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FileUtils version 4.07 12/12/92
by Ben Summers
FileUtils version 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Command menu for files with find file, find space, change type windows,
parameters, set dir and forget disc utilities.
Click here for conditions of use & distribution.
Please note my address has changed.
FileUtils now needs the latest version (3.75) of CLib. You should all have
this by now, but if you haven't, write to me.
If you think of any more utilities which might be useful or use FileUtils a
lot, please write and tell me.
Note on True count
The application directory should contain the following files:
!Boot !Help !Run !RunImage
!Sprites FUhotkey Help HelpReader
HelpText Templates StartHK
and the directory SetUp, which should contain
ffChoices FileData Options
Revision history
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Version 1.00
Original BASIC application.
Version 2.00 - 2.06
Optional file menu commands added, bug fixes.
Version 3.00
BASIC application rewritten in C.
Utilities added.
Version 3.01
Find file user interface changed after comments from Acorn.
Fix FileCore option removed after complaints from Acorn (dismount discs
when you have finished with them).
Interactive help is now fully supported.
Version 3.02
Return now starts the search in the Find file window.
Hotkeys now added.
Code improved.
Version 3.03
Find file improved.
Archive searching added.
Hotkeys now work 'outside' the application.
The options are now a submenu.
Version 3.04
Bugs corrected.
Version 4.00
More bugs corrected.
Context sensitive HelpReader system used.
Outside hotkeys removed.
Parameters utility added.
Set dir utility added.
Minor improvements to templates.
Improved FileData file.
Version 4.01
Changed find file progress window.
Find file now preserves parameters and paths between each use.
Version 4.02
Kill dialogue box now shows object name.
Short cuts added to iconbar menu.
Version 4.03
Save find file options and paths option added.
Re-implemented the outside hotkeys (but in a different way: )
Added Forget disc utility.
Support for new format archives.
Modified way filenames too long appear in file list window.
Version 4.04
Corrected new archive searching to cope with converted archives.
Modified find space to take account of wasted disc space.
Opening of archives in the file list window.
Version 4.05
Fixed small bug with default paths.
Version 4.06
Clicking on FileUtils icon now brings up last used utility.
'Error in archive' message now shows archive name.
Directory structure changed slightly.
Added True count utility.
Added Set dir dialogue box for quicker setting of the current directory.
Version 4.07
Added saving of found list in find file
How to use FileUtils
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@*filemenu
File menus
~~~~~~~~~~
Drag a file to the iconbar. A menu of * commands will pop up. Chose one, or
click elsewhere to cancel it.
At the top of the menu, there will be up to four optional items, depending
on the options set up. They can be:
Change type ⇨ Leads to a submenu allowing you to change the files filetype.
Dump Dump the file
Info Get info on the file
Kill Deletes the object (file or directory) even if it is
locked. This is useful for getting rid of applications or directories where
somebody has locked a file inside it (annoying isn't it?). As it is quite a
dangerous option, there is an option to confirm that you want to kill the
object before you do so.
See the format of the FileData file for how to define the other
options.
Interactive help
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To save space, the help text is only loaded in when it is needed, so when
you first point at FileUtils, it will access the disc to get this text.
How to easily add interactive help to your C programs.
Hotkeys
~~~~~~~
Each of the utilities has a keyboard shortcut. Shift-Ctrl function keys have
been used to avoid clashes with other applications. See the info on each
utility for its hotkey.
The hotkeys can be made to work outside the application so that if one of
the hotkeys is used, FileUtils will be loaded and the relevent utility
started. To make this work, you must add the following line to the desktop
command file (the one in the command 'desktop -file <filename>' {page 390
RISCOS2 user guide}) in your boot routine:
adfs::HardDisc4.$.Utilities.!FileUtils.StartHK
You will, of course, have to change the path to the directory FileUtils is
in. This method is only really useable for hard disc users, but then, these
hotkeys are probably only suitiable for them.
The main menu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Main menu (click Menu on the icon)
Info ⇨ Leads to standard info dialogue box.
Options ⇨ Leads to options submenu
Save options Saves the current options to disc
Help Loads this text
*Cmd menu Just a reminder...
True count Open the true count window
Forget disc Opens the forget disc dialogue
Set dir Toggles the set dir utility
Parameters Opens the parameters window
Change type Opens a change type window
Find space Allows you to find a disc with enough room on it
Find file Opens the find file window
Quit Guess
One of the utilities will have a grey background on the menu instead of the
normal white background. This is the utility that will be started when the
FileUtils icon is clicked.
Options ⇨
~~~~~~~~~~
This leads to a submenu which allows you to set which optional items appear
on the file menus. Use the 'Save options' on the main menu to save these to
disc.
True count
~~~~~~~~~~
Hotkey: Shift-Ctrl-F8
This utility allows you to see how much space an object really takes up on
your disc. This is provided because the Count option on the Filer doesn't
give the true amount of space used. All it does is total up all the lengths
of the files. This gives a false impression of the space used up for two
reasons. Firstly, a file can take up more than its lenght because it must
fit into an exact number of sectors. These are about 512 bytes long. If a
file is 513 bytes long, an extra sector has to be used to store the 513th
byte, so in fact the file takes up 1024 (1K) up on the disc. The Count
command does not take this into account. The second reason is directories.
These are ignored by the Count command. However, each one takes up 2K on the
disc. Because of this, the count command gives an inaccurate result.
For a demonstration of this, count all the files on a disc, preferably a
hard disc. Next use the 'Free' option to find out how much has been used.
Compare the two - count will give a smaller result.
True count will show how much space an object actually takes up on your
disc. To use it, open the true count window using the iconbar menu or the
hotkey. Next drag the object to this window. The size will be shown.
The window has two other icons, the Reset size and Add sizes icons. The
reset size resets the size shown to 0K. The Add sizes icon is useful when
you are dragging a directory full of objects to the window. With out this
icon selected, each object would be counted, and the value displayed.
However, the next object would over write this value. To stop this, select
this icon. Now whenever an object is dragged to the window, it's size will
be added to the size shown. Use the Reset size icon to put this back to
zero. Use this icon when you drag more than one object from a directory at
once onto the window.
Note on True count
Forget disc
~~~~~~~~~~~
Hotkey: Shift-Ctrl-F7
This utility allows you to forget a disc like dismount, but also unsets any
system variables which reference it. This should stop any requests for a
disc (which you sometimes get even after dismounting it from the disc drive
icon menu). To use it, select it from the icon bar menu or use the hotkey.
Click on the icon of the drive with the disc in that you want to forget, set
the options and click on OK.
The options allow you to select which system variables to get