The Datafile PD-CD 5/DATAFILE_PDCD5.iso/utilities/f/filefind/!FileFind/!Help

Text File | 1992-12-12 | 13.2 KB | 254 lines

»»»» !Help file for !FileFind 2.11

Written by Andrew J. Cawte - public domain version

This version of !FileFind is public domain - you can copy and distribute it
freely, via any media, as long as:

 i) You do not sell this program for a profit, or include it on a disc for
    which you are charging (a small charge to cover media and postage is OK).
    I retain the exclusive copyright on this application.

ii) The application is supplied complete and unaltered, including this file.

=============================================================================

What is !FileFind?
------------------

!FileFind is a utility to search for files buried down many directory levels.
Given some information about the file and somewhere to start looking, it will
recurse throughout the directory tree, searching for files which fit the
description. Such files can be listed, have directory viewers opened for them,
or can be acted on by a '*' command.

Using !FileFind - setting up
---------------

Start !FileFind by double clicking - it will install an icon on the icon bar.
Clicking on this icon brings up a large dialogue box.

The top writeable icon is where the filename is entered - click on it, then
type in the name to search for. Below this are two radio buttons labelled
'Exact' and 'Containing'. Click on 'Exact' if you want to match that name only
(although searching is not case-sensitive), or 'Containing' if you want to find
all files whose names contain the name given. For example, if you entered
'!Run' as the name to search for, then 'Exact' would match the name !Run only,
whereas 'Containing' would match !Run, !RunImage, Old!Run etc. If the filename
is not important, don't type in a name, and select 'Containing'. All filenames
will be matched.

To the right of the filename are two option buttons, 'Files' and 'Dirs/Apps'.
These select what type of item is searched for - if 'Files' is on then files
will be searched for, and if 'Dirs/Apps' is on then directories will be
searched for also. If neither button is on (ie. neither directories nor
files are being searched for) then nothing will be found (obviously!),
although you may still start the search.

Below these options are two more radio buttons, 'Fast' and 'Background'.
These allow you to choose the method of searching - if 'Fast' is selected,
then nothing else can be done while !FileFind is searching for a file.
Choosing 'Background' makes the search fully multi-tasking (ie. you may
continue to use the machine while !FileFind is busy), but is not as fast.
Background mode searching is highly recommended unless you need to quickly
find something buried deep on a hard disc.

If 'Files' is on, then a further option is ungreyed. This is the 'specific
filetype' option, and it allows the search to be restricted to files of a
certain type only. If you know the file type number, then type it into the left
hand icon and press <RETURN>. If you only know the textual filetype, then type
it into the right hand icon and press <RETURN>. Clicking on the small right
pointing arrow next to these icons brings up a menu of some of the available
filetypes - these can be selected by clicking on them.

Below these is another group of icons, which allow files of a certain length
to be searched for. If you want to search for files which are longer than a
certain length, select 'Longer'. Similarly, to search for files which are
shorter than a certain length, select 'Shorter'. To search for files which
are approximately, or exactly, a certain length, select 'To within'.

Selecting any of these will ungrey the 'length' icons - type the length in
here. Clicking on the small grey box cycles the units between bytes, kbytes
and Mbytes.

If you selected 'To within', then another pair of icons becomes accessable.
The writable icon on the left allows you to specify an allowable difference
between the length you entered and those that will be matched. Clicking on
the other icon cycles the units for the error in a similar way to the units
for the general length to search for, but with the added unit 'percent'. If
this unit is selected then the error is taken to be a percentage of the
length.

For example, if the length is specified as 1000 bytes, and you entered the
allowable error as being 25 percent, then any file with a length between 750
and 1250 bytes would be matched (subject to name and filetype being correct,
of course). Similarly, if you entered the error as being 250 bytes, the same
limits would apply.

Below these are three more option buttons, 'Open viewer', 'List' and
'Command'. These determine what action will be taken when a file is found.
If 'Open viewer' is on, then a Filer window will be opened for the directory
containing the file. If 'List' is on, then the full pathname of the file
will displayed on screen in a window when it is found (background mode) or
stored and displayed in a window when the search is over (fast mode). If
'Command' is on, then the OS '*' command in the writeable icon below will be
executed whenever a file is found. The system variable 'Item' is set to the
full pathname of the file before the command is executed. This allows
!FileFind to be used for more than just locating files. For example, you
could lock all !RunImage files on the disc by typing '!RunImage' as the
filename, turning 'Command' on and typing the command 'ACCESS <ITEM> LR'
into the writeable icon in the middle of the window.

If 'List' is on, then a further facility becomes available when the search
is finished. Clicking <MENU> over the list-of-files window brings up a menu
option leading to a standard 'save' dialogue box, allowing you to save the
list of files found as a text file. This file can be saved to disc or
dragged straight into a !Edit window.

Under the 'Command' writeable icon are three more option buttons. 'Search in
application directories' allows you to choose whether or not to look for
files inside such directories - not searching them can save a lot of time!
If 'Beep when item found' is on, then the computer will beep (VDU7)
whenever a file is found. 'Search many floppies' allows you to do just that
- each disc will be searched in turn, then you will be prompted to insert
another. If using this method of searching, then the path window (see
below) is not used - instead, use one of the radio buttons marked 'Drive'
to choose which floppy disc drive to search. Icons for drives not fitted
will be greyed out.

The path window is used to tell !FileFind where to start searching for a
file. To specify a path to search, drag an object (a file or directory)
from a Filer window into the path window. The pathname of that object will
appear in the window. When the search is started, that path will be
searched in recursively. Up to 20 paths may be searched in one go by
dragging each to the path window in turn.

For example, suppose you want to look for a file, and you know that it's a
text file of some kind. You might drag items from directories
'adfs::HardDisc4.$.TextFiles' and 'adfs::HardDisc4.$.1WP.Documents' to the
path window, then start the search. You would, if you tend to keep files in
their proper directories, have a good chance of finding the file by
searching just these two paths, and it would be quicker than searching
through the whole disc.

Clicking MENU over the path window brings up a menu with three options on it
- 'Remove', 'Clear All' and 'Save >'. Choosing 'Remove' forgets the path
that you clicked MENU over, 'Clear All' forgets all the paths, and 'Save'
leads to a standard save dialogue box, which allows you to save a list of
paths to disc for future reference - this may save you the bother of
dragging items from each of 15 or 20 directories every time you want to
search a specific part of your hard disc. For example, you may well save
time by setting up !FileFind to search your whole hard disc except for your
!Fonts directory, and then save the list of paths. To re-load a path list,
just drag it into !FileFind's main window. The paths in the file will be
added to those already there withot erasing them first. This does, of
course, mean that if you drag a path file from a directory, that directory
will not be added to the list of search paths, unless it was included in the
file.

Note that unless you are searching many floppies, there must be at least one
path specified before you can start the search. To search a whole disc, drag
an object from its root directory ($) to the path window. Any subdirectories
from the same disc will be removed from the path window, since they would be
searched by recursing down anyway. The same applies to paths loaded from
files.


Starting the search
-------------------

Having typed in a filename to search for, dragged one or more items to the
path window, and set the other options you require, you are ready to begin
the search. Click on 'Start Search' to do this. Another window will pop up,
which is constantly updated to show you how !FileFind is progressing. If you
selected 'Fast' searching, then individual filenames are not shown and all
the buttons in the window will be greyed out. You must either wait until
the search has finished or abort the search by pressing ESCAPE before you
regain control of the computer. If, however, you selected 'Background'
searching, there are a number of other facilities available to you - these
are provided by three buttons on the status window.

Clicking on 'ABORT' finishes the search early. You might want to abort the
search if you got the options wrong before starting the search, or if you
see that the file you want has already been found.

Clicking 'Next Path' finishes the current path (or disc, in the case of a
multi-disc search) and starts on the next.

Clicking 'Pause' causes searching to temporarily halt. This enables you to,
for example, load something from a floppy disc even though you are searching
another disc in the same drive - just click 'Pause', wait for the drive to
stop, change discs, load whatever you wanted to load, put the original disc
back in the drive, then click 'Continue' to continue the search from where
it left off. (Nb. the 'Pause' icon changes to a 'Continue' icon when
clicked on and vice-versa).

If you are searching many floppies, then whenever a disc has been searched
completely, a small window will pop up asking you for a new disc. It has two
buttons in it - 'OK' and 'Finish'. Clicking OK resumes the search from the
root directory of the disc currently in the drive (even if it has been seen
before - it will simply be searched twice). Clicking 'Finish' ends the
search. Note that even if searching in 'Fast' mode, you may use the
computer while this window is open. !FileFind will take over again when you
click OK.

=============================================================================

Don't forget to look out for my other PD software, currently:

!BackGrdII - a sticky backdrop program that doesn't crash all the time!
(unlike one I could mention!) Supports multiple backdrop states for
different purposes, multiple drags to the backdrop from Filer windows,
replacing dull grey background with a sprite, works in any Mode, RISC OS 3
compatible (inc. saving of Desktop state), multiple selections, status
display and others too numerous to mention.

StickyConv - converts the saved state of the PD program !StickyBD into a
backdrop file suitable for use with !BackGrd. A separate utility is
included with !BackGrdII to convert this file to a !BackGrdII compatible
format.

!WordSqure - solves wordsquare puzzles. Just type in the wordsquare (the
boring bit), then just type in each word and the Arc will find it in just a
couple of seconds! (I guarantee, unless the puzzle is VERY easy, it's still
easier to type it into the Arc than solve it by hand. Wordsquares can be
saved to disc for later use, if necessary).

!Pypes - a game of strategy and quick thinking. Try to contain the gunge
that flows from an outlet on the tiled board by placing pipes on the grid
for it to flow through. A mouse controlled version of the classic game. Now
extra graphics and almost instantaneous response to the mouse add even more
to this highly acclaimed PD game.

!SpaceBall - A good, old-fashioned 'knock the bricks out of the wall' game,
brought right up to date for the Archimedes! Features include: Sampled sound
effects (digitised by me especially for this game), scrolling messages,
multiple (different!) walls, indestructible bricks, hard bricks, atmospheric
graphics and double-buffered screens for perfect animation. (Well, I like
it).

!GravWars - A multi-player space game. Up to 100 players can take part at
once in this game of skill and strategy in space! Shoot blazing fireballs at
the other players, and hope that they don't orbit round a planet and hit you
in the back!

!IconClk3d - a digital clock that sits on the icon bar. It uses a
custom-designed 3D font and looks superb.

!DuckHunt - you know !DeskDuck? Well, here's your chance to express your
deepest feelings towards the duck by shooting it! (Features digitized stereo
sound)

You should be able to get all of the above programs from the PD libraries.
If not, send me a disc of PD and an SAE and I'll copy any of those programs
you want onto it and send it back. (Sorry I can't be more helpful than that
- I'm not a PD library and can't afford to send out discs for free!)

Send money, discs and so on to:

         Andrew Cawte,
         64, Blenheim Gardens,
         Denvilles,
         Havant,
         Hants.
         PO9 2PW