIP files is PKUNZIP. You must have a copy of PKUNZIP on your computer in order for Dirman and Viewman to work with ZIP files, and it must be in a the current directory or a directory that is in your PATH. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are available as shareware and are likely available from the same source as the one you used to get Dirman. This command makes a temporary file in the directory defined by your "TEMP" environment variable or in the root directory of the current drive when no "TEMP" environment variable is defined. The <Z>ip command will fail if you do not have write access to the root Dirman Page 11 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ directory of the currently logged drive. This is often the case with networked drives or floppies that are write protected. To avoid this problem it is best to set up an environment variable that specifies where you want Dirman to put any temporary files it creates. If you include the line SET TEMP=C:\TEMP in your autoexec.bat file, or just type it from the DOS prompt before starting Dirman you will eliminate the problem. Substitute whatever Drive:\directory you want to use in lieu of "C:\TEMP" in the above example. Use the <*> key to re-read the files from the current directory. This command is only necessary when you are working in a multitasking environments like, Windows, OS/2, Desqview, or on networked drives. With these operating systems, other programs or processes can make changes after Dirman has read the directory. It is NOT necessary to use this command whenever Dirman is making the changes. <ENTER> is a dual purpose command. If the highlight bar is on a directory when you press <ENTER>, Dirman changes the directory to the one under the highlighted bar and displays all of the files in the new directory. In this manner it is possible to traverse through the entire directory structure of the current drive. When the highlight bar is on a file and you hit <ENTER>, Dirman opens the file and allows you to peruse its contents using the file browser (Viewman). <F1> or <?> keys will pop up a one page help screen. This serves to remind you of what functions are available and which keys access them. Hitting any key will turn off the beg box allowing you to actually read the instructions (registered users do not endure this annoyance), and hitting a key again takes you back to where you were. <ESC> ends Dirman and drops you back to exactly where you were before the program began. If you want to exit Dirman in the directory you are currently viewing use the <Q>uit command. Page 12 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ V I E W M A N Viewman is a full featured file browser. Viewman allows you to look at the contents of any file on your system but does not allow you to change the contents of those files. From Dirman if you were to position the highlight bar on the file "README.TXT" in the "WINDOWS" sub directory of your "C:" drive and hit the <ENTER> key, you will see a screen that looks something like this: ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ VIEWMAN V1.60 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-96 C:\WINDOWS\Readme.txt -------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft Windows 95 README for Microsoft Windows August l995 -------------------------------------------------------- (c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 1995 ------------------------ HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT ------------------------ To view Readme.txt on screen in Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print Readme.txt, open it in Notepad or another word processor, then use the Print command on the File menu. -------- CONTENTS -------- IF YOU HAVEN'T INSTALLED WINDOWS 95 LIST OF WINDOWS 95 README FILES Line 1 + 0 .. PgUp PgDn Home End F1 help ansi html 8bit Tab wrap ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The top and bottom line on the display provide information about the file you are viewing and are more or less static. The top line shows the fully qualified name of the file you are viewing. The bottom line is the status line, and provides the bulk of the information you are likely to use when viewing files. Starting from the left, the Line number is based on the file position of the line displayed at the top of the screen. The "+" number is the offset in characters from the first character of each line. This is useful when displaying files whose logical record length is longer than the width of your screen. There are five indicators on the bottom line that show the state of the (A)nsi, (H)tml, (7/8)bit, (T)ab expansion, and (W)rap long lines filters. Except for (7/8)bit indicator, when the first letter is capitalized the toggle state is true. The default settings are (a)nsi off, (h)tml off, (8)bit on, (T)ab on, and (w)rap off. All of the lines between the top and bottom line are the contents (Data) of the file. Viewman is a file VIEWER, and therefore provides NO facility for modifying files. Dirman Page 13 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The easiest way to understand how Viewman works is to visualize your monitor screen as a view port lying over top the file you are browsing. The cursor keys control the movement of this view port allowing you to position it anywhere you want over the file. The UP and DOWN arrows move the screen up or down one line. PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN move the screen one page backwards or forwards. The RIGHT and LEFT arrows move the screen right or left ten characters at a time. CTRL RIGHT and CTRL LEFT move the screen to the right most or the 0th column. The HOME and END keys move the screen to the beginning or end of the file. V i e w m a n C o m m a n d s <+> and <-> commands allow you to jump to a new position in the file a number of lines before <-> or after <+> the current line. For example, if you want to instantly jump 100 lines further into the file push the <+> key, enter 100 into the dialog, and poof, the line at the top of the screen is 100 lines further into the file. The <7> and <8> filter commands determine how characters above ASCII 127 are displayed. The default <8> is to display all characters from ASCII 0 to 255 without modification. The <7> filter strips off the hi-bit of every character resulting in characters above ASCII 127 being displayed as their 7 bit equivalent in the range from 0 to 127. Again if this sounds like gibberish to you don't worry. All you have to know is this filter may enhance the readability of some files. The status line menu will show "8bit" when the hi-bit filter is off and "7bit" when it is on. The <7> and <8> toggles are cloneable. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. <A>ppend binary command copies the contents of a marked block without any filtering and adds it to the end of a file you specify. A dialog will pop up asking you to enter the output filename. Everything from start of block to end of block is sent to wherever you specify in raw form. When the output of the <A>ppend command is directed to a file that already exists it appends the marked block to the end of the file, otherwise a new file is created. <ALT_A> (Hold down the ALT key and push "A") ANSI filter toggle makes viewing files created by Windows applications using the standard Windows ANSI character set easier to read by translating high order ANSI characters to their DOS ASCII equivalent. ANSI characters that do not have DOS ASCII equivalents are translated to spaces. The status line menu will show "Ansi" when the ANSI filter is on and "ansi" when it is off. ookmark immediately sets the screen to the point in the file identified by the most recently set bookmark. Bookmarks are set with the <ALT_B> set bookmark command, or as result of successful <F>ind, e<X>act find, <ALT_F>uzzy find, or <F3> find again, commands. Viewman remembers up to the last ten bookmark settings. Pressing ookmark repeatedly will cycle through all of the bookmarks so eventually you Page 14 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ will return the last one set. If no book marks are set the command is ignored. <ALT_B> (Hold down the ALT key and push "B") sets a bookmark in the file at the current screen position. You can subsequently return to this point in the file almost instantly by issuing a jump to ookmark command. <CTRL_B> (Hold down the CTRL key and push "B") clears all bookmarks. <C>opy moves a marked block to the Windows clipboard. Obviously if you are not running Windows, this command will fail, and your mouse will begin to squeak loudly. I have found this command to be most useful, especially when I need to extract a small piece of text from a file for inclusion to a report or Email correspondence. This command filters out characters which confuse Windows applications and replaces them with (.) dots. It copies everything from start block to end block regardless of which columns are displayed on the screen. <C>opy is limited to transferring a maximum of 32K bytes at a time. A warning will be displayed if you try to <C>opy more than 32K and the clipboard will contain only the first 32K of the block. <D>ump binary command copies the contents of a marked block without any filtering to a file you specify. A dialog will pop up asking you to enter the output filename. Everything from start of block to end of block is sent to wherever you specify in raw form. When the output of the <D>ump command is directed to a file that already exists it overwrites the file, otherwise a new file is created. <ALT_D> and <ALT_U> (Hold down the ALT key and push "D" or "U") commands allow for automatic scrolling of the screen up or down. Once the command is initiated the screen scrolls in the appropriate direction at a predetermined rate until a key other than the <+> plus, <-> minus, or <T>urbo key is struck. The default scroll rate is approximately 60 lines per minute. You adjust the rate of scroll by hitting the <+> or <-> keys while the screen is scrolling. A colored bar indicating the relative scroll speed is visible on the left hand bottom line of the display. The scroll rate can be varied with the <+> and <-> keys from a leisurely rate of about 40 lines per minute up to fairly frantic 1100 LPM. However if speed is what you need, hitting the <T>urbo key sends the scroll rate directly into warp drive. Pushing the <T>urbo key again returns the scroll rate back to normal. The scroll speed in turbo mode is entirely dependent on your processor, video mode, and video card. Faster hardware provides higher scroll rate. <E>nd block marks the bottom line of the display as the last line of a block. If the start block marker is not defined, <E>nd block will define the start block marker as the first line in the file. <ALT_E> (Hold down the ALT key and push "E") edit the file you are currently viewing. This command starts your favorite text editor with the file you are viewing open for editing. See the <ALT_E> command in Dirman Page 15 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ the Dirman section for additional information. <CTRL_E> (Hold down the CTRL key and push "E") toggles the "EBCDIC" to "ASCII" translation filter. If you have no idea of what the heck is an "EBCDIC" is, relax, you are in good company. I expect that 99.997% of the population of the United States is in the same condition. On the other hand if you work with big blue iron, this filter may well come in handy. This command repositions the screen to the head of the file. <F>ind text allows you search for a string of text characters in the file you are viewing. Searches are case insensitive and proceed from the current top line of the screen towards the end of the file. You are prompted to enter the text to be searched for. If the search is successful, the record in which the text was found is highlighted and positioned on the second from the top line of the display. The found text is emphasized on the highlighted line. If your search is not successful, the line number and left offset information on the status line will be replaced by a [** Not Found **] message, and the view port will be positioned at the end of the file. You may abort a search in progress by hitting the <ESC> key. <ALT_F> (Hold down the ALT key and push "F") invokes the FUZZY search feature. This command behaves just like the <F>ind command except Viewman uses a Soundex algorithm to find close phonetic matches for the word you are trying to find. For instance, if you were searching a list of names for the name "Weiner" (my personal favorite name), Fuzzy search will result with hit's on "Weiner", "Winner", "Wiener", "Whiner", and "Weener". Search results can on occasion be spectacularly bizarre. Sometimes the search results may have you shaking your head in amazement as to how any search algorithm could be so stupid to find anything in common with the words on your screen. On the other hand at times this algorithm fails to find some seemingly obvious matches. English is a hellishly complex language, and this program is just a set of computer instructions. There is no intelligence or intuitive cognition in Viewman. <F3> FIND AGAIN is used to search for the next occurrence of the text found from the previous search operation. In this manner it is easy to find each occurrence of the string "HOT DOG" in a file by hitting <F>ind typing "HOT DOG" and hitting <ENTER>. Then use the <F3> key to locate the instance of "HOT DOG" you want. The <F3> key uses the same search type as was used in the previous find, <F>ind case insensitive, find e<X>act case sensitive, or <ALT_F> fuzzy search. <ALT_H> (Hold down the ALT key and push "H") toggles a filter that hides HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) commands embedded in the file. Viewman makes no attempt to format the text, it just strips out HTML commands. This command makes it somewhat easier to read files saved from your favorite World Wide Web browser. The status line menu will show "Html" when the HTML filter is on and "html" when it is off. <H>ex dump display is a toggle which when toggled ON displays 16 bytes of the file on each line. The display format is similar to the one Page 16 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ used by the Dump command in Debug. Below is an abbreviated example of the screen format: ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ VIEWMAN V1.60 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-96 C:\WINDOWS\Readme.txt 000000 20 20 20 20 20 20 2D 2D - 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D ---------- 000010 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D - 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D ---------------- 000020 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D - 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D ---------------- 000030 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D - 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 2D 0D 0A --------------.. 000040 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 - 20 20 4D 69 63 72 6F 73 Micros 000050 6F 66 74 20 57 69 6E 64 - 6F 77 73 20 39 35 20 52 oft Windows 95 R 000060 45 41 44 4D 45 20 66 6F - 72 20 4D 69 63 72 6F 73 EADME for Micros ..................... ............... Line 1 + 0 .. PgUp PgDn Home End F1 help ansi html 8bit Tab wrap ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ OFFSET FIRST 8 BYTES IN HEX SECOND 8 BYTES IN HEX 16 BYTES IN ASCII This display mode is most suitable for displaying files that contain mostly binary data and little text. If this format looks foreign to you, don't worry you'll probably never have to use it. The LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys are inoperative when <H>ex is on. This command resets the view port to the head of the file. The <H>ex toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. Tab nterval allows you to specify how much white space should separate tabs. The default tab interval is 8 columns, but you may enter any value between 2 and 80 in the dialog. This command comes in handy when trying to line up columns in tab delimited files. Set the tab interval to the length of the longest field in a record, and abracadabra everything is lined up. The tab nterval is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. <ALT_I> (Hold down the ALT key and push "I") is used to change the name of the editor to your favorite. See the <ALT_I> command in the Dirman section for additional information. <J>ump to absolute line number. Positions the file at the top of the screen to a point you specify. Press the <J> key and supply a line number you want displayed at the top of the screen. This method is significantly faster than using the cursor keys to reach some arbitrary point in the file. Record <L>ength sets the maximum screen line length. This command makes it easier to view files with fixed length records that do not use carriage returns or line feeds as record terminators. A dialog will pop up asking you to enter the fixed record length. Enter any number between 2 and 1024 and the display will break on that column. This command turns off the <W>rap toggle and resets the display to the head of the file. Line <N>umber toggle displays the line (record) number of each line of the file in the left hand column. This command is not available when the display is in the Hex mode. Dirman Page 17 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ <ALT_N> (Hold down the ALT key and push "N") Select number to use as the first line in the file for the <N>umber command. You can use any value between -32768 and 32767 for the first record. This comes in especially handy when the file you are viewing contains a few lines at the start of the file with header information. rint sends a marked block to the printer. This command is useful if you need hard copy for just a small piece of a large file. Viewman issues a form feed at the conclusion of each print command to kick out your last page. The output of this command is much the same as you see on the screen. The output will be filtered based on the current filter settings. For instance if you have hex mode toggled on the output will go to the printer in hex format. The only difference between the screen and printer output is Viewman will filter out characters that make printers go bonkers and will replace them with (.) dots. If you are browsing in text mode and the <W>rap is off, the printed output will contain only the data from the columns currently displayed on your monitor. <ALT_P> (Hold down the ALT key and push "P") allows you to change the printer from the default of LPT1 to a different device or file. See the <ALT_P> command in the Dirman section for additional information. The <R>uler toggle flips the top line of the display into a character based ruler when in text mode looks like this: ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬10┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬20┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬30┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬40┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬50┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬60┬┬┬┬┼┬┬┬70┬┬┬┬ ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ If you are in the Hex display mode the ruler will look like this: ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Offset 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F 0123456789ABCDEF ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The ruler comes in especially handy for easily determining field and record lengths. The <R>uler toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for Cloning instructions. <ALT_R> (Hold down the ALT key and push "R") Display CR/LF in text mode toggle. When on displays carriage return and line feed characters on the screen. These characters are normally not displayed in text mode. The default is not to display CR/LF's. <S>tart block marks the top line on the display as the start of a block. This command when used in conjunction with the <E>nd block command make it possible to extract data from the file without having to copy the whole file. When a block is fully defined, the text in the block changes color to show where it starts and stops. <ALT_S> (Hold down the ALT key and push "S") "Set and Save program Preferences" allows you to customize Dirman. See the <ALT_S> command Page 18 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ in the Dirman section for additional information. The <T>ab expansion toggle causes Viewman to insert spaces in the line. The default tab interval is eight spaces that are set at columns 1, 9, 17, 25, etc. When <T>ab is toggled off, tabs are displayed as a graphic character and spaces are not inserted in the line. Most text files display best when the <T>ab toggle is ON. You may also use the TAB key to toggle this feature. The status line menu will show "Tab" when the TAB filter is on and "tab" when it is off. The <T>ab toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. ndo marked block. This command undefines a marked block. <ALT_U> (Hold down the ALT key and push "U") commands allow for automatic scrolling of the screen up having to press any keys. See the <ALT_D> command for additional information. <ALT_V> set Video resolution. See the <ALT_V> command in the Dirman section for additional information. <W>rap controls whether long lines are broken at the edge of the display. The default is wrap off where Viewman displays each logical record in the file on one line of the display. A logical record ends in either a carriage return or a line feed, or in a carriage return line feed pair. Viewman handles logical records up to 1024 characters in length. When you want to view the entire file without having to scroll the display right and left, use the (W) command. When <W>rap is ON, logical record lengths are truncated at the right edge of your screen and, the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys are inoperative. The status line menu will show "Wrap" when the WRAP filter is on and "wrap" when it is off. This command resets the view port to the head of the file. Important consumer information -> "This command is in no way associated with loud and/or foul music". The <W>rap toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. <ALT_W> Word Wrap filter breaks long lines at word boundaries closest to the column chosen. When activated you are given the option to set the column at which you want the break to occur. The default line break column is the current screen width. The status line menu will show "Wrap" when the WORD WRAP filter is on and "wrap" when it is off. Unlike the <W>rap command above this command wraps long lines at the word boundary closest to the column chosen and the left and right arrow keys remain operative. e<X>act Find is same as the <F>ind command except that searches are case sensitive. See the <F>ind command for additional information. View <Z>ip file command allows you to view the contents of a compressed file while it is still part of a ZIP archive. This command is available only when you are viewing a ZIP directory list from Dirman. See the <Z> command in Dirman for instructions. A dialog will ask you for the compressed file you want to view. After typing the filename and hitting <ENTER>, the file is decompressed and Dirman Page 19 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ displayed on the screen. If the decompressed file is larger than the free disk space the file will be truncated, and you may notice a sharp pain in your pocketbook. The best cure for this ailment is more $$'s for a larger hard drive. <F1> or <?> keys will pop up a one page help screen. This serves to remind you of what functions are available and which keys are to be used to access them. Hitting any key will turn off the beg box allowing you to actually read the instructions (registered users do not endure this annoyance), and hitting a key again takes you back to where you were. <ESC> ends Viewman and drops you back to Dirman in exactly the same position where you were before you hit the <ENTER> key. If you have used the <D>ump or <A>ppend commands to create a new file or printed to a file with the rint command in the directory you are currently browsing, you should use the <*> re-read directory command when you return to Dirman. O T H E R C O O L S T U F F Dirman is designed to work with color displays which are at least 80 characters wide by 25 lines high. I have done some limited testing with Monochrome displays, and everything seems to work OK, but due to the limited choice of colors (2), the contrast of highlighted text in some instances may be difficult to read. If you have a utility that changes the width or length of your screen, Dirman will make use of the additional lines and columns. I have tested Dirman in the following resolutions using a variety of VGA and Super VGA video cards: 80x25, 80x28, 80x43, 80x50, 80x60, 100x30, 100x60, 132x22, 132x25, 132x43, 132x44, 132x50, and 132x60. You can browse a file in Viewman directly from the DOS prompt by putting an unambiguous filename on the command line when you start Dirman. For example, "DM C:\WINDOWS\README.TXT" will bypass Dirman and take you directly to Viewman with the file readme.txt ready to peruse. Note: There must be a space between DM and the Filename. Windows 95 users may make a shortcut of Dirman on the desktop and drag and drop a file or directory from the explorer on it to invoke Dirman with that file or directory displayed. You also may want to consider making a shortcut of Dirman in your "\WINDOWS\SENDTO" directory. Putting a shortcut here will make Dirman an option of the SENDTO menu when you right click a file. I have found these two tips to be pretty dog-gone handy! Enjoy! Ron Weiner September 1996 Page 20 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ I N D E X Attributes, files ASHR.........4 Video Monochrome Limitations .......20 Command Line Options..........20 Supported Resolutions ........20 Copyright......................2 Viewman .......................13 Viewman Command Keys Dirman Command Keys <+> & <-> Jump Relative ......14 <*> Re-Read Dir 12 <?> List Viewman Commands ....20 <?> List Dirman Commands ....12 <7> and <8> Hi-Bit Filter ....14 <A> Attribute ................5 <A> Append to File (Binary) ..14 <ALT_C> Express Change Dir ...6 <ALT_A> ANSI Filter Toggle ...14 <ALT_D> Unrecoverable Delete .6 <ALT_B> Set Bookmark .........15 <ALT_E> Edit File ............6 <ALT_D> Auto Scroll Down .....15 <ALT_I> Set Default Editor ...7 <ALT_E> Edit File ............15 <ALT_P> Set Default Printer ..8 <ALT_F> Fuzzy Text Search ....16 <ALT_S> Set & Save Defaults ..9 <ALT_H> HTML Filter Toggle ...16 <ALT_T> Tag All Files .......10 <ALT_I> ......See Dirman Command <ALT_U> Untag All Files .....10 <ALT_N> Set Start Line Num ...18 <ALT_V> Set Video Resolution 10 <ALT_P> ......See Dirman Command <C> Copy File's ..............5 <ALT_R> Display CR/LF Toggle .18 <CTRL_T> Display LFN Times ..10 <ALT_S> ......See Dirman Command <D> Delete File's & Dir's ....6 <ALT_U> Auto Scroll Up .......15 <E> Execute (Run) a Program ..6 <ALT_V> ......See Dirman Command <ENTER> Change Dir, View File12 <ALT_W> Word Wrap Toggle .....19 <ESC> Quit to Original Dir ..12 Go to Last Bookmark ......14 <F> Change Filespec ..........7 <C> Copy Block to Clipboard ..15 <F1> List Dirman Commands ...12 <CTRL_B> Clear All Bookmarks .15 <G> Graft (move) Dir Tree ....7 <CTRL_E> EBCDIC Filter Toggle 16 <K> Make New Directory .......7 <D> Dump to file (Binary) ....15 <M> Move File(s) .............8 <E> Mark End of Block ........15 <N> Nuke Directory Tree ......8 <ESC> End Viewman ............20 Print Directory List .....8 <F> Find Case Insensitive ....16 <Q> Quit to Current Dir ......8 <F1> List Viewman Commands ...20 <R> Rename File or Dir .......8 <F3> Find Again ..............16 <S> Set File Sort Order ......9 <H> Hex Filter Toggle ........16 <SPACE_BAR> Tag / Untag .....10 Set Tab Interval .........17 <T> Touch File Time & Date ..10 <J> Jump to Line .............17 <V> Set Current Drive .......10 <L> Set Max Screen Line Len ..17 <W> Sweep File(s) ...........11 <N> Display Line Nums Toggle .17 <Z> Display Zip Dir .........11 Print Block ..............18 Dirman Cursor Control Keys.....5 <R> Ruler Toggle .............18 <S> Mark Start of Block ......18 Installation...................3 <T> Tab Expansion Toggle .....19 Undo Marked Block ........19 Legal Dogma....................2 <W> Wrap Text Toggle .........19 <X> Exact Find Case Sensitive 19 Operational Requirements.......3 <Z> View Zip File Contents ...19 Shareware Registration Windows 95 Consequences of failure to ...2 Handy Tips ...................20 Ron's Mailing Address ........2 Screen Layout for LFN's .......4 Starting Dirman................3 Dirman Page 21