Informática Multimedia 1995 April

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Text File | 1989-03-29 | 31.1 KB | 738 lines

******************************************************************** * CDIR * * The Commented Directory Program * * Copyright, 1988,1989, by C. Kenneth Curtis * * Box 539 RD 2 Woodland Drive, Califon, NJ 07830 * ******************************************************************** CDIR is a powerful shell program for IBM PC or compatible computers providing an easier, more friendly interface with MS/PC DOS. CDIR features allow you to view, print, change attributes, copy, rename or delete files or examine the directory tree-like structure. Users can read and write comments about files and sub-directories to recognize their contents. ******************************************************************* * PUBLIC NOTIFICATION * ******************************************************************* CDIR.EXE, CDIR_CLR.EXE and HOW2CDIR.TXT files MUST be distributed as a set in their original unmodified form. Compacting for up/down-loading to/from bulletin board services is permissible if the uncompacting process produces the files in their original unmodified form. Please share CDIR with others and to use it where you work. I have made CDIR available as a public service without any charge for its use. In return I would appreciate your sending a postcard to me at the above address with the following information: Write "CDIR" at the top of the card. Where you obtained CDIR - bulletin board, friend, work, software-distribution company, etc. City, State or Province, and Country where you live. Your name, address and comments are optional. Selling or modification of the CDIR.EXE, CDIR_CLR.EXE or HOW2CDIR.TXT files is strictly prohibited without my expressed written permission. C. Kenneth Curtis 1 ******************************************************************** * TABLE OF CONTENTS * ******************************************************************** Subject Page -------------------------------------------------- ---- The Commented Directory Program..............................1 Public Notification..........................................1 Before Starting CDIR You Should Know.........................3 How To Start CDIR............................................4 Movement Keys................................................4 Editing Keys.................................................5 Writing Comments.............................................5 Control Key Functions........................................6 [^A] ( Attribute )..........................................6 [^C] ( Copy )...............................................6 [^D] ( Delete ).............................................7 [^E] ( Path )...............................................7 [^L] ( Locate ).............................................7 [^N] ( New Directory )......................................8 [^O] ( Overview )...........................................9 [^P] ( Print )..............................................9 [^Q] ( Quit )..............................................10 [^R] ( Rename )............................................10 [^S] ( Sub-directory ).....................................11 [^T] ( Tag Toggle )........................................11 [^U] ( Untag ).............................................11 [^V] ( View )..............................................11 [^W] ( 2nd Directory ).....................................12 [^X] ( Exit )..............................................12 [^Y] ( Copy Comments ).....................................12 How To Use CDIR_CLR.........................................13 2 ******************************************************************** * Before Starting CDIR You Should Know * ******************************************************************** CDIR has a maximum capacity of 256 files per directory. The program will work with directories containing more than 256; however, the additional files can not be commented or manipulated using CDIR. CDIR can open several files at the same time; therefore, it may be necessary to have a FILES = 7 ( more are ok ) statement in a CONFIG.SYS file. See your DOS manual for information on creating or changing this file. CDIR will be called frequently. If you have a hard disk, keep CDIR.EXE in a directory referenced by your PATH chain. For example, if you have a directory of utilities and a path similar to C:\;C:\UTILITY;C:\DOSFILES, put the CDIR.EXE file in the C:\UTILITY sub-directory. CDIR will maintain a file's comment when the file is renamed by CDIR to be within the same directory, but be warned that comments will be lost by renaming files with the DOS REN command or other programs. Moving a file to another directory with any program including CDIR will lose the comment; however, CDIR does have a means to transfer comments from one directory to another. The control keys are used for various functions. They are activated by holding down the [Ctrl] key and depressing one of the other keys; this is shown in the text by a caret followed by a letter or word. Examples: [^N] or [^Home] . When typing a directory, a colon ( : ) must always be followed by a backslash ( \ ). Example: A:\ . Otherwise an error message will appear on the screen. CDIR colors can be changed for those individuals with other preferences, by executing the CDIR_CLR program explained at the end of this document. 3 ******************************************************************** * How To Start CDIR * ******************************************************************** Start the program by typing "CDIR" followed by [Return]. The default directory will be displayed first. You can tell the program to start and display any directory by typing "CDIR", space, the name of a directory and then [Return]. In this case the drive letter, colon, a backslash and path portions of the directory must be specified. The following are examples of starting commands: CDIR[Return] CDIR A:\[Return] CDIR c:\123files\checks[Return] A moment after starting, CDIR will display the files and sub-directories, their size, creation dates and times and comments. Sub-directories are denoted by the letter S in the left-hand column. Quit the program with [^Q] or [^X]. (See control keys below.) ******************************************************************** * Movement Keys * ******************************************************************** The movement keys move the highlighted bar or scroll the screen as follows: [Cur Up] and [Cur Dn] keys: Moves the highlighted bar up or down 1 row. [Page Up] or [Page Dn] keys: Scrolls 8 files. [^Page Up] or [^Page Dn] keys: Scrolls 32 files. [Home] or [End] keys: Moves to top or bottom of screen. [^Home] or [^End] keys: Moves to beginning or end of file. 4 ******************************************************************** * Editing Keys * ******************************************************************** The keystrokes listed below can be used to edit comments or directory and file names rapidly. [Cur Left] and [Cur Right] keys: Moves the cursor position left or right. [^Cur Left] and [^Cur Right] keys: Moves the cursor position 8 characters left or right. [Home] key: Moves cursor to left side. [End] key: Moves cursor to right side. [Tab] key: Erases entire line. [^End] key: Erases all characters above and to the right of the cursor. [Delete] key: Deletes only the single character above the cursor. [Backspace] key: Erases the character to the immediate left of the cursor. [Ins] key: Toggles between the over-write and insert modes. Editing begins in the insert mode whereby characters are inserted at the cursor location. In the over-write mode, the shape of the cursor changes and a typed character simply replaces the character above the cursor. ******************************************************************** * Writing Comments * ******************************************************************** To write a comment, just use the movement keys to position the highlighted bar over the desired file and begin typing. Press [Return] to enter the comment. If you start to type, and then change your mind, press [Esc], and the original comment will be restored. To edit an existing comment, position the bar as above and then press the [Space] key. You may alter the comment using the editing keys explained above. Again if you change your mind, press [Esc]. 5 ******************************************************************** * Control Key Functions * ******************************************************************** The control key functions are described in the paragraphs which follow: [^A] ( Attribute ) key: Displays the file attribute on the third screen row. The attributes displayed are interpreted "R/O" means it is a read-only file. It can not be written or erased until its attribute is changed to remove the read-only restriction. "Arc" means the file has been changed since it was last backed up (via the DOS backup command). "Sub-directory" means the file is a sub-directory. The read-only attribute status, of non-sub-directory files, can be toggled to the opposite state by pressing the [R] key when asked; otherwise [Esc] allows you to continue. [^C] ( Copy ) key: Copies tagged or highlighted file(s). After pressing [^C] you are asked to press [T], [O] or [Esc]. If you press [T], all of the tagged files will be copied, but if [O] is depressed, only the highlighted file will be copied. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. Next, you will be asked to where the file(s) should be copied. In general, use the same format for the destination as you would if you were using the DOS Copy command. You may give a directory only, in which case the files will be copied with the same name and extension to that directory. You may specify file name(s) or extension(s) for the new file(s), or the wild card characters * and ? described by DOS may be used. If a directory is already shown on the third line, it may be edited as described above. If files are to be copied to another disk, a typical response might be B:\ . If you tag all the files with an extension of .ABC , and want them copied to the same directory, but with the extension of .XYZ , then your response should be *.XYZ . 6 If the [Esc] key is pressed while tagged files are being copied, the process will be aborted as soon as CDIR is finished with the file it was copying when the key was pushed. [^D] ( Delete ) key: Deletes tagged or highlighted file(s). After pressing [^D] you are asked to press [T], [O] or [Esc]. If you press [T] all of the tagged files will be deleted, but if [O] is depressed, only the highlighted file will be erased. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. Sub-directories ( other than the "single-dot" and "double-dot" directories ) can be removed using the [O] option but only if they are empty, ie, contain no files. [^E] ( Path ) key: When [^E] is pressed, the default path will be displayed on the third line. Pressing [Esc] then returns the display to normal. The path displayed is the currently active parameter which lets DOS know where to find executeable files if they can not be found in the default directory. It is also used by some application programs for similar reasons. The term Path as used here has a different meaning than we use in describing directories which have a path of sub-directories leading from the root to a desired file. See your DOS manual for more information. [^L] ( Locate ) key: The locate function has two modes. The first is to find a file or sub-directory by moving the highlighted bar to the requested file. The second mode tags all of the files having common or similar file names or extensions. After pressing [^L] you are asked to press [S] to find a single file (first mode) or press [T] to tag common or similar files (second mode). If [S] is pressed, you will be asked to enter which file to find. Enter the file name and extension. Do not use a drive or path specifier. Example: MYFILE.DOC . The exact file name and extension must be typed. 7 If [T] is pressed, you should enter the file name-extension pattern to tag using the * and ? wild cards. Previously tagged files will be untagged automatically if they do not fit the wild card criteria. Example: *.BAK tags all back up files. [^N] ( New Directory ) key: Changes the current directory. The current directory is always displayed at the top of the screen. Press [^N] to change it. You will be asked to enter the new directory. Enter a drive letter, colon, backslash and path. Examples: are A:\ or C:\MEMOS\SALES . If a directory is already shown on the third line, it may be used as is by pressing [Return] or edited as described above. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. There is an alternative which will save typing if the new directory appears with the letter S in the left column of the currently displayed directory. Prior to entering [^N], move the highlighted bar over that sub-directory. When asked to type the sub-directory name, instead just press [Return]. Selecting either the single-dot or double-dot sub-directory with the highlighted bar and pressing [Return] causes CDIR to go to the parent ( moves back towards the root directory ). Selecting any other sub-directory tells CDIR to go to a child ( moves away from the root directory ). Pressing [^N] automatically saves the comments in a file named CMTD-DIR.-%- to be located in the current directory. The size of CMTD-DIR.-%- will depend upon the number of files in that directory. After you have entered the new directory, the program will change to it. First, CDIR will load the file information data ( 256 files maximum ) and then look for a CMTD-DIR.-%- file in that directory. If it is found, the comments will be matched to the file names just loaded. It is perfectly acceptable for new files to have been written into the new directory, or old ones to have been changed or deleted since the last time CDIR accessed the directory. These actions do not affect CDIR's operation. 8 [^O] ( Overview ) key: Overview shows all of the directories on a particular drive. The display shows the sub-directory parent-child relationships with indenting. After pressing [^O] you will be asked to enter the drive letter for which the overview is to be displayed. Normally, the first and second floppy disk drives are identified as A and B while the first hard drive is C. If you have other floppy drives, have partitioned your hard drive into two or more logical drives, or have used the DOS SUBST command (probably in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file), then your system will specify letters higher than C. The program takes a few seconds to search the drive and then it displays the tree structure overview. The movement keys behave the same as when looking at a single directory. These are explained in an earlier paragraph. You can change the current sub-directory (as shown on the top screen row) by moving the highlighted bar over the desired sub-directory and pressing [^N]. To stay in the same directory, just press [Esc] to terminate the overview display. [^P] ( Print ) key: Prints either the commented directory or the contents of tagged or highlighted file(s). After pressing [^P] you will be asked to press [T], [O], [D], [P] or [Esc]. If your answer is [D], then a listing of all the files in the current directory, along with their comments, will be printed. If your answer is [O], only the highlighted file will be printed, but if you press [T], then the contents of all the tagged files will be printed. [P] is used to eject one more page from your printer. This is convenient for pushing out documents from printers having continuous paper. Printing can be aborted before selecting [T], [O], [D] or [P] or while it is in process by pressing the [Esc] key. 9 [^Q] ( Quit ) key: Causes the CDIR program to quit and return to DOS. The comments of the current directory are saved before terminating. See the discussion about CMTD-DIR,-%- under the [^N] key. Also see the [^X] key description. [^R] ( Rename ) key: Allows files to be renamed and/or moved to another directory. After depressing [^R] you will be asked to press [T], [O] or [Esc]. If you press [T], all of the tagged files will be renamed, but if [O] is depressed, only the highlighted file will be renamed. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. You will then be asked for the new name. The wild card characters * and ? may be used to simplify typing; in fact they should be used for renaming multiple tagged files. If a directory is already shown on the third line, it may be edited as described above. The file name and extension must be specified. Typing an optional drive and path will move the file(s) to that directory if the drive letter is the same as the current drive. Comments will be lost unless the procedure outlined below is followed for renaming files to a different directory: 1. Make sure there is a CMTD-DIR.-%- file in the other directory. If one is not there already, (use [^W] to find out,) you can copy the CMTD-DIR.-%- file from the current directory, then change to the other directory with the [^N] key and then change back to the current directory again using the [^N] key. 2. If the file names or extensions will be changed when they are moved, use the [^R] key and rename the files to be in the current directory by changing only the file name or extension, but not the directory; do not rename (move) them to the other directory yet. 3. Copy the comments to the other directory with the [^Y] key. 4. Use the [^R] to rename (move) the files to the other directory. 10 [^S] ( Sub-directory ) key: Creates a new sub-directory. When this option is selected, you will be asked to enter a sub-directory name. If a name is entered without a Drive:\ Path prefix, the sub-directory will be placed in the current directory as shown at the top of the screen. [^T] ( Tag Toggle ) key: Toggles the tag mark on and off. The highlighted file may be tagged in preparation for the other control key functions. A heart-shaped figure appears in the left column on the screen for each tagged file. Press [^T] to turn the heart on or off. [^U] ( Untag ) key: Untags all files. When [^U] is pressed, every tagged file is untagged, and its heart symbol turned off. [^V] ( View ) key: Allows the highlighted file to be viewed. Pressing [^V] causes the contents of the highlighted file to be displayed a page at-a-time on the screen. Carriage-return characters ( ASCII 13 ) are ignored, and Line-feed characters ( ASCII 10 ) cause a jump to the next line on the screen but are also not displayed. Other print control characters such as Page-eject or tab cause no action; their symbol is displayed on the screen. Pressing [Cur Dn] moves the screen down one line and [Page Dn] displays the next 24 lines. [Cur Up] moves the screen back one line and [Page Up] displays the previous 24 lines. [Esc] removes the display and returns you to normal operation. 11 [^W] ( 2nd Directory ) key: Lets the contents of another directory be displayed without leaving the current directory. This useful feature allows you to preview the second directory for determining whether a file already exists or if it has the same date and time as a file in the current directory. After pressing [^W], you will be asked to enter the second directory. Enter a drive letter, colon, backslash and path. Examples: are B:\ or C:\DOCS\STATUS . If a directory is already shown on the third line, it may be used as is by pressing [Return] or edited as described above. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. The [Page Up] and [Page Dn] keys cause the display to scroll 8 files at a time. The [Esc] key removes the second directory display. [^X] ( Exit ) key: Causes the CDIR program to quit and immediately return to DOS without saving the comments ( CMTD-DIR.-%- file is not saved ). See [^Q] description. [^Y] ( Copy Comments ) key: Copies tagged or highlighted comments(s) to another directory. This is useful, for example, to transfer the comments about files which have just been copied to a floppy disk. A prerequisite is having a CMTD-DIR.-%- file already in the other directory to where the comments will be copied. After pressing [^Y] you are asked to press [T], [O] or [Esc]. If you press [T], all of the tagged comments will be copied, but if [O] is depressed, only the highlighted comment will be copied. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. Next, you will be asked to where the comment(s) should be copied. Enter a drive letter, colon, backslash and path. Examples: are A:\ or C:\BUYERS . If a directory is already shown on the third line, it may be used as is by pressing [Return] or edited as described above. [Esc] is used to abort the operation. 12 ******************************************************************** * How To Use CDIR_CLR * ******************************************************************** Users can easily change the screen colors displayed by CDIR from the standard colors to their preference with the CDIR_CLR program. To use CDIR_CLR make sure that both the CDIR.EXE and the CDIR_CLR.EXE files are in the default directory. At the DOS prompt type CDIR_CLR [Return] and then follow the directions in the top box on the screen. The bottom box contains information explaining how the color pairs are used within the CDIR program. Each color has two attributes, the foreground color (such as the letters you are currently reading) and a background color, which is as the name suggests, the area behind the characters. These two attributes are called color pairs. A color sample is displayed for each color pair. The foreground attribute can have one of sixteen different values identified 0 thru 9 and A thru F. The background can have one of eight values numbered 0 thru 7. Depressing the [F5] or [F6] keys changes the foreground or background attribute of the boxed color pair. The attribute numbers are displayed in the center of the screen. Pressing the left and right cursor movement keys, moves the box to another color pair. Finally, the [F1] and [F2] keys are used to save the new colors or leave them unchanged. The pre-chosen standard colors are listed in the table below. Pair Color System Mono System No. Fgnd Bgnd Fgnd Bgnd ---- ----- ------ ---- ------ 1 3 0 7 0 2 4 7 F 0 3 F 5 F 0 4 D 0 F 0 5 3 6 7 0 6 7 1 7 0 7 0 3 0 7 8 E 0 F 0 9 7 4 7 0 13 ----------------end-of-author's-documentation--------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of The Public (Software) Library We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution. Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about this program to the author of the program, whose name appears elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with the author, we will do whatever we can to help you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do run. To report problems, please use the form that is in the file PROBLEM.DOC on many of our disks or in other written for- mat with screen printouts, if possible. 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