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SF-FAM v2.17 Spitfire File Area Manager from Fifth Dimension This program is Copyright 1993-1996 by David Pontius. The freeware version of the program may be distributed freely, however the source code remains the property of the author. INTRODUCTION ============ SF-FAM is a file manager for the Spitfire Bullitin Board. It fully supports file sharing. It fully supports Spitfire defined CD-ROM file areas, and file areas not defined by Spitfire. REQUIRED: SF 3.5+, DOS 3.x or above Once registered, all updates are FREE!!! The registration validation is done by Brian Pirie's Registration Key System for C Programmers. WHO TO CONTACT FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT ====================================== Internet: pontius@azstarnet.com http://www.azstarnet.com/~pontius/ Fax: (520)747-5415 Address: Fifth Dimension P.O. Box 18956 Tucson, Az 85731 Latest version: Buffalo Creek's BBS (515)225-8496 ftp://ftp.azstarnet.com/pub/users/pontius/ http://www.azstarnet.com/~pontius/ INSTALLATION ============ To install SF-FAM, you may put the required files in any directory. The required files are: SFFAM.EXE - main executable SFFAM.HLP - text help file SFFAM.NDX - index help file COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS: ------------------------ SFFAM /C : runs configure ( see setup below ) SFFAM /DIR= : Directory containing SFNODE.DAT/SFFAREA.DAT. This will override the SFNODE.DAT/SFFAREA.DAT directory in SFFAM.DAT. Example: SFFAM /DIR=C:\SF2 /C Runs configuration. /DIR= Directory to SFNODE.DAT/SFFAREA.DAT /BBS= Filename of external file areas. Does not need to be SFFAM.BBS. /VA Verify sizes in all areas. (CD-ROMS will be skipped if disabled in the configuration) /V# Vefify sizes in area # only. Example. SFFAM /V3 will verify this sizes in area 3 and update it if necessary. /HA Make headers for all areas. /H# Make header for area # only. Example. SFFAM /H2 will create a header for area 2 only. /SAA Sort Ascending date, all areas. /SFA Sort Filename, all areas. /SDA Sort Descending date, all areas. /SA# Sort Ascending date, area #. Ex. SFFAM /SA3 /SF# Sort Filename, area #. Ex. SFFAM /SF10 /SD# Sort Descending date, area #. Ex. SFFAM /SD5 In addition, you may run several paramaters at once. Example: SFFAM /V5 /HA /DIR=C:\SUBSF /H1 /SFA This would first verify the sizes in area 5. The SF directory would be the directory defined in SFFAM.DAT. It would then make headers for all the file areas. It then switches to the C:\SUBSF directory, then makes a header for area 1. It then Sorts all the areas in defined in C:\SUBSF by filename. The first directory used will be the one defined in SFFAM.DAT, unless the first paramter is /DIR=. A /DIR= is valid until changed by another /DIR=. All command line parameters are case insensitive. SETUP: ------ To configure up SF-FAM, just type SFFAM. If the SFFAM.DAT file is not found, one will be created. GENERAL CONFIGURATION: ---------------------- Registration Code: This will be sent to you after you register SF-FAM. Direct video writes: TRUE allows writes directly to video RAM, FALSE will use the computer's video BIOS. While TRUE should work in almost all cases, if you experience video problems, you may want to set this to FALSE. This will most often occur when multi-tasking. CDROM on Global Options: If set to FALSE, CD-ROM areas will not be processed if a global command is issued. i.e. Global Sort Swap to EMS/XMS when shelling to DOS: TRUE will enable EMS/XMS swaps. FALSE will force SF-FAM to swap to disk when shelling to DOS. Lines of file_id.diz to use: Sets the number of lines SF-FAM will use when reading the file_id.diz in a file. 0 will turn off this feature. Range is 0 to 99. ARJ, ZIP, LZH, and .SDN files are supported. Temp directory: REQUIRED: This is the directory SF-FAM uses to swap to disk, and also to put the FILE_ID.DIZ . This can be set to a RAM disk for best results. ***Set this even if you have EMS/XMS swapping enabled. If there is not enough memory, SF-FAM will automatically switch to disk swapping. Sort Preference: This is used when adding and moving files only. SF-FAM will add in this sort order. Files moved will be added to the new area in this order. Options are: Sort by filename Sort by date, ascending( low to high ) Sort by date, descending( high to low ) Puts overlays in EMS/Extended memory: This will put SF-FAM overlays in EMS or extended memory if available. Setting this to true will increase speed. EXTERNAL PROGRAMS: ------------------ You can configure up to 10 external programs. For a shell to DOS simply use COMSPEC. This will be converted to the COMSPEC environment variable. You may use +f as a command line parameter. It will be converted to the path/filename of the the current highlighted file. ex. 'zipmgr +f' is converted to 'zipmgr C:\NEWUP\ALLFILES.ZIP A colon will cause SF-FAM to change to the download drive and path of the current file area. The program will most likely need to be in your path. ex. ':SHEZ' You may run .exe, .com, or .bat files. The external program information is saved in SFFAM.EXT. COLORS: ------- You can easily change the default colors used in SF-FAM. The possible background and foreground colors are shown on the top half of the screen. The toggles are shown in the bottom half. To change a colors, simply press the corresponding letter, and it will toggle through all available colors. Input Fields: Any window that you need to type in something. Stats Field: The field at the top showing number of files, etc. SFFILES-Normal: The filename and description, when it is not highlighted. SFFILES-Hilite: The filename and description, when it is highlighted. Error windows: Any window which displays some type of error. Status windows: Any window which is just there to let you know the program hasn't stopped. Help windows: The online help,accessible with F1. General hilite: The color used to highlight items, such as the A,B,C, in the configuration. That's all there is to it. To run SF-FAM, simply type SFFAM. NOTE: SFFAM.DAT, SFFAM.HLP, and SFFAM.NDX must be in the current directory. CD-ROMS ======= SF-FAM will check in the SFFAREA.DAT for any CD-ROM areas. It will then check the SFNODE.DAT for the Spitfire Display directory. The file list for the CD-ROM area is expected to be in the display directory with the filename of SFFILES.x, where x is the file area. For further information, please see your Spitfire manual. FA?.TXT ======= SF 3.5 supports multiple download paths using a file called FA?.TXT, located in the Spitfire home directory. SF-FAM supports this file in all operations. EXTERNAL AREAS =============== SF-FAM will check for a file called SFFAM.BBS. This file defines file areas not defined in Spitfire. This is primarily for use with CDROM doors, however, it may be used in any area. Each external file area is defined with 3 lines. SFFAM.BBS must be created by you if you wish to use it. Line 1 is the File Description. It must be less than 40 characters. Line 2 is the Download Path. It must be less than 60 characters. Line 3 is the Path and Filename of the Filelist. It must be less than 74 characters. The filelist MUST be in SFFILES.BBS format. example: The Super CD Games Area f:\files\games d:\rom\list1.bbs LotsaFiles CD-ROM Utilities g:\files\util d:\rom\lotsutil.5 You may also give this file a different name and load it only with a command line parameter. Example: Rename SFFAM.BBS to CDROMS.BBS. It will only be loaded you you type SFFAM /BBS=CDROMS.BBS FILE AREA PICK ============== This first screen you will see is the list of file areas on the BBS. Your options are: <ENTER> - goto this file area <ESC> - exit SF-FAM <Alt-H> - On-line help V - Verify the sizes of all files in all areas. The file size in SFFILES.BBS will be checked against the file size of the actual file. If it is different, the file size in SFFILES.BBS will be updated and saved. The location of the commas is also checked, and updated if necessary. S - Sort. This will allow you to sort all file areas by either Filename or Ascending Date( low to high ) or Descending date ( high to low ). H - Create headers for the SFFILES.BBS in all areas. T - Search for selected Text in all file areas. B - Change location of the SFFAREA/SFFNODE.DAT. Great for sub-boards. C - Run Configuration. E - Run File Area Editor. <UpArr> - Moves cursor up one. <DnArr> - Moves cursor down one. <PgUp> - Moves cursor up one page. <PgDn> - Moves cursor down one page. <Home> - Moves to top of list. <End> - Moves to bottom of list. SFFILES.BBS DISPLAY =================== This will display your files in the SFFILES.BBS. It supports multi-line descriptions, up to five lines. All references to SFFILES.BBS include the SFFILES.x for Spitfire defined CD-ROM areas and the filelist defined in SFFAM.BBS. If the SFFILES.BBS does not exist, you will be asked if you want to create it. Your options are: <space> - tags/untags file. <ENTER> will do the same. Alt-T - tags all files in area. Alt-U - untags all files in area. <ESC> - exit file area. If changes have been made, you will be asked if you want to save them. <Alt-H> - On-line help. A - checks download directory for any files not in SFFILES.BBS. If found you will be asked if you want to add them to SFFILES.BBS. If you select yes, the edit screen will appear. After you are done editing, the file will be added to the end of the list. <SEE ALSO: E - edit file description> You may delete the file by pressing 'd' at the add prompt. NOTE: SFFILES.BBS, SFFILES.BAK and SFFILES.OLD are skipped. C - will copy the file under the cursor to any drive/directory. Do not use this to move a file to another file area. That should be done using the Move command. Alt-C - will copy all tagged files to any drive/directory. D - will delete the file under the cursor from both SFFILES.BBS and from the disk. You will be asked to confirm the delete. Alt-D - will delete all tagged files from both SFFILES.BBS and from the disk. You will be asked to confirm each delete. E - Edit file description. This will allow you to change the File name, file size, file date, and file description of the file under the cursor. EDIT KEYS --------- CTRL-L-ARROW: Go to previous word CTRL-R-ARROW: Go to next word HOME: Beginning of field END: End of field DOWN/UP ARROW: Next/Previous field R-ARROW/L-ARROW: Move cursor right/left one position INS: Insert space at current cursor position DEL: Delete character at current cursor position ESC: Exits, and if anything has changed, prompts you to save changes. F - Use the file_id.diz in this file for the description. The editing window will be brought up. Alt-F - Use the file_id.diz in the tagged files for the description. H - Create a header for this area. K - mark this file with current or actual file date. Alt-K - mark all tagged files with current or actual file date. M - move file under cursor to new file area. The file on disk and in the SFFILES.BBS will be moved to the new file area. The file will be added in sort order to the new SFFILES.BBS. If the new SFFILES.BBS does not exist, you will be asked if you want to create it. Alt-M - move tagged files to new file area. The files on disk and in the SFFILES.BBS will be moved to the new file area and added in sort order to the new SFFILES.BBS. If the new SFFILES.BBS does not exist, you will be asked if you want to create it. N - rename the file. This will rename both the file in SFFILES.BBS and the file on disk. O - move files offline. This will move the file to the selected drive/directory. OFFLINE will be marked( right justified ) in the file size field. Alt-O - move tagged files offline. This will moved the tagged files to the selected drive/directory. OFFLINE will be marked ( right justified ) in the file size field. R - remove file from SFFILES.BBS. This will NOT delete the file from disk. This is handy if you want to have a file for download, but not let everyone know about it. You will be asked to confirm the removal. Alt-R - remove tagged files. This will NOT delete the files from disk. You will be asked to confirm each removal. S - sort files. This will sort the files in the current file area by File name or File date( asending or desending). T - text search. This will search all files and descriptions in the area for a text string. Case does not matter. V - verify file sizes and file exists. If the file size of the actual file is different that the size in SFFILES.BBS, the size in SFFILES.BBS will be automatically updated. If a file is in SFFILES.BBS, but not on disk, you will be asked if you want to remove the file from SFFILES.BBS. The prompt will display the filename, file size, file date, and first line of the description. If a file is OFFLINE, press 'O' and the file will be marked offline. X - Xtra Options. This will switch between the two option screens. All options are available no matter which screen is showing. Ctrl-D - run DOS program. This will bring up a menu of up to 10 external program to run. For more information, see the configuration information above. SF-FAM swaps almost completely out of memory on this option. F1-F10 - This immediately run one of the DOS programs above. Alt-F1 is the first program, Alt-F2 is the second, etc. Alt F1- Alt F10 - Run external programs on tagged files. Ctrl-S - save SFFILES.BBS. This does not exit the file area. ----------- NOTES: Anytime changes are made to the file area, you will be asked if you want to save SFFILES.BBS before exiting. If you made a big mistake, don't worry about it. There are some exceptions, however: If you move a file, the file on disk is moved immediately, and the SFFILES.BBS in the new file area is updated immediately. The current SFFILES.BBS is not updated until you use CTRL-S, or exit the area. If you delete a file, the file on disk is deleted immediately, but again, the SFFILES.BBS will not be updated until you save it. If you rename a file, it will be renamed immediately on disk. FILE AREA EDITOR ================ This editor is almost an exact copy of the editor in Spitfire. The only difference is the BBS directory can be changed. Great for sub-boards. For details, please see the section "CONFIGURING FILE AREA RECORDS" in your Spitfire manual. MEMORY NOTES ============ When shelling to DOS, SF-FAM uses Ralf Brown's SPAWNO utility to swap almost completely out of memory. COPYRIGHT INFORMATION ===================== Spitfire is Copyright Buffalo Creek Software, 1987-1993 SPAWNO is Copyright Ralf Brown, 1992 Registration Key System for C Programmers is Copyright Brian Pirie, 1992 SFFAM is Copyright David Pontius 1993-1996