The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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MagnaFile Version 2.0 March 28, 1992 Copyright 1991, 1992 Bob Dolan User Manual NOTICE: This program is distributed as SHAREWARE. This means that it is NOT FREE or public domain. It is the same as commercial software except that you are not required to pay for it unless you find that it suits your needs. Use MagnaFile free for one month, and if you expect to continue using it, you MUST register it. See the file REGISTER.TXT for more information. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 FEATURES 1.2 ON-LINE HELP SYSTEM 1.3 USING THE MAGNAFILE INTERFACE 2.0 KEYBOARD SUMMARY 3.0 DISK NAVIGATION 3.1 CHANGING DRIVES 3.2 UP AND DOWN DIRECTORIES 3.3 THE DISK TREE 4.0 FILE MANAGEMENT 4.1 FILE DESCRIPTIONS 4.2 ARCHIVING 4.3 COPYING AND MOVING FILES 4.4 DIRECTORY HANDLING 4.5 SORTING FILES 4.6 OBLITERATE DIRECTORY! 4.7 CHANGING FILE ATTRIBUTES 5.0 EXPRESS MENU 5.1 ASSIGNING FUNCTION KEYS 5.2 COMMAND LINES 6.0 PRINTING FUNCTIONS 6.1 REVERSE ORDER PRINTING 6.2 FORMAT STRINGS 6.3 HEADERS 7.0 MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS 7.1 SCREEN SAVER (IDLE MODE) 7.2 DOS PROMPT 7.3 EXTENSION COMMANDS 7.4 FINDING FILES 7.5 VIEWING FILES 7.6 SYSTEM INFORMATION DISPLAY 7.7 SETTING SCREEN SIZE 7.8 EDITLINE 8.0 CONFIGURATION 9.0 USING THE MOUSE 9.1 MOUSE ACTIONS 9.2 MOUSE HANDLING IN DIALOGS 9.3 MOUSE HANDLING IN OTHER WINDOWS 9.4 THE MAGNAFILE COMMAND MENU --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.0 INTRODUCTION -------------------- MagnaFile is a DOS user interface. It provides a layer between you and the DOS command line interface. You will find MagnaFile to be an efficient method for performing any of the mundane or complicated activities required in DOS. Other conveniences are blended in producing a complete environment for nearly any DOS user. The following is an example of how MagnaFile can improve your relationship with DOS. Let's try renaming a file: C:\>RENAME AUTOEXEC.BAT AUTOEXEC.OLD A lot of typing, but it works. Usually. If the file already exists, the user receives a message like this: Duplicate file name or file not found. This situation frustrates many users. It wouldn't happen if the list of files were always visible when the rename operation started. With MagnaFile, you move a cursor to a particular file and press the <R> key. MagnaFile prompts you for a new name and then does it all. This same function works on directories too. Let's say you want to move 5 files from your hard disk to a floppy. But the directory these files are in contains 200 files. The first problem is finding the files. You would go through a series of typing the DIR command and checking the list as it scrolls by to find the files you need to move. Assuming you wrote down the names of the files, you could type the following series of commands into DOS: C:\>COPY FILE1.DOC A: C:\>DEL FILE1.DOC C:\>COPY FILE7.DOC A: C:\>DEL FILE7.DOC C:\>COPY FILE4.DOC A: C:\>DEL FILE4.DOC C:\>COPY FILE2.DOC A: C:\>DEL FILE2.DOC C:\>COPY FILE9.DOC A: C:\>DEL FILE9.DOC Using MagnaFile, you would move the cursor to each file name in the list, press the <Insert> key to select it, and when all have been selected, press the <M> key. The move happens, just as you would expect. It is much easier to learn, use, and be organized with DOS if the tedium is eliminated. By automating common functions in a natural way, any DOS user can benefit greatly by becoming a MagnaFile user. Nearly every reference to MagnaFile commands in this manual deals with the keyboard. It is possible to use the mouse for nearly all of this functionality as well. Refer to chapter nine for a complete explanation of the mouse interface. 1.1 ON-LINE HELP SYSTEM ------------------------------- At any time while using MagnaFile, a complete summary of all of the commands available can be referred to by pressing the F1 function key. Doing so opens up a window in the center of the screen, filled with keyboard assignments and their associated functions. When the window first opens it will show the first page of this information. Use the <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys to move to other pages. The window is closed by pressing the <Esc> key. When you open the HELP window again, it will be at the same page it was when you last closed it. 1.2 FEATURES -------------------- MagnaFile provides basic features to assist in common DOS usage. Beyond this is the opportunity to deliver real control over your PC. MagnaFile includes these features, and combines the best features of some of the most popular DOS utilities. Briefly described then, are MagnaFile's capabilities. All of them are described in detail later in this manual. * File Management: the core of what MagnaFile is. Moving, Copying, Deleting, Renaming, Finding, and Describing DOS files. Renaming, Deleting, and Removing complete directory structures. * System Navigation: facilities for moving to and from directories and drives on the system. * Smart File Viewing and Printing: displaying or printing any file type, in the format it can best be shown. * Express Menu: an automated menu system which can attach nearly any type of functionality to a function key. * System Support: screen protection, system password security, time and date, and disk space available, to name a few. MagnaFile can launch any file and the application it is tied to (if necessary) by moving the cursor to it and pressing the <Enter> key. The launched application gets the entire machine to itself, since MagnaFile "steps aside" by swapping itself to expanded memory or disk. If a user needs to perform a function which may not be performed best using MagnaFile, the DOS prompt is always available at the bottom of the screen. The net result is a complete DOS support system that succeeds in staying out of the way except when called on. 1.3 USING THE MAGNAFILE INTERFACE ----------------------------------------- MagnaFile is started by entering MAG at the DOS prompt. The MagnaFile logo will appear for about 5 seconds or until you press a key. The registered version gives you the option of skipping this screen. You will now see a display with two windows, containing several information lines. This display is shown below. MagnaFile can also be started with an optional filespec parameter. An example of this is "MAG *.C". This would cause MagnaFile to display only files with an extension of "C". Any other valid DOS filespec will work this way. The left window of the display is the file list. Within this list is the file cursor, a blue bar which indicates the currently selected file. Single file actions are performed on this file. The right window can display file related information in two ways. By default this window is in TREE mode. In this mode the right window will display a tree diagram, which represents the organization of the current drive. The user can move a cursor to all of the directories shown and switch to them or see the files that are contained in them. This is described in detail later in this manual. It is important to note the small arrow next to the MAGNAFILE title. If the arrow points to the left, then the active window is the left window. Cursor key actions will be seen in the left window. Likewise, when the arrow points to the right, the cursor movements will occur on the disk tree display. The active window can also be determined by noting that it's text color is lighter than that of the inactive window. The active window is changed by pressing the <TAB> key. By pressing the <T> key, the mode of the right window is changed to show any descriptions that have been entered. A user can enter 40 character descriptions for each file for later reference. MagnaFile maintains a locked file named FILENAME.DSC within each directory where a user has entered filename information. Write Protect Indicator | | Filename | | Size Date Time Description\TREE area | | Ext | | | | | | | | | | | V V V V V V V ╔══════════════════════════════════ MAGNAFILE ═══════════ ║≡CHKDSK COM│ 9819│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡4201 CPI│ 17089│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡5202 CPI│ 459│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡EGA CPI│ 49065│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡LCD CPI│ 10752│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡APPEND EXE│ 5794│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡ATTRIB EXE│ 10656│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║ BASICA EXE│ 80592│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡EXE2BIN EXE│ 3050│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡FASTOPEN EXE│ 3888│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡FFFIND EXE│ 6403│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡FILECOMP EXE│ 15974│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡GWBASIC EXE│ 80592│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡JOIN EXE│ 9612│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡NLSFUNC EXE│ 3029│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║ OLINK EXE│ 39172│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡REPLACE EXE│ 13234│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡SHARE EXE│ 8608│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡SORT EXE│ 1946│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡SUBST EXE│ 10552│07-24-87│00:00a ║ ║≡XCOPY EXE│ 11216│07-24-87│00:00a ║ MagnaFile -- Version 2.0 -- Bob Dolan <---Message Line C:\DOS><--- \---Command Line The bottom line on the screen indicates the current directory, and also serves as DOS command line. Use this line for entering DOS commands directly. As the user navigates the disk, the command line directory indicator is updated. Just above this line is the message line. When MagnaFile is busy, the current activity is shown here. When user initiated actions result in minor errors, the message line is used to report this. Fatal errors or other show-stoppers result in a dialog box appearing in the center of the screen, requiring the user's response. MagnaFile commands are carried out using a one-key interface. This means that you press one key to initiate a particular operation. Nearly all operations are associated with a very obvious key, such as <C> for the Copy command. With this type of interface, it is important to keep your eye on the screen and not get ahead of the prompts. Irreversible operations (such as Deletes), require a <Y> response to continue. In addition, if MagnaFile is configured to SAFETY mode, all commands will require this Sure prompt. 2.0 KEYBOARD SUMMARY ------------------------ The following keys are available in MagnaFile. The letter or definition between the "<>" is the key itself. Following this is a brief description of it's purpose. Finally, the chapter which describes the function in greater detail is shown in the brackets "[]". <A> archive the hilighted files using the archiver specified in the configuration screen. [4.2] Build (or rebuild) disk tree. [3.3] <C> Copy hilighted files or file under cursor. [4.3] <D> Delete hilighted files or file under cursor. [4.0] <E> Edit file under cursor. [7.0] <F> Find File. [7.4] <G> Goto Express Menu. [5.0] <H> Go to HOME directory and drive. [3.0] Enter IDLE mode. [7.1] <J> Run configuration screen. [8.0] <K> KBytes free disk space, time/date display. [7.6] <L> Create a LIST of files and descriptions in the directory. [4.1] <M> Move hilighted files or file under cursor. [4.3] <N> Create a NEW directory. [4.4] <O> Obliterate directory (dangerous!). [4.6] Print hilighted files or file under cursor. [6.0] <Q> Quit without sure prompt. <R> Rename file or directory under cursor. [4.7] <S> Sort file list by time, date, name, extension, size, or unsorted. [4.5] <T> Tree window toggle. [3.3] Unarchive file under cursor. [4.2] <V> View file under cursor. [7.5] <W> Write protect hilighted files or file under cursor. [4.7] <SHIFT-W> UN-Write protect hilighted files or file under cursor. [4.7] <X> Remove directory if empty. [4.4] <Z> Enable DOS command line. [7.2] <2> <4> <5> Set the screen display to 25, 43, or 50 lines. [7.7] <TAB> Switch between the left and right windows. [3.3] <HOME> Top of list. [3.0] <END> End of list. [3.0] <ESC> Quit MagnaFile with a sure prompt. Abort current operation. <SPACE BAR> Move to parent directory. [3.2] <ENTER> Run the file. [7.3] <UP & DOWN ARROW> Move file cursor up or down through the list. [3.0] <PGUP & PGDN> Move file list up or down one screen. [3.0] <RIGHT ARROW> Enter a file description. [4.1] <ALT+LETTER> Change to drive indicated by the letter. [3.1] <FUNCTION KEYS> Perform function defined in Express Menu. [5.1] <INSERT> Toggle tag (hilighted) condition of a file. [4.0] <+> Tag all files. [4.0] <-> Untag all files. [4.0] <=> Toggles the time of day display. This appears in the top line on the right. 3.0 DISK NAVIGATION ----------------------- One of the most common uses for MagnaFile is to move around the drives and directories on your PC. This activity is enhanced by a point and shoot style of input. While the file window is active, the cursor can be moved to any file line. The <UP> and <DOWN> arrow keys are used for this purpose. If the list of files is longer than the screen can show, pressing one of these keys will scroll the list to reveal more files. Pressing the <PGUP> and PGDN> keys will display the next or previous screenful of files. The <HOME> key will redisplay the file list at the beginning of the list, and the <END> key will place it at the last screen. At any point while using MagnaFile, you can return to "home", by pressing the <H> key. Home is defined as the drive and directory you were in when you first ran MagnaFile. 3.1 CHANGING DRIVES --------------------------- Any drive that is active in the system can be changed to by pressing the <ALT> key and the letter key which corresponds to the drive. For example, to switch to the D: drive, press <ALT> and <D>. If the requested drive as a floppy (A: or B:) and no disk is inserted, an error dialog will appear. At this point you will return to the drive that was active prior to the change request. 3.2 UP AND DOWN DIRECTORIES ----------------------------------- At the very top of any file list is a file with the name ".." listed. This is not really a file, but the path to the parent directory. If you are in the root directory of the drive, this will not appear, since there is no parent directory. The file size for this entry shows <UP>. The thinking here is that you move up to the parent and down to the children. If you move the file cursor to this entry and press <Enter>, MagnaFile will redisplay the screen showing the parent directory. In effect, you will move UP to the parent. If the current directory contains any subdirectories (children) of it's own, they will be listed after the <UP> entry. Pressing <Enter> on one of these will change to the selected directory. If the <UP> selection has scrolled off the screen, you can move to the parent directory by pressing the <SPACE BAR>. To get to the root directory quickly, press the <SPACE BAR> several times. 3.3 THE DISK TREE ------------------------- A disk drive can contain many directories. These directories can contain many other directories, and so on. The situation can become difficult to deal with. The MagnaFile disk tree can provide the ability to move about this "tree" of directories with ease. If MagnaFile is not in TREE mode, the display shows file descriptions in the right window. Press the <T> key to show the tree. When you do this MagnaFile checks the root directory of the current drive for a file called DISK.TRE and shows the tree based on the information contained in it. If this file is not present, it will be built. While this process is occurring, it's progress will be shown in the right window. Once it is complete, the tree will be displayed and the information will be saved in the DISK.TRE file for future uses. Once the tree is displayed, you can move to any directory by using the <UP> and <DOWN> arrows to move one line at a time and the <PGUP> and PGDN> keys to move one screen at a time. The <HOME> and <END> keys will move to the root directory and the last directory, respectively. To see the files contained in the directory under the cursor, press the <Enter> key. Sometimes, while moving around the disk tree, MagnaFile will find that the information contained in the DISK.TRE file is out of date. You may have added or removed directories that it doesn't know about. When this happens the DISK.TRE file will be rebuilt. You can initiate this process yourself at any time by pressing the key. To switch to the directory under the cursor, press the <Enter> to show the files contained in that directory in the left window. Then press the <TAB> key. This key is used as a window switch key. If you press it again, you will be back in the tree window. Another way to switch to the hilighted directory is to move the cursor to the desired directory, press <Enter>, then press the <T> key. Since the <T> key is a toggle, this last action will turn off the tree display and place you back into the left window. Pressing the <Enter> key effectively does the directory change. Whenever you switch back to the left window, you will be in the directory that the files contained in it are from, regardless of which directory the tree cursor is on. You use the tree cursor to aim and the <Enter> key to shoot. Using and understanding the tree window takes a little practice. The benefit is the ability to move wherever you want quickly and accurately. 4.0 FILE MANAGEMENT ----------------------- MagnaFile's strongest area of support is probably in the file management area. Highly automated procedures for every possible type of file handling are supported. Each of these areas are described below. File management activities can be applied to one or many files at once. To affect many files, they must be hilighted (tagged). To tag a file, move the file cursor to it and press the <INSERT> key. If you press the <INSERT> key on a file that is already tagged, it becomes untagged. As you tag files, the message line will show the number of files tagged and the total number of bytes they take up. This can be useful if you are trying to fill up a floppy and only want to COPY or MOVE enough files to fill the disk. To tag all files in the current directory, press the <+> key. This can be used to see how many files (and how much disk space) are in the current directory. To untag all tagged files, press the <-> key. One of the basic file management functions any user will perform is that of deleting files. Single files can be deleted by moving the file cursor to them and pressing the <D> key. A sure prompt will follow, and if you respond by pressing the <Y> key, the file will be removed and the display will be updated. Multiple files can be removed in the same manner by tagging them and pressing the <D> key. 4.1 FILE DESCRIPTIONS ----------------------------- To overcome the severe limit imposed by the DOS eight character filename, MagnaFile provides the capability to attach 40 character descriptions to each filename in every directory. These descriptions stay with the directory and are stored in a locked file named FILENAME.DSC. In addition, when files that have descriptions are moved or copied, their description goes with them to their destination. To attach a description to a filename, move the file cursor to the file you wish to describe and press the <RIGHT ARROW> key. An editline ( see section 7.8 ) will appear next to the filename in the right window. Begin typing your description at the cursor. When you have finished typing the description, press <Enter> to save it or <Esc> to cancel the process. Note that this procedure is also used to update or modify existing descriptions. To print a list of all of the files in the directory along with their descriptions, press the <L> key. A prompt for the output of this list will follow. You can send this list to a file or directly to the printer. If you select the file option, you will then be prompted for a filename. The file will be created in the current directory. 4.2 ARCHIVING --------------------- Simply stated, file archiving is the collecting of many files into one. The prime benefit being that one file is better managed than many. In addition, most archivers compress these files to as much as 10% of their original size before they are placed into the archive. When these files are needed for use, they must be unarchived to their original numbers and condition. The steps necessary to do both archiving and unarchiving require the user to pass rather complicated command lines to the utilities which do the actual processing. However, MagnaFile shields the user from that and makes the process much more organized. There are many different utilities that you can use to process archives, however MagnaFile supports only three of them. These three comprise about 99% of the archive files you will ever deal with. These types are as follows: LHA: also known as LHarc. It is a public domain package. PKZIP: the most popular and best performing of the three. This is a shareware product which I suggest you acquire. ARC: one of the original archivers. This is also shareware. You will run into many older archives which need this format. You need to obtain one or more of these archivers to do archiving now. If you simply want to view the contents of these types of archive, there are viewers available ( most in the public domain ) which will view many different archive types. If you acquire one of these utilities, you can specify that MagnaFile use them when you configure MagnaFile (see section 8.0). Two products which fall into this category are: AV - Keith Ledbetter FV - Vernon D. Buerg Both of these products work well and to my knowledge are distributed as freeware. To create an archive, you must tag one or more files and press the <A> key. A dialog will follow, prompting for a name for the archive. If the archive file already exists, it will be updated, otherwise a new one will be created. To unarchive or break open an archive, move the file cursor to it and press the key. A dialog will follow prompting for the destination of the extracted files, if the archive format supports it. If you want the files to end up in the current directory, just press <Enter>, otherwise type in the relative directory. If the extension is ARC, LZH, or ZIP, the appropriate utility will be called on to extract the files and restore them to their pre-archived condition. To view the contents of an archive, see section 7.3 and 7.5. 4.3 COPYING AND MOVING FILES ------------------------------------ The most typical type of file management is copying and moving files between disks and directories. MagnaFile provides strong support for both of these functions. You should be aware that DOS only supports the COPY command directly. MOVEing a file requires copying and then deleting the original. Since both functions are similar, the discussion here will center on the COPY process. Most capabilities described apply to the MOVE command as well. To COPY one file move the file cursor to the file you wish to copy and press the <C> key. Note that the <UP> and <DOWN> entries cannot be copied or moved. Once you press the <C> key a dialog will appear above (or below) the file about to be copied. This dialog contains an Editline in which you must type in the destination of the copy. At this point, you have two options: 1) type in the destination, or 2) press the <TAB> key. If you choose the second option, the right window will become active and display the tree of the current drive (if it is not shown already). You can move the tree cursor to the directory you wish to copy the file to and press <Enter>. You can also change drives by pressing the <ALT> key drive combination. Once you select the destination in this way, the full path is inserted into the Editline for you. When it is in the Editline, you can edit it if necessary, or you can press <Enter> to select it as the destination of the COPY. The same process applies to the COPY or MOVE of multiple files. However, the affected files must be tagged first. The file under the file cursor is not included unless it is also tagged. As files are copied, a progress bar moves across the bottom line of the screen. Once the bar reaches the right side, the file transfer indicated on the line above it is complete. This can be helpful for very large files. 4.4 DIRECTORY HANDLING ------------------------------ A new directory can be created as a child directory of the current directory by pressing the <N> key. A dialog will display prompting for the name of the new directory. If the name you provide matches the name of a file or an existing directory, an error will result and the requested directory will not be created. To remove an empty directory from the current directory, move the file cursor to it and press <X>. If the directory is empty it will be removed. To remove directories that contain files, see the Obliterate function (section 4.6) 4.5 SORTING FILES ------------------------- The order in which the files and directories in the list are displayed can be controlled by the user. When the <S> key is pressed, the message line will show a list of sorting methods from which you can choose. Select one by pressing the indicated key. Press <Esc> to cancel the sort command. The choices are: <N> - By name. The first part of the filename is used when sorting alphabetically. <X> - By Extension. The second part of the filename is used when sorting alphabetically. This is the default method. <S> - By Size. Smaller sized files are listed at the top of the list and progress to the largest at the bottom. <D> - By Date. The older files are shown at the top, and the newer files at the bottom. <T> - By Time of day. Files created earlier in the day are listed at the top, and those created later in the day at the bottom of the list. <O> - Original order. No sorting is done. The files will be shown in the same order as a DOS DIR command would show them. In all cases, the <UP> and <DOWN> directory entries are grouped at the top of the list. 4.6 OBLITERATE DIRECTORY! --------------------------------- This function can be potentially dangerous if used carelessly. Since subdirectories can contain other subdirectories, etc, and each level of subdirectory can contain files, the removal of the top level subdirectory can become quite involved, even when using MagnaFile. To automate this process, MagnaFile includes the Obliterate function. If you move the file cursor to a directory and press the <O> key (that's letter O, not zero), the directory will be scanned and it's contents (the number of directories and files contained in it at all levels below it) will be shown in a status window. At this point, you can survey the extent of the potential destruction and decide whether to continue. You will receive two sure prompts before the obliteration begins. If you answer either of them negative, the process is cancelled. Otherwise everything below the directory selected will be removed. The Obliterate function can also be used in the tree window. Move the tree cursor to the directory to be removed. When the command takes place, all of the directories (and the files contained within them) will be removed, including the selected directory. The seriousness of this function's capability to destroy files and directory structure cannot be minimized. Only use this if you are certain of it's effects. If SAFETY mode is active, this function is not available. 4.7 CHANGING FILE ATTRIBUTES ------------------------------------ Two file attributes (or characteristics) can be changed with MagnaFile. They are the read/write status, and the name of the file (otherwise known as a RENAME function). To make a file READ-ONLY, move the file cursor to it and press the <SHIFT-W> key. A square object will appear to the left of the filename in the list. This indicates files that can only be read. You can delete files of this type with MagnaFile, but only after receiving an extra sure prompt. If you would like to change a file of this attribute to READ/WRITE status, press <W>. The square object will be removed and the file can now be written to freely. This same function works on multiple files as well. Any tagged files will be modified if you use these functions. To change the name of a file, move the file cursor to the file and press the <R> key. A dialog will follow, prompting for a new name to assign to the file. Type in a name and press <Enter>. If the file matches another file or a directory, an error will be reported and the rename will not occur. Multiple files can not be renamed this way. However, you CAN change the name of a directory as if were a file. 5.0 EXPRESS MENU -------------------- The Express Menu extends the functionality of MagnaFile to provide automated, macro-like capability. Forty different function key commands can be programmed. Each command can reference the file under the cursor in any action it performs. The Express Menu can run without MagnaFile to provide a simple application launcher for novice users who do not need to interact with DOS. The Express Menu can be activated in two ways. While in MagnaFile, press the <G> key. A window will be displayed showing ten function keys and a description of what they are programmed to do. The other method of running the Express Menu is from the DOS prompt. Two parameters are available that can be passed to MagnaFile when it is loaded. The two command lines are as follows: MAG -M This command will go directly to the Express Menu. The MagnaFile shell is not available. The F1 function key can be used to shell out to DOS. MAG -X This the same as the -M option. However, the DOS shell is locked out to the user. This provides a more secure menu. 5.1 ASSIGNING FUNCTION KEYS ----------------------------------- Once the Express Menu is on screen, function key assignments can be made. Two automated assignments can be used. If further functionality is required, manual definition is available. The two automated processes involve 1) changing to a particular directory, and 2) running an application. To begin defining a function key assignment, move the cursor to the function key you wish to define and press the <E> key. The title field next to the function key will be activated as an EditLine. At the flashing cursor, type in a description of what this function key assignment will do. Let's look at an example for each of the automated processes. 1) Directory change: Use MagnaFile's navigation controls to move to the DOS directory (usually located on your C drive). Press <G> to bring up the Express Menu window. Move the selector cursor using the arrow keys to an empty position and press <E>. At the EditLine cursor enter the title "DOS directory" and press <Enter>. Now a dialog will appear prompting you to choose an action for this function key. The choices are <D> and <E>. The <E> selection will allow you to manually edit the command to be performed when this function key is pressed. This option will be described later in this section. For now, press the <D> key and the assignment process will be complete. To test this, back out of the Express Menu and change to another drive and directory. Press the function key you assigned. MagnaFile should now change to the DOS directory. 2) Run Application: Move to a directory that contains an application you commonly use such as an editor or a game. Place the file cursor on the application. Press <G> to bring up the Express Menu. Move the selection cursor to an empty slot and press <E>. Type in a title which describes the application and press <Enter>. A dialog will be shown prompting you to choose an action for this function key. The choices will be <D>, <E>, and <R>. The <R> selection is available because the file cursor was not positioned on a directory and therefore was available to be run. Press the <R> key to select the application to run when the function key is pressed. The function key assignment is now complete. Test this by following the same procedure as in the example above. 5.2 COMMAND LINES ------------------------- In both of the action dialogs that appeared in the two examples, one of the choices was the <E> key. If you press this key, you can define a command line which will be carried out when the associated function key is pressed. The following special characters can be used in this command line. ; - separates multiple commands. % - replaced with filename under the cursor. @ - as the first character, will change to the application's directory before running the specified file. ! - as the last character, will not prompt for a key when the command terminates (fast return). ? - If this character follows the command name, a dialog will appear before the application is run, allowing the user to enter any necessary options. Here is an example of a command line using all of the characters. @C:\DOS\EDIT ? %;TYPE %! This command will change to the C:\DOS directory and drive, then run the EDIT application, passing the filename under the file cursor as the file to be edited. Before the EDIT command is run, a dialog will appear (because of the '?'), and the user can enter an option or just press <Enter>. The semicolon indicates that another command follows. This command is the DOS TYPE command, which will display the file on the screen. Finally, the drive and directory will be returned to where it was when the process started and the command will immediately return to MagnaFile (because of the '!'). Normally, a line at the bottom of the screen will prompt for a keypress before returning to MagnaFile so that the results of the process can be viewed. 6.0 PRINTING FUNCTIONS -------------------------- MagnaFile provides complete support for printing text files. Files that are not in text format can be printed as a hex dump of the bytes contained in the file. Several options can be applied to the printed page. These options are set in the configuration screen (see section 8.0). The most important of these are the page dimensions. They include margin size (offset from the left edge to be left blank), characters per line, and lines per page. The value of any of these cannot exceed 256. To initiate a print, move the file cursor to the file you wish to print and press . If MagnaFile determines that the file contains unprintable characters, you will receive an alert to this and be asked how to proceed. Two options are available: <Esc> cancel the print, or print the file as a hex dump. Otherwise a dialog appears to verify that the printer is ready. If you press <Y>, the print is made. 6.1 REVERSE ORDER PRINTING ---------------------------------- Some laser printers stack prints in backwards order. To avoid re-ordering the sheets, the MagnaFile print function can be selected to print the pages in reverse. Select this mode to ON in the configuration screen. 6.2 FORMAT STRINGS -------------------------- If you wish to send a format string (a sequence of control characters) to your printer, you can specify so in the configuration screen. There are two ways to provide the format string. The first is to type the numeric equivalent of each control character in the string, separated by commas. For example, to reset a Laser Jet enter the following: 27,69. Some sequences are very long. Since this direct entry method can only contain 256 characters total, there is a limit to what can be specified. Another method of passing a string to the printer is by putting the actual character string (ASCII characters, not numeric equivalents) into a data file and referencing this data filename in the configuration line preceded by an @ character. If the filename is specified without a path, then it is expected to be in the same directory as MagnaFile. Reviewing the two methods of specifying format strings: 1) Numeric Equivalent --> 27,69 2) Filename Reference --> @reset.dat Whether the string is actually sent to the printer is determined by the status of the Format String Switch. This is a toggle which is set in the configuration screen. It is normally ON, but it's purpose is to allow you to temporarily prevent the string from being sent to the printer (by setting it to OFF). 6.3 HEADERS ------------------- The first line of each printed page is known as a header line. If desired, this line will show the name of the file, the page number of the printout and a standard message. For example, my personal header says, "From the Printer of Bob Dolan". The header message text can be specified in the configuration screen. If no text is entered in this field, then no header line is printed. 7.0 MISCELLANEOUS FUNCTIONS ------------------------------ The following is description of all of the other functions contained in MagnaFile. One of the simplest functions of this type is the Edit File function. If you move the file cursor to a text file and press the <E> key, the editor specified in the configuration screen will be started with the referenced file passed to it. 7.1 SCREEN SAVER (IDLE MODE) ------------------------------------ To prevent screen burn-in and increase your PC's security, the IDLE function is available. When this mode is activated, the screen is cleared, and a screen saver starts running. The default saver is a box that bounces around the screen. An external screen saver can be specified to run instead. The nature of the IDLE mode functionality is determined by the user in the configuration screen. The following IDLE parameters can be set: Delay: The time (in minutes) of keyboard inactivity before the IDLE mode begins. If this time is set to zero, then IDLE mode will never occur. Message: The text that is displayed in the bouncing box once IDLE mode becomes activated. If this message is preceded by the double quote character, the remainder of the text is read as a path to an external screen saver. Password: When the screen saver is interrupted by a keystroke, a password dialog will appear. The user must enter the correct password (as specified in the configuration) to re-enter MagnaFile. If the configuration of this password is an empty string, then no password checking is done. Refer to the configuration (section 8.0) on how to access these controls. IDLE mode can also be activated at any time by pressing the key. 7.2 DOS PROMPT ---------------------- Some functions can be done better at the DOS command line. One example would be the deletion of all files in a large directory. DOS performs this task much quicker than MagnaFile. You don't need to quit MagnaFile to do this however. The command line (bottom line on the screen) is a quick DOS prompt. Press the <Z> key and the command line turns into an EditLine. You can enter any valid DOS command and press <Enter> for it to be handed to DOS for execution. There are two other options on this command line. First, if you press <Enter> alone (without tying a DOS command), the screen will clear and a DOS session is started. To return to MagnaFile, enter the command EXIT. The other option you have at the command line is to cancel by pressing the <Esc> key. Whenever you execute a DOS command line, MagnaFile swaps itself out of real memory, so whatever command you enter, it will have the entire machine to run it in. 7.3 EXTENSION COMMANDS ------------------------------ The most capable key that MagnaFile has is the <Enter> key. If you move the file cursor to a file and press <Enter>, what happens depends on the extension of the filename. If the extension is EXE, COM, or BAT, we are dealing with an executable file. A dialog is displayed, prompting for a parameter line to pass to the referenced application. For example, if the referenced file is an editor, you might type in the name of a text file to edit. If no parameters are to be passed to the application, then just press <Enter> again, and the application will run. If the extension of the referenced filename is ZIP, ARC, or LZH, the implication is that an archive will be viewed to show it's contents. The command line for each archive viewing format is specified by the user in the configuration screen. Now comes the really "smart" way MagnaFile deals with the <Enter> key. If the extension of the referenced filename is one that is contained in the Extension Command file (CMDEXT.MAG), it is recognized as an extended file type. This command file contains a list of extensions and the applications to run when the <Enter> key is pressed on a file with one of these extensions. A sample file is as follows: 3 DOC EDIT % GIF GVIEW % PRG DBASE % Notice that the first line contains the number three. This tells MagnaFile how many extension definitions are contained in the CMDEXT.MAG file. The percent sign marks the place in the command where the filename should be replaced. This allows you to place other command information after the filename, if necessary. The CMDEXT.MAG file is a simple text file, and MagnaFile reads it at load time. It must be present in the same directory that MagnaFile is located in. If it cannot be found, you will receive a warning message. MagnaFile will still run fine, however no extended file types will be available. 7.4 FINDING FILES ------------------------- On a hard disk, locating a single file can be a lengthy, tiresome process. Even moving through directories and examining the file lists with MagnaFile can be time consuming. However, this process is simple in MagnaFile. Press the <F> key, and a window will appear. A cursor will be flashing in an EditLine. Type in a filename or part of a filename with wildcards (asterisks in place of filename parts), and press <Enter>. MagnaFile will begin searching the entire system for a match to your input. As the search proceeds, the directory being checked and any matches are shown in the Find File window. This will continue until all directories are searched, a key is pressed, or ten matches are located. If the <Esc> key is pressed, the search request is cancelled. When the search is completed, all matches are shown in the window with a file cursor located at the top line. Use the arrow keys to move the file cursor to the match which looks like what you were searching for and press <Enter>. The Find File window will close and MagnaFile will switch to the directory that contained the file you chose. The file cursor will be placed on the requested file. The file search can be limited to a single drive. This is useful when the search turns up too many matches, or when the file in question is known to be on a particular drive. This is also the only way to search for files on a floppy disk. To limit the search to a particular drive, just specify the drive ahead of the filename in the File Find dialog. For example: *.BAT will search for batch files on all drives. F:*.BAT will search for batch files on drive F. 7.5 VIEWING FILES ------------------------- Any file can be viewed by moving the file cursor to it and pressing the <V> key. MagnaFile will examine it to determine what type of file it is. If it is a supported archive type, the appropriate archive viewer is called to display the contents of the archive. These contents are then shown in the text viewer, described below. If it is determined that the file is a text file, a text viewer is opened to examine the file. A whole new command set is available once you are in the viewer. All normal display control keys are available as follows: <HOME> Top of file. <END> End of file. <ESC> Return to MagnaFile. <SPACE BAR> Scroll display one line towards the end of file. <ENTER> Scroll display one page towards the end of file. <UP & DOWN ARROW> Scroll display one line up or down. <PGUP & PGDN> Scroll display one page up or down. <H> Change display mode of viewer to hex dump. When the viewer is in text mode, the file can searched for text strings. There are several keys to support this function. They are: <F> Forward search. A dialog appears prompting for the text to find towards the end of the file. <R> Reverse search. A dialog appears prompting for the text to find towards the beginning of the file. <N> Next match. Searches toward the end of the file for a match of a previous search request. Previous match. Searches toward the beginning of the file for a match of a previous search request. When a match is found, the viewer redisplays the file with the located text hilighted at the center of the screen. If no match is found, a dialog is displayed indicating so. If the file you want to view is not a text file, the viewer will come up in hex mode. All keys are active except the text search keys and the <H> key. This same viewer is used when you move the file cursor to a filename and press <Enter>, and the extension is not handled by one of the methods described in EXTENSION COMMANDS, section 7.3. 7.6 SYSTEM INFORMATION DISPLAY -------------------------------------- To get a report on your system's status, press the <K> key. This is most often used to determine how many Kbytes of space are left on the current drive. The drive's capacity is shown and the free space is also displayed as a percent of this capacity. Other information is displayed here as well, including the system time and date. 7.7 SETTING SCREEN SIZE ------------------------------- The number of lines that can be displayed on your monitor can be varied on EGA and VGA systems. MagnaFile will come up in whatever the system is running in. This is normally 25 lines. To change this display size in MagnaFile, press one the following keys: <2> - 25 lines. <4> - 43 lines (EGA) or 50 lines (VGA) <5> - 50 lines (VGA) or 43 lines (EGA) The video controller will be set to the new size and the MagnaFile screen will be re displayed in the new format. 7.8 EDITLINE -------------------- Whenever MagnaFile prompts you to enter text, you will be using the EditLine. This feature allows full text editing capability. The following keys are available: <HOME> - move the cursor to the beginning of the text field. <END> - move the cursor to the end of the text field. <CTL-HOME> - move the cursor to the beginning of the text field and show the text from it's first character. <CTL-END> - move the cursor to the end of the text field and show the text to it's last character. Note that if the text in the EditLine is completely visible, Home and End work just like Ctl-Home and Ctl-End. <LEFT ARROW> - Move the cursor one character to the left. If there is more text beyond the left edge of the EditLine, the text will scroll it into view. <RIGHT ARROW> - Move the cursor one character to the right. If there is more text beyond the right edge of the EditLine, the text will scroll it into view. <CTL-LEFT ARROW> - Same function as Left arrow, but movement is by words instead of characters. <CTL-RIGHT ARROW> - Same function as Right arrow, but movement is by words instead of characters. <DEL> - Delete the character under the cursor and move all text which is to the right of the cursor one position to the left. <BACKSPACE> - Delete the character to the left of the cursor and move all text which is to the left of the cursor one position to the right. <INSERT> - Toggle the text entry mode between Insert and Overwrite mode. Overwrite is the default and is indicated by an underline cursor, insert mode by a block cursor. <ENTER> - Accept the text entered and exit the EditLine. <ESC> - Abort the EditLine process. 8.0 CONFIGURATION --------------------- At many points throughout this manual, there were references to the configuration screen. At any point while running MagnaFile, you can reconfigure any of the program settings. These values are stored in MagnaFile's EXE file, so no configuration file is necessary. To open the configuration screen, press <J>. (Note that there is no logical way to correlate the significance of the <J> key to the configuration function, as all of the other MagnaFile commands are to their keystroke. The reason is that there were no other keys to assign to it.) When the configuration screen appears, it contains three sections. The right side is the color grid and is used to set the color attributes of MagnaFile's display. At the top is the Main Menu. Below it is the Sub Menu window. In the Main Menu are four category items: Color, Printing, Archiving and IDLE mode. Using the arrow keys, you can move to any of the items in the Main Menu. If you move to one of the four category items and press <Enter>, that category will expand in the SubMenu window, and you will be able to define the characteristics of it. The Printing and IDLE mode configurations are described in their respective sections of the manual. The other SubMenu items are: Color Setup: Several display attributes (border text, cursor, etc) will be listed in their current color. An arrow is moved up and down to select one of the attributes. When the desired attribute is pointed to, press <Enter>. The Color Grid will become active. You can now use all of the arrow keys to move the marker to any color. Note that the attribute itself changes to provide an example of the appearance it will have. Once an acceptable color is located, press <Enter> to set it for the attribute, or press <Esc> to restore the attribute's original color. When all of the colors are properly set, move the highlight to "Return" and press the <Enter> key. The SubMenu window will clear and you will now have control in the Main Menu. Archiver Setup: Seven different archiving commands are set here. All of them are commands that are passed to DOS to carry out the related action. These commands are entered into EditLines. The first setup is for the archiver which is used for the <A> command. The next three are the setup for the unarchiver (the command) for each of the three supported archive formats. Finally, the last three items are for defining the view commands that are used to view each of the formats. When you are finished with this SubMenu, move the item highlight to "Return" and press <Enter> to go back to the Main Menu. There are several items that can be configured right in the Main Menu. They are: Editor: The filename of the editor to use when the <E> command is issued. This filename must be located in the DOS PATH. Tree Mode: This operating mode can be toggled ON or OFF. To toggle, use the <TAB> key. If this option is set to ON, the right window on the display will show the disk tree. If set to OFF, the file descriptions will be shown. This mode can be changed anytime MagnaFile is running by pressing the <T> key. Safety Mode: If Safety mode is set to ON, all commands will be verified before being executed, and the Obliterate command is not available. The file Delete and Obliterate commands are always verified before being carried out. Sort Method: The initial method of sorting the files in the display is set here. Use the <TAB> key to step through all of the options. Remember that the <S> key can be used to change this parameter at any time. Registration: When you register MagnaFile I will send you a letter thanking you for your support. In addition I will include a registration code which you can enter here. This will eliminate the occasional nags that accompany the startup of MagnaFile, and will put your name on the message line, personalizing your copy. Once all parameters have been set to the desired values, move the highlight to the Exit Configuration line, and press <Enter>. A dialog will appear, prompting for your decision on saving the information in the configuration screen. If you press <Esc>, the Exit is cancelled and you are returned to the configuration screen. If you press <Y>, the information is saved in the MAG.EXE file. Responding <N> will not save the information. <Y> or <N> selections will cause the configuration screen to close, and you will be returned to MagnaFile. All changes will take effect immediately. 9.0 USING THE MOUSE ----------------------- MagnaFile provides very extensive mouse support. Certain locations on the screen are "hot spots". Using the mouse on these locations (described below), will have certain effects. First, let's review some basic mousing terms to be sure their meaning is clear: Mouse cursor: A rectangular block which moves when the mouse is moved. Click: The action of pressing a mouse button once and releasing. Double-Click: Two mouse button clicks in rapid succession. Dragging: The action of clicking and holding while moving the mouse. Two buttons are supported. On a mouse with three buttons, the middle button is ignored. 9.1 MOUSE ACTIONS --------------------- If you double-click while the mouse cursor is on a file or directory, the equivalent of a pressing the <Enter> key occurs. This means that if the referenced file is an EXE, then it will be run. Non-executable files will be viewed. If the double-click is done to a directory entry, then MagnaFile will change to that directory. A left mouse click on the files window will reposition the cursor at the indicated position. Clicking the right button in this window will tag the file. If the right button is dragged over files, many files can be selected or deselected. If you click in the right window, the result depends on the mode that the window is currently in. When the tree is displayed, the file window will show the files that are contained in the directory that was clicked on. If you click on other directories, the file window will continue to be updated. When the right window is not in tree mode (file descriptions are shown), a mouse click will open an editline, allowing you to enter a description of the associated file. The file list can be scrolled up or down by pressing the left button while the mouse cursor is on the top or bottom window borders. The file list can be paged by clicking on the window borders with the right button. If the mouse button is pressed while the cursor is on the prompt line, this line becomes active (see description for <Z> key in section 7.2). 9.2 MOUSE HANDLING IN DIALOGS --------------------------------- The dialogs that appear at times in MagnaFile can accept mouse input for some situations. A left mouse button press indicates the <Enter> key and the right button is the <Esc> key. Some dialogs require a Yes/No ( <Y> or <N> key ) response. In this case, pressing any button will result in the equivalent of the <N> key to be safe. Any editline field that is active also supports mouse input. The button assignments are the same as in a dialog which is described above. There is one exception to this however. If the editline occurs in the Move or Copy dialog, the mouse can simulate the action of the <TAB> key as described in section 4.3 by simply clicking in the right window to activate it. Then move the mouse cursor on the directory to use as the destination and click again. The indicated directory will be placed in the Copy/Move dialog just as if you had used the keyboard. Use the chosen directory by pressing the left button or cancel the operation altogether by pressing the right. 9.3 MOUSE HANDLING IN OTHER WINDOWS --------------------------------------- The other windows which can be activated while using MagnaFile also have mouse support available to them. Each has a command summary on the bottom line of their window border. Clicking on any of these commands has the effect of pressing the equivalent keystroke. The Express Menu (described in chapter 5), will react to mouse clicks inside of it' s window as well. When you do this, the command cursor will be positioned at the location of the mouse cursor. 9.4 THE MAGNAFILE COMMAND MENU ---------------------------------- If you click on the MAGNAFILE title on the top line of the display, you will cause the mouse command menu to drop down. This menu can only be accessed using the mouse. The command menu is a list of most of the commands available in MagnaFile. Drag the mouse cursor down into the menu to one of the commands and release the button. That command will be carried out as if you had pressed it's associated keystroke. If you release the button while the mouse cursor is outside of the menu, the menu will close and no command is carried out. Beneath the MAGNAFILE title is another menu. Follow the same method as described above, except use the right mouse button. A drop down menu showing all of the available drives is shown. Select one of these menu items and you will change to that drive just as if you had press the related <ALT> key combination (as described in section 3.1). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------