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D I R M A N A File Manager and File Viewing Program Version 1.40 (c) Copyright Ron Weiner 1993-95. 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 form 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 just flat sucks 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 over 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 1.40 is the fourth 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 is really a good idea) or you are 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 OK I admit it, I just like seeing my name on the screen! Big deal! Hitting any key will end this annoyance immediately and bring you to a screen similar to the one below. <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> DIRMAN V1.40 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-95 . [MS-DOS_6] C:\PSDWIN\*.* +----------------------------+ ^.. <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- | DIRMAN | vLIBS <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- | Directory Manager Ver 1.40 | vPROJECTS <DIR> 2-05-94 8:37a ---- | (c) Ron Weiner 1993-95 | vREADY <DIR> 4-11-94 6:15a ---- |----------------------------| AI88 EXP 25,484 6-16-93 2:17p A--- | C (C)opy | BC30RTL DLL 143,802 10-05-92 12:00a A--- | D (D)elete | BWCC DLL 130,224 10-05-92 12:00a A--- | M (M)ove | CGM EXP 23,025 1-22-93 3:50p A--- | R (R)ename | CHKLIST MS 324 7-21-95 10:15p A--- | K ma(K)e new directory | EPS EXP 8,523 6-16-93 2:11p A--- | A Set (A)ttributes | EPSDSPLY DLL 27,190 7-20-93 11:56a A--- | S Change (S)ort order | EXPORT EXE 40,044 1-04-94 2:28p A--- | V Change dri(V)e | EXPORT ICO 766 10-11-92 12:00a A--- | * Re-read directory | EXPORT PIF 545 4-11-94 6:16a A--- | E Execute BAT,COM,EXE | 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 <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Windows 95 users will see a similar screen, except I have removed the short command menu on the right hand side to make room for displaying Dirman Page 3 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ long filenames. Below is an abbreviated example of a typical Windows 95 screen: <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> DIRMAN V1.40 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-95 . [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 new layout displays the long filenames the same way as the DOS DIR comand does in Windows 95. Filenames that start with the '^' up or 'v' 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! Please take a moment to go back and re-read the Legal Dogma section. 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. OK, we are finished the mini ATTRIB tutorial. Did you learn anything? There is a short quiz at the end of this paper to test your knowledge. File selection is accomplished by using the UP and DOWN arrow keys to move the highlighted 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 highlighted bar to the file or sub directory of your choice, then select a command by typing its key from the menu on the screen. You may use the <SPACE BAR> to tag a group of files that you want to perform some action on, and perform that action on multiple files by selecting a command from the menu. D i r m a n C o m m a n d s <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. 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 dirve/directory you are given the option to abort the copy and perserve the origional file, or to continue the operation and replace the origional 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 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. Dirman Page 5 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ <D>elete will erase 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. <M>ove will move the currently highlighted file or a group of tagged files to any location you specify. The original files are GONE. This command is the equivalent to the copy command followed by the delete command. Because this command only moves the directory entry, and doesn't move the actual data in the file itself, it is many times faster than the <C>opy command. A dialog box will pop up asking you to enter the destination for the file(s). You may enter either the 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, then the command will fail, and a single strand of hair will fall out of your head. Because of the way this command works the source and destination must be on the same drive. If you need to move files from one drive to another, you are stuck with the slower <C>opy and <D>elete commands. <A>ttribute allows you to change 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. <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 old name. If you attempt to rename the file to an existing filename in the current directory the command will fail, and the acid level in your 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. The ma<K>e a new directory command allows you to create a new sub directory. Type any legal directory name in the dialog, and a new sub directory is created in the current directory. A new sub directory can be created anywhere you like by typing a fully qualified pathname in the dialog. For example, C:\KITTY\CAT will create a new sub directory CAT in the sub directory KITTY that is one level down from the root directory of the C: drive. Only one new sub directory level can be created at a time. If in the above example, the KITTY sub directory does not exist this command will 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. Page 6 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ Change <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, or oldest to most current Date, or smallest to largest Size, or 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 slecting the first letter <F>ile, <E>xtension, <D>ate, <S>ize, <A>ttribute, or nsorted of the sort ordering you desire. The sorting order stays in effect for the remainder of the session. The <S>ort order is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command should you want to change default sorting order. You can change the <F>ilespec pattern from the default (*.*), which displays all files, to something that displays a subset of the files. For example if you select *.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 1024 file limit. The filespec pattern stays in effect for the remainder of the session. Type dri<V>e when you want to work with the files on a different drive. When you 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. 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. You need not use this command whenever Dirman is making the changes. The <E>xecute command allows you to execute the currently highlighted file. The <E>xecute command will operate only if the filename 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. Dirman Page 7 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ Use the <SPACE BAR> to tag or untag the currently highlighted file. The <SPACE BAR> is a toggle, tagging an untagged file and vice versa. There is a visual indication for number of files tagged and the total number of bytes in the tagged files. In this manner it is possible to perform an action on an entire group of files using a single command. Only the <C>opy, <D>elete, <M>ove, <A>ttribute 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. Use the rint command to make a hard copy of the current directory. 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, and can subsequently be made the new default printer device by using the <ALT_S> Set and Save color preferences command. <ENTER> is a dual purpose command. If the highlight bar is on a sub directory when you press <ENTER>, Dirman changes the directory to the one under the highlighted bar and display 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 Viewman. <ALT_C> (Hold down the ALT key and push "C") allows you to jump directly to any directory on the currently logged 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. This command assumes you will enter a pathname as an offset from the root directory of the current drive. For example typing C:\TELECOM\DNLOAD or TELECOM\DOWNLOAD 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. The s<W>eep command allows you to run a DOS command or any program against 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(s) of the tagged files. 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: Page 8 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ RENAME @ *.BAC Dirman uses memory lavishly in order to get acceptable performance on modestly powered computers. Depending on 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. The <J>ump to filename command allows you to quickly get to the area in the directory that starts with a letter you select. Hit the <J>ump 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 only active when the directory listing is sorted by filename in asending order. The view <Z>ip directory list command allows you to view a listing of the files that are stored in a ZIP file archive. Highlight 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> 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/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 sub directory defined by your TEMP environment variable or in the root directory of the currently logged drive. The <Z> command will fail if you do not have write access to the root 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. You should substitute whatever Drive:\directory you want to use in lieu of C:\TEMP. Use the <ALT_E> to edit the currently highlighted file. This command invokes your favorite text editor using the selected filename as the last argument on the command line. This is the format that most DOS based text editors use. The default editor is Microsoft EDIT that came as standard equipment with recent versions DOS. Dirman does NOT have the capability to invoke a Windows based text editor. Sorry!!! Dirman Page 9 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The <ALT_I> command is used to allow you to change the name of the editor from the default to your favorite. 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 in the path, you may enter the fully qualified file name in the dialog for example C:\BIN\EDITORS\FAVORITE. You are limited to a maximum of 48 characters. Use the <ALT_S> command should you wish to make this change permanent. The <ALT_P> command 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 if you wish 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. The <ALT_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/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. Page 10 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ Selecting the "Save Colors only" option will alter (clone) the currently running copy of Dirman so that in all future sessions your current color scheme will be the default. If you select "Save ALL Options" the currently running copy of Dirman will be cloned 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". Selecting "Return" from the menu or hitting <ESC> will take you back to wherever you were with all of your changes in effect. The <ALT_T> and <ALT_U> commands are used to either Tag or Untag respectively all of the files in the current directory. The <ALT_V> command is a toggle which flips the video back and forth from the standard 80 by 25 characters to 80 by 50 on VGA displays or 80 by 43 on EGA displays. This command has NOT been tested with any other display adapters. If your computer does not have a EGA, VGA, or Super VGA adapter installed proceed at your own risk!! Hitting either the <F1> or <?> key 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 Dirman and drops you back to exactly where you were before the program began. If you want to exit Dirman in the sub directory you are currently viewing (perhaps to run an executable file in that directory), use the <Q>uit option. Dirman Page 11 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 V1.40 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-95 . 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 (h)ex (8)bit (T)ab (w)rap <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> 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 four indicators on the bottom line that indicate the state of the (H)ex display, (8)bit, (T)ab expansion, and (W)rap long lines. Except for (8)bit, if the first letter is capitalized, then the toggle state is true. The original default settings are (h)ex 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. Page 12 Dirman 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 The <H>ex dump display command is a toggle which when toggled ON displays 16 bytes of the file on each line. The display format is similar to the one used by the Dump command in Debug. Below is an abbreviated example of the screen format: <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> VIEWMAN V1.40 (c) Ron Weiner 1993-95 . 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 (H)ex (8)bit (T)ab (w)rap <------------------------------------------------------------------------------> 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. 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 <8>bit when the hi-bit filter is off and <7>bit when it is on. The <7> and <8> toggles are cloneable. See the <ALT_S> command for cloning instructions. Dirman Page 13 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The <R>uler toggle flips the top line of the display into a character based ruler which when in text display 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 the logical record length. The <R>uler toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for Cloning instructions. 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 the <T>ab is toggled off, tabs are displayed as graphic characters 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 <T>ab toggle is a cloneable option. See the <ALT_S> command for Cloning instructions. The tab nterval command allows you to specify how much white space should separate tabs. 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. The <W>rap toggle 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. 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. Use define record <L>ength to make it easier to view files with fixed record lengths, but do not contain carriage returns or line feeds 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. Page 14 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The <S>tart block command 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. The <E>nd block command marks the bottom line on the display as the end 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. The bottom line of the display is the end block marker. Use the rint command to send 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 sends 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. 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 filters out characters that make printers go bonkers and replaces 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. The <ALT_P> command allows you to change the printer from the default of LPT1 to a different device or file. You may enter the device name of any printer attached to your system, or if you wish 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. Use the <C>opy command to move 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 works much like the rint command, and also filters out characters which Windows doesn't seem to care for and replaces them with (.) dots. It copies everything from start block to end block regardless of which columns are displayed on the screen. This command is limited to transferring a maximum of 32,000 characters at a time. The <D>ump binary command is similar to the rint and <C>opy commands but its output is NOT filtered. A dialog will pop up asking you to enter the output filename. Everything from the start to the 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 it overwrites any existing file. The <A>ppend binary command behaves exactly like the <D>ump binary command except the output is appended to the end of an existing file if any. Dirman Page 15 D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ ndo marked block. This command undefines a marked block. <F>ind text allows you search for a string of characters in the file you are viewing. Searches are case insensitive and proceed from the current record (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 unsuccessful, the line number and left offset information on the status line will be replaced by a blinking [** 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. The e<X>act Find command is identical to the <F>ind command except that searches are case sensitive. Use the <ALT_F> key combination to invoke the FUZZY search feature. This command behaves just like the two above commands except that 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, Fuzzy search results will hit on Weiner, Winner, Wiener, and Winer. Search results are occasionally 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 whatever you are looking at. On the other hand at times this algorithm fails to find some seemingly obvious matches. Remember the English language is hellishly complex, and this program is just a set of computer instructions. There is no intelligence or intuitive cognition built in here. The <F3> key (FIND AGAIN) is used to search for the next occurrence of the text found in the previous successful search. 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 before case insensitive, case sensitive, or fuzzy search. The <ALT_B> command 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. The jump to ookmark command immediately jumps to a 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 will return the last one set. If no book marks are set the command is ignored. The <CTRL_B> command clears ALL set bookmarks. Page 16 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ The 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 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. Use the <ALT_E> command if you decide to edit the file you are currently viewing. This command starts your favorite text editor (assuming there is enough free memory) with the file you are viewing open for editing. The default editor is Microsoft EDIT. See the instructions for the <ALT_E> command in the Dirman section for additional information. The <ALT_I> command is used to allow you to change the name of the editor from the default to your favorite. See the instructions for the <ALT_I> command in the Dirman section for additional information. The <CTRL_E> command toggles the EBCDIC translation filter on and off. If you have no idea of what the heck is an EBCDIC is, relax, you are in good company. I expect that approximately 99.997 percent 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. The <ALT_D> and <ALT_U> commands allow for automatic scrolling of the screen up or down without having to press any keys. 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 the <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. The <ALT_R> command is a toggle that 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. The <N> command is a toggle that 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 _________________________________________________________________________ The <ALT_N> command allows you to choose the number to use for the first record in the file. 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. The <J>ump to line number command allows you to position the file to the top of the screen at any point in the file. Press the <J> key and supply the line number you want at the top of the screen. This method is significantly faster than the cursor keys to reach some arbitrary point in the file. <+> and <-> commands are an alternative to the <J>ump method of positioning the viewer to some position in the file. These 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 in 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 <ALT_S> command "Set and Save Preferences" allows you to customize Dirman to more closely meet your specific requirements. See the Dirman section for use of this command. The <ALT_V> command is a toggle which flips the video back and forth from the standard 80 by 25 characters to 80 by 50 on VGA displays or 80 by 43 on EGA displays. See the Dirman section for additional information on this command. Hitting either the <F1> or <?> key 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 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. Page 18 Dirman D I R M A N _________________________________________________________________________ If you have a utility that changes the width or length of your screen, Dirman will use the additional lines and columns. I have tested Dirman in the following modes; 80x25, 80x43, 80x50, 100x30, 100x60, 132x22, and 132x44 using an ATI VGA Wonder XL video card. 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. Enjoy! Ron Weiner Dirman Page 19