Gave me the original idea that MegaD grew from. Helped
with suggesting and ideas though all of the stages of
development.
Blain Gardner and Tim Madden
In the final stages of MegaD these two were excellent
sources of information and ideas for enhancements and
cosmetic changes. Blain and Tim both used the Amiga
3000 which at the time of this writing were Very Rare,
helping this to be a 3000 friendly program.
The AUSM Users Group of Salt Lake City.
The biggest and warmest thanks goes to my wife Kathy, who has the
right to cry "Computer Widow!" Yet still supported me though
this project. z DISCLAIMER ---------------------- No warranties are implied or expressed with regard to the fitness or merchantability of MegaD for any particular purpose. All risks and damages, incidental or otherwise, arising through the use or misuse of MegaD are entirely at the responsibility of the user.
While considerable effort has been made to provide you with a
reliable product, there is no guarantee that this program is 100%
"bug-free". Any problems that do arise will be corrected when and
if feasible. Maintenance releases will be made available in order
to correct potentially hazardous malfunctions within the program.
Fixes for benign problems, usually cosmetic in nature, will most
likely be deferred until the next major release of MegaD. This
disclaimer does not guarantee future versions of this product,
only a prescribed method of dealing with possible errors, and
their corrections, to this program.
More Legal Stuff
---------------------------------
MegaD is freely distributable as long as all of the following
conditions are met:
1. All copyright notices must remain unaltered.
2. MegaD may not appear on shareware or public domain
disks for which the consumers are charged more than a
reasonable disk copying fee of seven dollars per disk.
3. MegaD may not appear on any electronic agency which
charges more than the basic access fee to down-load
MegaD.
4. MegaD may not appear on any electronic agency that
claims copyrights to uploaded programs, either alone or
as part of a collection.
5. MegaD may not be sold commercially alone or as a
element in another product.
6. All of the files must be included in their original
form without additions, deletions, or modifications of
any kind. Any such modifications must appear in
separate files.
If you would like a variance to any of the above conditions,
please contact me.
z Registration Cost $15.00 US dollars (the old More Or Less rule may apply) Reasons to become a Registered User.
-- The registered disk contains three (3) variation of the
currant version of MegaD plus the standard version. The
variations of MegaD decreases the program size by removing
certain LARGE options from the main program. Variation 1
removes the Copy/Format Disk option. Variation 2 removes
all of the options from the OUTPUT menu. Variation 3 removes
both Copy/Format Disk option and all of the options from the
OUTPUT menu. The logic of this is that users with limited
system memory and/or using disk drives only have a limited
area to use for utilities. The standard version of MegaD is
about 117,000 bytes, the smallest version of MegaD stands at
89,000 bytes, the difference between the two is about 28,000
bytes. Though the OUTPUT and Copy/Format Disk options are
nice to have around they are not necessary for what MegaD is
really intended to be. A good file and directory utility.
While writing MegaD, the size of it has always been of great
importance to me. The project originally started on a 1
Megabyte 500 with two disk drives. 88K can be digested by an
Amiga with 512K of memory a lot easier then the full blown
117K program.
-- Actively participate in the shaping of a product for the
Amiga Computer. Suggestions and complaints are a lot of
why MegaD is at the point that it is at this moment. The
product is in it's first stages. It is very powerful, but
there maybe something that you want that can feasibly be
added to it. Registered users will have a lot to say as to
what the new updates will be like. Even if your suggestion
can not be added to MegaD there is a chance that the
suggestion could be a stand alone utility. At any rate if
you are the first to submit a suggestion that is added to
MegaD you will receive a BETA version as soon as one is
ready for you own personal testing and the next official
version of MegaD will be mailed to you free of charge as a
thankyou.
-- You will be supporting a concept that allows you to test
drive a program before you put any real cash out for it. A
concept that gives you a program that over the counter would
cost you $35 to $40 dollars for the minimal price of $15.
You will be encouraging authors to continue to write quality
programs and make them available at a reasonable cost.
-- Early updates. Registered users will be mailed notices of
future updates a month prior to the release of new versions
to the shareware circuit. The price of updates will be kept
to a minimum. Materials, postage and about a $1.00 service
charge. Compare that to your "Off the Shelf" Software.
z QUICK START __________________
If you are comfortable with directory utilities and the
Amiga operating system. Take this approach to start up MegaD and
get used to using it. Be sure to read the ReadMeFirst file that
should be accompanied with this program takeing notes of the two
restrictions that apply to using the evaluation version of MegaD.
Then start MegaD from the CLI by changing the active directory to
the directory that contains MegaD and type RUN MegaD. If you are
going to start it from the Workbench simply double click the
MegaD Icon from the workbench window that contains MegaD. Once
MegaD is up and running use MegaD features to locate the
directory containing this file "MegaD.Doc", Select that file once
with the mouse, then select View Text in the main MegaD window.
MegaD will place this text file in its own Text Viewer. The View
Text windows are interactive with the rest of MegaD. You will be
able to keep the text window open and use the Search String
option from the Cursor Menu of the text window containing
MegaD.Doc. Any option found in menus or windows that you do not
understand simply make the MegaD.Doc Text Window active, Select
Search and type in the option you would like to read about.
MegaD will search from the first line visible to bottom of the
file to find where that option is described. Remember to move
the slider in the proportional gadget on the right side of the
text window to move the file to the first line of the text. Look
at it like a Help file.
One feature that cannot be access from the menus or the
gadgets is the LOCK feature. Be sure to search the file for
"Lock" and read that section.
MegaD is different from other directory utilities in that
you are not limited to two directories to work from at one
moment. You are allowed an unlimited number of directories open
to a screen at a time. This can be somewhat confusing if not
overwhelming at first so MegaD defaults to using a custom screen
and only one window per volume displayed on the screen at a time.
This keep the number of windows opened to the screen at a time to
a minimum, helping you to concentrate more on the features of
MegaD than trying to find what window your working from.
z GENERAL TEXT ________________
Lets talk a little about how this works. You can start this
program from either the Workbench by double clicking the MegaD
icon, or from the CLI by making the directory that holds MegaD
the current directory and typing "run MegaD" and hit return. A
window will open with nine device gadgets, one string gadget and
18 control gadgets. The nine device gadgets can represent any
drive, volume or assigned name that you desire. The string
gadget is there just in case you want to access another drive or
assigned device not covered by the nine boolean gadgets. If you
enter a path to a sub-directory in this string gadget it will
still open the root directory first. If an assign name is used
it will open a window for that directory. If the directory is a
sub-directory you will not have the ability to move to it's
parent directory. Below this string gadget is displayed a little
information about the status of the system. Such as CHIP (L),
FAST (F), LARGEST (L) and AVAILABLE (A) memory. Below this it
shows how many files and directories that have been selected for
some type of work and the total number of bytes selected, these
totals do not include the file selected within the active or
locked directory window. The free disk space is also displayed
of the volume that the active directory is from.
Below this it shows the active directory at the time. This is
important if you are copying, moving files, and when you create a
new directory. The active directory becomes the destination or
target directory for these functions. If no directory window is
selected this will display "No Active Window." REMEMBER! Even
if the window is not active, Delete will work on any items that
it finds selected within that window. None of the functions will
work on a closed directory window. At the bottom of the main
window you will find 18 command gadgets. A quick study of the
location of these gadgets will tell you that the gadgets are in
the same configuration as the numeric key pad on latter model
Amiga's. So pressing the '(' key from the keypad will have the
same result as the upper left gadget in this group, which is the
copy gadget.
MegaD is different from most other directory utilities in
the fact that it allows an unlimited number of directory
available to the user. The only limitation to how many
directories can be viewed is the system's memory. All directory
loaded are buffered in memory. This has it's advantages and
disadvantages.
The advantages are:
If you are working with disk drives you may move
though the buffered directory without waiting for the
drive to reload a previously loaded directory.
The ability to view an unlimited number of volumes
on a screen at one time.
If using the Find function and the search failed
to find a specific file due to a misspelled or
incorrect file name. The second search for the file
will be though memory, saving considerable time.
The ability to select files and directory names
from a number of different directory for use in any of
the commands available though MegaD. Even if the disk
is not in the drive, items may be selected and as MegaD
needs each disk a system requester will ask for that
disk to be inserted into an available drive. Even if
you are working with one volume files can be deleted,
moved, copy etc. etc. from any number of the
directories opened on that volume. You are no long
trapped with two directories to work from. z The disadvantages are:
With the dynamic nature of the Amiga computer.
Any directory can be changed by any program. So the
directory you may be looking at may not be current.
There is an option that will allows you to update
directory anytime a directory window is reopens. And
the Enter key on the keypad will force the active or
locked directory to be update at the moment that it is
hit.
For directories to be buffered, Memory must be
used. MegaD will easily handle the largest hard drive
and keep track of every file and directory on it. But
the memory must be available for it to do so. Systems
with only 512K are limited. MegaD will refuse to open
any new window after the largest system memory chunk is
below 64K. MegaD will work in a low memory environment
just as well as most other directory utilities that
allow the use of only two directory on the screen at
one time, just the unlimited number of directory on
MegaD are limited greatly.
Now let's open a directory window. Select a gadget that
represents a drive that has a disk in it. After the directory is
loaded into memory a directory window will open to the far left
side of the screen below the screen title bar. It's a good idea
to keep the title bar visible at all times while using this
program. The screen title bar will always show the path of an
active window or "No Active Directory Window" if the main window
with the drive icons is active. A third window is now open just
above the main window. This window is titled Volumes in Memory.
This window functions very much like the directory windows only
it keeps a list of the volumes that are in memory at the time.
The directory window has a window close gadget, window depth
gadgets, a window sizing gadget, and a proportional gadget on the
right side of the window to slide the information in the window
up and down if needed. The window can display any where between
0 to as many lines possible in the current screen. If more is
available it will be shown proportionally by the knob within the
proportional gadget. The names of directories will be shown
first in the list in the window (if any). Then the filenames
will follow (if any). To select a directory simply single select
that item in the window. To un-select simply select that item
again. You may drag select or unselect a group of directory
items by pressing the select button while the mouse is over an
item that you want to change and then dragging the mouse pointer
up or down to change the status of the other items to the same as
the first selected item. If you want to view that directory
double click the directory item, the directory will load and the
new window will open. A file can be selected or unselected from
the directory window, if Auto Boot parameters are set you can
double click the file and MegaD will see if that file match one
of the Auto Boot parameters, if so MegaD will execute an external
program that knows how to handle the data file selected. Auto
Boot will be explained later on in this document. Once a sub-
directory is opened a new gadget can be found. The PARENT
gadget. By selecting this gadget (single click) the parent
window of this directory will either be opened if it was closed
or moved to the front of the screen. This Gadget is always found
at the top of the list of directory items in a sub-directory. It
will scroll out of view if the proportional gadget is used to
view unseen items. So to find this gadget if it is not visible
at the time, move the proportional gadget to the top of the
window. The items in the Volumes in Memory window work very much
the same way. Double click an item here if you want to reopen or z move a root directory window to the front of the screen and click once to select that item for some type of action to be performed on that volume. To close a directory window simply use the close gadget at the top of the window. The Volumes in Memory window close gadget acts differently depending on if you have selected items within this window. If no items are selected it will open a request window and ask "Remove All Volumes?" If the answer is YES the program will free all memory used by the directory windows. If the program finds a selected item in the window it will ask "Remove Selected Volumes?" If answered YES only the selected volumes will be removed from memory. If answered NO the program will ask "Remove All Volumes?" Once again, YES will remove all volumes from memory. Once all volumes are removed the Volumes in Memory window will be close until the next volume is opened.
Some of the keys are active in this program. Keys 1 though
9 will have the same effect as selecting the drive gadgets in
the main window. 1 though 3 control the left three gadgets 4
though 6 control the center 3 gadgets, and 7 though 9 control
the right three gadgets. F10 will bring the main window to the
front or send it to the back of the screen. F9 Will bring the
Volumes in Memory window to the front or send it to the back of
the screen. F8 will bring a text window to the front if one is
open and if more than one is open the F8 key will toggle between
the open text windows. F1 will cycle the color displayed in the
directory windows, you must have a directory window open to see
the changed in the colors. Small message or input windows with
gadgets will have active keys corresponding to the first letter
of the gadget. So if a window has the gadget YES in it the
program will respond the same by pressing the key Y on your
keyboard as appose to using the mouse to select the YES gadget.
Remember if a string gadget is active the input will be directed
to the string in the gadget. If directory windows are available
the cursor keys will open or move windows to the front of the
screen and make it the active directory. Left and Right cursor
will move though the available volumes and the Up and Down cursor
will move though the directories in the active volume. The L key
will lock the current active directory, once locked you will be
able to move though other directory window keeping the locked
directory as the destination directory. This will also keep the
locked directory open to the screen if the option one window per
volume is used. The window can be unlocked by having the locked
window active on the screen and pressing L once more to un-lock
the window, or if another window is active and L is press that
window will become the locked destination directory. If the
space bar is pressed and no other string gadget is active, the
string input gadget in the main window will be activated. The
complete numeric keypad on newer model Amiga's is completely hot.
Each gadget in the lower part of the main window has a
corresponding key.
A little message here for single drive owners:
When copying a group of files make use of the RAM DISK:.
The program will only read one file into memory at a time.
So if you are copying more than one file you will be
required to swap disks for each file. If memory is
sufficient you can copy these files to the RAM DISK: and
then copy them to the destination disk. If only one file is
to be copied, disk to disk method will be best. Disk copy
will try to copy in as few passes that memory will allow.
If your system is One megabyte or less, try to have as few
programs running as possible before calling up this
function. If any volumes are in memory remove them first. z Every little bit of memory needed will be used by the disk copy to keep passes to a minimum.
The program has been made to be as intuitive as possible.
So if you want, just load it up and start trying things out. Just
remember this program deletes and moves files. Move is not so
bad, the file or directory is always moved before the old file or
directory is deleted. Delete is FINAL! Delete like most of the
other function in MegaD work on any item in any open directory
window. It will delete protected files but only after your
answering a request that says "(file or directory name) is
Protected, Delete anyway?" Answer YES and the file is gone.
Delete will give you a second message if MegaD finds more than
one directory with items selected in it. Also this program
formats disk and copies disks. It is, as always, up to you to be
sure of what you are doing. There is an option to help stop
actions that are run by mistake. This is the PANIC, STOP PROCESS
menu. This will stop just about everything, from printing to
processing file names for some form of action.
An excellent way to get to know MegaD is to boot it up,
load this text file by using the View Text option. If your not
sure how to use any of the menu options or command gadgets, use
the Search String option from the Cursor menu, in the View Text
window that contains the MegaD.doc file.
Remember that the complete path of the directory window that
is active at the time is displayed in the screen title bar.
Though this is the active window it may not be the destination
directory if a LOCK has been placed on an open directory window.
If the Directory is locked the title will display '* LOCKED *'
instead of the directory name in the window title bar. Remember
that when a file is to be created by the program such as output
to file or create export file. An active directory must be
selected for this file to be saved to. The program always
attaches the string found in the file name gadget to the path of
the window that initiated the process. Wether it is rename file,
export to file or output to file options.
z Main Window Gadget Functions
__________________________________
Copy Alternate Numeric keypad '('
This will copy selected files and/or directories to the
active directory window. If you are not sure which
window is active the directory name will be displayed
in the main program window under active directory.
Also the active window title will be easy to read,
others will be ghosted. Only one window on the Amiga
can be active at one time. Also the path to get to the
directory that the window holds will be displayed in
the screen title bar.
Note: while using this program it is a good idea
to keep windows from covering the title bar.
Copy will check to see if the selected file or files
will fit onto the destination disk. If not it will
inform you that insufficient space is available on the
destination disk. You will be able to force MegaD to
continue with the copy or move if necessary, you may be
overwriting the same files. This check is not done
when a directory is selected for copy. Before starting
you will be requested with a window to be sure you want
to do this. It will show the number of files and
directories selected and the destination directories
name that the files will be copied to.
Move Alternate Numeric keypad ')'
Move works identical to copy except that it will remove
the old files or directories once they have been placed
successfully in the new directory. If the file is to
be moved from directory to directory on the same
volume, it will simply rename the file or directory to
the new place on the disk. Before starting you will be
requested with a window to be sure you want to do this.
It will show the number of files and directories
selected and the destination directories name.
NOTE: Copy and Move will not move a directory to
a sub-directory of itself.
Delete Alternate Numeric keypad '/'
This will Delete all files and directories marked,
whether the directory window is active or not. Before
this action starts you will be given one or two last
chances to stop files from being deleted. A window
will pop up and ask "Delete ## Files and Directories?"
Select YES or NO to continue with what ever actions are
desired. If items are selected in more than one window
a second window will ask "Delete Will Remove Items From
## Windows. Continue?". Once a file is deleted there is
little chance to retrieve it with conventional methods!
Rename Alternate Numeric keypad '*'
This will rename any file or directory name to what
ever valid filename you wish to change it to. A window
will open with three boolean Gadgets (OK, ABORT, and
SKIP) and one string gadget. This string gadget will
hold the current name of the file that was found
selected in any open directory window. At this point
you will have three options. Change the name of the
file, Skip to the next selected item, or Abort the
rename option.
z Set Protection Alternate Numeric keypad '7' This works much the same as the Rename option above except that it works with the protection bits of the file. There will be seven small gadgets in the center of the request window. The gadgets will be marked S P A R W E D. When the window opens the flag gadgets will reflect the way the flags are at the moment for the current selected file. By turning these gadgets off and on the bits can be changed on the file. The letters stand for S=SCRIPT, P=PURE, A=ARCHIVE, R=READABLE, W=WRITABLE, E=EXECUTE, D=DELETABLE. You will also find the gadget ALL in this window. If this gadget is used, all selected items in open directory windows will have the protection flags changes to way that the flags are set in the window. This saving the time to set each directory item one at a time.
Create Directory Alternate Numeric keypad '8'
This will create a new sub-directory in the active
directory window. A request window will open and ask
to input the name of the sub-directory to add to the
active directory. OK and ABORT gadgets are available
here.
View Text Alternate Numeric keypad '9'
This will open a new window to view any text file
marked in any open directory window. It will first
check to see if the marked file is a text file. If it
is not sure what type of a file it is it will open a
request window and ask, "Not a True Text File. Load
Anyway?" If the answer is yes, the program will display
the true ASCII characters of the file. If it was a
true text file it will open a window with the usual
array of gadgets to manipulate the position you would
like to be in the file. This window will stay open
until the close window option is selected. If you wish
to view more that one file at a time, simply select
more than one text file from any of the open directory
windows, MegaD View Text is designed just like the
directory windows to allow an unlimited number text
files to be viewed at one time. The only limitation is
available memory in the matching at the time. All of
the directory options and windows are active even if a
text window is open on the screen. So if you want to
open another text window select that file in the
directory window and select View Text again. There
is a completely new menu to select from within the text
windows. Text and background color can be selected to
suit your taste. The whole file can be printed or just
the part visible in the window. Page up, page down,
side to side and top to bottom of file commands are
here. Search for a string with or without a pattern
match and repeat last search. The cursor keys will act
on the file in the direction you wish to move. The
Numeric Keypads Home(7), End(1), PgUp(9) and PgDn(3)
will move you within the text file. Home will move you
to the first of the file. End will move you to the end
of the file, PgUp will move you one page (Window size)
up and PgDn will move you one page (Window size) down.
By using the F8 function key you will be able to bring
any open text window to the front of the screen. If
more than one text window is open you can toggle
between the windows by using the F8 key to cycle though
the text windows. Save Defaults will save the z background and text color of the last closed text window and the last Search String used.
Find Alternate Numeric keypad '-'
This work different from the above mentioned Select,
From Pattern option in that does not look in the open
directory windows to find a match and it will look
though all directory even if it is hidden by the Hide
menu options. Find will search though volumes selected
in the Volumes in Memory window. It will start from
the first file in the volume and search though the
volume until it ether find a match for the string
entered in the string gadget or finds the last
directory item on the volume. If a match is found a
message will be displayed and you will be asked if you
want to continue. If you answer no to the query and a
directory window was previously opened that contained
this match the window will be moved to the front of the
screen and the found item will be selected. If a
window is not available you will be able to use the
information displayed in the message window to find the
file.
Select All Alternate Numeric keypad '4'
This will select all directory items in all open
directory windows, excluding the Volumes in Memory
window.
Select Active Alternate Numeric keypad '5'
This will select only the items in an active directory
window. This option also works on the Volumes in Memory
window.
Select Pattern Alternate Numeric keypad '6'
This option will open a window with a string input
gadget. You can select a directory item by name by
typing the name to search for in the open directory
windows. If found it will mark that item as selected.
The Amiga wild cards (#? ?) are valid here, giving you
the option of selecting a group of files or directory
with similar characters in them.
Examples: "pro#?" will select files such as
"program.c", "process", "procure.c". As long as
the items starts with "pro" it will be selected.
"pro#?.c" will only select "program.c" and
"procure.c" from the above list. ???cess will
only select process.
Select Auto Boot Alternate Numeric keypad '+'
This option will open a window displaying all of the
MegaD Auto Boot parameters available. By selecting
individual Auto Boot parameters and then closing the
window, MegaD will search the header information of
each file in the open directory windows to see if they
match the Auto Boot definitions. So if you have an
Auto Boot parameter that will recognize sound samples
and select that parameter, MegaD will then select all
sound files in the open directory window.
z Clear, All Alternate Numeric keypad '1' Clear, Active Alternate Numeric keypad '2' Clear, Pattern Alternate Numeric keypad '3' Clear, Auto Boot Alternate Numeric keypad '.' These three options work the same as the Select options describe above except that they will un-select items in the directories
File Comment Alternate Numeric keypad '0'
This works much the same as Rename mentioned above. It
works on the File Comment stored within the directory
structure of the disk. If items are selected in open
directory windows MegaD will open a requester to input
or change the current File Comment on the selected
file. If the Skip gadget is hit or a return is made on
an unchanged string gadgets MegaD will not changed the
file comment. If the file originally had a file not
and it is desired to remove the file comment. Blanking
out the string and pressing return or hitting the OK
gadgets will erase the file comment on that file or
directory. You will be able to tell all files that
have a file comment by an '*' just after the column in
the directory windows that contain the filename. The
'*' is visible at all times if a file comment is attach
to a file or directory.
Update Directory Alternate Numeric keypad 'ENTER'
Due to the dynamic nature of the Amiga computer a
directory can be changed or even deleted by a number of
other programs. If the velleity of a directory is in
question use this to update the directory to the
current state. If the directory that the window
displays has been removed, the directory window will be
removed from the screen. If directory items have been
added or deleted the changes will be reflected. If you
want to resort a directory by a different attribute,
set the sort flags in the Show menu and use update. If
Sort on None is used no sorting is done so little if
any change will be shown.
z Menu Functions and options ---------------------------------- PROJECT
Open Windows, All
This will open all directory windows that have
been opened once before and then been closed.
This menu option overrides the "One Window Per
Volume" in the "OPTIONS" menu. If more than five
windows are available to be opened, you will be
queried if you still want to open them.
Open Windows, Selected Directories
This works the same as the "Open Windows, All"
options above, except that it will search for
windows to open in the directories marked in a
directory window or the Volumes in Memory window.
Close Windows, All
This will close all directory windows that are
opened at the time. Only Text Windows, the
Volumes in Memory window and the Main window will
be left open on the screen.
Close Windows, Selected Directories
This, again will close directory windows that are
open but will only close windows within marked
directories of another open directory window.
This option also looks for Volumes selected in the
Volumes in Memory window.
Add To Auto Boot
The Auto Boot is a utility to allow you auto boot
an executable program by selecting the data file
that was created by it or that it recognizes.
Auto Boot works by looking though the first few
bytes of the data file that was selected and
seeing if they match any of the defined Auto Boot
parameters. If it can not find a match by the
internal bytes of information in the file, Auto
Boot will then see if the filename has an
extension that it recognizes. Extensions are a
few characters following a period to identify the
file for some purpose. The most common one is the
.info used by the Workbench, this one for obvious
reason is skipped by the Auto Boot function. If
Auto Boot finds a match by ether method and the
menu item "Activate Auto Boot" under the "Option"
menu is checked, it will run the executable and
give the executable program the data filename. If
all goes well you should be able to edit, view or
what ever the executable program was designed for.
The process to create an Auto Boot definition is
very simple. You the user will be required to
select at least two data files (more is
preferred,) and one executable program that is
known to work on the type of files selected, the
data files and executable need not be in the same
directory window but the directory windows
containing them do need to be open to the screen.
MegaD will then look at each file selected and see
if there is enough identical information at the
first of the data files to see if it can
distinguish the file form other types of data
files. If it can not find any identical z information in the file but the data files selected did have identical extensions MegaD will use this information to identify the program with. If only a few bytes of information is found identical MegaD will ask if you still want to use that information to Auto Boot with. If all goes well you will be asked if this executable requires an output window, If you know that when this executable program is running and it prints some type of text to a window such as the CLI window or a CON: window you should answer yes, otherwise answer no. If the application will work with a variety of like files such as a graphic viewer you will have to create a definition for each type of file that it handles. Create a definition for each, GIF, HAM, Lo-Res etc, etc, all defining the graphic viewer as the executable. If the Definition is added MegaD will tell so in a message window. After new definitions are added you will still need to tell MegaD to save the definitions by selecting the menu item "Save Defaults" This options is described a little farther in this text.
Edit Auto Boot
If you find that an Auto Boot definition is not
working properly or that you would like to remove
it for any reason. This is the menu item to do it
with. If Auto Boot definitions are available a
window will open displaying the information about
the different Auto Boots. The window will have a
close window gadget in the upper left corner. The
information displayed in the window will be in
this order.
Win B\Ext Executable Path And Name
NO 40 Workbench:GFX/viewGFX
YES ss UTILITIES:Sound/playSound
The first line is the title of the information
displayed in the columns. "Win" if you requested
an output window it will display YES if not it
will display NO in this column. "B\Ext" column
will ether display the number of matching bytes
that it uses to identify the data file with or the
extension if an extension is used. "Executable
Path And Name" is just as it describes. By
selecting any one or a number of the definition
with the pointer from the mouse you will mark that
definition for deletion, select it once more and
it will become un-selected. Close the window with
any item selected and you will asked if you want
to delete the Auto Boot definition, if the answer
is yes the items will be removed from the window.
if the answer is no you will be asked if you want
to abort the Auto Boot edit. If the window is
close with out any items selected, it will simply
close the edit window. But if any changes are
made and you want to keep it that way you will
have to selected Save Defaults.
Set Defaults
There are five user defined menu items that can be
defined by the user in the UTILITIES menu. There
are nine user defined gadgets and a way to define
what screen to have the MegaD program work from.
To set up the commands and items select this item. z A window will open with nine boolean gadgets and 19 string gadgets. The boolean gadget are titled ZOO, ARC, LHARC, NEXT, PREV, ADD, DELETE, OK and CANCEL. By selecting the ZOO gadget the first six string gadget will be filled with the default Zoo commands. Selecting the ARC gadget will set the default Arc commands. Selecting the LHARC gadget will set the default LhArc commands. In the upper right hand corner of the window the name of the active Menu Set will be displayed. If these three archiving programs are not the ones you use, or the default set of commands are not to your liking, the text can be changed to your taste. The smaller string gadget on the left will be the text that will be displayed within the menu, while the larger string gadget to the right will be the actual command sent to the operating system. It will be attached to a filename or a set of filenames. If more definitions are wanted simply change the information int the Menu Text and Command Text string gadgets to what you would like the new one to be and then use the ADD gadget to add this definition. Once a new definition is added to MegaD it will display in the top right hand corner Menu Set, 1 of 1. Each time this a new definition is added it will display the number of the active Menu Set displayed and the total number extra Menu Sets added to MegaD. DELETE will remove previously defined Menu Sets. It will not remove ZOO, ARC, or LhARC. The NEXT and PREV gadgets will step though all available Menu Sets. Remember if information is changed in any of the Menu Set strings and a new Menu Set is selected the change will be recorded and used for the changed Menu Set. CANCEL will return you to MegaD resetting the Menu to it's original state, providing that information was not changed and a new Menu Set was selected, forcing a recording of the changes. If MegaD is run from the CLI it will use the CLI window as an output channel for the executed programs. If MegaD was started from the Workbench, a CON: window will be opened on the workbench screen for this output. No input channel is provided so if the program requires input from the CLI window during the course of its run, IT CAN NOT BE USED! The first command works different from the other four user defined commands. I'll describe the actual processing that the program will do with this command first. When archiving a file or set of files the archive program needs a name for a file to store the archived files to. When the PACK menu option is used a request window will open and ask for a file name for the archive to save to in the active directory. Type whatever name agrees with the situation such as "PACK.zoo" if using Zoo, "PACK.arc" if you are using Arc and if you are using LhArc, "PACK.LZH. The extension .zoo, .arc, and lzh are not required by the archives themselves. They will be added if not included. But MegaD will not be able to find the file if they are omitted. If MegaD can not find the file, that directory item will not be added to the directory window though the file is there. Now that we know what the archive file name is we can z start adding all the pieces together. The standard PACK command for Zoo is "Zoo a". We have requested that the file be named "PACK.zoo". These two will be added to make a string of characters "Zoo a PACK.zoo". The program will search for selected files in the open directory windows. These will be added to the end of the command string which will end up something like this. "Zoo a PACK.zoo filename1 filename2 filename3...." So what you end up with is a very long string. The string can be any size up to 255 characters long. Any file after that will be ignored. If files were not added to the command line due to too many characters, the items in the directory windows will be left marked as selected. The other four user defined commands are much easer to understand. They are found both in the PROJECT menu and the UTILITIES menu. They all work in the very same manner. They add one filename to the command line. I will use the "Zoo LIST" command as an example. The Zoo LIST default command is "Zoo v". Once this option is selected the program will search for selected items in the directory windows. As it finds them, it will combine the two to create the command line that will be executed. So we could end up with a command line such as "Zoo v PACK.zoo". If the PACK.zoo file is a true Zoo file, Zoo will print to a CON: or CLI window the contents of the file. If you would like to use commands other than archive commands here you are free to do so. The way that you set up the user defined menus is totally up to you. But remember that some commands will not work if executed without and input channel. There is the potential of a system lockup or crash. A good option to add is a graphics file viewer and or a sound or instrument player in the UTILITIES menu. As new types of IFF files are created, new IFF readers or upgraded readers will become available. This will keep your MegaD utility up to date without rewriting the program. There are six user defined device gadgets for the Main window to selected where to get the root directory for a directory window. Any valid volume or storage devices name can be typed into the lower six string gadgets. Once changed the gadgets in the Main window will reflect the change. One more gadget can be found here. This is the screen definition gadget. By selecting this gadget you can chose between three types of screen for MegaD to run from. WORKBENCH SCREEN, CUSTOM SCREEN (640X200), and INTERLACE SCREEN (640X400). If you use an Over Scan Workbench screen, MegaD will Duplicate that type of screen when it creates it's own screen. Once the OK gadget is selected the program will use the parameters selected. NOTE: Remember to select Save Defaults to save the definitions of your menus, gadgets, windows and screens.
Save Defaults
Will try to write a preference file to the same
directory that the program was run from. The
default file will be MegaD.pf. Depending on how z MegaD was started determines where this file will be saved. If MegaD is started from the CLI and the file was called by it's complete path, such as "UTILITIES:MegaD" the .pf file will be saved to the same directory that MegaD program file is stored at. If you store MegaD in your C: directory and simply call "MegaD" the .pf file will be saved to the current directory which may or may not be the same directory that the main MegaD program file is stored at. If MegaD is called from the Workbench the .pf file will be saved to the same directory that the Workbench window represents. This file stores all information about how the user has changed the program during the run. Information such as the items checked in the menus, where the user moved message windows, and input windows during the run, the user defined commands and gadgets, the Auto Boot specifications, the extra Menu Sets specifications and a few other little details that need to be remembered to keep MegaD in the same state at start up.
Iconify
Iconify will replace all of the MegaD windows and
the MegaD screen with one small window on the
Workbench screen. The small window will have a
close window gadget and the standard depth gadget.
To reactivate MegaD simply selected the menu
button on the mouse while the small window is
active. MegaD will return with all of the loaded
directories in tack. If the close window gadget
is hit MegaD will end it's run and return all
memory back to the system.
Quit
Ends run of program. Closes all windows opened by
the program and returns all memory used by the
program.
UTILITIES
User Defined PACK.
See Set Defaults above.
User Defined UnPACK.
This function will make the active directory
window become the current directory. So If you
select a file on a disk to be UnPacked and then
select another directory such as RAM DISK: the
files will be unpacked to the RAM DISK:.
Also see Set Defaults above.
User Defined LIST PACK.
See Set Defaults above.
User Defined Cmd 1
See Set Defaults above.
User Defined Cmd 2
See Set Defaults above.
Copy/Format disk
This will open a full screen window with a number
of gadgets and options to select from depending on
if you want to format one to four disk at a time. z Or it will copy disks with one to four drives. If the drives are attached to your Amiga. The gadget on the left side of the window select the format options, the gadget on the right selects the disk copy options. A large box is drawn around the group of gadgets that are active at the time to show if you are in Format or Copy mode. To Select Format or Copy mode simply select anywhere by or on the gadgets assign to the mode that you want. On the format side there are four boolean gadgets to turn on and off drive DF0:, DF1:, DF2:, and DF3: for formatting disk. On the copy side there are eight boolean gadgets to select the destination drive(s) and source drive(s). Destination df0:, df1:, df2:, df3:, Source df0:, df1:, df2:, df3:. If you have more than two drives you can copy the one source disk to all other free drives if you wish, so if you have three drives you can make two copies of a disk at a time or if you have four drives you can make 3 copies of a disk at a time. If you should have four 3 1/2 drives attach to your Amiga, one more boolean gadget will be available. It will be titled "D C" for Dual Copy. This gadget will be found at the far right of the window towards the top. By selecting this gadget you will be able copy two disks at one time. Drive df0: and df1: will be match, drive df2: and df3: will be match. Each time you select the D C gadget it will toggle source and destination drives. Below the main two sets of gadgets are four string gadgets. If you are in Format mode the strings will contain default names (Empty0, Empty1...) to name the newly formatted disk. The strings can be changed to any thing that you would like. If you are in Copy mode the newly copied disk will be renamed to any strings found in the corresponding string gadget for the destination drive. If the string gadget is empty the name of the copy will be unchanged. Careful! Two identical disk will crash the operating system if inserted into the drives while the Amiga operating system has control of the drives. Only gadgets that correspond to a mounted drive will be active, all others will be disabled. Also if copy is requested on a single drive, it will show the number of passes the copy will take and if you still want to continue. Below the group of string gadgets are three more gadgets. EXIT, START, and ABORT. EXIT will return you to the main program but not before checking for duplicate disk still in the drives. If it finds duplicate disk it will display a message and wait until the disk are removed. START will initiate the Format(s) or Copy(s) that you have set up. The ABORT gadget is disabled until a format or Copy is started. If for some reason you want to abort the process once it is started, just select this gadget. You will be greeted with a Yes or No request to see if you really do want to abort the process. EXIT, START and ABORT can all be selected from the keyboard by pressing the first letter of the gadget. The VERIFY gadget is located at the top center of the window, it will read ON or OFF depending on the status of Verify. This will work z on both Format and Copy. It is your choice, but be warned that your data is at stake if verify is off. It will not test if the disk is bad or if a write error has occurred. At the bottom of the window there will be four grids with 80 squares in each grid, this represent the cylinders on the disk. The grid will appear black if unactive, white if the disk will be read for a disk copy and orange if the disk will be written to or formatted. The above mention colors are default workbench colors.
OPTIONS
Open All Directories
This menu item switches between two states,
checked or unchecked. If it is unchecked, each
directory will need to be opened manually by
double clicking a directory item in a directory
window. Once a directory is double clicked it
will read just that directory and none of the sub-
directories, if any. After the directory is in
memory it will then open a new window and display
the contents. If the Open All Directories is
checked and a drive or directory is selected it
will search the volume or directories for all
sub-directories. Once it has read all
directories, it will open a request window and
display "Open all ## Windows?" to see if you still
want to display all directories.
NOTE: The operation system slows down
considerably after about 20 windows are open
on one screen. Long pauses are encountered
during the opening and the closing of the
windows. This can be annoying but the
program does have the capability to keep
track of as many windows as you desire open
at one time and the system memory has room
for.
If the directory has a sub-directory with a window
attached to it, (this window need not be opened at
the time) it will not search in that sub-directory
for more to open. Only once it has found a
directory with no window attached will it search
for more directories to attach new windows to.
Select All Hide
Will check Hide .INFO, Hide Amiga Directories,
Hide C Directory.
Clear All Hide
Will un-check Hide .INFO, Hide Amiga Directories,
Hide C Directory.
Hide .INFO
If checked this will hide .INFO files from being
displayed in any of the directory windows. It
will also prevent them from being used in any of
the output functions. Keep in mind that if you
are selecting files for copy, move or delete, the
.info files will not be touched. It is a good
idea to have this unchecked for the above
mentioned options. Keep .Info With File menu
option described lower will override this option.
z Hide Amiga Directories If Checked this will hide the standard Amiga directories such as DEV, SYSTEM, FONTS and so on.
Hide C directory
If Checked this will hide the C command directory
NOTE: All Hide functions work with output options.
If sending a directory to the printer and Hide
.INFO is checked, none of the .info files will be
printed.
Filter Directory
This will allow each window to have a filter added
to it. The filter can ether be used to show only
the items that match the filter or it will show
everything except what match the filter. Pattern
matching is used here. The pattern match works
the same as describe above in Select Pattern.
Once the pattern is entered into the request
window. you will be asked Filter out (pattern)
matches. If Yes is selected all items matched
will be removed from the display. If No is
selected only the matches will be visible. If it
is desired to return the directory window to it's
normal state select this item again while that
window is the active directory window. The filter
will be removed from the window. MegaD will
remember the filter for later use during that run.
So if a filter is requested for that window again
the filter string will be in that request window
string gadget ready for use again or it can be
changed to a new filter if necessary.
One Window Per Volume
While this item is checked it will only allow one
window open per volume displayed at a time. This
prevents the system slowdown of too many windows
at a time. This is deactivated if Open Windows,
All or Open Windows, Selected Directories options
are used from the PROJECT menu.
Keep .INFO With File
If checked, this item will mark and un-mark the
companion .info file associated with this file, if
any. This option overrides the Hide .INFO option
in this menu. The .info files are used by the
Workbench. If the .info file is not copied or
moved with the main file the Workbench will not be
able to display the icon associated with the file.
Also if the main file is deleted and the .info
file is left in the directory, Workbench will
think that there is a file to load or use. When
using the Copy, Move, Delete, and Rename Utilities
it is a good idea to keep this Menu item checked.
If you do not want a particular .info file marked
for some type of work, simply select that .info
file to un-mark the file in the directory window.
If a drag select of more than one item is used
MegaD will not look for matching .info files.
z Keep Extension With File This works separately from the Keep .INFO With File option. If checked and a file is selected that has extension files in the same directory they will be selected or unselected with the main file. Once again if a drag select of more that one item is used MegaD will not look for matching extension files.
Active Window To Front
If this item is checked MegaD will attempt to move
the active MegaD window except the main window to
the front of the screen. By clicking any place in
a window, that particular window will move to the
front of the screen. This has an odd effect when
a depth gadget is hit to move an unactive window
to the rear of the screen. The window pops back
to the front. A second try on the depth gadget
will keep the window to the rear. Outside of
removing the depth gadgets from the windows. I
have not found a practical solution to this, and
with a large number of windows at one time on the
screen the depth gadgets are a necessity. The
only window that will not move to the front is the
main window MegaD control window. This window
will have to be moved to the front by ether using
the depth gadgets on the window or by pressing
F10.
Activate Auto Boot
If Auto Boot definitions are available and this
menu item is checked, you will be able to auto
boot the executable that recognizes the selected
data file. This only works on data files the have
had a an Auto Boot definition created to identify
the files with. If MegaD finds that none of the
Auto Boot definitions matched a standard text file
View Text will be called up so that the selected
text file can be viewed.
Auto Update
If this item is checked MegaD will reload
directories each time a directory window is
reopened or if the a device gadget is selected
within the main window. This option is an
advantage to Amiga users who have hard drive and
the buffering of directory list is of little
consequence due to the speed of the drives. It
guaranties that if a directory window is reopened
the information in that window will be current.
Clone Copy
If this option works on files that have been moved
or copied by MegaD. If it is checked MegaD will
keep the date and the file note of the file the
same as the original file that it was copied from.
If it is not checked the date of the file will
become the current date that is set by the Amiga
operating system, if file notes exist on a file
that will be overwritten by a file of the same
name the comment of the old file will become the
comment of the newly copied file.
z SHOW All
Will check Size, Date Stamp, and Protection within
this menu.
None
Will un-check Size, Date Stamp, and Protection
within this menu.
Size
If checked this will display the size of the file
to the right of the filename, or if the item is a
directory it will display (DIR) in that place.
Date Stamp
If checked this will display the Date Stamp of the
file or directory of when it was created. This
date stamp excludes the seconds of the time to
conserve space.
Protection
If checked this will display the status of
protection flags of the file or directory.
File Comment.
Amiga Dos has the ability to store a file comment
with each directory entry. The file comment can
be up 80 characters long. If MegaD finds a file
comment with any file an '*' will be displayed
after the directory item listed in the directory
windows. By selecting this menu item MegaD will
display the first 30 characters of any comment
found in the directories. MegaD will show only
the file name and comment if this item is checked.
Size, Date Stamp, Protection will be removed from
the display.
Sort On
MegaD will sort files by None, Name, Size, Date
Stamp, Protection and File Comment. By selected
the sub-items you will be able to sort by any of
the above criteria. If a new sort criteria is
selected and an active or locked directory window
is on the screen MegaD will display the
information in that window in the new order, this
will work with all criteria except None. None is
only effective if it was selected during loading
of that directory. Newly loaded directory will be
sorted by the last sub-item checked in the Sort
menu.
OUTPUT
Printer
This will print the directories names and or file
names selected within an open directory window. A
printer must be available to the Amiga for this
option to work. If a directory is selected it
will print all sub-directories and files found
within that directory.
File
This works the same as OUTPUT, Printer except that
the output is directed to a file. To select this
option you must select a directory window to
determine where the file will be stored. This is z done by having the destination directory window as the active window on the system. If a directory window is found active a window with three gadgets will open. Two of the gadgets will be boolean (OK and ABORT.) The title of the window will display the path that the file will be stored to. There is a string gadget to input your filename for the text file. Remember only type in a valid filename. The path of the active directory will be appended to the name that is typed here.
W/Tree Lines
This is a toggle selected menu item. It will
effect the way that the program output the
directory items for the above two mentions menu
options. Output/Printer, and Output/File. If this
menu item is checked it will indent the
directories and sub-directories items with
vertical and horizonal dashes to make it easier to
tell what directory or sub-directory the directory
items are from. If it is unchecked the
directories and sub-directories will be indented
with spaces.
Disk Label
Alignment
This will print two alignment dots to the
printer. These are alignment points for the
disk label itself. The dots are 2 7/8"
apart, a standard label is 2 3/4" wide. So
the dots are just a little wider than the
label itself. Try to center the label
between these points. Also the two dots
should print just off the top edge of the
label.
Print
This option will go one of two ways depending
if it finds a volume selected in the Volumes
in Memory window.
OPTION 1:
If it finds a selected volume, or volumes, it
will print a label for a 3 1/2 disk. It will
first print the two dots at the head of the
label mention above in Alignment. It will
then print "WRITE ENABLE ->", "WRITE PROTECT-
>", for the back side of the disk. The Volume
name will then be printed in condensed mode
for the top of the disk. The Volume name
will again be printed in standard print mode
for the front of the disk. Now if any items
in the directory windows displaying
information from this volume is selected, it
will then be printed, up to 14 lines. If any
of the files selected are in a sub-directory
of the volume it will first print the path to
reach those filenames or directories.
OPTION 2:
If no volume names are found selected, it
will open a window to input a label manually.
The information will be printed in the same
manner as above except that you will have
complete control of what to print.
z The labels used with this program should be tractor fed. The labels need to be 2 3/4" X 2 3/4" and need to be spaced 3" apart. The labels that I use are AVERY brand stock number 4241. Any label space 3" apart on tractor feed should get the job done. Another option is to print the label on your favorite paper, cut to size and paste with rubber cement. (Careful not to get sloppy with the rubber cement!) The printer needs to be capable of 8 lines per inch and condensed characters. (12 char per inch). If you are not sure if the printer is capable just run labels on a piece of paper and see if the information would fit on a disk label.
Print Times
This give you the option to print any number
of duplicate labels. If you are printing
items as describe above in OPTION 1: where
MegaD uses the items selected in the
directory windows to print your label. A
requester will ask you to enter the number of
labels desired for each volume selected in
the Volumes in Memory window. You will have
the option to ABORT from this option within
the same requester. If you are using OPTION
2: the requester will ask for the number of
desired labels after you have entered your
information in the Manual Label window.
Database Import File
This will send the selected information using the
same criteria as used for OUTPUT, Printer or File.
Except that the information will be sent in a form
that a Database program can import the information
into a database file. This is to help manage a
large collection of disks such as the Fred Fish
collection. The information that is printed to
this file is controlled by the next item in this
menu.
Setup Import File
Once again you must select an active directory for
this file to be saved to. This is done in the same
manor as described in OUTPUT, File. A window will
then open up with a number of gadgets in it. The
screen title bar will display the path the export
file will be saved to. The first gadget on the
right side of the window is to input what your
database needs for a field separator. This
defaults to 44 which is the ASCII of a comma.
This tells the database that this is the end of
the field. The gadget below this is the Record
Separator. This defaults to 10 which is the ASCII
of a linefeed. This tells the database that this
is the end of a record. Eight gadgets are on the
left side of the window. These gadgets can ether
be on or off, depending on how you select them.
They will control what information to send for the
import file. The gadgets are Filename, Volume,
Path, Type, Date, Size, Blocks Used, and
Protection. These gadgets also display the size
in bytes of the information. The fourth to the
last gadget on the right of the window is the z string gadget that you will input a file name to save the import file as. Once again, do not add the path to this filename. This was done when you selected the active directory to save to. Third to the last gadget on the right side of the window is Append To File. If this is selected it will constantly append new information to an existing file or create a new one if it is not there. The second to last gadget is the OK gadget for telling the system that you are finish setting up the export utility. And finally the last gadget on the right is a CANCEL gadget. This will reset all items in the Export Utility window to the defaults loaded from the default .pf file if the .pf file exists else it will clear every thing. Then it will exit from the from this option. This information need only be set up once and will be stored in the .pf file created by selecting Save Defaults in the PROJECT menu. From then on it will ask for the disk that you first saved your export file to. You can change this information by re-selecting the Setup Import File menu option.
Registration
This if for printing the official registration
form to order a registered version of MegaD. This
menu item will not be available on the registered
version of MegaD. The registered version disk
will have four version of MegaD included with it.
The difference between the programs will be that
larger options will be removed from the program to
decrease the size of MegaD itself. The purpose of
this is for users with 512K of memory. MegaD at
its present size is 117K bytes of information,
that is 23% of total memory. MegaD with all of
the large options removed is about 72K in size,
that is only about 14% of total memory. The
smallest version will not include the Format/Copy
Disk and all of the options under the Output Menu.
The other two version will exclude just one of the
larger options mention above.
PANIC
STOP PROCESS
This is for stopping any process in action at the
time, such as loading a directory. copying a
group of files, deleting Files. etc. If something
is happening and you don't want it to, select this
