file/directory names ending with/not ending with "text"
files/directories created on/after/before/not on "date"
files containing "text"
all of these can be combined in one search
- found files/directories can be copied, moved or deleted
- found IFF files can be viewed or printed
- found text files can be read or printed
- searches can be case sensitive/insensitive
Installing FindIt:
All that is required is to drag the FindIt icon into whatever drawer you wish it to be in - on either a hard or floppy disk. There are no other files needed for operation and no assigns are needed. You can save a configuration file for your convenience but FindIt does not require it to operate.
Double-click the FindIt icon to run. If running from the CLI type the program name. There are no command-line switches. FindIt can also be placed in the WBStartup drawer and FindIt will be automatically started when your Amiga is booted.
After FindIt has been loaded, a window will appear on the Workbench screen. At the top left of the window, is a list gadget listing the directories to be searched (the Search List). On the top right of the window is a series of string and rollo gadgets where you can specify the search criteria. On the bottom of the window is a list gadget containing the found files (the Found List). Below this is a series of gadgets which allow you to perform various operations on the found files. In the middle of the window is a large 'Find It' gadget which allows you to start the search.
Selecting Directories To Search:
Any number of drives/directories can be selected to search through.
You can type in a name in the string gadget below the Search List gadget. If you then press the <RETURN> key, the name will be added to the list.
If you click in the 'Find' gadget, a file requester will appear where you can select a directory to search.
Names can be removed from the list by clicking on the name in the list gadget and then clicking on the 'Remove' gadget.
All the names in the list can be removed by clicking in the 'Clear' gadget.
Setting The Search Criteria:
There are four different search criteria that you can set.
These are
- files/directories whose names start with or don't start with the specified text,
- files/directories whose names contain or don't contain the specified text,
- files/directories whose names end with or don't end with the specified text
- files/directories whose creation date is on, after, before or not on the specified date.
To set up a search, enter the text you wish in at least one of the string gadgets and then change the rollo gadget beside it to the appropriate setting.
All of these criteria can work together or separately. If a text gadget is empty, then that criteria will be ignored. To make a search that is not dependent on the creation date, set the date rollo gadget to read 'Created Anytime'.
For example, to search for all files that don't start with "An" and end with "pic", type "An" in the 'Starts' string gadget and set the rollo to "Doesn't Start", leave the 'Contains' string empty, type "pic" in the 'Ends' string gadget and set the rollo to "Ends", and set the 'Date' rollo to "Created Anytime".
Below these gadgets are four other rollo gadgets which allow you to further modify the search criteria.
One of these gadgets allow you to search for 'Files Only', 'Dirs Only', 'Files & Dirs' or "Text In Files'. The 'Text In Files' option allows you to search for files that contain/don't contain the text entered in the 'Contains' string gadget. You could for example search through your "Letters" directory for all the files that contain the text "Bill Watson".
Another rollo gadget allows you to set whether to search through just the directories listed in the Search List, or through those directories and all of their sub-directories.
Another rollo gadget allows you to set whether or not the search should be Case Sensitive or Case Insensitive. If this is set to Case Insensitive, "abcde" will match "AbcdE".
The last rollo gadget sets up the type of search. "New Search" means that any entries in the Found List will be replaced by the new files. "Add To Search" means that any new found files will be added to the current entries in the Found List. 'Narrow Search' means that only those entries already in the Found List will be used for the search.
To start a search, click in the 'Find It' gadget. A window will appear showing you the progress of the search. This window contains four gadgets. The first three allow you to Pause, Continue or Cancel the search. The last gadget allows you to close the main FindIt window during the search. This is intended to allow you access to the Workbench screen during lengthy searches.
Operations On Found Files:
Below the Found List gadget are gadgets which allow you to copy, move, delete, show (IFF files), read (text files), print (IFF and text files) and to get more information on the entries in the Found List. There is also an 'All Entries' gadget which allows you to work on all the found files at once. The 'Delete' gadget allows you to delete the found files from the disk. If you have the 'Confirm Before Delete' item in the 'Options' menu is checked, then a requester will appear asking you to confirm your action. Note that you can not delete a directory that contains files or sub-directories.
The 'Copy' gadget allows you copy the found files/directories. If you select a file to copy, then an ASL file requester will appear. Enter the file name you want to copy the selected file as. If you select a directory to copy, an ASL directory requester will appear. Enter the name of the directory you wish to copy the selected directory to. All of the files and directories in the selected directory will be copied to the new directory.
If the 'All Entries" gadget is selected, an ASL directory requester will appear. Enter the name of the directory you wish to copy all of the entries in the Found List to. All of the files and directories (and their sub-directories) in the Found List will be copied to the new directory.
The 'Move' gadget is the same as selecting the 'Copy' gadget and then the 'Delete' gadget. There is one restriction - you can not move a file onto a different disk. If you attempt this, a 'ERROR: rename across devices attempted' error message will appear. Move also allows you to rename a file. If you select a file to move, an ASL file requester will appear. Type in the new file name (leaving the directory name the same) and the file will be renamed.
The 'Show' gadget allows you to display IFF picture files. The 'Show IFF Options' menu allows you to change some aspects of the display. The 'Pointer' item alloes you to show or hide the pointer. The 'Cycling' gadget allows you turn colour cycling on or off. This can also be overridden while the picture is being displayed by pressing the TAB key. If the 'Read If Not IFF' item is checked, then if the selected file is not an IFF picture, FindIt will attempt to 'Read' the file instead. See the 'Read' section below for more details. The 'Fade Speed' allows you to set a fade in/out time for the picture. This is measured in frames - 25 per second for PAL or 30 per second for NTSC. The 'Delay Time' option allows you to set the amount of time in seconds that the picture will be displayed for. If you enter a time of 0 seconds, then the picture will display until you press a key or the left mouse button.
The 'Read" gadget allows you to read a file. Files can only be read if they contain only ASCII text. Any files containing binary code eg. program files will not be read. The file/s will be displayed in a separate window. To close this window and return to the main screen, either click in the window's Close Gadget or select 'Exit' from the menu.
The 'Print' gadget allows you to print the selected file/s. Only IFF picture files and ASCII text files can be printed. Any other files will be ignored.
The 'Info' gadget allows you to see some more information about the selected files and directories. This information includes the type (file or directory), the size, creation date and protection bits. If the file is a link to another file, then the file it is linked to is also shown.
Menus:
FindIt has three menus - "Project", "Options" and "Show IFF options".
Project Menu:
The "Make Directory" menu item allows you to create a new directory. Enter the name of the directory you wish to create in the ASL file requester that appears when you select this menu.
You can load and save configuration files using the "Load Configuration" and "Save Configuration" menus. The configuration file is called "s:FindIt.conf". When FindIt first runs it checks to see if this file exists and reads it if it does. The configuration file contains all of the present settings of the rollo gadgets, the contents of the string gadgets, the contents of the Search List gadget and various other settings.
The 'Iconify' menu allows you to reduce FindIt to an icon on the Workbench screen. Workbench must be running for this to work. This icon functions as a AppIcon. If you drop the icon(s) for a directory (or directories) on top of the FindIt icon, those directories will be placed in the Search List and the main FindIt window will reopen. If there are already some entries in the Search List, a requester will appear asking whether you want to delete these from the Search List. If you drop an icon for a file on to the FindIt icon, then the directory that the file is in will be added to the Search List.
The 'Quit' menu allows you to quit FindIt. You can also click in the FindIt window's Close Gadget. You will be given the option to quit, to save the current configuration before quitting, or to return to the program.
Options Menu:
If the 'Start As Workbench Icon' option is checked, then FindIt will start up as an icon on the Workbench screen (see Iconify). This is intended mainly for use when you are starting FindIt during your startup procedure and don't want the main window to open immediately. If you are placing FindIt in your WBStartup drawer, make sure that "DONOTWAIT" is included as one of your icon tooltypes. To enable this option, the menu item must be checked when the configuration file is saved. If there is no configuration file saved, then FindIt will start as it's usual window.
The 'Use Custom Screen' allows you to open FindIt on it's own screen rather than on the Workbench screen. This setting is saved in the configuration file.
The 'Date Format' option allows you change the date format to either dd-mm-yy, mm-dd-yy or yy-mm-dd. This affects the order of the 'Date" string gadgets. This setting is saved in the configuration file.
The 'Change Date To' menu allows you to change the date in the 'Date' string gadgets.
The 'Clear Found List' clears all the entries in the Found List.
The 'Save Found List As File' menu allows you to save all of the entries in the Found List gadget as a text file. A standard file requester will appear where you specify the name of the file to be saved.
The 'Add Selected Entry To Search List' adds the currently selected entry in the Found List to the Search List.
The 'Create Link To Selected Entry' menu brings up a ASL file requester which allows you to enter a file name. This file will be created and linked to the currently selected entry in the Found List. See your AmigaDos manuals for more information about links.
Show IFF Options:
This menu contains options for the showing of IFF pictures. These were covered earlier.
