Atari Mega Archive 1/Atari Mega Archive - Volume 1.iso/archiver/arcshl30.arc/ARCSHELL.TXT

Text File | 1991-12-08 | 57KB | 1,195 lines

                     ARC Shell Documentation
                          Version 3.0

     Copyright 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 Charles F. Johnson
                and Little Green Footballs Software

             Last revision: Sunday, December 8, 1991


---------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE NOTE: At the end of this document is the revision history
             of ARC Shell, which includes any new features or changes
             implemented in this version.  Even if you're already
             familiar with ARC Shell, you should at least read
             through the section pertaining to this version before
             using the program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------


Part One - Introduction
-----------------------

     ARC Shell is a GEM program which is designed to work with the
popular ST archiving utility ARC.TTP.  Essentially, ARC Shell adds a
GEM interface to the ARC program, letting you point and click to
select the various options instead of typing a command line.  (I
don't know about you, but one of the main reasons I bought an ST was
to get away from all that MS-DOS/Unix command line silliness.)

     ARC Shell also contains a complete GEM-based disk utilities
package, that lets you copy files (with wildcards and with query),
delete and rename files, create and delete folders, show the free
space on any connected drive, and even run other programs...all
without exiting to the desktop.  ARC Shell's current configuration
can be saved at any point, so that the options and settings you use
most often will be selected when you run the program.  In addition,
you can use the ST desktop's "Install Application" feature to set
things up so that ARC Shell will automatically run when you
double-click on a file with an extension of ARC.

     This documentation will focus primarily on the operation of
ARC Shell; it's not intended to teach you how to use ARC.  However,
I've included the manual for version 5.20 of ARC in the archive which
contains this file and the latest version of ARC Shell.  Refer to
this manual if you have any questions about the ARC program itself,
such as "What's the difference between Updating and Freshening?" or
"What does Convert Archive do?"  The original version of ARC for the
ST was version 5.12, ported by Harvey Johnson.  The most recent
version is ARC 5.21, ported to the ST by Howard Chu.  Version 5.21 is
available on Compuserve, Delphi, and GEnie, and on many local ST
BBSes.

     (Note: Since the ARC 5.21 documentation is quite lengthy, I
stopped including it in version 1.98 of ARC Shell.  It should be
easy to find this documentation on the major info services, if you
still need it.)


Part Two - The usual shareware plea
-----------------------------------

     Versions 1.95 and above of ARC Shell are "shareware," which
means that if you like and use my program you're expected to pay
for it just as you would be expected to pay for a "commercial"
program.  The registration fee for ARC Shell is $15.00 ...  or
more if you happen to be struck by a random philanthropic impulse.
I've been continually updating and improving ARC Shell since it
was first written, and I think you'll be pleased with the result;
letters with checks in them would please me equally! If you end up
using ARC Shell regularly, please send a check to:

               Charles F. Johnson (ARC Shell)
               P.O. Box 1250
               Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

     If you'd like me to acknowledge that I've received your
shareware payment, please include a self-addressed stamped
envelope, or your user address on GEnie, Delphi, or Compuserve.

     Thanks for your support!  And remember -- if you'd like to see
more shareware programs like ARC Shell, you have to do your part
and pay for the shareware programs you use.

     (IMPORTANT NOTE: if you paid the shareware fee for a pre-3.0
version of ARC Shell before September 1, 1991, I'm asking a small
upgrade fee of $10.00 for version 3.0 or later.  See the section titled
"Version 3.0" in the revision history at the end of this document for
more information.)


Part Three - Using ARC Shell
----------------------------

     When you run ARC Shell, make sure you have the ARC program
(ARC.TTP) in the same directory with ARCSHELL.PRG.  The very first
thing ARC Shell does is look in the current directory for ARC.TTP.
If a file with this name cannot be found, ARC Shell will show you a
file selector asking, "Where is ARC.TTP?"  and you will be able to
locate the ARC program with the file selector.  When ARC Shell finds
the ARC program, it will then display a large dialog box, with
buttons representing the available options.

                     What you're looking at.

     In the upper left of the main dialog box is a box containing
buttons labeled "ADD to Archive," "EXTRACT from Arc," etc.  The
buttons in this box are the main ARC commands; you'll notice that the
default ARC command is "EXTRACT from Arc."  Only one of these buttons
can be selected at a time - if you click on a button to select it,
the previously selected button will be turned "off."  (These are
known as "radio buttons.")

     To the right of the ARC command box is a box containing the
ARC "flags."  The button labeled "Hold Screen" is selected by default
when you first run ARC Shell.  The buttons in this box can be turned
off and on individually; unlike radio buttons, more than one can be
selected at a time.  The button labeled "Encrypt/Decrypt" is a
special case; when you turn this button on, the code word entry line
beneath it becomes active and the edit cursor (the thin vertical
line) is placed on the entry line, allowing you to type in an
encryption keyword.  The code word can be up to eight characters
long.

     Directly underneath the ARC command box is a box containing
buttons to let you select the device which will be used for LIST and
VERBOSE LIST commands, and the drive for ARC and DATA files. The
drive buttons can be operated in two ways; you can either type in the
drive letter by hand, using the up and down arrows to move from one
button to another, or use the mouse to click on the button.  If you
click the button, a box with 16 buttons representing the 16 possible
logical drives will pop up, allowing you to select the drive with the
mouse.  Only active drives will be selectable in this box, and
hitting Return will exit without changing the current drive.

     Finally, along the bottom of the main box are buttons labeled
"Info," "ARC," "Disk," "Config," and "Exit."  The Info button will
display a copyright message, and a gentle reminder to send in your
shareware contribution.

                     OK, let's do something.

     When you've set all the options in the ARC Shell dialog box
the way you want them, click on the "ARC" button to start things
going.  NOTE: You may also double-click on any of the buttons in the
ARC command box (Extract, Add, List, etc.) to execute that command
immediately without the extra step of clicking the "ARC" button.

     Depending on which ARC command you've selected, what happens
next will vary slightly.  In all cases however, the first thing ARC
Shell will do is display a file selector to allow you to choose an
ARC file.  If you're creating a new archive file with the ADD or MOVE
commands, simply type in a name for the new file on the file
selector's "Selection" line, and hit Return or click on OK.  If
you're using any of the other commands (which all operate on
previously-created archive files), click on the name of the ARC file
you're working with and click OK.  The file selector's "Cancel"
button always returns you to the main ARC Shell dialog box.

     The LIST, VERBOSE LIST, or TEST commands only take one
parameter - the name of an ARC file - so they will be acted upon as
soon as you exit the file selector.  Any of the other commands will
now require a second parameter, the name of the DATA files on which
you're operating.