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1990-11-02
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DIRM v1.3 FAST! Directory Lister
---------------------------------
Documentation
November 2, 1990
This is meant to be a replacement for DOS's DIR command. If you are like
me you do many DIRs a day and wait and wait while they scroll by. Many times
I only want to see how much space is left on the drive, but seeing the whole
directory gives me confidence that I am in the right place. The answer is a
fast directory lister which gives the same info as DIR but is faster. While
doing this, I added a couple of extra features that will be helpful at times.
Usage: dirm [d:][file specification] [/switches]
Just like DIR, typing DIRM alone will display the current directory.
You'll be quite happy when you see the speed, even though the program
will have to load itself first from somewhere in your PATH. Putting DIRM
in the directory listed first in your path, will help some too. The program
is very small, written completely in assembly language, so loading time is
negligible.
You'll also notice that the file specification you chose is shown,
so you are sure you have the right one. A byte count of matching files
is also given, along with the number of files (directories, hidden and
system files excluded from this count) and bytes free on the disk.
Supported switches are as follows:
/a This allows the attributes of the file to be displayed after the
time stamp. Five attributes are displayed as follows:
Column 1: Read-only Attribute. An R indicates that the file
is read only.
Column 2: Hidden Attribute. An H indicates the file is hidden and
will not be displayed unless the /a switch is active.
Column 3: System File Attribute. An S indicates the file is a
system file.
Column 4: Directory Attribute. A D indicates the entry is not a
file, but a subdirectory name.
Column 5: Archive Attribute. An A indicates the archive attribute
for this file is turned on.
A '.' in any of these columns means that attribute is not active.
/p This is similar to the DIR /p switch. It will stop after displaying
one screen and wait for a key press. Unlike the DIR /p switch this
switch will leave the Volume/Directory header on the screen. It also
erases the 'Press any key...' message before going to the next screen,
so only file names are left on the screen when the directory listing is
complete. You'll need this one, since this program is FAST!
/w This is similar to the DIR /w switch. It will print in 5 files
a line mode with only file names. Since the file sizes are not
shown on the screen, there is no calculation of bytes in the
displayed files. The number of files and bytes free is still printed
as normal.
Compatibility of switches:
Since attributes cannot be printed in wide mode, the function
of using /a /w together allows all types of files to be printed
in wide mode including hidden and system files, although you will not
be able to differentiate between the file's attributes.
/a /p will work as expected printing attributes and waiting at the
end of each page.
/w /p will work as expected printing in wide mode and waiting at the
end of each page.
A combination of all three also works, with the qualification
described above for the /a /w switches.
Filters and Redirection:
Because of the FAST! screen writes that make DIRM what it is,
filters such as SORT and MORE, and redirection < and > are not
supported. This isn't a great loss since: a) MORE is available
with the /p switch. b) SORTing is rarely done in directories since
non-permanent directory sorts are a waste of time. Permanent
sorting can be done easily with utilities such as PC Tools. c)
Redirection of a directory to a file or printer is always available
with DIR, since DIR is more than fast enough for these functions.
If you try using filters and redirection with DIRM, you will
definitely not get what you expect, but it shouldn't cause any
harm.
Source code:
I am including the full source code for this program. This is the
first real program I have created in all assembly fashion so the code
may look messy to experienced assembly programmers. It is all well
commented so those who want to modify it for their own purposes may
do so, with a MASM compatible assembler. Please don't change the
copyright info and programmer's signature and recompile it trying to
pass it off as your own work. I still retain the copyright on the
program. PLEASE do not alter this code for commercial use without
consent from me, the programmer.
Bugs:
Before I first released DIRM v1.0 I had been actively using it for
3 months and didn't find anything I considered a bug. Since then
we have found a few real bugs. I do my best to fix these as soon
as possible. A few people have suggested improvements that would make
DIRM more like DOS's DIR. Since old habits are hard to break, I will
continue to incorporate these in future releases, to a point. So
PLEASE contact me with your suggestions. I really appreciate the
feedback. Better yet, since you will have the source, fix the bug and
send me the listing of your modifications. If I decide it works well,
fits in with the purpose and goal of DIRM, and is relatively clean
code I will give you credit and my thanks!
Contribution:
If you use this program often it will save you quite a bit of money.
How you ask? Well how many times a day do you display a directory?
I probably do a minimum of 20 a day... Let's say each DIRM display
saves 1 second over the DIR display. Over 1 year (365 days) that is
7,300 seconds saved, or 121 2/3 minutes saved, or 2 hours saved. Even
if your time is worth sub-minimum wage of $3.75 you would be saving
$7.50. So why not send me $1, $2, $3, $4, $5, or whatever you think
the time saved is worth. Even if you decide to keep using the program
without any contribution let me know you enjoy the program, send me
a funny joke or story, blank floppy disks, or anything else a strugg-
ling computer engineering student might find of some value. Even a
discussion of my above statistics would be welcome!
Liability, Compatibility and Distribution Rights:
This program is offered on an AS IS basis with no warranties
expressed or implied. I assume no responsibility for any damage
to your machine or loss of data incurred while using this program.
It is very unlikely that unaltered DIRM could cause any damage.
Since this program was not tested on every machine, I cannot
guarantee it will work on yours. It should run on all MS-DOS machines
running DOS version 2.0 and higher. If this turns out not to be the
case let me know.
This set of files may be distributed freely as long as it is not
changed or altered and contains all the original files listed below.
It may not be sold without the written consent of the author.
Version Information:
o Version 1.0 (6-20-90) was the original release.
o Version 1.1 (9-09-90) fixed DIRM so it acted more like
DOS's DIR in that it treats FILESPEC and FILESPEC.* as equivalent.
Thanks to Alex Stone for being the first to point this out.
o Version 1.2 (9-14-90) DIRM will now treat DIRM .EXE as DIRM *.EXE
like DOS's DIR. The driv